Top products from r/bemani

FPS - Smallest form factor. spacing between keys and turntable can be changed from KOC spacing to AC spacing. Good if you plan on bringing it around a lot but you will occasionally hit the start key instead of key 2 sometimes which can be annoying because they are so close to each other.

FP7 - this is what most people get. spacing between keys and TT is AC. TT radius is smaller than AC but that doesn't really matter. Bigger than the FPS, smaller than the PEE. Not exactly portable. Start key is further away from the keys so you probably won't have issues hitting it.

PEE - Bigger than the FP7. I think the turntable radius is bigger too but i'm not sure if it's AC size. Pretty much the same though and it looks nicer I guess.

Real Edition - Only worth getting if you really want your setup to look like an arcade. It has the handrest thing that you see at the arcade but honestly it is useless and is kinda annoying if you're playing sitting down because it gets in the way. If you play standing up it's fine though. Pretty much the same as a PEE in terms of features.

Real Edition Double - For double play.

C33 - Idk why this piece of crap even exists.

Infinitas is garbage. Subscription based but you barely have any songs unlocked by default. You need to earn currency (bits) by grinding songs and completing daily challenges like getting an A on a level X song etc. Incredibly boring because you spend ages grinding easy songs to complete challenges in order to unlock one hard song and the game discourages you from playing the hard songs because you will barely get any bits from playing them unless you can actually score well and complete challenges on them. Either way you are incentivised to just grind easy shit over and over which is a snoozefest. Not worth the money.

You can play BMS files on /r/lunaticrave2. you can get BMS files of all the iidx songs at bms.bemaniso.ws or bmsworld.nz (which includes other bms packs too but requires you to make an account).

Try watching this video for a good description of layouts. I would recommend learning 1048 because it's the most common layout and is pretty efficient. Try enabling random to get used to chords in adjacent lanes and weird stairs.

CRTs are cool. Personally I play on this TV. AC IIDX monitors are either 37" or 39" iirc so this TV is a bit too small but it's not a huge difference. It also has low input lag (around 28ms?). It's also very light - I placed mine on top of the cardboard box it came in so I could play standing up. It's also 720p so you don't get additional delay from upscaling (although any lag this would introduce would be minimal).

Depends on what monitor you use. I guess most gaming monitors are designed to have low input delay so they should be fine

I'm not sure if you'll find the original/official controllers for a cheaper price, but they're pretty good to use (if you do the coin mod, which is super easy with either version). The USA "Beatmania" game (it's IIDX, with much easier difficulty) has a controller in the box - but it will also be tricky to find one on sale, at least at a reasonable price

I use [this] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016N052M6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) stand. If you have the perfect spot for the controller on the desk then keep it there, if not I'd suggest the stand.

I like it because I can adjust the height of the stand. Additionally I can move it closer/away from the TV. It allows me to move it to the perfect spot.

I play bemani in my living room, and sometimes when I have company I move the controller and the stand in order to make more room and avoid telling people to not use it as a coaster. The stand survives moving well.

Late to the party.

If you would rather not involve the staff, I recommend carrying a volume control device. I use this one: https://www.amazon.com/Shure-EAADPT-KIT-Adapter-Combines-Attachable/dp/B001P5HL3S