I Miss My Seat Shakers

[westside]

I have been using a device called a ButtKicker in my simpit for the last few years and in late September the main amp for these devices gave up. Having the seats rumble adds quite alot to the experience. It was capable of running two units at a time and I pushed it to three. I have been waiting for a new amp since mid October and am looking forward to having my seats come to life once again. They are a great addition to any simpit and work well well with a good sound system.

[westside]

Got my new amp and it is all good again. It was real good last night flying the bell jet ranger. As you load up the rotor blades you actually feel it in the seats. Like I said a great addition to any simpit

[JBaymore]

Every bit of stuff like this that you can add to the pit makes a huge difference in immersion.  On my list for the near future is to incorporate a stick shaker on the yoke.  Simple to build and interface.

I have been using Aura Bass Shakers in the pilot's seat.  They are great. 

best,

............john

[X.G.Aus]

Im sure your better half couldnt wait for it either...

[Flying Trucker]

Interesting Post...gives me some more ideas...

[beaky]

Interesting Post...gives me some more ideas...

Just take it easy on the prune juice before you fly with one of those under the seat, Doug...   

They are very effective... not sure if it was the same mfr., but some years ago I helped install the sound system at the new Hayden Planetarium Sky Theater... in addition to massive subwoofers around the dome for the subharmonic frequencies and ordinary "bass" tones, there is a small shaker under each seat. They are usually 12V DC-powered, being intended for installation in cars. They work more like industrial vibrators than speakers- not for pushing air, but for making structures vibrate directly. If you bolt one to the frame of the seat, it effectively turns the seat into a transducer for extremely low frequencies. The ones we used could produce a clean sine wave at high volume at only 5Hz!

[Flying Trucker]

Thanks Sean...

Odd how I missed three or four good Links in this section as I have been in the internet looking for ideas and there are some great products and ideas right here...

[westside]

Hey Doug

Since that post I was in a simulator in Toronto and it was a real eye opener to fly with out the seat shakers. I have come to rely on them for certain ques. For example as soon as you start to dirty up the aircraft for landing there are small changes in the frequency of the seat. The best part is when the wheels hit the tarmac you know it. I highly recommend this addition to any flight sim set up. For about $200 it is a very noticeable hardware add on.

[Flying Trucker]

Thanks westside...

Were you on course at DeHavilland by chance and did you stay at the Yorkdale Holiday Inn?

That info will come in handy when I go to purchase something, hope you do not mind if I contact you by PM when I am ready to purchase something just to see what you think. 

[westside]

Hey Doug

No problem, anything I can do to help. When I was in Toronto I was at Horizon Aviation north of YYZ. They have a static 737 simulator that I spent 3 hours in last October. With static simulation(non-motion) sound and vibration can make a huge differance. I did two landings and I wasn't sure how well I did because these types of Simulators are MS2004 based and the crash setting are set to easy.

Mark

[Flying Trucker]

Excellent...the flight simulators now just boggle the imagination...

[JBaymore]

Thanks Sean...

Odd how I missed three or four good Links in this section as I have been in the internet looking for ideas and there are some great products and ideas right here...

There is a wealth of infomation hiding in this forum section.

best,

..................john

[JBaymore]

Hey Doug

Since that post I was in a simulator in Toronto and it was a real eye opener to fly with out the seat shakers. I have come to rely on them for certain ques. For example as soon as you start to dirty up the aircraft for landing there are small changes in the frequency of the seat. The best part is when the wheels hit the tarmac you know it. I highly recommend this addition to any flight sim set up. For about $200 it is a very noticeable hardware add on.

Absolutely.  With the Aerosoft payware add on that puts center line light unit bumps into the sim...... you really notice the impact of the shakers... and if you modlify the sound files with sub-sonics for the flaps noises.... you really feel the effects.

best,

...................john

[MASABI TROOPER]

Everything as real as possible....................

Trooper

[OldAirmail]

I have been using a device called a ButtKicker in my simpit for the last few years and in late September the main amp for these devices gave up. Having the seats rumble adds quite alot to the experience. It was capable of running two units at a time and I pushed it to three. I have been waiting for a new amp since mid October and am looking forward to having my seats come to life once again. They are a great addition to any simpit and work well well with a good sound system.

HELP! I bought the ButtKicker BK-GR Gamer last February.

And while I like it a lot for music and movies, it seems somewhat underwhelming when used with FSX.

The parts were made far better than I was expecting. No complaints there.

And, as well as a tunelessly challenged person can tell, I THINK that it's working as intended. But I'm starting to question that.

Some bass effects are very understandable - 4 radial engines on most WWII bombers are great. A whining jet engine just isn't going to produce much in the way of a bass rumble.


When I'm using it with FSX, I turn the "volume" up on the BK until I can barely feel a buzzing in the seat. The highest I let it go up is just below the point where the red light comes on.

But at the low end of the threshold where there is a faint buzz felt in the chair, there isn't much butt kicking going on (when I have a plane taking off and flying).


BTW, the ButtKicker is plugged into the bass output on my computer.


I have 2 powered (audio) bass speakers (along with the mid and high speakers). These 2 bass speakers are enough to rumble the desktop when I crank them up. At that point I, usually, turn up the volume on the ButtKicker up past the buzzing that it normally produces.


I would have thought that the buzzing from the ButtKicker was coming from the audio built in to the motherboard. But pressing the mute button on the keyboard stops all audio going out, without stopping the buzz felt in the chair.

With the ButtKickers volume turned down to the point where I can just feel the buzzing, I've disconnected the input to the back of the ButtKicker amplifier. The buzz was still there, and still at the same volume.


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Absolutely. With the Aerosoft payware add on that puts center line light unit bumps into the sim...... you really notice the impact of the shakers... and if you modlify the sound files with sub-sonics for the flaps noises.... you really feel the effects.

best,

...................john

What software are you referring to? The better the ButtKicker effects the happier I'll be. I hope.


I bought Accu-Feel from A2A hopping that it could help accentuate the thuds, thunks, and bumps felt via the ButtKicker. But it didn't help all that much with the ButtKicker.

On the other hand, Accu-Feel did add a lot that MS left out, and was well worth the money.


Either I have it setup wrong, or my ButtKicker amp isn't all that it should be.

However it does work VERY well with my music and movies. So the problem must be that I have it set up wrong for FSX???