Butt shakers. Anyone got advice on these?

Have any of you set yours up with any compression? I'm struggling to find a way to get a subtle shaking effect that tracks perceived SPL. Too quiet and I feel nothing. Too loud and I'm thrown about in my seat, and its only a few DB difference.

The tactile sensation seems to feel louder and softer than sound through the air does. I'm trying to use the iNuke dynamic EQ and limiter feature to squash the dynamic range, but I'm not sure I'm going about it the right way.
 
EQ is the go. I do not know what EQ features the iNuke has as mine is the plain Jane iNuke but I do use the MiniDSP 2x4. The problem is that the pro amps tend to roll off in the low freq which is exactly where the shaker works and the power required to drive the shaker (or subs) in the 20-10hz range is not linear if you get my drift?
Experimenting with the EQ alot is required to get it at a point where it feels really like low freq rumble and not a vibrator...
The biggest problem I was having when I had mine running was at the shakers FS it the slug was hitting either end of the casing but 1hz either side of the FS was fine and... If I didn't have it at that level the shaker literally felt like it wasn't there!!! This is where EQ (notch filter?) will be needed and why I believe the MiniDSP 2x4 is the go as you can run Q right up to 100 if need be to manipulate a single ish frequency...
 
Yep, agreed. I used the REW generator and figured out I needed to lift the bottom end with an LS12 at about 17hz. So it felt "flat" to me when doing a slow sweep from about 8hz to 25hz or so. But interestingly, this produced way too much output for movies, although it felt right for music. So I started investigating dynamic range compression. Minidsp has a plugin which has a compressor but it is very crude and I couldn't get it to work nicely without mangling sub 10hz - the timer needed for 8hz is 150ms or so and it doesn't go that high. Next I tried the limiter in the iNuke. Even set right down to -20db (producing about 9w of power), it still shakes way too much for movies. Dynamic EQ has helped a bit but maybe I need to look at a proper pro-audio compressor...
 
Compresion sounds wrong....That to me would restrict the range, you really want expansion, so that the lows and highs are further apart and you can tune in on the real lows.

I have one of the Ultrabass Pro sub harmonic synths, which was slightly modded :
More BASS! - This creates a sub bass (infrasonic) track as to be honest the LFE is a bit light for the butt kickers and without it.
 
Compression is exactly what I need because the tactile sensation of sound is much more sensitive through contact with the body than through the air from a subwoofer. So at certain system volumes, you might feel nothing, a few DB more and its just right and a few DB more and you're being shaken from your seat. The SPL through the air has only changed by maybe 5db but the effect at the seat feels like 4 times that. Expansion would amplify that effect. What I want to do is bring the tactile sensation more in line with what is experienced through the air.
 
I was hoping some of the experts here could advise me on my recent Buttkicker purchase.

I have got the Wireless kit which comes with the 300w amp and the Advance transducer.

The problem I am having is that it is 'all or nothing', meaning that on normal settings the transducer is bottoming out all the time and as soon as I turn it down enough to stop that, I get no perceptible output from it at all.

I really like the effect, so will persevere. I think one of the problems is the amp. This thing has no crossover and no display to show what level of 'intensity' is selected, so I really am working blind to start with. I also suspect it is losing the settings every time I turn it off!

I have been using Skyfall as a test disc and I have got some really good effects out of it, but it is still bottoming out on the biggest action scenes. I am only looking for a reasonably small amount of shake to complement my sub rather than anything to OTT!
 
I had the butt kickers and you do really need an amp designed for them so you can tweak the levels and crossovers. Even the proper amp is quite sensitive on the adjustment so takes a bit to get it right. I sold mine to get twin subs and now going to go back to 1 decent sub (twin 14") and haven't really missed the butt kickers.
 
I had the butt kickers and you do really need an amp designed for them so you can tweak the levels and crossovers. Even the proper amp is quite sensitive on the adjustment so takes a bit to get it right. I sold mine to get twin subs and now going to go back to 1 decent sub (twin 14") and haven't really missed the butt kickers.

I was surprised that the Buttkicker amp didn't have any scope for adjustment at all. I suppose that is the problem with buying the cheaper model.

My problem with subs alone is that I have got too many direct neighbours to use them properly! I am going to upgrade mine to an SVS SB13 Ultra or equivalent DIY sub, but the majority of the time I'd like the Buttkicker to fill in as I'll be using the sub at lower volumes.

When the neighbours are definitely away and I can watch a film at reference level, even my current SVS removes the need for the Buttkicker. Sadly that is not often!

One current line of thought is to get an amp like the inuke6000DSP and use that to run a DIY sub and a Buttkicker at the same time, but I am still unsure if that will remove the problem I am currently having with the Buttkicker altogether.

Which twin 14" sub are you getting?
 
Arendal Sub 2 - a new company from L sound so they know their stuff and look awesome to replace my MK X10 and Sunfire 12"
www.arendalsound.eu
Butt kickers are good if you have neighbours and enjoyed mine but have no neighbours so an run at high volumes.
 
Arendal Sub 2 - a new company from L sound so they know their stuff and look awesome to replace my MK X10 and Sunfire 12"
www.arendalsound.eu
Butt kickers are good if you have neighbours and enjoyed mine but have no neighbours so an run at high volumes.
I had looked at those as well. Roughly the same price as the other two I have been looking at so might be another option if I don't DIY.

If I go for a ready-made sub, I might get the inuke3000DSP to try to sort the Buttkicker out. I can always sell it on if not without losing too much.
 
They have only starting shipping recently so not many reviews yet but look great for the money and being dual is living room friendly. Mine is coming Monday [emoji106]
 
Where do you have it installed?
 
I tried installing three mini quakes to my chair frame and found it very unresponsive except for certain frequencies. I don't have a platform so can't shake that but attached mine to the underside of the chair where the metal supporting wires are. This shakes the seat of the chair mostly and some of the back too. I only need about 30w of power to produce a good effect. Also, the frequency response is fairly even from 8hz upwards although I have eqd it slightly to remove a peak around 30hz or so
 
I tried installing three mini quakes to my chair frame and found it very unresponsive except for certain frequencies. I don't have a platform so can't shake that but attached mine to the underside of the chair where the metal supporting wires are. This shakes the seat of the chair mostly and some of the back too. I only need about 30w of power to produce a good effect. Also, the frequency response is fairly even from 8hz upwards although I have eqd it slightly to remove a peak around 30hz or so

Thanks. I'll have a look at other mounting options, but the sofa actually has a fold-out bed in it which limits it somewhat!
 
Was watching Interstellar last night and my sofa nearly left the floor! I have a pair of the older 50W Aura bass shakers bolted to the metal frame of the outer 2 seats and the effect is amazing.

Got them tuned to go up to about 25Hz, where my 10" long excursion sub takes over. Both are EQ'd using a Behringer Feedback destroyer Pro, set up using REW and a MIDI cable. Amp wise, I have a Behringer A500 convection cooled unit with one channel driving the sub and the other the bass shakers. It will hit THX reference levels and is capable of a brown note with ease!!
 
Was watching Interstellar last night and my sofa nearly left the floor! I have a pair of the older 50W Aura bass shakers bolted to the metal frame of the outer 2 seats and the effect is amazing.

Got them tuned to go up to about 25Hz, where my 10" long excursion sub takes over. Both are EQ'd using a Behringer Feedback destroyer Pro, set up using REW and a MIDI cable. Amp wise, I have a Behringer A500 convection cooled unit with one channel driving the sub and the other the bass shakers. It will hit THX reference levels and is capable of a brown note with ease!!


What does your 10" long excursion driver go down to in terms of frequency , and which make / model of 10" woofer is it cheers in advance.
 
It's a Kenwood dual voice coil driver, mounted in a custom built, 2 chamber box. The speaker sits in one chamber, well stuffed with damping material and linked via a set of holes into a ported chamber - which has a 10" long, 3" diameter port attached. The aim was to give the speed of a sealed box but the efficiency of a ported enclosure with the port only really operating at the lower frequencies. Total volume is about 80 Litres.

Response is about 20Hz @ -6db to 120Hz, but I limit this to 20Hz - 80Hz.

The aim was to build a high power box, but without excessive throw, so that noise doesn't escape the house too much!! Seems to work quite well.
 
I was hoping some of the experts here could advise me on my recent Buttkicker purchase.

I have got the Wireless kit which comes with the 300w amp and the Advance transducer.

The problem I am having is that it is 'all or nothing', meaning that on normal settings the transducer is bottoming out all the time and as soon as I turn it down enough to stop that, I get no perceptible output from it at all.

Can't say i know that amp, i have the 1000w one and that has a volume level and a cutoff. You need some control in there, at the very least a volume!!! I see there's a remote which mentions EQ for 3 types is there not some control there?

BTW I found I needed to use a Behringer EX1200 which generally created a much more distinct sub bass track, though even then I needed to tweak ocasionally as some movies have in your face bass and others are oddly lacking at times!
 
Can't say i know that amp, i have the 1000w one and that has a volume level and a cutoff. You need some control in there, at the very least a volume!!! I see there's a remote which mentions EQ for 3 types is there not some control there?

The amp does have an 'Intensity control' which I am guessing is the same as volume, but some report that the amp actually loses any memory the last position of that control each time it is turned off. That, combined with the lack of display, certainly does not help!

Because of that, I have ignored that control and used the 'subwoofer level' on my AVR, starting at the minimum of -12db, and going up 0.5dB at a time. I increased the gain on my sub to compensate and am now taking that back down each time.

The problem is that I can't find a level where it provides any 'shake' at all whilst not bottoming out. Perhaps the intensity control does something different?

The other three buttons on the remote are Movie, Music & Gain. The movie mode is the default which provides no EQ at all, the music add 6dB to frequencies below 25hz and the game one removes 6db from frequencies below 25hz.

BTW I found I needed to use a Behringer EX1200 which generally created a much more distinct sub bass track, though even then I needed to tweak ocasionally as some movies have in your face bass and others are oddly lacking at times!

I have definitely noticed that more with the Buttkicker. Sometimes it is bottoming out when the sub isn't doing much at all and sometimes the sub is really going and the BK registers nothing.
 
I think that will depend entirely on frequency. If your experience is anything like mine, some frequencies will not be able to move the chair whilst other excite natural resonances.

Try doing a frequency sweep using REW on your BK and I imagine you'll find a very variable response. I found that by attaching it directly to the softer areas of the seat, the response was much more even and required much less power to achieve good results. Is there any soft area on the back cushion area you could try mounting to?
 
I think that will depend entirely on frequency. If your experience is anything like mine, some frequencies will not be able to move the chair whilst other excite natural resonances.

Try doing a frequency sweep using REW on your BK and I imagine you'll find a very variable response. I found that by attaching it directly to the softer areas of the seat, the response was much more even and required much less power to achieve good results. Is there any soft area on the back cushion area you could try mounting to?

The team at Guitammer are very good at advising quickly, and it definitely looks as though mine is faulty. Sub out at -12dB on my AVR and intensity at minimum is the only thing that keeps it quiet, otherwise it starts clattering well before it shakes the sofa.

I can't attach to the sofa directly unfortunately as it is a sofa bed backed right up to the wall. Does that put the Mini-Quakes or 10B out of the equation. I think I'd like to try those next together with a more adjustable amp.
 
Miniquakes are very compact, they might work for you. Depends on how much space you have free.
 

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