HRAP Vs Street Fighter IV TE Stick

rancid3000 · Post by **rancid3000** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:17 am

I have done a little research on sticks on my own but I know pretty much close to nothing. I want to get a stick for my Xbox 360 and I'm looking at the HRAP and the Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition but I have no idea which one to get. What makes this harder is neither stick it out yet and both need to be pre-ordered. I want a stick that I can use for my computer and 360 and I would also like to customize parts and designs in the future. Right now I'm leaning towards the SF IV stick based on that video that was posted.

Can anyone break down the pros and cons of each? How hard are these to customize?

Thanks in advance.

Strider77 · Post by **Strider77** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:13 am

I would get the TE then.... I think the case looks nicer and it's very easy to change the art or guts on the inside.

Shin · Post by **Shin** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:11 pm

yeah, I own an HRAP ex, and it's a pain in the ass to mod
the jlf (sanwa) joystick is soldered, no Quick Disconects, the pcb (unlike most other pcbs) is NOT common ground, whick makes it useless incase you want to do a double or triple pcb mod to play on several systems. (I had to gut out a madcatz arcade (atari-style controller) controller to do that mod)

Street Fighter TE stick is easy to mod and full sanwa, the HRAP EX buttons are stock but are easy to change (Quick Disconects)

bostongeorge · Post by **bostongeorge** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:37 am

I'm pretty sure the only place that you're gonna find a TE is eBay. No one is taking pre-orders for them anymore except some small online retailers that may not be trustworthy.

Pre-orders are sold out at Gamestop (at a corporate level)

Capcom's Store had some as of yesterday but they sold-out of pre-ordes as well.

But you could still probably get one with a little work. I ordered a Standard Version SF4 stick and a set of Sanwa controls to go in it so that is still a good option.

The HRAP series of sticks is great too. I use the HRAP2SA, that I dual system modded, for my PS2, Xbox 360 and PC. It is very easily customized.

So really they are all great choices.

rancid3000 · Post by **rancid3000** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:41 am

bostongeorge wrote:I'm pretty sure the only place that you're gonna find a TE is eBay. No one is taking pre-orders for them anymore except some small online retailers that may not be trustworthy.

Pre-orders are sold out at Gamestop (at a corporate level)

Capcom's Store had some as of yesterday but they sold-out of pre-ordes as well.

But you could still probably get one with a little work. I ordered a Standard Version SF4 stick and a set of Sanwa controls to go in it so that is still a good option.

The HRAP series of sticks is great too. I use the HRAP2SA, that I dual system modded, for my PS2, Xbox 360 and PC. It is very easily customized.

So really they are all great choices.

They both look like solid choices to me but I know nothing about joysticks. Glad to see I can't really go wrong with either.

Do you think the TE would work well with shmups?

Animaitor · Post by **Animaitor** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:00 am

I'm getting the Hori Real Arcade Pro EX-SE, loooove the Seimitsu parts!!

brokenhalo · Post by **brokenhalo** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:54 pm

rancid3000 wrote:
bostongeorge wrote:I'm pretty sure the only place that you're gonna find a TE is eBay. No one is taking pre-orders for them anymore except some small online retailers that may not be trustworthy.

Pre-orders are sold out at Gamestop (at a corporate level)

Capcom's Store had some as of yesterday but they sold-out of pre-ordes as well.

But you could still probably get one with a little work. I ordered a Standard Version SF4 stick and a set of Sanwa controls to go in it so that is still a good option.

The HRAP series of sticks is great too. I use the HRAP2SA, that I dual system modded, for my PS2, Xbox 360 and PC. It is very easily customized.

So really they are all great choices.
They both look like solid choices to me but I know nothing about joysticks. Glad to see I can't really go wrong with either.

Do you think the TE would work well with shmups?

depends on your taste in parts. some people don't like playing shmups on a sanwa jlf because the throw is a little longer on that stick compared to a seimitsu ls-32. personally, i prefer the jlf for pretty much everything, shmups included. nice thing about the TE (and the SE) is that you can very easily swap out parts. so if you wanted to, you can order a seimitsu ls-32-01 and drop it into the TE case just for testing purposes to see which stick you prefer. same thing with the buttons.

bostongeorge · Post by **bostongeorge** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:45 pm

I use the JLF for SHMUPS and it is excellent. I have never tried the LS-32 but now that I am gonna have the SE SF4 stick I've got a JLF to put in it and I'm gonna replace the JLF in my HRAP2SA with a Seimitsu LS-32. That way I have options.

Shin · Post by **Shin** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:40 pm

rancid3000 wrote:
bostongeorge wrote:I'm pretty sure the only place that you're gonna find a TE is eBay. No one is taking pre-orders for them anymore except some small online retailers that may not be trustworthy.

Pre-orders are sold out at Gamestop (at a corporate level)

Capcom's Store had some as of yesterday but they sold-out of pre-ordes as well.

But you could still probably get one with a little work. I ordered a Standard Version SF4 stick and a set of Sanwa controls to go in it so that is still a good option.

The HRAP series of sticks is great too. I use the HRAP2SA, that I dual system modded, for my PS2, Xbox 360 and PC. It is very easily customized.

So really they are all great choices.
They both look like solid choices to me but I know nothing about joysticks. Glad to see I can't really go wrong with either.

Do you think the TE would work well with shmups?

If you plan on getting an HRAPEX(360) and modding it for dual system support, that would be definitely wrong though...

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:23 pm

brokenhalo wrote:
rancid3000 wrote:
bostongeorge wrote:I'm pretty sure the only place that you're gonna find a TE is eBay. No one is taking pre-orders for them anymore except some small online retailers that may not be trustworthy.

Pre-orders are sold out at Gamestop (at a corporate level)

Capcom's Store had some as of yesterday but they sold-out of pre-ordes as well.

But you could still probably get one with a little work. I ordered a Standard Version SF4 stick and a set of Sanwa controls to go in it so that is still a good option.

The HRAP series of sticks is great too. I use the HRAP2SA, that I dual system modded, for my PS2, Xbox 360 and PC. It is very easily customized.

So really they are all great choices.
They both look like solid choices to me but I know nothing about joysticks. Glad to see I can't really go wrong with either.

Do you think the TE would work well with shmups?
depends on your taste in parts. some people don't like playing shmups on a sanwa jlf because the throw is a little longer on that stick compared to a seimitsu ls-32. personally, i prefer the jlf for pretty much everything, shmups included. nice thing about the TE (and the SE) is that you can very easily swap out parts. so if you wanted to, you can order a seimitsu ls-32-01 and drop it into the TE case just for testing purposes to see which stick you prefer. same thing with the buttons.

different mounting plates for the sticks...so not a straight swap...would involve drilling and/or welding

brokenhalo · Post by **brokenhalo** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:32 pm

jonny5 wrote:
brokenhalo wrote:
rancid3000 wrote: They both look like solid choices to me but I know nothing about joysticks. Glad to see I can't really go wrong with either.

Do you think the TE would work well with shmups?
depends on your taste in parts. some people don't like playing shmups on a sanwa jlf because the throw is a little longer on that stick compared to a seimitsu ls-32. personally, i prefer the jlf for pretty much everything, shmups included. nice thing about the TE (and the SE) is that you can very easily swap out parts. so if you wanted to, you can order a seimitsu ls-32-01 and drop it into the TE case just for testing purposes to see which stick you prefer. same thing with the buttons.
different mounting plates for the sticks...so not a straight swap...would involve drilling and/or welding

it's been said that the case uses a universal mounting plate that will accept sanwa or seimitsu s plates. should be a straight swap.

bostongeorge · Post by **bostongeorge** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:03 pm

Shin wrote:
rancid3000 wrote:
bostongeorge wrote:I'm pretty sure the only place that you're gonna find a TE is eBay. No one is taking pre-orders for them anymore except some small online retailers that may not be trustworthy.

Pre-orders are sold out at Gamestop (at a corporate level)

Capcom's Store had some as of yesterday but they sold-out of pre-ordes as well.

But you could still probably get one with a little work. I ordered a Standard Version SF4 stick and a set of Sanwa controls to go in it so that is still a good option.

The HRAP series of sticks is great too. I use the HRAP2SA, that I dual system modded, for my PS2, Xbox 360 and PC. It is very easily customized.

So really they are all great choices.
They both look like solid choices to me but I know nothing about joysticks. Glad to see I can't really go wrong with either.

Do you think the TE would work well with shmups?
If you plan on getting an HRAPEX(360) and modding it for dual system support, that would be definitely wrong though...

Why would that be wrong? As far as I know the PCB in the HRAPEX(360) is common ground so it is pretty simple to add a Cthulu PCB for added PS3 support or a PS1 PCB for added PS2 support. I took my HRAP2SA (PS2 stick) and just took out the stock PCB and added a PS1 PCB and a MadCatz Xbox 360 PCB so I can use it with both systems.

Furthermore, due to Microsofts security protocols, it is easier to take a 360 stick and add PS3 support to it than it is to take a PS3 stick and add 360 support.

different mounting plates for the sticks...so not a straight swap...would involve drilling and/or welding

In the HRAP 2 and both versions of the SF4 stick there are mounting brackets that will accept Sanwa and Seimitsu sticks. In the HRAP3 and HRAPEX you can't mount the Seimitsu (without HEAVY modification that just isn't really feasible.

honorless · Post by **honorless** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:10 am

bostongeorge wrote:Why would that be wrong? As far as I know the PCB in the HRAPEX(360) is common ground

Shin wrote:yeah, I own an HRAP ex, and it's a pain in the ass to mod
the jlf (sanwa) joystick is soldered, the pcb (unlike most other pcbs) is NOT common ground

OP: SF IV TE destroys the HRAP EX.

If you've got your heart set on a TE, good luck. MarkMan said that MadCatz themselves should be opening up orders for both sticks at some point. Their online store is here. Who knows if that'll actually happen; right now they're scrambling to fill pre-orders.

I'm (probably) going to buy the cheaper SE stick and mod after the warranty expires, like bostongeorge. You may want to consider doing the same thing if you don't really care about the extra features the TE offers over the SE.

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:29 am

i see...my bad

rancid3000 · Post by **rancid3000** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:29 am

honorless wrote:
bostongeorge wrote:Why would that be wrong? As far as I know the PCB in the HRAPEX(360) is common ground
Shin wrote:yeah, I own an HRAP ex, and it's a pain in the ass to mod
the jlf (sanwa) joystick is soldered, the pcb (unlike most other pcbs) is NOT common ground
OP: SF IV TE destroys the HRAP EX.

If you've got your heart set on a TE, good luck. MarkMan said that MadCatz themselves should be opening up orders for both sticks at some point. Their online store is here. Who knows if that'll actually happen; right now they're scrambling to fill pre-orders.

I'm (probably) going to buy the cheaper SE stick and mod after the warranty expires, like bostongeorge. You may want to consider doing the same thing if you don't really care about the extra features the TE offers over the SE.

What are the differences between the SF IV TE and SE?

From what I can see the TE has that lock feature for the top buttons so you don't hit one by accident and the start and select buttons on the back. I don't really care about either of those. Obviously the case is different. Are there any others?

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:54 am

Basically, the TE stick has Sanwa buttons and stick, and is roughly around the same size as the HRAP. The SE is much smaller and is just as easily moddable, but has MadCatz parts as a stock item. The HRAP SE is all Seimitsu, but since it's the same style as the HRAP EX, I would wait on it and see whether the JLF is proper or not.

The cheapest option would obviously be to get a bunch of parts from Akihabarashop, as well as a SE once they're out. I tried getting a TE stick 2 weeks ago, and failed. A lot of people won't be getting theirs until March. They're also making some Saturn-like pads as well, if you don't want to play games with the 360's dpad.

honorless · Post by **honorless** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:12 am

The start & select buttons are on the cord side for both sticks, so aside from the lock feature you mentioned:

TE

6.5 lbs
Easily-removable/switchable acrylic art panel
Compartment for cord storage
Opens from the top with hex keys.
Removable rubber feet, so you can take them out and bolt the bottom panel onto something (if you're really that paranoid about the stick moving)
Metal bottom

SE

4.25 lbs; like Elixir said, the stick is not just lighter but smaller.
Knock-off parts. MarkMan says the buttons are better than Hori's. I've heard the joystick is stiffer than a JLF.
Art on a vinyl decal adhered to the stick like a HRAP.
Opens from the bottom (more than likely with hex keys, but may require a screwdriver)
Non-removable rubber feet (not sure)
Plastic bottom (not entirely sure, but likely)

That's all I can recall. It's been pretty hard to find complete information for the SE since everyone's wanking over the TE. (Can't really blame them. If I was a bigger Sanwa/SF fan and already owned a 360, I'd probably have caught the hype and bought one.)

rancid3000 · Post by **rancid3000** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:01 pm

I just found out that both joysticks have that lock feature for the top left buttons. Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p4lGaLc9aI

This website has the TE edition and the SE edition but if you pre-order the TE, you won't get it until April 7th!!!

I might just go with the SE and buy some better parts.

bostongeorge · Post by **bostongeorge** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 5:09 am

honorless wrote:The start & select buttons are on the cord side for both sticks, so aside from the lock feature you mentioned:

TE
6.5 lbs

Easily-removable/switchable acrylic art panel

Compartment for cord storage

Opens from the top with hex keys.

Removable rubber feet, so you can take them out and bolt the bottom panel onto something (if you're really that paranoid about the stick moving)

Metal bottom
SE
4.25 lbs; like Elixir said, the stick is not just lighter but smaller.

Knock-off parts. MarkMan says the buttons are better than Hori's. I've heard the joystick is stiffer than a JLF.

Art on a vinyl decal adhered to the stick like a HRAP.

Opens from the bottom (more than likely with hex keys, but may require a screwdriver)

Non-removable rubber feet (not sure)

Plastic bottom (not entirely sure, but likely)
That's all I can recall. It's been pretty hard to find complete information for the SE since everyone's wanking over the TE. (Can't really blame them. If I was a bigger Sanwa/SF fan and already owned a 360, I'd probably have caught the hype and bought one.)

When you look at it that way, but when you compare them after assuming that you've replaced all the parts in a Standard stick right off the bat.

Compared that way you get the REALLY important things on both sticks. All you get in addition on the TE is cord storage and the case itself. Which is still definitely worth the extra cost of the TE stick, but if your only option is the Standard stick you can still have a high-quality, arcade spec stick.

Shin · Post by **Shin** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:46 am

[quote="bostongeorge"]

Why would that be wrong? As far as I know the PCB in the HRAPEX(360) is common ground so it is pretty simple to add a Cthulu PCB for added PS3 support or a PS1 PCB for added PS2 support. I took my HRAP2SA (PS2 stick) and just took out the stock PCB and added a PS1 PCB and a MadCatz Xbox 360 PCB so I can use it with both systems.

Furthermore, due to Microsofts security protocols, it is easier to take a 360 stick and add PS3 support to it than it is to take a PS3 stick and add 360 support.

[quote]

I mean I can't say I own every HRAP EX and it's revisions(I only own the jp HRAP EX)... but honestly trust me, HRAP EX is N-O-T common ground

concerning doing a dual pcb mod by starting with a 360stick and adding ps3 is true, but the 360pcb has to be common ground, which is BY EXPERIENCE is not the case with the HRAP EX, but this is definitely the way to go if you pick a 360 SFIV stick.

proof of none common ground HORI pcb (I made those shitty pics myself before begining my triple pcb mod)>>

overview(changed the btns layout already), the JLF-TM-8T-SK-K has no 5 pin connector (obvious for a non common pcb, no ?)>

HRAP pcb front, back

(1st pic, down and right color cables are the buttons, upper right the JLF connections, top is mic and left is X-guide buttons, on the 2nd pic top connector is usb cable)

there are like...wayyy too many wires for a common ground pcb, don't you think ?

bostongeorge · Post by **bostongeorge** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:49 am

Gotcha. I guess I just assumed it would be similar to the PCB in my HRAP 2.

I used a Mad Catz "gameStop" pad to source my pcb for my dual mod.

Triple PCB? What did you use? Were you able to use the HRAP EX PCB?

Shin · Post by **Shin** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:58 pm

the 3 pcbs are for :
- 360/PC (I used a Mad Catz Arcade pcb (the Atari-like thing))
(so no couldn't use the HORI pcb as it wasn't common ground. I used the guide btn+mini/deported-pcb (but no quadrant LEDs support for now) and the microphone that where with the HRAPEX pcb though)

- GC/Wii (using an official gc controller (DOL-003 which turned out to be a bitch to mod as start, B, A, Y, X are very small soldering points (you ave to scratch the epoxy like surface over them first)
(thing is that you can't play smash bros with my hack because you can only play smash bros with the analog stick with GC pad... but my aim was more tatsunoko vs capcom and wii emulation. for some unknown reasons L&R aren't working either on this one

)

- PS1/2/3/PC (using a mayflash pcb usually found inside that stick, found it as is on ebay http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/7126/p ... iewib5.jpg)
had to rewire the directions+gnd (there is no 5-pin harnest for the stick because it was originaly used in a non-common ground setup) and start select. (which had bad soldering)

I finished wiring the pcbs and stick+btns and tested them separately yesterday.
gotta finish that mod today

harlequ1n · Post by **harlequ1n** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:54 pm

I was also doubting between the two until I saw how easily moddifiable the TE is... hell even the standard edition! I'm so getting one... if they ever come out in Spain.

As of now, I have a little mod project for my Hori EX2. It's going to be my 1st mod and I've been reading like a possesed so I think I got it

I'll be replacing the art, buttons and ball for the stick with Sanwa or Seimitsu parts...

My only question is about the restrictor gate. I want to replace my current square gate for an octogonal one for fighting games, but what about shmups? Is it better this way for shmups?

Shin · Post by **Shin** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:30 pm

I heard the EX is kind of a bitch to mod, I'm not sure what stick and how you can mod it.

as for octogate, as I'm not a shmup expert I wouldn't know, but it sound kinda useless for shmups yeah.
as for fighters, I'm curious about how that would play, but so far I'm fine with the original square gate.

why not just get the standard SFIV Stick for 360 and change the btns and octo gate ? i'm pretty sure you can do that in less than 10mins by using only a screw-driver... whereas for the EX2, it's gonna take a good while, and case-trimming, soldering skills...

so I finish my triple pcb mod>

I wired the 360 guide quadrant so it turns on when the stick is plugged with any system (here ps3), the old school 360 mic-in was a bit annoying too as it was 2x8 close and small connections to solder)

Edit: just wanted to say that the mayflash ps2/ps3 pcb turened out to be useless as it wont work in conjonction with other pcbs... so I just hacked a 1st gen ps1 controller this afternoon and put it in my modded HRAPEX, worked like a charm. to hell with ps3 support \o/