HOLY Shamolee - The Long Requested / Buttkicker Gamer 2 / Simhub Tactile Effects Thread

Mr Latte

Premium
I've been asked for a long time to do a thread on one of the most popular ever tactile transducers.
To this day the Buttkicker Gamer 2 is one of the most considered entry-level packages.






The CURSE OF TACTILE:
As tactile becomes a REAL headache of a topic.

First off, I'm going to simply request that this thread is for discussion only of using the Buttkicker Gamer product line.
This way all users are on the same hardware. It's not, to talk about tactile in general, it's not to talk about other models of Buttkicker or different makes of units and different models or using different amps etc.

Keeping It Simple Guys
So let's focus on and talk about using "Simhub" and getting started with effects creation/tuning for the BK Gamer & BK Gamer 2 models
My hope is people will benefit and learn from this, owners will get involved. People will start to share their own effects, discuss issues, configurations ask questions. I will help what I can and for those that are new to this and using a single shaker or indeed the more advanced users with multiple sets of units installed.


Getting Started:
Tactile when it's working nice can be a great addition but it can also be a troublesome one as these and many threads show regards setting up, configuring, and how to come up with nice working effects. I will continue to update this thread in time with images/info on getting started but I think we have a fair few that are already using and familiar with the software.

(Info on Amp & Soundcard Settings To be Added)
(Info on Windows/Software Settings To Be Added)
(Images for break down on mentioned factors, Master Volume / Effect Folders / Effect Layers)



Featured Effects - Lets SHARE!
Here is my own effects submission, as my first test effects based on ACC and The Ferrari 488GT3
I used this car for creating the files as I had previous effects testing done with this.

My advice is if checking out the effects try them on that sim/car.
People will likely use shared effects for other cars and sims too and that can vary how well or suitable the effects are but for feedback.
I would suggest relating to how effects feel with the car/sim they are created on. To me, this makes sense if someone else creates/shares their own sets to mention what sim/car was used.



What I attempted to do with this set was to bring more to the immersion than an individual or typically used tones have.
Yet also with the intent to make things easy and keep down the number of layers an effect uses. This way we can get more variation in the possible feel and personalize the felt sensations.

  • As a baseline, these are not bad, better is possible with more layers but this being mostly aimed at beginners to tactile
  • I want to make it easier to start feeling or learning how we can achieve nice felt sensations
  • Simple advice, stick to altering just the volumes and not things in each layer's settings if you are not aware of how/what they do
  • In some scenarios with combinations of effects, even a single Hz change can alter how the layers of different effects work together or feel
  • This can be covered if the thread is a success and then we could start looking deeper into each effect's primary settings

Balancing Frequencies
With each effect, I have them simply labeled for easy discussion and in their own folder.
  • Within each folder, I have set out 3 layers for most effects
  • This enables altering the volume of individual layers to adjust the feel of that effect
  • Try each layer on its own, learn what it does/how it feels then set a general volume
  • Do the same for all effects, then fine-tune the volume for each effect folder, to balance the mix for all effects
  • Test and tweak, different cars or sims can vary even with the same settings


Same Effects / Very Different Feel
You can create a volume balance that is more towards the engine or chassis feel depending on what you like. It's also possible to create a volume mix for both scenarios and save these as individual profiles to then use/load as you please.

We all may differ in what, we prefer to represent sensations for different effects, so I welcome others to get involved too.
Personally, I think it's better to use more balanced volumes or try to limit the effects used. Even this set the Engine/Speed effects to keep a single unit busy and make it harder to feel other effects.

These effects have perhaps some potential for easier enjoyment in getting started but the may need better-balanced volume settings
See what you think and feel free to comment or indeed highlight issues.



How To Use:
Simhub can be found HERE
My efforts being shared are like an unofficial help/guidance I am no way associated with the software or its developer. I recommend this incredible software as it is the best option now available for tactile and with many other uses/features. So please consider giving its developer a kind donation.

I strongly recommend also reading any official documentation that is given to get a grasp of how to use it.


NOTICE: The attached set of effects is not to represent ideal/perfect settings but as a starter for people to use and give feedback. If people get involved and offer feedback or share their own effects then I will help with sharing other effects more to what people may want.

My Attached Profile:
*Download File, place it in Docs/Simhub folder and rename from ".txt" to ".siprofile" for it to work as a profile
You should then be able to import it into Simhub.
 

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  • Assetto Corsa Competizione - RD Forums _ BK GAMER2 - ACC - Example Effects By Mr Latte.txt
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Yes, I am using the amp that came with the buttkicker2....
I orignally had it mounted in the cross bar just beneath the seat sideways.
I now have it mounted on a socket bolted to the lower bar.
(Please excuse the cheapo foam, I`m experimenting!)

The interesting thing with this frame is that some of the effects in the higher frequency range travel into the pedals and sometimes up to the wheel :)

Is that the upside down mounted position you refer to? Because thats pretty much the way it is meant to be installed so the piston is workin vertically. (will work horizontally but they dont recommend)

As for the placement I can guarantee you that youre missing on about 50% of the energy going to your butt :S
Its all fun to feel the energy go all over the place but IMO youre missing on greater localized feeling.

Personally, I did not like the BKA-130-C amp. It did work but as soon as it started to act it was a mess, some kind of internal protection kicking in not sure.. Also the volume dial wich is digital?? is worst thing ever with a controller so you can ajust the volume up or down?? no thanks. I want to set my amp at a level and never think about it ever again, if I want to adjust volume = Simhub directly.
 
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Note soundcards at 100% may not be ideal
Better if possible to find a 50-60% setting on Simhub (soundcards volume) and match that with a volume on the amp to get your desired output.

The reason for this more balanced approach is you are then not sending in the source signal to the amp (too hot) pre-amplification.

Depends on different setups/models of hardware but the idea is to keep the signal clean and avoiding distortion or clipping.
 
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Swapped the mounting back to the top bar but using the socket trick.
Everything feels a lot better in general! Cheers for the heads up
I will probably isolate the top seat frame from the bottom frame where it screws down.
The problem with tactile stuff I`m finding is the desire to keep tweaking, in all fairness it feels fine considering its a single transducer.
I also find when things are dialled down and a lot more subtle it`s overall more enjoyable.
 

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Swapped the mounting back to the top bar but using the socket trick.
Everything feels a lot better in general! Cheers for the heads up
I will probably isolate the top seat frame from the bottom frame where it screws down.
The problem with tactile stuff I`m finding is the desire to keep tweaking, in all fairness it feels fine considering its a single transducer.
I also find when things are dialled down and a lot more subtle it`s overall more enjoyable.
Seems more like it, that's more direct for sure, youre probably at 75% of your full potential now :) which is quite good. Your setup that you call upside down its basically the same, piston vertical?

Actually it seems like not everyone are looking for THE punch ! But anyways any punch experienced with the gamer2 is nothing when comparing to the big model, LFE or Concert.

One thing I realized also is that sometimes I was doing some test tone not seated on my rig, not the same ! ! Our weight dampen them quite alot depending on the setup again. Damping is actually a good thing it = less resonance, which is prob a good thing with metal framing, I uses a wooded frame.

Cheers
 
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So I just found this thread and my BK Gamer is coming tomorrow.

Am I the only one here who plans to mount this to an office chair?
(I *think* the way it was meant to be used lol)

Anyway, guess I'll be joining you all soon enough. Will def share any "profiles" I come up with if I do.
 
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I’m loving the input here guys. Ive been lurking here and playing around with my gamer 2 for about 3 weeks and loving it. I thought I better chime in as My time in this thread will be limited as I’ve picked up some ns01g’s and waiting for 4 x Dayton exciters to arrive. End game is the gamer 2, Bk concert(or like) and 4 x exciters.

Now ive been experimenting with my gamer in lots of positions and without isolation or making custom mounts etc for my 80/20 rig, this position bolted directly to the seat has been the best experience for me.

thats pretty much the way it is meant to be installed so the piston is workin vertically. (will work horizontally but they dont recommend)

What your saying is that I really should have it mounted so the piston is vertical. I paid about $60us 2nd hand for mine so I’m gonna roll the dice and leave it as is as I feel I’ll lose some the feel with an indirect mount. Any thoughts on this are appreciated.
C08656A3-A0E1-46BA-A7BC-FD0708E23C07.jpeg


and I’m not sure where I found this sim hub profile as I’ve been lurking many threads on here, but this profile with the single gamer is excellent for iracing. I’ve had mates over for a run and they can’t believe how good this basic set up feels.
Just wait till end game is here and then we will be body shaking.

thanks Benzaah.
 

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  • Any Game - Simulation.txt
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I’m loving the input here guys. Ive been lurking here and playing around with my gamer 2 for about 3 weeks and loving it. I thought I better chime in as My time in this thread will be limited as I’ve picked up some ns01g’s and waiting for 4 x Dayton exciters to arrive. End game is the gamer 2, Bk concert(or like) and 4 x exciters.

Now ive been experimenting with my gamer in lots of positions and without isolation or making custom mounts etc for my 80/20 rig, this position bolted directly to the seat has been the best experience for me.



What your saying is that I really should have it mounted so the piston is vertical. I paid about $60us 2nd hand for mine so I’m gonna roll the dice and leave it as is as I feel I’ll lose some the feel with an indirect mount. Any thoughts on this are appreciated. View attachment 433764

and I’m not sure where I found this sim hub profile as I’ve been lurking many threads on here, but this profile with the single gamer is excellent for iracing. I’ve had mates over for a run and they can’t believe how good this basic set up feels.
Just wait till end game is here and then we will be body shaking.

thanks Benzaah.
I think its not going to damage anything, no dice, it is just more optimal vertically.
btw looks like its missing a bolt..
Cheers
 
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I think it actually says in their martials that it can be mounted in other directions though not ideal. I think you should be fine and if it feels better how you got it, leave it there and good job for figuring that out.
 
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So I have installed the neoprene tape and mounted the whole rig on some cheap anti vibration washing machine disks.
Adding these small, cheap things has definately improved the sensations.
I am getting a lot less rattles around the rig in general and slightly improved tactile feedback in the buttock region :)

All I want to add now is the pads that Mr Latte has recommended a few posts up.
Diversitech MP-4E Eva Anti Vibration Pad, 4 x 4 x 7/8": Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

At a guess, I need to spread the energy further as it will still be hitting a single point on the washing machine mounts.
(correct me if I`m wrong).

I noticed a rattle still from inside the shaker, more like a "clacking sound"
Taking it apart and having a quick look (not recommended, warranty) I can see a cylindrical magnet that sort of floats and moves up and down. When I move the magnet with my fingers I can replicate the same sound.
I re-mounted the bass shaker, being mindful of the position of the magnet and then ran through a series of test tones.
Long story short, after going through the various effects and looking at certain frequencies, dialling back intesity of effects etc the clacking is now gone.
The unit wasn't clipping but it also doesn't like being driven too much.
I know this stuff has been documented well in the past but as a newbie to this stuff I figured it`s relevant to this thread :)
 

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@Wmacky
@Callsign BH
@Biro
@Turtle Power
@anton_Chez
@FireWithin

So here is a revised toolkit to try guys .....
Lets see what you make of this or if its any use?

I'd like to hear some feedback or criticism on peoples thoughts...

This will let you select different test frequencies to feel directly from within the sim you are using, via:

(A) Gearchange
(B) RPM


Hopefully will help people discover what range of Hz you can feel from and too with the tactile you have and what volumes are needed to make these:

(A) Felt
(B) Feel nice
(C) Avoid overbearing peak frequencies or gain settings



Just expand each section to see the various tests it offers.
Then activate the layer for the test you want to feel.


CAUTION USE APPROPRIATELY:
* MAP THE CHANNELS YOU WANT TO FEEL/TEST
* DO NOT BE A PLONKER & START WITH MAX VOLUMES
* DO NOT TRY TO USE VARIOUS OR MULTIPLE LAYERS AT ONCE
* USE ONE LAYER AT A TIME - DEACTIVATE NOT NEEDED LAYERS

Like before, download the below, rename its extension from".txt" to ".siprofile" and place it in Simhub folder.
It should then appear to import into Simhub.
 

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  • Any Game - Mr Latte - Beginners Tactile Toolbox V3.0 Jan 2021.txt
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20210115_215214.jpg


Installed mine last night. Dont have another sound card so I used my monitor headphone port as a second channel to use with simhub. Fiddled with some settings and I liked gear shift, road rumble and road vibrations. Its good to not add multiple telemetry inputs as it becomes one big noise. I'm going to try mr lattes settings since I haven't yet tried layered effects yet. My rig is extremely sturdy and I plan on adding one or two bass shakers to the pedal deck. The pedals are bolted to a large 8mm steel plate and then to profile so it will need some power to translate I think.

The socket trick worked great. There is a square metal frame beneath the cloth so It couldn't be more direct mounting
 
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Ive been thinking about getting a buttkicker, however ive been told i would also need to but a second soundcard aswell as my onboard sound? Also I wonder about needing the amp, I know the gamer 2 is 2ohm, but one of their other more powerful units is 4ohm. I have a very powerful Rotel amp (about 150w perchannel), which could'nt drive the Gamer 2 due to the 2Ohms, but it will drive 4Ohms. Could I not just use that. I would get my stereo audio from my headphones in front jack of PC and send signal to Transducer from rear panel sound, would that work?

Thanks for any advice!
 
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Front panel audio comes from onboard. So if you route the sound to output from front panel I'm pretty sure you lose the rear outputs. So you'd need a soundcard to provide game audio while the onboard does the tactile work. You might be able to mirror the sound being sent to the tactile but I don't think it works very well and wouldn't recommend messing with it that way. I was able to get audio to pass through my PC via optical from my PS4 when I had it so I could use my PC headphones on it while using the PC monitor as well but it might not be the same thing.

A cheap sound card will get you better game audio than anything onboard will and then you have 5.1/7.1 onboard audio dedicated to tactile which is plenty. The amp will probably work. Just depends what you want to get out of it. You may be limited in its functionality in some cases but it should still work if the power output is adequate.
 
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I have a very powerful Rotel amp (about 150w perchannel), which could'nt drive the Gamer 2 due to the 2Ohms, but it will drive 4Ohms.
A 4 Ohm rating limits current that Rotel should deliver to about 6 Amps for 150 Watts.
Driving that same current into 2 Ohms would yield 75 Watts at a correspondingly lower gain setting.
FWIW, non-VR audio from my PC is via USB sound card, dedicating motherboard audio to SimHub.
 
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Ive been thinking about getting a buttkicker, however ive been told i would also need to but a second soundcard aswell as my onboard sound? Also I wonder about needing the amp, I know the gamer 2 is 2ohm, but one of their other more powerful units is 4ohm. I have a very powerful Rotel amp (about 150w perchannel), which could'nt drive the Gamer 2 due to the 2Ohms, but it will drive 4Ohms. Could I not just use that. I would get my stereo audio from my headphones in front jack of PC and send signal to Transducer from rear panel sound, would that work?

Thanks for any advice!

You would be wiser to sell/swap with someone the BK Gamer that can use the 2ohm via a supported amp and then use a 4ohm unit on the Rotel. 150w is not very much when it comes to larger tactile but more than you will need for a 4ohm BK Mini

As another alternative, what is the amp rated for 8ohm as you could potentially consider this.

I would avoid front jacks for audio on PCs as many cases use basic-quality cabling and with such it's also more prone to interference. Not that it might make much difference to tactile but anyone conscious of quality would be better to use a USB based card.
 
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@Wmacky
@Callsign BH
@Biro
@Turtle Power
@anton_Chez
@FireWithin

So here is a revised toolkit to try guys .....
Lets see what you make of this or if its any use?

I'd like to hear some feedback or criticism on peoples thoughts...

This will let you select different test frequencies to feel directly from within the sim you are using, via:

(A) Gearchange
(B) RPM


Hopefully will help people discover what range of Hz you can feel from and too with the tactile you have and what volumes are needed to make these:

(A) Felt
(B) Feel nice
(C) Avoid overbearing peak frequencies or gain settings



Just expand each section to see the various tests it offers.
Then activate the layer for the test you want to feel.


CAUTION USE APPROPRIATELY:
* MAP THE CHANNELS YOU WANT TO FEEL/TEST
* DO NOT BE A PLONKER & START WITH MAX VOLUMES
* DO NOT TRY TO USE VARIOUS OR MULTIPLE LAYERS AT ONCE
* USE ONE LAYER AT A TIME - DEACTIVATE NOT NEEDED LAYERS

Like before, download the below, rename its extension from".txt" to ".siprofile" and place it in Simhub folder.
It should then appear to import into Simhub.


Just saw this - I'll check it out.

I apologize for the lack of feedback on the profile you sent weeks ago. But,I'm still experimenting to better understand your approch, and don't feel I have anything substantive to offer just yet. One issue is deciding what tactile is no longer needed when combined with motion. I have a lot to figure out still.
 
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