HD Cab Next Gen Upgrade!

Back in December, I made the decision that I was going to play “Next Gen Fighters aka SF6” on the PS5. And with that decision, I also made the choice of upgrading the monitors.

A birthday and Christmas present to myself, I went and bought everything I needed (at least I thought – will come back to that). Ended up with an LG 32GN600 as I thought the value for money was good and given I was buying 2, it needed to be somewhat feasible. Also purchased the PS5 during Amazon sales along with 2x Brook UP5 PS5 add ons.

The plan was to install during the Xmas break – LOL. That obviously didn’t happen, but for the last month or so, I’ve been chipping away at the install to get the “next gen setup” ready for Friday’s SF6 release. I’ve scrambled, but I’ve made it! hahah

For those that have read through my previous logs, know that nothing seems to be simple for me, things just want to throw challenges my way :D (maybe it’s user error haha). Nevertheless, the show must go on

First order of business for the next gen upgrade was to fit the monitors. I have a pair of Hadouken Arcade Brackets for the chewlix which was supposed to make things easy to mount different monitors on to the vewlix/chewlix cabinet. Since I had one of the earlier revisions of the bracket, the “compatibility” rating was much lower than the newer revision which I quickly found out.

Monitor removal was simple enough a few screws and bobs your uncle. The plan was to use the monitors for these cabs and put into the Noir.

Prepping the new monitor for installation

Because of the way the bracket is made and the way the monitor stand is, I came across the first issue. There was no way to install this bracket in its current state – i either had to cut the bracket, or decase the monitor and remove the monitor stand

I opted to hack the bracket instead of monitor. I tried de casing it initially, but I was too scared I’d damage it in the process

Next issue :) you need right tools to do the right job! My drill bits got burnt out and my jigsaw blade also got burnt out. They were way too blunt to begin with. That issue is definitely on me as I was using crappy bits. Nothing that a quick trip to Bunnings wouldn’t fix.

Got there in the end, but I also needed to cut off addtional tabs that made the bracket compatible with VESA standard 200×100 (my old monitor), but with this particular monitor, having the tabs whey they were obstructed where I needed to put the cables in.

So I removed the “red” tabs and suggested to the maker of the bracket that the yellow should be cut for more monitor compatibility (only to realise the Rev C already addressed this issue along with the 200×100 issue)

Eventually got those issues resolved and I started the testing/calibration process. When I connected it all up, I couldn’t get maximum resolution. When I plugged in the PS5 directly to the monitor with the cable that came with the PS5, the image looked crisp, when I plugged in using my existing cables and HDMI matrix, I think I struggled to get 1440p so it would keep reverting itself to 1080p @ 60hz. I figured right there that I also needed a new HDMI matrix and new HDMI cables to make sure I got optimal performance.

Ordered some “8k” cables and a “HDR” matrix from Aliexpress (thinking it was going to be a waste of money) and a few weeks later it arrived.

To my surprise, I was now able to get 1440p @ 120hz HDR. The IQ was really nice!

After playing a few rounds, I knew it was time to upgrade the speakers. The speaker upgrade has been on my to do list since I got the cabs but just haven’t bothered. I pulled out all the Logitech THX speakers I stored over the last few years and found all 14 I had were like this. I don’t know how all 14 ended up like this, I wrapped all of them up individually and placed in a box, but when I wrapped them, they were all torn – some more than others.

I found some speakers from Parts Express that I read were a direct drop in for Vewlix cabs so I figured I’ll order them. Added 8 into the cart and went to calculate shipping…. parts express came back with a 300 USD shipping price!!! No thanks!

Fortunately I found some on ebay locally which still wasn’t cheap, but it’s much better than 400 USD shipped!

Install on these were relatively simple, getting the speakers and disassembling the speaker box was a bit of a PITA, but it’s doable. Rinse and repeat 8 times and the cabs now have a sweet sounding setup – on more tinny/busted sound

Last order of business was general cable management, installation of the ps5 in the console and Brook UP5 insllation.

The PS5 just fits the width of the area which worked out perfectly – given the “vertical issues” the PS5 is supposedly having, it made sense to install horiztonally.

Since I already had installed the Brook UFB on my cab previously, the add on install was easy as can be. Plug in the connector and get power into it. Done :D

Everything’s now installed, upgraded and ready to go for Friday’s release! I have two complete HD VS setups for offline meets and casuals.

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