DIY lockdown project: tactile transducer on PS4 and playseat challenge

John_G · May 18, 2020

Thought I'd use this lockdown time for a few projects on my very simple racing rig (PS4, T300RS, playseat challenge).

The first was a tactile transducer / bass shaker. I had seen the buttkicker gamer 2 but it seems permanently out of stock and i didn't want to spend £230 on it either.

I settled on a Nobsound G2 amp, it's a 100W mono subwooofer amp with an adjustable frequency cut-off run, and a Dayton Audio BST-1 shaker unit. It is fixed to the back of the playseat challenge so provides really direct feedback - at the moment it's just done with a wooden plinth, i might improve the mounting at a later date. For now tho it's fine.

Total cost was around £115 so around half the price of the buttkicker.

Limitations are really around that of running it on a console and the LFE that individual games supply, so i don't think things would be improved any with the buttkicker - and this is strong enough to give me all the impacts and vibrations i want at around 1/3 gain. Any more than that and it'll rattle the frame too much and shake the floor too (it lives upstairs and my neighbor's would complain)

Anyway, if anyone is interested, i made a video on what i did.

I'm a beginner at this so would be interested to hear your experienced thoughts and feedback!

Cheers
John

xRasputinx · May 27, 2020

Sweet! Thanks for sharing! I'm buildin sth like this myself. Just got buttkickers and G2 amps (a pair) today and Pump III BK. I already mounted H-shifter and handbrake from TM but am upgrading to a nicer looking mounts.

Why did you go mono setup and not stereo or maybe 4 Chanel? I understand that amp is plenty powerful for this?

Thx for sharing and I hope you'll enjoy it much!

John_G · May 27, 2020

Hi mate,
I did consider dual shakers and i might upgrade at some point. However the main reason for sticking with the single, other than cost, is that it's powerful enough for my current set up, and i don't know if the resolution of the LFE output from the PS4 is actually refined enough to separate properly into left and right tactile effects, which would be my main reason for going to duals. If i were able to run simhub or similar then I'd definitely go for more shakers but the PS4 kinda forces you to keep it simple.

Maybe I'll unplug one of the channels and see if i get a significant difference between dual output and single, which will tell me if it's worth splitting the signal or not. I'll report back!

Good luck with your project, enjoy it!!

Undertowogt · May 28, 2020

I am in the process of making a 4 channel setup with smaller Dayton Audio Pucks, 8 Pucks in total, 2 per "corner" of the Playseat Challenge. So far I have finished the front pedal area and it is amazing. I mounted 4 pucks under the pedals (2 per side). The separation is not great but IT IS noticeable . I wanted it all to be able to fold up still be portable. My design for the rear will be a little different than yours as I will have left and right and 4 smaller transducers. total cost with two little amps was about 200 bucks. I run it with Sim hub.

xRasputinx · May 29, 2020

There is a nice site with playseat challenge resources that you might be able to help yourself with if you are into 3D printing - https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=playseat+challenge&type=things&sort=relevant. I got quite some ideas from there and will be sharing some photos when i'm done.

Yeah i forgot you are playing on PS. It's definetly easier on PC. That's exactly why i shifted from XB1 to PC - it's investment but worth doing if you are into modding the sh*t out of everything. :-D

Man, 8 pucks? What software will you be using? As that's quite a lot and from what i remember usually 4 - 6 BK are enough for all the effects (tires, engine, shifter etc).