Its possible, that Simhub discord may always be a mess, because you have so many opinions and approaches and people with very different views or levels of experience with the different tactile hardware on the market. Some may have pretty bad tactile but they think it's awesome and the truth is, there are likely more users with fairly bad tactile installations than there are with good ones.
People seem to be waiting for an arrangement of effects that all just magically transform their tactile immersion. Yet perhaps they just ignore or overlook the operational limitations of what especially a lot of budget transducers have and then the often less than ideal installations people may use. Or indeed what amplification they use, as it could be anything from AV receivers, to car amplifiers, to $8 amps from the internet. None of which are meant for constant low bass output or tactile usage. Also one of the drawbacks is that Simhub offers so much control and options that in itself compared to some basic solutions it possibly overcomplicates things for beginners.
Even on a budget level, Simhub at its core with its community has not to my knowledge offered a guide towards an affordable and recommended installation path. Having instructions and a step-by-step approach for the hardware it recommends and then with effects developed and tested for that. If this were the case, then at least it would put a lot of people on the same page but again (just imho) as it lets people come into and use whatever hardware they want it does nothing to simplify things or give a clear approach how to enjoy affordable tactile.
FACTS
A budget make/model of transducer with a decent 50Hz operational range cannot offer anything close to the full potential tactile immersion can offer.
Also, it is not possible to deliver the sheer range of effects Simhub makes available to be able to get all of those to be individually distinguishable and especially within a 50Hz operational window. Users are very much going to be limited to the number of effects they can enjoy at one time. Also if using more advanced engine-based effects that are more constant then this becomes even more of a factor.
Back To Basics
In the coming months, I am going to go back to doing my own thing. Within this, I will offer an approach that suits beginners, but my own approach will bring something no other solution on the market has and that is a pathway to affordable tactile with recommended hardware the user can either decide to buy or ignore and with the recommended path will be a way to upgrading to a mid and high-level tier if they ever wanted to do so. They buy from who they want/when they want.
To do this properly, it then requires effects that are made to work on the entry-level budget tactile, but then also can be operated on the mid/high tiers that incorporate additional effect layers for the additional hardware being used. In some cases the more advanced effects can be reworked to offer usable input on the less capable hardware.
Low Budget
Very simple, show me the best performance easiest driven and affordable entries for small transducers/exciters on the market. You know, I know what the primary choices would likely be....
Dayton Puck
DAEX32EP-4
DAEX30HESF-4
Of these, the Puck is suitable for cushions as it has its own hardshell the users weight can be placed on. So that is why it is used in cushions. However, as a unit, it has less detailing in its usable frequency range and also about half of the wattage abilities of the two exciters above.
These units are approx $/£25 each and can be powered with quite affordable amplification to suit beginners into tactile.
Let me ask. do you think with those we can outperform the SRS 6 channel shake-it cushion-based kit that costs approx £500 to ship to UK/EUR? Offering guidance on what to buy which can come in much cheaper....
Do you think the community can create/apply better effects than what it uses with Simhub, with the small but experienced group of people who have an interest or seek to develop their own effects?
What I can attest to, is having several people who tried my own approach for 6x Channel EXC installations on their seats, with some of my own developed effects, that use the 6 channels going directly into the user's body.
Using only these units, they were more impressed with what this offered and the potential it showed them. Even in comparison to what some had with their previous 4-way corner installations. Some came from previously owning just a single BK Gamer unit but what they discovered were some important factors for tactile...
1. What having more channels enables and over more body regions
2. What having more detail in EXC units brings for effects clarity
3. What having more options in effects creation/output via Simhub offers
I will showcase in my own next work, comparisons, with pros. cons of cheapo 4-way tactile installations. Also the direct up and running Buttkicker type approach, what its drawbacks and limitations are. I will look at the price points these options have and taking into account why the approach I have shared is a good one to consider.
Credit to SRS in some respects as at least they offer effects made and developed for their hardware and its configuration. Buttkickers' own entry into this appeared very underwhelming compared to what most know of with Simhub.
Higher Budget
Very simple, show me what the best type of unit for low bass is.
Show me what the best type of unit for general mid bass detail is.
You know, I know what the primary choices would likely be, right?
Regards Clark synthesis, a user does not need to buy the highest-end model to achieve much better tactile over what most people buy into. Or those that go with the 4-Corners installation approach.
The simple reason is, and I put this to anyone, that you will not better what the combination of a large BK/TST/EXC will manage to achieve in the full body coverage such can offer for a seat and the fullness of the dynamic range that combination also brings. Yes, tactile in the pedals is also valid, but let's for now just focus on the largest body region where it makes the most difference.
Improving the TST to a more accomplished model improves that element within the combination but the value for money aspect in improved performance/cost is quite steep. Yet many people bought into the Gold and Platinium models because they wanted the best. Nobody looking into RB-type installations was forced or even told they needed to avoid the T209 or the T239 models.
EXC units do not replace what a TST can do or bring. Nor does a TST achieve or replace what multiple EXC to different body zones can offer. Please take a moment to have this sink in as this comes from someone that spent about 2 years looking into trying to improve tactile effects and ways in how to better deliver sensations into the user's body.
From an effects sensations and creation perspective.... You cannot stick a TST unit on the back of a seat, with it having a single installation point and it do what can be done with 6x exciters delivering different effect layers/sensations to specific body locations.
At the same time, the mid-range detail and energy a TST can output is not possible on BK units or even 6 exciters. None of these units replace what the other can do, yet each of the units has and brings something to the combined immersion that is not possible with typical installations.
The simple truth remains, their is no single type/make/model of transducer that achieves or betters what the combination each option with BK/TST/EXC can bring. We need the combination of the best low bass, the best mid-bass detail and the ability to also target specific body regions. With these 3 important elements, you can make effects operate in ways that is just not possible with other approaches.
Looking even beyond the limitations any single unit/transducer has. Standard installations including corners, do not bring control to what the user feels directly in their shoulders, their mid back and the base of their seat. A cushion approach achieves this to some extent but does so with the very restricted capabilities of the Puck units.
I do not know of anyone else's approach that looks or covers these factors I am sharing with you or offers a solution or pathway with effects development that seeks to achieve similar or will surpass what the potential is with this approach in what it can achieve or how it can deliver multiple tactile sensations into the user. Is that a bold claim perhaps, but what's a better alternative?
Yet such an approach does/has and will continue to take lots of time in effects development. What is rewarding, however, is the progress that has been made with continued trial and error with effects or bringing fresh approaches to certain effects operations.
Deep Bass Energy
Large BK have the ability to really enhance felt sensations in low bass that are not possible with budget tactile, regardless if using multiple smaller BK. This like adding a subwoofer to a surround package brings a new immersion factor. Yet even a single large BK has its performance limitations when it comes to trying to get around that same issue I mentioned at the start.
The issue that, with increased usage in the operation of effects, or also when using more advanced effects with additional layers, a unit is limited to how well the effects will individually feel when you start giving it more to work with.
Therefore, Simhub in regards to effects and what it makes potentially possible, cannot be fully enjoyed to its true potential with even a single combination of BK/TST used in conjunction with multiple EXC on a seat.
I can personally refer to that with my own work regards several months of researching effects potential for engine developments. Good progress was made and it certainly is possible to now making engines for specific cars that will feel very different yet align with a specific car's own engine tone and audible character.
Regardless if I sought to apply RPM response curves, used SPEED-based layers, or Parametric modes for enhanced engines. I even went to the bother of having sensations of TORQUE be implemented within the RPM range that was applied at a specific car's peak torque rpm to align with that of the real car.
Ultimately others may have their own approaches to custom effects developments but I believe they will be bound by the same issues regards the limitations of the used hardware. What we can achieve is restricted by what we are using.
For me, the capabilities of what is still possible in my view have yet to be discovered. To untap what the benefits and potential are when we determine ways to better distribute certain effects to specific BK/TST units. Then to split/reduce the operations/effects roles away from a single pairing to over a secondary pair.
It's clear that even with the SRS kit, it acknowledges, that having specific units for engine-based sensations as mono is a good approach. Then having positional-based effects applied to multiple body zones is also a good approach. My own methods have been the same, just that I feel in the effects development in how things have progressed. Regards engines, I have now surpassed what a single BK/TST combo with 6 EXC can accomplish with engines when it is expected to also operate with other effects.
I plan to look into my own blog and sharing just my own journey more within the new GV Discord. I will focus on that being where my own input continues. Those that want to follow the recommendations or those that want to do something entirely different. I am no longer trying to persuade anyone. I have been told that there are, enough owners of my own approach that are happy with what it offers. So I will focus my own time on this with a reset after my holidays.
Much to do...
).
