As for number of transducers: depends on what you are mounting them to I guess. Troll’s setup is different than mine. Mine is a simple office chair and one would suffice. But, I have 2 of them; one is larger/beefier (more ‘mass’ - bigger), hooked up such that one is on the left and one on the right channel, with mono output (my amp is mono only).
The larger transducer I get more ‘thump’ from for G-Feel and Stall output. The smaller one I feel things like flap travel and such (lower frequency samples better for larger transducer, higher better with smaller one?).
The article Troll linked to has some info, with links embedded for further info on wiring if needed.
FWIW, it is a more ‘complete’ sim with this feedback; without it there is zero ‘feel’ - I can’t fly without it anymore.
Let’s breathe some life into this old thread again…
I’ve been having problems with my haptic system.
It’s four bass shakers, two per channel, linked to an amplifier.
Sometimes one channel cuts out. I switched channels to rule out problems with the bass shaker wiring. I tried without the galvanic filter (that I needed to get rid of a groundloop problem) to rule that out. I also tried the onboard soundcard and external USB soundcard, but one channel keeps cutting out.
Must be the amp then…?
Hope it works out - I go into a panic when my haptic gizmo isn’t working. Usually it’s just a simple plug not being…plugged.
Four? Nice. Interestingly I’ve reduced mine back to just one (somewhat beefy transducer); one single-channel amp, and have lowered the output a bit. Would have thought I’d get accustomed to it over time and be adding more [pucks and power] but it’s been the opposite. My guess is that, in VR anyway, I’m more attuned to things and require less ‘stimulation’ to get the point across.
Now, if the Dev’s (ED, MSFT, LR, etc) would support this ‘channel’ directly - yeah baby! First I’d imagine zero [perceptible] latency and second we’d likely have more channels; as is, with this solution, only one is used (Simshaker stuff) being differentiated only by the sound sample. A multi-threading no-brainer I’d imagine. I’m pretty sure ED runs the sound on a separate thread as is. With SimShaker you’re having to ‘wait’ for the lua code, send it to an external app, then to a sound channel, etc. Would have to help eliminating those (bad for the Simshaker guy maybe but bonus for us).
FWIW, on my new rig, for grins I turned on “turbulence” (DCS & SimShaker). It seems to be a canned effect (below x altitude feed in y turbulence, randomly) but I’m kind of really liking it.
Perhaps because now, in VR, things are smoother overall (better be as I paid way too much for the rig) my brain is ‘merging’ things more naturally? I dunno, but the experience is enhanced just a tiny bit more. I find myself, almost subconsciously, ‘wincing’ when I drop down - I know there’s a bumpy ride coming.
[for those that have no idea what we’re talking about: no, it’s not real physical discomfort, it’s just ‘feedback’]
This is turbulence associated with the terrain as I didn’t notice any change with wake turbulence.
A tick box on your individual effects tab in SimShaker for Aviators. Same place you find the G-feel, flaps, guns, etc. I’ve just had mine un-ticked before. I was more focused on the stall feel, followed by G; I didn’t want anything interfering with the former but, as the turbulence only kicks in down low (I’m guessing AOB 1000 AGL?, maybe 1500) it’s all good. I think it’s on by default, so you may have been getting it all along - I’m just late to this party.
Ya know, ref. my above comment about integration into the sim itself…I’m going to drop this into ED’s “wish list” box on their site. Can’t believe I’ve not done this before. Or bump it if someone else has already submitted it. I’ll link back to the article (if their forum allows).
@WarPig
Was just browsing the original article on Feedback for flight sims and saw your post (last April I belive). You’d commented about using it in stereo and how you can feel which wheel touches down, for instance…
Awesome! You’ve gone beyond what I have - I only have one, large-ish, transducer. I’m curious: are you using bass shakers or the Jet Seat (or similar?).
@Troll
Just re-visited the above ED forum post. It sounds like @bignewy may not have read the article - or likely I failed to communicate the difference between sending the physics vs audio well enough. My bad.
Perhaps time for an update (@BeachAV8R: what to call this - an addendum?). A writer I be not.
To me this is such a great enhancement to flight sims. It’s just the hardware setup that gets a little in the weeds. Maybe that should be the focus of an update: show different hardware solutions, from bass shakers on fixed platforms or office chairs, to the, I think it’s called, “Jet Seat”?
I’m using bass shakers, two large ones and four of the small ones. I think I described my set-up earlier in the thread. Simshaker outputs to the shakers in stereo mode, and it works well. I did have to reverse the audio channels for some reason.
It was funny, my landings with a crosswind felt really funny. It took me a little bit to realize that, in the spit for example, when my left main touched down, I was feeling the right touch down. This was duplicated in other aircraft. Reversing the audio fixed it for me, although perhaps in hindsight it’s due to the L/R hardware being reversed… I think I checked that at the time but cannot remember now.
Having native support would be amazing, because it would cut down on latency. Right now it’s not noticeable for me, except on touchdown there’s just a bit of delay, due to the signal having to run through voicemeeter software and then to the hardware. Not much I can do about it though, because I can’t seem to make an ASIO audio driver work with my motherboard sound card.
Has anyone had any luck using simshaker in 5.1 with ASIO? I think that might eliminate the latency, but I simply am not smart enough to make it work, even though I bought the license and installed the recommended ASIO-for-all software.
Don’t lie Troll, you’re already scheming to install a Volvo RM8 into the next iteration of your SimBox NG. Maybe you could route the bleed air into the HVAC system of your new home, and direct the afterburner out to the back porch for use as a BBQ grill!
Sure! You could simultaneously heat your home, power your sauna and BBQ grill, and have great feedback for your sim, for only the low cost of 6000lbs/hr or so…
Not to mention you would get the opportunity to meet all of your neighbors quite quickly!*
*Much like the time I dynamited a stump on my new property, but underestimated the size of the boom.
After using Voicemeeter Banana forever, and just putting up with the tiny but noticeable lag between an effect happening and feeling it (output), I finally got serious about trying to get an ASIO working to give me real 5.1 effects, and not just stereo (left/right). Long story short, if you have Realtek motherboard audio, there’s probably not an ASIO driver from Realtek that actually works.
However I revisited ASIO4ALL (probably the 3rd time I’ve tried to set it up), and finally figured out how to make it work. Maybe I’m the dumbest kid on the block, but I just didn’t get it. Install it, start Simshaker, then in the ASIO4ALL pop up, select your audio output. That’s it, it will work; I was making it too complicated.
Now, after uninstalling VoiceMeeter, abandoning my second USB sound card, hooking up my audio cables to the motherboard outputs for speaker, rear and center, I’ve got 4 separate audio channels for feedback.
And Simshaker knows what to do with them! It’s very nice, and effects are properly directed based on the origin of the feedback.
The best part is, and the reason I wanted to figure it out in the first place, is no perceptible lag! None. You fire guns, or touch down, and the feedback is instant.
