Bass Transducer / Buttkicker DIY builds

[KeiferH]

Anyone played with non out-of-the-box bass transducer setups? I'm running on Xbox so don't have the same audio control as a PC but I've been playing around with different tranducers and amp circuits and built this double headed system including seat and pedal board. Interested to see other peoples builds and thoughts on amps, transducers, mounting, and vibration isolation.

https://www.vanagony.com/2019/12/19/diy-driving-chair-buttkicker-bass-transducer-install/



Thanks

K

 

[twoskodas]

Hi ,i have a buttkicker gamer 2 sitting under the xmas tree ,very excited to set it up and try it out on my rig ,i use a xbox x as well play pc2 ,dirt 2,assetto corsa and abit of forza 7 my rig is gt omega and i think i will set it under the seat and maybe add another under shaker under the pedals if needed , i was also thinking of putting the mini earthquake under my armchair for casual controller fun for horizon 4 and battlefield ,great video cheers

 

[KeiferH]

Hi ,i have a buttkicker gamer 2 sitting under the xmas tree ,very excited to set it up and try it out on my rig ,i use a xbox x as well play pc2 ,dirt 2,assetto corsa and abit of forza 7 my rig is gt omega and i think i will set it under the seat and maybe add another under shaker under the pedals if needed , i was also thinking of putting the mini earthquake under my armchair for casual controller fun for horizon 4 and battlefield ,great video cheers

I'd be interested to hear what you think of the difference between your Gamer 2 with the Low Filter on and off as it cuts out most of the frequency range that my amp doesn't have to start with. Assuming you have the GT Omega pedal board and riser then? I think the Gamer 2 should move that pretty well. If mounting to that gives you shifter (if you have one) or steering wheel vibration sensation please let me know if you like or don't like that. I might experiment some more.

K

 

[twoskodas]

I'd be interested to hear what you think of the difference between your Gamer 2 with the Low Filter on and off as it cuts out most of the frequency range that my amp doesn't have to start with. Assuming you have the GT Omega pedal board and riser then? I think the Gamer 2 should move that pretty well. If mounting to that gives you shifter (if you have one) or steering wheel vibration sensation please let me know if you like or don't like that. I might experiment some more.

K

Well having had a couple of days messing with it here my thoughts so far ,I like to have the low filter off as i gain more overall feel from each car,kicker is mounted central under my seat , butt kicker is sending great vibration thro the entire rig ,love the feeling when just revving engine i can feel it in my seat , wheel ,pedals also in my shifter and handbrake,each game gives different results forza 7 best for kerbs and cars combined ,assetto corsa best for individual cars,pc2 is quite sutble ,dirt 2 excellent but need to tune out some road noise on rough tracks ,having the amp close by is key as im finding you need to change setting for each car sim but im sure this will settle down as i getmore used to it and find a good middle ground for each game,kind of addictive and provides great immersion

 

[KeiferH]

Well having had a couple of days messing with it here my thoughts so far ,I like to have the low filter off as i gain more overall feel from each car,kicker is mounted central under my seat , butt kicker is sending great vibration thro the entire rig ,love the feeling when just revving engine i can feel it in my seat , wheel ,pedals also in my shifter and handbrake,each game gives different results forza 7 best for kerbs and cars combined ,assetto corsa best for individual cars,pc2 is quite sutble ,dirt 2 excellent but need to tune out some road noise on rough tracks ,having the amp close by is key as im finding you need to change setting for each car sim but im sure this will settle down as i getmore used to it and find a good middle ground for each game,kind of addictive and provides great immersion

So I had no idea, but with Xbox we totally CAN use telemetry instead of sound to drive our stuff, even the buttkicker and it's SO much better. We can do exactly what people with PCs do to control the transducers. Bottom line, the software that generates the feed for the transducers usually lives on the the PC that is also playing the game, but it doesn't have to. Most games have a setting that allows it to send telemetry to a PC on the same network and it "just works"

I'm not a PC guy but had a laptop kicking around, and it goes something like this:

1) Get a laptop running on your network with software to generate the rumble. I'm using simhub (which you can use for free or give them a donation)
2) Get the IP address of that PC
3) Go to the xbox game and find the telemetry setting, switch it on, add the PCs IP address, and specify the port (for simhub it's 8000 by default)
4) Tell simhub which game you are using
5) Connect your amp to the laptop audio out
6) Go to the Shake It Bass Shaker section and click Sound Output at the top and switch to MONO and specify the audio card you want to use (the only one if you're using a laptop)
7) Click Effects Profile at the top and play around with what effects are being sent to the amp. At that point, it's just the same as the PC functionality that you might have read about. Simhub sends various frequencies of vibration to the amp for specific events. It's just better.

Added bonus, you can pull up the the PCs IP address on your phone on a specific port and use it has various displays, like dash cluster. The whole thing is friggin awesome, and we can use it on Xbox.

K

 

[twoskodas]

That is an amazing discovery,i had no idea and i bet most others dont,now i dont have a up to date pc/laptop but will try and get hold of one to try this out ,I think this is big news for alot of console users and the extra immersion is well worth the effort,well done and thanks for detailed post,cheers

 

[KeiferH]

That is an amazing discovery,i had no idea and i bet most others dont,now i dont have a up to date pc/laptop but will try and get hold of one to try this out ,I think this is big news for alot of console users and the extra immersion is well worth the effort,well done and thanks for detailed post,cheers

Right? I think most hardcore gamers are PC users so it's just not big news. I continue to experiment with the many settings. Right now I'm using frequency oscillator software to get a sense of the frequency range of my amps and different transducers to help dial in simhub settings. I might split the laptop out into left and right to be able to send different effects and frequencies to the BK (which seems happiest between 10 and 60hz) vs the cheaper transducers on the pedal board (which seem happier from 40hz up)

Have fun

K

 

[John G]

Bit of a thread bump but having been consigned to the house, and the luxury of time if not money, i decided to see if i could make a half price buttkicker for my PS4.

Ended up with the following:
Cheap hdmi audio extractor (to RCA) and extra hdmi lead. Cost £15 but i would have needed that with the buttkicker too
Nobsound G2 100W subwoofer amp, £43 Ebay
Dayton Audio BST-1, £57 Amazon
Twin RCA cable, speaker cable with banana plugs, £6 Ebay
Mounting hardware, £12 Ebay

Total £118, compared to £210 for buttkicker so not quite half. I could have saved £25 by using the Sinuslive Bass Pump iii (£32, amazon) but figured I'd go for more 'known' products but on a stricter budget im sure it would be fine.
So for me was between the dayton audio and the reckhorn bs-200i (£45, shaker centre). The reckhorn also has a dedicated bracket available which made it very tempting, but these were out of stock, and with £12 p&p from shaker centre there was barely any saving over the Dayton audio.

The amp is perfect, it has a switch for subwoofer or full frequency output, a dial for subwoofer cutoff frequency, as well as a separate volume knob and adjustable gain switch. (Obviously you might not need this functionality on PC as you can use simvibe software to send only the specific signals to the amp).

The hardware is easily upgradeable to double shakers with a second amp, you can just hook up one RCA to each for separate left and right. This double config would take me to 5% over the cost of the buttkicker gamer 2.

Still waiting for my mounting hardware so in the meantime, screwed a piece of wood across the front legs of my playseat challenge and secured the transducer to that. Hooked it up with a quick bout of dirt rally, works great but definitely need to change the mounting as it rattles the chair at anything over quarter volume (on 36Db gain).

The intended solution is to get two clamps on the backrest bars (using motorbike wing mirror brackets as these have a 25mm bar clamp and M8 threaded hole), screw a length of u-channel steel to the clamps, and secure the shaker to that. So the shaker would be operating directly into my back and less into the floor.