Buttkicker Questions

It turns out that Buttkicker is having a nice Christmas sale this year that ends on the 30th. I have been saying i would get 1-2 buttkickers setup once i had the rest of the rig setup (which it now is, yay!), so here is an opportunity to dive into the buttkicker rabbit hole for real.

My current specs are:

P1-X, Accuforce V2, HE Pedals, Fanatec Shifter

My thought is to add 1 buttkicker for the seat and 1 for the pedals. I don't want to go crazy here, just want the extra immersion, and want to do it as cheaply and simply as possible, without a ton of fuss or complications.

I called Buttkicker today and talked to a tech there and told him the above specs and wishes, and asked him to explain to me exactly what he would recommend, how to mount it properly, what other items i would need to order (like an external sound card, etc), how to hook it up properly and what software to use for it. Here is what he recommended, given that i have a P1-X and was thinking of one under the seat and one under the pedals:

1) Get TWO full Buttkicker Simulation Kits (which use the 'mini-concert' buttkickers)


2) Get two Buttkicker mounting plates from Simlabs


3) Get 1 USB external sound card, as shown here:


4) Stack the two amps on top of each other (will that get too hot?), and then to run the front amp (driving the front buttkicker under the pedals) to the 'Front out' port on the external sound card and the rear amp (driving the rear buttkicker under the seat) to the 'Rear out' port on the sound card.

5) He also said to use the rubber feet that come with the Simulation kit to get rid of vibrations going to the floor, and to NOT add any dampening of any kind when mounting the buttkicker to the mounting plate, or when mounting the mounting plate to the rig (he said that adding any extra dampening would get rid of too much of the effects).

Some Questions:

1) Do i even really need the extra buttkicker for the pedals or is it overkill mostly? It adds a good bit to the cost of adding a buttkicker.

2) Does all that sound like the correct way to add a couple of buttkickers to the P1-X? Is that what yall would do in order to add a simple turnkey (mostly) buttkicker setup to front and rear of the cockpit?

3) How exactly do you actually mount the buttkicker mounting plate to the P1-X, and exactly where do you mount one under the seat and exactly where near (under?) the pedals?

4) Do i even need the rubber feet that come with the Simulation Kit, since i already have the rubber feet that are on the P1-X (note i only have the normal rubber feet on the P1-X, not the elevated ones)?

I was planning on researching this over a month or so before ordering a buttkicker setup, but would like to figure out at least what the right buttkicker kits to get are within a few days since their sale ends on the 30th.

Thanks
Randy
:)
 
I'm no expert here but I just set up a Buttkicker simulation kit on my P1-X this week.

1: I only have one under my seat, but the advantage of two could be when using multiple feedback inputs. For example, you could be using an ABS indicator and a gear shift thump. If your ABS is going, how well can the same transducer add in the gear shift thump and would you rather just have different devices handle that? I don't know the answer to this yet but you can set priority of feedback in SimHub and set different feedback for each, so you can kind of tell a difference. I am still learning how to mange this.

2: If you are doing two, I think the seat and pedals make sense. How are you going to attach it to the pedals? Do you have the HE baseplate? You could probably mount it easily to the 80/20 of the P1-X pedal deck but I'm not sure how much that would impact the feedback. I would guess mounting it to an isolated baseplate would be ideal but I think it would have enough power for you to get feedback mounted directly to the 80/20 P1-X pedal deck though I have never tried. Something to keep in mind though.

3: I mounted mine on the inside of 40x160 piece that goes horizontal in the middle of the rig. The two seat rails attach to the top of the horizontal support that the Buttkicker is mounted to. It is basically under my seat. I thought that was easiest and if it did not give me enough feedback I would move it up to one of the 40x40 pieces that the seat brackets attached to but I seem to be getting good feedback where it is now on the big horizontal piece. There is plenty of clearance down there and it does not interfere with the seat slider I am using.

4: I don't think you need the rubber feet. I am just using the rubber feet from the P1-X and they seem fine.
 
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I'm no expert here but I just set up a Buttkicker simulation kit on my P1-X this week.

1: I only have one under my seat, but the advantage of two could be when using multiple feedback inputs. For example, you could be using an ABS indicator and a gear shift thump. If your ABS is going, how well can the same transducer add in the gear shift thump and would you rather just have different devices handle that? I don't know the answer to this yet but you can set priority of feedback in SimHub and set different feedback for each, so you can kind of tell a difference. I am still learning how to mange this.

2: If you are doing two, I think the seat and pedals make sense. How are you going to attach it to the pedals? Do you have the HE baseplate? You could probably mount it easily to the 80/20 of the P1-X pedal deck but I'm not sure how much that would impact the feedback. I would guess mounting it to an isolated baseplate would be ideal but I think it would have enough power for you to get feedback mounted directly to the 80/20 P1-X pedal deck though I have never tried. Something to keep in mind though.

3: I mounted mine on the inside of 40x160 piece that goes horizontal in the middle of the rig. The two seat rails attach to the top of the horizontal support that the Buttkicker is mounted to. It is basically under my seat. I thought that was easiest and if it did not give me enough feedback I would move it up to one of the 40x40 pieces that the seat brackets attached to but I seem to be getting good feedback where it is now on the big horizontal piece. There is plenty of clearance down there and it does not interfere with the seat slider I am using.

4: I don't think you need the rubber feet. I am just using the rubber feet from the P1-X and they seem fine.

Thanks for the feedback from someone with the exact same gear :)

I am thinking of attaching the buttkicker mounting plate to the end of the 40x120mm bar that the pedals are actually on, with it sticking out horizontal underneath the pedal tray somehow.

So, with it mounted horizontally on top of the 40x160mm horizontal bar at the front of the seat, does that give enough umph for under the seat? I have heard that it needs to be attached directly to the seat or the seat rails, but i too would mount it exactly as you have. Not sure how it would work to attach it to the seat or a 40x40 seat rail, plus it would be offset to one side if it was attached to one of the 40x40 seat rails. Wouldn't that mess up the symmetry if it was attached only on one side's 40x40 seat rail? The only way to put it directly in the middle and under the seat is how you have explained.

The tech at Buttkicker suggested replacing the P1-X feet with their feet for better dampening to the floor. Guess i can start with just the P1-X feet and see how that works

SO, it IS giving you good feedback? Worth it? Do you feel any need to have one up near the pedals too?

Thanks
Randy
:)
 
Upvote 0
Yes, it is giving good feedback where it is placed. I'm not sure how important it is to have it centered, but it just seemed like the most logical starting point and it does seem to be working well. I'm just starting out though, so I can't really tell you if it would be better to do X or Y. I think I would like one up by the pedals but I'm not sure you need it. Others with more experience can chime in.

I actually mounted it vertically on the back side of the 40x160 piece but I think there is probably enough room that you could mount it on top of the piece if you want.

Good to know that the Buttkicker people suggested their feet instead of the P1-X rubber feet. I did not take a close look, but they looked the same as what I remember installing on the P1-X to me so I pushed them aside since I did not want to overturn my P1-X to replace them with the same part. I guess I will maybe give that a shot since I have a set already. I just felt them and they do seem to be a fairly soft rubber so they may isolate better. Still, the rubber P1-X that I have been using have worked and my wife has slept in another room while I raced with the Buttkicker on.
 
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A bit off topic, but you can easily make pedal rumble motors using Arduino and xbox rumble motors. Very cheap and I would imagine give a better, more tuneable tactile experience at the front end.

I have a Bk gamer 2 on my chair and rumble motors on brake and accelerator. Works really well.
 
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You have to start somewhere and the BK packages are not a bad entry into tactile to see if you like it or enjoy what it offfers. Saying that there are cheaper options into tactile.

This is not to say there are not limitations or drawbacks and what I mean by that is that Buttkicker products were available long before we had the multichannel telemetry based, tone generation software options that we have today with PC.

Here brings the first issue with the BK amps, they only offer mono operation, so each new shaker needs a new amp and those awkward remotes with no visual reference for volume are a pain in the backside.

Other amps that can support 2 or more channels and (2ohm for Mini Concert) or (4ohm Mini Lfe) are options that enable expandability and as a user advances make a better choice to then buy or add more shakers.

You really need to consider what is the best route to suit in the long term or what your initial plans may be?

@Clover11 Compare mounting direct to the seat as it will be best than onto the frame of the rig. You then isolate the seat from the main rig. This is what most people do for better feedback.

If you want, upload an image of the rig frame and your installation and I will explain in simple visual terms why.
 
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Hi @Fi22le How did u add the rumble motors to the pedals?

Hi,

How to set up an arduino board is explained pretty well in this video:


To use xbox rumble motors, this video shows you:


From memory, the total cost was about £30 / $50usd. Super fun project, pretty easy and a really good addition to a sim rig. I use sim hub to trigger rumble effects for wheel slip (gas pedal), wheel lock (brake) and kerbs (both). The xbox motors are surprisingly strong when mounted to the pedals.

Hope this helps, sorry for going off topic.
 
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I have one Gamer 2 mounted under my seat. I used a large socket bolted upright to the rear profile on my Sim Lab P1-X. So far so good playing with SimVibe.

I do have a question about the amp clipping. I adjusted the Buttkicker volume just short of clipping using the Windows and SimVibe test tones. It does clip briefly if I end up in the grass off track but doesn't when just riding over rumbles and bumps. My question is how much clipping is acceptable or is what I have done so far safe? Would not mind turning it up of course...

An incentive, as others have noted over the years, to stay on the pavement!

Thanks.
 
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I have one Gamer 2 mounted under my seat. I used a large socket bolted upright to the rear profile on my Sim Lab P1-X. So far so good playing with SimVibe.

I do have a question about the amp clipping. I adjusted the Buttkicker volume just short of clipping using the Windows and SimVibe test tones. It does clip briefly if I end up in the grass off track but doesn't when just riding over rumbles and bumps. My question is how much clipping is acceptable or is what I have done so far safe? Would not mind turning it up of course...

An incentive, as others have noted over the years, to stay on the pavement!

Thanks.
Personal experience, I have been clipping the sh*t out of my (3) BK gamer2 for 3 years, the amp goes bad at some point but not the shaker itself.

Update: I forgot to mentioned that ideally the shaker is place in a way that transfer energy easily to the body so that we don't need to ride it at max volume, hence clipping too much. You know when its noisy or bottoming out, that's clipping ! (my old setup was not optimal in that sense)

Cheers
 
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It turns out that Buttkicker is having a nice Christmas sale this year that ends on the 30th. I have been saying i would get 1-2 buttkickers setup once i had the rest of the rig setup (which it now is, yay!), so here is an opportunity to dive into the buttkicker rabbit hole for real.

My current specs are:

P1-X, Accuforce V2, HE Pedals, Fanatec Shifter

My thought is to add 1 buttkicker for the seat and 1 for the pedals. I don't want to go crazy here, just want the extra immersion, and want to do it as cheaply and simply as possible, without a ton of fuss or complications.

I called Buttkicker today and talked to a tech there and told him the above specs and wishes, and asked him to explain to me exactly what he would recommend, how to mount it properly, what other items i would need to order (like an external sound card, etc), how to hook it up properly and what software to use for it. Here is what he recommended, given that i have a P1-X and was thinking of one under the seat and one under the pedals:

1) Get TWO full Buttkicker Simulation Kits (which use the 'mini-concert' buttkickers)


2) Get two Buttkicker mounting plates from Simlabs


3) Get 1 USB external sound card, as shown here:


4) Stack the two amps on top of each other (will that get too hot?), and then to run the front amp (driving the front buttkicker under the pedals) to the 'Front out' port on the external sound card and the rear amp (driving the rear buttkicker under the seat) to the 'Rear out' port on the sound card.

5) He also said to use the rubber feet that come with the Simulation kit to get rid of vibrations going to the floor, and to NOT add any dampening of any kind when mounting the buttkicker to the mounting plate, or when mounting the mounting plate to the rig (he said that adding any extra dampening would get rid of too much of the effects).

Some Questions:

1) Do i even really need the extra buttkicker for the pedals or is it overkill mostly? It adds a good bit to the cost of adding a buttkicker.

2) Does all that sound like the correct way to add a couple of buttkickers to the P1-X? Is that what yall would do in order to add a simple turnkey (mostly) buttkicker setup to front and rear of the cockpit?

3) How exactly do you actually mount the buttkicker mounting plate to the P1-X, and exactly where do you mount one under the seat and exactly where near (under?) the pedals?

4) Do i even need the rubber feet that come with the Simulation Kit, since i already have the rubber feet that are on the P1-X (note i only have the normal rubber feet on the P1-X, not the elevated ones)?

I was planning on researching this over a month or so before ordering a buttkicker setup, but would like to figure out at least what the right buttkicker kits to get are within a few days since their sale ends on the 30th.

Thanks
Randy
:)
I would stay away from the "original buttkicker amp" it will work butt..
FYI, the shaker themself are pretty good (when utilized correctly) but even a cheaper amp would perform better IMO. (own 3 of them)

Cheers
 
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I also would endorse staying away from the BK branded amps. They have a lot of problems, but the big ones for me are: lack of power, non permanent on/off switch (good for one button power up of everything), and no feedback on the current volume level.

I made a rig tour video a while back for some of the guys I race with that has a lot of info on the how and why of my configuration you might find some useful info in:
 
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