Butt Kicker

Thug

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Anyone got or tried a Butt Kicker?
What are your views?
Are they worth it?
 
I guess it depends what you're going to do use them for/with. Is it the Gamer you're interested in?

I have 4 mini LFEs attached to my racing sim rig running Simvibe software. IMHO Simvibe, or similar software, is key to get the most out of them rather than driving from the sounds generated by a game. For racing sims, I wouldn't be without them - things feel lifeless without.
 
Thanks for the reply.
Its mainly for racing games like Assetto Corsa and Dirt Rally using the Rift.
I am not sure if Simvibe has a setting for those 2 yet (they don't list them on their rite).
I just use a computer chair at the minute, but might invest in a racing rig.
I have ordered the Throne Thumper...
Pearl THMP-1 Throne Thumper | Electronic Drum Kit Amplifier | Bax-shop | Your Music Revolution
It retails at £286, I paid £230 yesterday (2 day delivery), and this morning they are £253 (5 day delivery), so I guess I bought the last one.
The Butt Kicker has 90w (for about £180) of power and this has 200w (to 349w).
 
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Simvibe does support Assetto Corsa and a whole bunch of other racing sims although I'm unsure about Dirt Rally at present; I would expect this to be supported at some point though. Definitely look into the software to get the most out of it.

Once you've experienced driving with this configuration, you'll realise what you've been missing!
 
Having a little trouble setting it up.
I use headphones mainly (do have speakers connected via a splitter).
If I remove the speakers and put in the Butt Kicker then the right speaker in my headphones is a lot quieter than the right.
My windows settings are on stereo (but it doesn't matter what it is set to there is no difference).
I use on-board sound.
If I plug it into the centre/sub socket and change settings to 5.1 or 7.1 then it works fine in the realtek demo but not in game.
Would I need a separate sound card?
 
I believe that you cannot drive output via a second sound card within Windows under normal circumstances (i.e. attempting to duplicate the sund output across the onboard sound / separate casrds). That's where Simvibe comes in as it separates the true audio from the signal that drives the Buttkicker - you do need a separate 5.1 card for that though..

Can you post a diagram or explain how you're currently connecting up the Butkicker and speakers? It may be that the signal from the channel used for driving the Buttkicker is deteriorating causing an imbalance in the left and right channels for the audio system.
 
Anyone got or tried a Butt Kicker?

Tried it but i didn't like it at all!

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Right, I have changed it a little.
I now have my headphones in the usual socket and the kicker in the centre/sub port.
If I set Windows to 5.1 or 7.1 the kicker works great but my (stereo) headphones sound as though they are missing the centre channel (no pace notes in Dirt Rally etc).
If I set Windows to stereo I get great 3D sound through my headphones but nothing from the kicker.
 
IIRC, the bass and centre channels are fed through the same output on my soundcard. That may account for the loss of the centre channel. Additionally, without Sivibe or running with all the dedicated phono outputs, the recommendation it to run in stereo (I believe this is how the Buttkicker Gamer works) - You'll need to split the left and right channels then combine the split chanels back into feeds for the headphones and Buttkicker. It's a bit of a pain with all the cables tbh.

You've probably looked at this already but you can see all the cables which are supplied with the Gamer version here:

Buttkicker Gamer Bass-Frequency Enhancer for Drum Thrones
 
Yeah I did look at the cables that came with the Gamer2, but just assumed that they were to cover different setups.
Not quite sure what you mean by splitting the channels and then combine them back, could you explain this a little more?
Or are you saying, use a 3.5mm plug into the soundcard with L/R phono plugs on it to split the channels, then use a phono to 3.5mm to the Kicker and one connected to the headphones joined to another splitter to the green socket?
 
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Butt kicker is a must and well worth persevering. Without a dedicated sound card and simvibe software you are restricted to bass channels. Without splitting your centre from your sub channels you may struggle. I used to have mine setup with PC to a cheap 5.1 HDMI amp then the sub channel before I relented and bought simvibe. What are your PC, headphone and butt kicker connections?
 
I have just bought a Creative Audigy RX, so can now use that for my sounds and the onboard sound for the kicker.
My sound card has the usual 3.5mm connectors for Front, Side, Rear and Centre/Sub.
My onboard sound has the same.

Can I use SimVibe for other regular games too, or is it just for racing games?
I also play Rainbow 6 Siege, Call of Juarez Gunslinger, Rocket League, Dying Light, Alien Isolation plus a few others.
The main racing games I play are Assetto Corsa (or will do when VR is supported again) and Dirt Rally.
 
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Sim vibe uses telemetry output of driving sims to recreate the engine revs and suspension hits to a tee. It's infinitely adjustable and support dirt rally and AC. I have a feeling it won't work on other games but recall when I had it working from the bass output it felt very good

I still have AC working with rift in the 0.6 runtime but I'm holding out my win 7 upgrade as it won't work on win10
 
Well, bought myself a Playseat so I can keep my wheel set up all the time and connected my Butt Kicker to it.
I still haven't bought SimVibe yet, but only because my main game now is Pcars played with the Oculus Rift through Oculus Home which is not yet supported by SimVibe.
I did get DriveVibe which is a free program and has minimal support for Pcars (mainly for AC) and OMG its a different world. You can feel every gear change, every bump in the road and every (read many) collisions with the barrier and other cars.
Well worth it and will only be better when SimVibe get the support out.
 
I might give drive vibe a go. Simvibe can be a bit over whelming (too many options) at times.
 
I might give drive vibe a go. Simvibe can be a bit over whelming (too many options) at times.

Did you try it?
I have nothing to compare it to, but it would be interesting to see if Simvibe is worth about £60 in comparison to this which is free.

Here is my Playseat.
12931162_10153427152441524_3284124833906942399_n.jpg


Here is the Throne Thumper. I have now swivelled it round so it doesn't touch the bottom of the seat and the knob doesn't touch the floor.
Notice the wooden batons underneath, these were used to raise it a little so the Thumper would fit and to also put foam (the green stuff) underneath to stop the vibrations going directly into the floor (then into the kitchen below). The foam was just a garden kneel pad I cut up and used a hot glue gun to fasten it to the batons, and it works great.
I will paint the batons black at some stage.
12670347_10153427152446524_2132871227748627278_n.jpg
 
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I've purchased a pair of "ADX Maximus" shakers for my rig but I'm still undecided on which amp to get. Any suggestions ?
 

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