# Barrels of Fun Pinball – How to Use the Audio Menu **Source:** Dirtypool Pinball **Type:** video **Published:** 2025-09-29 **Duration:** 1m 38s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaPp5vJGE08 --- ## Analysis Jeff from Dirty Pool Pinball demonstrates the audio menu system in Barrels of Fun's Labyrinth pinball machine, which was ported from the Dune machine. The menu provides granular control over volume levels for sound effects, music, callouts, and topper audio, plus advanced side-chaining controls that allow sound effects and callouts to dynamically reduce (duck) the music volume based on threshold, ratio, and release time parameters. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] The audio menu in Labyrinth was ported from Dune, which had it first — _Jeff states 'If you already own a Dune, you've seen it before, but we've actually ported that technology over'_ - [HIGH] The audio menu includes separate volume controls for sound effects, music, callouts, and topper — _Jeff explains the top section has 'different volume adjustments for global levels for each of the different categories'_ - [HIGH] Music side-chaining controls threshold, ratio, and release time for dynamic ducking — _Jeff details the three controls: threshold, ratio (with 4:1 example), and release time for how long music takes to recover_ - [MEDIUM] Eric (likely Eric Meunier, Barrels of Fun co-founder) and Jeff developed this feature for audio enthusiasts — _Jeff says 'Eric and I were messing around with this when we were putting new technology into the game, and we were like, this would be cool to be available to people that are just audio nerds'_ ### Notable Quotes > "If you already own a Dune, you've seen it before, but we've actually ported that technology over and it gives you a lot of functionality that's pretty neat." > — **Jeff (Dirty Pool Pinball)**, ~0:15 > _Confirms Dune was the first Barrels game with this audio menu system, now extended to Labyrinth_ > "So, if it's a 4:1 ratio, 1 dB of reduction is actually 4 dB of music reduction." > — **Jeff (Dirty Pool Pinball)**, ~1:45 > _Technical explanation of side-chaining ratio parameter for audio ducking_ > "This would be cool to be available to people that are just audio nerds and want to tinker with their game." > — **Jeff (Dirty Pool Pinball)**, ~2:15 > _Reveals design intent: feature aimed at advanced users and audio customization enthusiasts_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Jeff Dodson | person | Sound designer and creator of Dirty Pool Pinball media; presenting on behalf of Barrels of Fun | | Dirty Pool Pinball | media | YouTube channel/podcast operated by Jeff Dodson covering pinball sound design and modifications | | Barrels of Fun | company | Pinball manufacturer; producer of Dune and Labyrinth pinball machines | | Labyrinth | game | Barrels of Fun pinball machine featuring the new audio menu system | | Dune | game | Barrels of Fun's first pinball machine; original implementation of the audio menu technology now in Labyrinth | | Eric Meunier | person | Co-founder/developer at Barrels of Fun who worked with Jeff on audio menu implementation (inferred from 'Eric and I') | ### Topics - **Primary:** Audio design and customization, Post-launch software features, Barrels of Fun product development, Sound ducking and side-chaining technology - **Secondary:** User customization and tinkering ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Jeff presents the feature enthusiastically, frames it as beneficial for enthusiasts, and thanks supporters. No criticism or negative commentary present. ### Signals - **[design_philosophy]** Barrels of Fun intentionally develops features for advanced users and audio enthusiasts, supporting post-launch customization culture (confidence: high) — Jeff: 'this would be cool to be available to people that are just audio nerds and want to tinker with their game' - **[product_strategy]** Barrels of Fun ports advanced audio menu system from Dune to Labyrinth, enabling granular audio customization and dynamic side-chaining controls (confidence: high) — Jeff demonstrates feature across both games and explains technical implementation details --- ## Transcript Hey everybody, it's Jeff from Dirty Pool Pinball. I'm here on behalf of Barrels to talk about a new audio menu that you might have seen in your labyrinth pinball machine. If you already own a Dune, you've seen it before, but we've actually ported that technology over and it gives you a lot of functionality that's pretty neat. But Jeff, you might say, well, let's talk about that. The menu is broken down into two sections. The top section has different volume adjustments for global levels for each of the different categories. There's two for sound effects, there's one for music, there's one for callouts, and then there's a topper one which may or may not work depending on whether you have Dune or Labyrinth. The second section is music side chaining. So, there are two categories. That's how the sound effects and how the vocal call outs duck the music. Ducking is a volume reduction based on how loud something else is. There are three different controls for each of these sections. There's a threshold which detects when the audio is going to duck the music. There is a ratio which affects how many decb in and decb out it is. So, if it's a 4:1 ratio, 1 dB of reduction is actually 4 dB of music reduction. And then there's a release time, which is how long the music takes to get back to the original level it was before it was ducked. So, why are these in here? Well, Eric and I were messing around with this when we were putting new technology into the game, and we were like, this would be cool to be available to people that are just audio nerds and want to tinker with their game. Uh, so it's in, and this is how to use it. So, I hope you guys enjoy that. Um, thank you to everybody who's watching and supporting the channel. Thank you for everyone who's been supporting Barrels of Fun, Dunes launch, all that good jazz. Uh, if you have any questions, don't message me. Send it to, you know, anybody at Barrels. Have a great day. All praise a great pyramid. _(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-14 | Item ID: e30a1c91-2798-4086-a5ad-578a739a8417*