Tactile Immersion - General Discussion - Hardware & Software

I've been a bit obsessed at the idea of finding the ultimate dirt cheap amp circuit board for various transducers. I'm taking a break for a while because I've found exactly what I've been looking for to drive what I have. I decided to create a blog post so I can keep it up to date if I find more info.

https://www.vanagony.com/buttkicker-amps-bass-shaker-cheap-amp-alternatives-driving-chair-sim/

Good news. For modest transducers (including BK mini and AuraSound), the best amp is $5 / channel.
 
I've been a bit obsessed at the idea of finding the ultimate dirt cheap amp circuit board for various transducers. I'm taking a break for a while because I've found exactly what I've been looking for to drive what I have. I decided to create a blog post so I can keep it up to date if I find more info.

https://www.vanagony.com/buttkicker-amps-bass-shaker-cheap-amp-alternatives-driving-chair-sim/

Good news. For modest transducers (including BK mini and AuraSound), the best amp is $5 / channel.
thanks for sharing your tests!
 
Sure, see below:




(already had this so this is what i used)

I used 3 meters of speaker wire which i got from Richer Sounds.


Sorry to jump in with such a basic question... I'm looking at a very similar setup to this to start with. I had dismissed that amp as I didn't think it had enough inputs for 2 transducers. Please can you let me know how you've wired the sound card to the amp?

I understand that the aux input supports stereo but can't work out how it's wired from the sound card :/
 
Sorry to jump in with such a basic question... I'm looking at a very similar setup to this to start with. I had dismissed that amp as I didn't think it had enough inputs for 2 transducers. Please can you let me know how you've wired the sound card to the amp?

I understand that the aux input supports stereo but can't work out how it's wired from the sound card :/

Single 3.5mm jack from the sound card output to the AMP mate thats it, which works fine for 2 channels.
 
Hi all, this whole audio jargon has my head spinning.
I am wanting to run simvibe in chassis mode and am trying to decide between one 4 channel amp or two 2 channel amps.
If I go for two 2 channel amps can these be connected to one sound card on my PC or do I need a soundcard for each amp? If I get an amp with dsp does it allow me to limit the wattage so I dont over power the shakers?.
I am looking at either one nx4 6000 with no dsp or two nx1000d which have dsp.

Thanks in advance for you insights.
 
Hi all, this whole audio jargon has my head spinning.
I am wanting to run simvibe in chassis mode and am trying to decide between one 4 channel amp or two 2 channel amps.
If I go for two 2 channel amps can these be connected to one sound card on my PC or do I need a soundcard for each amp? If I get an amp with dsp does it allow me to limit the wattage so I dont over power the shakers?.
I am looking at either one nx4 6000 with no dsp or two nx1000d which have dsp.

Thanks in advance for you insights.

From the top.
5.1 audio includes 5 "normal" + 1 sub bass woofer output = 6 channels total.
7.1 audio 7 "normal" + 1 sub bass woofer output = 8 channels total

What's confusing in our world is that audio is typically considered in terms of "stereo" outputs, but we think in terms of channels.

Like a 5.1 is

- Stereo Front (2 channels).
- Stereo Rear (2 channels).
- Mono Center (1 channel) and Bass Woofer (1 channel) :: OUTPUT THROUGH A STEREO JACK

5.1 sound cards typically provide output though 3 jacks. Front, Rear, Bass/Center
7.1 sound cards typically provide output through 4 jacks. Front, Rear, Side, Bass/Center

All of these jacks are a "stereo" style jack, meaning they contain 2 channels of audio.

In our world, 5.1 means 6 available channels. 7.1 means 8 available channels.

Simvibe / Simhub see a card and don't care about the normal labels of front/rear/bass/center etc. They just think of them as channels. Even if you have a 5.1 soundcard that's 6 channels, and chassis mode only needs 4.

You need to amplify each channel "separately" so you need 4 channels for total amplification, but that could be:

1 x 4 channel amp
2 x stereo amps
4 x mono amps

The only thing you have to be aware of is the wiring between the card and the amps. Like I said, sound cards typically have stereo 3.5mm jacks, like a headphone jack. Amp input scan be a variety of things and if the amp inputs are a single channel / mono input, then the cable you need will be that stereo headphone jack splitting to two appropriate mono jacks on the other end.

In terms of power, you only overpower the shakers with a big amp if you turn the amp up too far. You are more likely to blow out a shaker by using a cheap low wattage amp flat out, than a cheap higher wattage amp at half volume. The better the amp, the more the stated wattage is reliable / spike free and this risk is less true, but it's still always true, that you can't blow out a shaker by connecting it to an amp that is rated higher than it.. unless you turn the amp up too high.
 
Hi all, this whole audio jargon has my head spinning.
I am wanting to run simvibe in chassis mode and am trying to decide between one 4 channel amp or two 2 channel amps.
If I go for two 2 channel amps can these be connected to one sound card on my PC or do I need a soundcard for each amp? If I get an amp with dsp does it allow me to limit the wattage so I dont over power the shakers?.
I am looking at either one nx4 6000 with no dsp or two nx1000d which have dsp.

Thanks in advance for you insights.
Check if your soundcars is stereo, 5.1 or 7.1
 
From the top.
5.1 audio includes 5 "normal" + 1 sub bass woofer output = 6 channels total.
7.1 audio 7 "normal" + 1 sub bass woofer output = 8 channels total

What's confusing in our world is that audio is typically considered in terms of "stereo" outputs, but we think in terms of channels.

Like a 5.1 is

- Stereo Front (2 channels).
- Stereo Rear (2 channels).
- Mono Center (1 channel) and Bass Woofer (1 channel) :: OUTPUT THROUGH A STEREO JACK

5.1 sound cards typically provide output though 3 jacks. Front, Rear, Bass/Center
7.1 sound cards typically provide output through 4 jacks. Front, Rear, Side, Bass/Center

All of these jacks are a "stereo" style jack, meaning they contain 2 channels of audio.

In our world, 5.1 means 6 available channels. 7.1 means 8 available channels.

Simvibe / Simhub see a card and don't care about the normal labels of front/rear/bass/center etc. They just think of them as channels. Even if you have a 5.1 soundcard that's 6 channels, and chassis mode only needs 4.

You need to amplify each channel "separately" so you need 4 channels for total amplification, but that could be:

1 x 4 channel amp
2 x stereo amps
4 x mono amps

The only thing you have to be aware of is the wiring between the card and the amps. Like I said, sound cards typically have stereo 3.5mm jacks, like a headphone jack. Amp input scan be a variety of things and if the amp inputs are a single channel / mono input, then the cable you need will be that stereo headphone jack splitting to two appropriate mono jacks on the other end.

In terms of power, you only overpower the shakers with a big amp if you turn the amp up too far. You are more likely to blow out a shaker by using a cheap low wattage amp flat out, than a cheap higher wattage amp at half volume. The better the amp, the more the stated wattage is reliable / spike free and this risk is less true, but it's still always true, that you can't blow out a shaker by connecting it to an amp that is rated higher than it.. unless you turn the amp up too high.

Thanks for the good explanation, so could I use two 2 channel amps with one sound card?
Is DSP worth it? Will it let me control wattage? Do non DSP amps allow you to control wattage some how?
Cheers.
 
Thanks for the good explanation, so could I use two 2 channel amps with one sound card?
Is DSP worth it? Will it let me control wattage? Do non DSP amps allow you to control wattage some how?
Cheers.

I have not used DSP amps. Wattage = Volume. A 100W amp puts out 100W at full volume. All amps allow you to control volume one way another.

If your soundcard is just stereo you can run a 2 channel amp separately driving 2 transducers
If your soundcard is 5.1 it has 6 channels so could run up to three 2 channel amps separately driving 6 transducers
If your soundcard is 7.1 it has 8 channels so could run up to four 2 channel maps separately driving 8 transducers
 
I have not used DSP amps. Wattage = Volume. A 100W amp puts out 100W at full volume. All amps allow you to control volume one way another.

If your soundcard is just stereo you can run a 2 channel amp separately driving 2 transducers
If your soundcard is 5.1 it has 6 channels so could run up to three 2 channel amps separately driving 6 transducers
If your soundcard is 7.1 it has 8 channels so could run up to four 2 channel maps separately driving 8 transducers

Great, thanks for that info
 
I've been a bit obsessed at the idea of finding the ultimate dirt cheap amp circuit board for various transducers. I'm taking a break for a while because I've found exactly what I've been looking for to drive what I have. I decided to create a blog post so I can keep it up to date if I find more info.

https://www.vanagony.com/buttkicker-amps-bass-shaker-cheap-amp-alternatives-driving-chair-sim/

Good news. For modest transducers (including BK mini and AuraSound), the best amp is $5 / channel.

Thanks so much for this. Great write up.
Very helpful for me.
 
So for those of you who are audiophiles what would you go for if you had the choice for four shakers in chassis mode:
1. Two 2 channel nx1000d (has DSP)
or
2. One four channel nx4 6000 (no DSP).

Cheers
 
I have two NX300D's each powering a BK advance and LFE. They work great and have DSP, which you will probably want to have.

My only small concern is running RPM and seeming to overheat the amp/shaker at higher volumes. Still tweaking to get things the way I want, but the amps are fantastic.
 
Hey guys,
Hopefully I am in the right thread?
I recently did the Xbox rumble motor to my fanatec csl elite pedals using Arduino board/shakeit/simhub

I have the brake for lock ups, throttle for wheel spin, one mounted under my wheel for engine revs & gear shifts as well as a buttkicker gamer 2 mounted under my seat simulating road vibrations.

All the motors are using simhubs base settings, does anyone have any suggestions on settings to help dial things in?

Cheers
 

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