Inexpensive transducers for simvibe

JeffL · Aug 20, 2014

Some of the guys in the club were asking about some affordable transducers for Simvibe.

I have $50 sub and the 4 pack 16 0hm minis ($44) drive in 2 zones by 2 - $20 lepai amps and not even close to using all the power. Actually just the large shaker and one amp would be sufficient but....

The company that makes the transducers is Dayton Audio but the best price is from Parts Express

http://www.parts-express.com/cat/tactile-transducers-exciters-bass-shakers/18
Have fun.

asteroulis · Apr 19, 2016

As @JeffL stated above in these small transducers it doesn't really matter. It depends more on the material of the surfaces to be excited, how isolated the surface is so that vibrations are not lost on the surrounding area etc. If you place them in an optimized way youll get a good amount of vibe. On a bad installation you may feel only a bit.
Also note that the noname ones need to be a bit raised from the surface so that the axis is free to move inside. 3mm would be more than enough. I mean don't just screw then right on the surface, put some spacers on the bolts.

JeffL · Apr 19, 2016

Not sure what you mean with room for "axis is free to move inside" do you have a photo of that type of transducer? Most of the transducers I've seen are flush mount and if the throw is physically hitting the bottom of the enclosure your driving them too hard that would cause them to clatter, just curious.

William Wester · Apr 19, 2016

Dan Costa said:
Hi again! could you tell me if your shakers work well in vertical position? are they noisier? Been reading some feedback about the auras making more noise when vertical. It seems they were made to be horizontally

cheers

I use the AuraSound AST-2B-4 Pro's, I'm using them vertically now but did have then horizontal in my previous setup. I didn't notice any more extraneous noises between the two orientations. To me these are fairly quite, good vibrations without much noise.

heideracer · Apr 19, 2016

Dan Costa said:
Hi guys

whats the verdict on those cheap bass shakers? good bad?

another question about amps/ohms.
Can someone tell me how many 16ohm 8ohm 4ohm shakers I can connect to one 4ohm two channel amp? (So i can understand the math and logic behind ohms)

cheers

Hello,
if you are really low on money, yes they work. You get what you pay for. I use them connected in series which sums up to 8 Ohms. This is the minimum impedance my amp allows. I use too 4 "Basspump III" which I got via Ebay for about 35€ for one. Three times the price - three times the Oomph? i don't know, but it is definitve more coming out of these. Two of these are the same as the BIG ones on the back of my rig. Unfortunatly these aren't available anymore - they cost me 70 € each. If i could i would fit these at all locations - and there would be some "really satisfiyng" butt massage. Now its without the "really"

.

As for the Impedance:
serial (+SP->+SP-) 4+4=8 no problem
parallel (++SP|SP--)(4+4)/4=2 amp gone
or http://www.resistorguide.com/ in menu applications

asteroulis · Apr 19, 2016

JeffL said:
Not sure what you mean with room for "axis is free to move inside" do you have a photo of that type of transducer? Most of the transducers I've seen are flush mount and if the throw is physically hitting the bottom of the enclosure your driving them too hard that would cause them to clatter, just curious.

Sorry for any misunderstanding. Lately my english are having some difficulties.

When you bolt them with at least 4 bolts or screws you need to put spacers. When I first screwed them tightly onto my wooden rig I realized that the head (that's what I called axis in the previous post) in the circle would touch the wood and then there would be no space for it to vibrate. The yellow material in the arrow is like a spring that connects the head to the body.

The Aura's seem to use the same mechanism or at least the same design more or less , just with a radiator enclosure to help with the dissipation of heat. There is obviously space as well inside there for the shaking needs so thats why you can mount it directly.

JeffL · Apr 19, 2016

Ok, I thought you were talking about the mini Daytons, thx for taking the time to show that. How are those, they look extremely cheap. They look like something that came out of one those cheap gaming chairs, not meant to be mounted LOL. .

The Daytons are well built. The heavier case also means more vibration. Like hitting a nail with with a 1 lb hammer compared to a 8 lb hammer. Those Daytons are really well designed for the price.

DriftMachine · Apr 19, 2016

What I have learned while experimenting with transducers:
The cheap puck ones work well under low power. They are best for the gear shifter and pedal base.
The seat is best to use a heavy one but you will need 3 times the power.

The heavy ones are best for extensions mode and the seat.
The tightness of the bolts along with use of specific types of rubber bushings help the effect or reduce it. That is also something to keep in mind when setting these up.

You can use a decent rated home theater amp with multi input. I used 2 old 5.1 channel receivers with no issues. The rated power was 90rms by 5. I only use 4 channels per receiver. The amp felt a bit weak for the aura's. Most people have some type of receiver to use. and if not they are about $100 or less at a pawn shop.

The Auras need a lot more power to get the same effect as the cheap puck style Daytons. Dayton has started making a new tactile transducer similar to the auras, but I have not tried those yet. I just ordered a set to test.

http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-bst-1-high-power-pro-tactile-bass-shaker-50-watts--295-244

William Wester · Apr 19, 2016

DriftMachine said:
...
The Auras need a lot more power to get the same effect as the cheap puck style Daytons. Dayton has started making a new tactile transducer similar to the auras, but I have not tried those yet. I just ordered a set to test.

http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-bst-1-high-power-pro-tactile-bass-shaker-50-watts--295-244

I don't know about the "puck style" Daytons but the Auras I have are 4 ohm, if you try to power these with a standard audio receiver it will take quite a bit more power and may overheat a low powered receiver. I use a 4 ohm amplifier for the 4 ohm Auras.

JeffL · Apr 19, 2016

Right from the Dayton website.
Notice the Vertical mount.

Dan Costa · Apr 20, 2016

yep

Can't find dayton in europe.

Still, having 6 of these in chassis + extension should make up for a better experience than 1 or 2 good shakers I suppose?

Chili P · Apr 21, 2016

I have two of the Bass Shakers linked in the previous post above, one mounted to the back of an old Cobra bucket seat and the other mounted under the pedal plate of a GT Omega, under the seat mounted to the GT chassis I have a Pearl Throne thumper.

The Bass shakers are wired in series and are connected to this amp http://cpc.farnell.com/1/1/126926-qtx-sound-pro1000-power-amplifier-2x250wrms-blk.html as is the Throne thumper, these are all run in Extension mode in Simvibe.

I am new to all this but with this combination and with where I have the transducers located the Body shakers overall outperform the the Throne thumper, which was a bit of a shock to me. At lower frequencies the thumper performs great but is not so good at engine vibes whereas the Body shakers are better throughout the frequency range overall but they do produce more "sound" than the thumper.

The rear seat mounted Body shaker using gear change is like being punched in the kidneys, while the one under the pedal plate (steel) is quite mild in comparison, when I have the time I will try switching the front body shaker for the throne thumper.
The amplifier is quite powerful, allegedly 2 x 500 watt 4 ohm at max settings, the Throne thumper can bottom out but the Body shakers seem to be quite happy even at max settings.
2 Body shakers for £22 ...money well spent.

Dan Costa · Apr 21, 2016

thats a powerfull amp compared to what we've been recommended here (that 2x20w would be enough). Don't they rattle at such high wattage?

Chili P · Apr 21, 2016

Allegedly!! 500 watt, I got the amp to power the Throne thumper, it needs lots of power, the Body shakers are wired in series so I think that puts them at 8 ohm and if I remember the manual right at 8 ohm the amp pushes out 160 ish watts. No they dont rattle but the Throne thumper does

I did try the Body shakers with one of these amps, Lepai Lepy LP-268, linky :-http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141448694306?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT with this amp a mosquito would cause more vibrations by farting at 100 meters distance, although I did not run the amp through simvibes output, just the soundcard with some heavy bass music and I`m sure that I have read somwhere that simvibe has a higher output.
Anyway hope this helps.

Dan Costa · Apr 21, 2016

well thats a bit disconcerting, I was considering this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231521746902

You sure you have these shakers here? http://www.pollin.de/shop/dt/MTY2OT...precher/Lautsprecher_Chassis/Bass_Shaker.html

Chili P · Apr 21, 2016

The shakers look the same,I got mine here
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002LQAHPE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
the lepai amp I got is supposed to be 20 watt per channel but even with a body shaker pressed right against my skull

at full volume I could barely feel it.

This looks like a lot of amplifier for the money and might be more suitable/versetlile
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pyle-Home...323492?hash=item5683bbffe4:g:d6wAAOSwUdlWe9Hr

Best advice I could give you is dont rush into it, read lots of reviews on any amp before you buy.
I like the shakers tho would deffo recommend them, If I was starting out again I would get the best amp I could get, preferably a Behringer Inuke DSP4 amp
There is a good write up by a Mr Latte on another competitor site just google for "simvibe 4 channel amplifier" it should be the first link you get. (not sure of the forum rules here fully)

JeffL · Apr 21, 2016

I don't know what would be the problem could be but if you have a lepai amp and any transducer against your head if you are getting a signal you should most definitely feel it. Something is wrong.

Chili P · Apr 21, 2016

I guess the amp could be broke, I don't have any speakers to test it with at the moment, I just hooked up the body shakers to my big amp instead and put the lepai in my bitsa box, when I can test out the lepai with some speakers I`ll let you know but I suspect its broke, it only cost $11 with free shipping from China so it was no big deal.

JeffL · Apr 21, 2016

I always try help people to keep from thinking more power is better, it seems like common sense, but transducers and speakers it's all about matching. When it comes to signal to noise ratio, a good rule of thumb is to keep your volume at about 6 on a scale of 1 - 10. That is the sweet spot in most consumer electronics. match the ohms. Keep your volumes in your gain chain at 6 and see what happens.

tnguyen2905 · Apr 22, 2016

JeffL said:
I always try help people to keep from thinking more power is better, it seems like common sense, but transducers and speakers it's all about matching. When it comes to signal to noise ratio, a good rule of thumb is to keep your volume at about 6 on a scale of 1 - 10. That is the sweet spot in most consumer electronics. match the ohms. Keep your volumes in your gain chain at 6 and see what happens.

Jeff, I'm still researching amps and I have decided to stay away from cheaper amps. I will be running two aura's. Could you recommend an amp that would be able to power both of these to the max? Like the Dayton audio SA100? Or something with two channel? All this is just so confusing..I want to spend 80 or less..