Dance mat EX PRO + The Handbar

5 reviews for Dance mat EX PRO + The Handbar

1. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Brandon Batche (verified owner) – May 20, 2020

   US customer. I received my order almost exactly one month after placing it, which really isn’t too bad all things considered (especially the current situation with COVID). I’ve had it for just about a week now and have been using it every day for several hours a day. I play in running shoes. I weight 185 pounds and I’ve been playing songs on it that range in difficulty from 12’s-17’s (DDR X scale difficulty). Here are my first impressions.

   The bad:
   First off, I did not play on this pad before penny modding it so I can’t give a good judgement of how it works out of the box. However, I can say once you spend some time adjusting the sensitivity, this thing plays like a dream. As someone who mainly plays in the arcade, it definitely needs some getting used to. However, once you get comfortable after a few hours of play, it feels just fine. Properly modded, the pad is just sensitive enough without being too sensitive to cause misfires. The only thing I noticed is it’s easy to accidentally bracket the corners when doing certain patterns. However, this isn’t really an issue caused by the pad itself. It’s more an issue caused by my play style. This accidental bracketing is also probably a product of the penny mod, so keep that in mind.

   It definitely holds up under intense play. I’ve played a handful of DDR 17’s and didn’t notice any bad judgements that weren’t my fault entirely. I’ve gotten a handful of PFC’s on 12-14 difficulty songs, and was able to easily single digit great a 15. Compared to the arcade experience, you might have to slightly adjust your play style to get the most out of this pad. Especially if you’re a stickler for full combos/PFCs/Quad stars.

   As stated before, I play in running shoes. Keeping that in mind, the pad feels very sturdy and the pro panels definitely feel high quality and hard to crack. I also really like the design of the sensors, and the design of the pad itself. It’s extremely simple which not only makes it easy to mod and perform simple cleaning and maintenance, it also means that if anything ever breaks or goes wrong it will be very simple and cheap to fix or replace yourself.

   My only real complaint is this thing is rather loud, especially when playing higher tier stuff in shoes. However, this is completely expected and there’s not really anything that could have been done to remedy this, so I’m not gonna hold it against the pad.

   The bar:
   Now, this is where things get slightly contentious depending on who you ask. When I first ordered this, my expectations were actually quite low. I’ve heard many people give their opinions on the bar. I’ve seen videos of the bar in action. I’ve heard about, and seen, the wobble. And I’ll be honest, after reading about all this and seeing the videos, I was not impressed. Still, I’m too lazy to build my own bar, so I decided to take a shot anyways. I went into buying the bar setup basically knowing it wasn’t going to be very good.

   And I gotta say, I was wrong. Mostly.

   With such low expectations, I was honestly shocked at how well the bar holds up. Does it wobble? Well, short answer is yes. But it’s nowhere near as bad as what I was expecting. First off, it’s really not that noticable when you’re actually playing, even the more intense charts. Believe it or not, the bar is actually fairly sturdy when you’re leaning on it. Most of the wobble comes from pulling the bar towards the pad (which you shouldn’t really be doing anyways). I’d say the bar’s wobble coveres a distance of about an inch and a half from back to front. However, if we’re only talking about leaning the bar away from the pad during play, it has maybe a half an inch of sway. Probably even less. These are just estimations though. So yeah, don’t go into buying this bar thinking it’s gonna be immobile. It definitely has a wobble. But so far I don’t think the amount of wobble is enough to be a significant issue… yet. Time can only tell if it will stay that way.

   One other thing I should mention about the bar. If you’re gonna buy it I HIGHLY HIGHLY encourage you buy some kind of foam padded grip tape, especially if you anticipate holding the bar by the corners. Something like grip tape for a tennis racket should work. The bar isn’t very thick, and the square-ish design CAN and most likely WILL bruise your palms after extended play. Speaking from experience here.

   The bar isn’t perfect. I didn’t expect it to be perfect. However, since I can’t go the arcades at the time of writing this review, it ABSOLUTELY gets the job done. Now, if you’re handy with tools and have the know-how, I would probably recommend building your own bar instead. You can easily design a far sturdier bar for probably half the price if you’re willing to put the work in. But for those of us who are too lazy to put the work in, this is a decent option. A little on the pricey side in my opinion, but it will get the job done.

   Overall, I’m extremely happy with my purchase. The pad is fantastic. I’d say it’s on par with (or even, dare I say, better than) the Cobalt Flux pads from back in the day. The bar far exceeded my low expectations, and is actually pretty decent. I would say it’s probably too expensive for the quality you get, but I don’t really regret buying the bar. It’s working out for me so far, at least.

   tl;dr: Pad is excellent, bar is decent but overpriced. I’m still extremely happy with my purchase.

2. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   Gray Beyer (verified owner) – June 16, 2020

   I have been trying to get in contact with the makers for weeks and it seems they only read and respond to reviews. This review isn’t for the pad, I’ve enjoyed it very much, but I was unable to review the item in question (the bar) since I didn’t buy it separately. I received the wrong parts for the bar and so have not been able to finish installing it. Instead of getting two pairs of sides for the halves of the triangular brackets (the inside half has screw holes and no metal flap) I received four outside halves. This way, it is impossible to complete step 5, and install the middle bar between the two triangular brackets. I would appreciate a response.

3. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Alex Nelson (verified owner) – October 18, 2020

   Bar is a little short, and it was expensive all things considered. With that said though, it works like a charm. I’m clearing songs I never could have imagined beating on a foam mat. Sensitivity is just fine without penny mod IMO, and overall I think it’s a great pad. Unless you have money for the StepmaniaX, this is the way to go.

4. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Xuan Ze Pay (verified owner) – February 6, 2021

   Singapore Buyer here, do take note that you need to pay a tax of $112 + when the item arrived. Overall product is good. Expected the dance pad to have spring like in the arcade but its doesn’t have spring. it feel like stepping on a flat floor/mat. For Bar its a bit shaking but its still holding my weight 70KG. And there is no grip for the bar which hurts when you play a few rounds of level 14 song and above while holding the bar.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Jussi Päivinen (verified owner) – June 20, 2022

   I read the previous reviews and browsed around reddit for some additional reviews and decided on buying this and I was not disappointed one bit.

   The pad itself is awesome quality, just plug it in and it is ready to play and the sensitivity is good and it is very comfortable to play on with shoes or socks. Nothing to complain really for this price.

   You have to build the handbar yourself, it was pretty easy, clear instructions were inside the package. Unfortunately I am pretty tall (188cm) so the bar is just slightly too short for it to be perfect, but it is very stable and it feels like it is not going to break down easily. I’ve had the pad for half a year now, so don’t know how long it actually lasts, but it feels really solid for this price.

   Very good deal overall, I think only better pad that you can buy right now is Stepmania X pad and it is wayyy more expensive and hard to actually order. This is the best deal for pad with bar that you can get.