Mobile Driving/Flying Cockpit with Motion and Tactile ( Build )

[RCHeliguy]

These are coming today so I can secure the exciter wiring to the back of my seat better than I have it now.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097P6G1VQ

I know some people drilled holes for their exciter wiring to hide them which is fine. My reasons for not doing this are:
1. My rig's state of flux. I don't trust that I won't move them or change something that leaves holes in my seat.
2. I don't like the idea of having wires behind my back. In my head I see the wiring grinding as my NLRv3 throws my weight from side to side.

I have a red 6 point seat belt coming later on this week. I can't believe I've put up with the discomfort of my current belts for this long.

The trickledown from that change will be:

1. The lap belt adjustment buckles will be on the outside of my seat and not just inside the side seat openings, so it should be much more comfortable since the buckles won't dig into my hips. They should also be easy to cinch tight and easily adjustable.
2. The shoulder belts will be easy to cinch tight and "should" stay tight and not loosen on me during a race and if they did, they should be easy to make tight again. This is important to feeling my G-Belt during braking, cornering, etc..
3. The two anti-dive belts will be able to be permanently mounted. Currently I have a quick release fitting for the single belt that is centered in front of my flight stick mount. Now I'll be able to bolt the pair of belts to the side and leave them. So I have one less step when converting to flight mode and when DCS support comes for the G-Belt, I'll be ready to use it.
4. Lastly My family jewels will be happier

I have one more thing coming this week that is an experiment. If it works I'll mention it otherwise, I'll forget it and move on.

Once I have the exciter wiring secured the way I want it and the new seatbelt in place, I want to believe that my rig will be in a steady state for a while. I won't even take odds on that. I know better.

In any case it will be time to make another walk through video.

 

[Deleted member 1449502]

I've just purchased the EPQ304 and 4 x DAEX32EP-4 Thruster 32mm/40w 4 Ohm. I have a few questions

Is the recommended DSP the t.racks DSP 4X4 mini? any other as good/better options with respect to functionality/performance?
Do you have to keep the DSP connected to retain settings, or is it set once and forget?
Seems this is the only place to buy them? https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_t.racks_dsp_4x4_mini.htm
Is the GUI for the t.racks software as intuitive as the Behringer software?

​

 

[metalnwood]

I've just purchased the EPQ304 and 4 x DAEX32EP-4 Thruster 32mm/40w 4 Ohm. I have a few questions

Is the recommended DSP the t.racks DSP 4X4 mini? any other as good/better options with respect to functionality/performance?
Do you have to keep the DSP connected to retain settings, or is it set once and forget?
Seems this is the only place to buy them? https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_t.racks_dsp_4x4_mini.htm
Is the GUI for the t.racks software as intuitive as the Behringer software?

​

Interestingly, I looked at that one from there as well. They didnt knock off vat for shipping to NZ which made me look at what parts-express had - as thats where I would buy pucks from. If you are already getting stuff from parts express paying shipping it seems that something like the dayton 8 channel dsp is only about $20usd more than the t.racks once it piggybacks on the shipping with the other stuff.

 

[Deleted member 1449502]

Interestingly, I looked at that one from there as well. They didnt knock off vat for shipping to NZ which made me look at what parts-express had - as thats where I would buy pucks from. If you are already getting stuff from parts express paying shipping it seems that something like the dayton 8 channel dsp is only about $20usd more than the t.racks once it piggybacks on the shipping with the other stuff.

This bad boy?

Home

Dayton Audio DSP-408 4x8 DSP Digital Signal Processor for Home and Car AudioTake Control of Your SoundEase of use has always had its place in the consumer electronics industry. Dayton Audio has now brought to market a digital signal processor (DSP) that combines versatility, incredible sound...

www.parts-express.com

 

[RCHeliguy]

I've just purchased the EPQ304 and 4 x DAEX32EP-4 Thruster 32mm/40w 4 Ohm. I have a few questions

Is the recommended DSP the t.racks DSP 4X4 mini? any other as good/better options with respect to functionality/performance?
Do you have to keep the DSP connected to retain settings, or is it set once and forget?
Seems this is the only place to buy them? https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_t.racks_dsp_4x4_mini.htm
Is the GUI for the t.racks software as intuitive as the Behringer software?

The t.rack DSP software felt fine to me. Once you have a t.racks unit configured, you no longer need to run the software or have the USB connection to the computer. They just power up and work.

This is good because the software will only recognize one t.racks unit at a time.

I'm not familiar with alternative products. I was actually fine with Equalizer APO which is a software only solution. For now I'm simply using equalization and high pass or low pass filters, nothing advanced.

If I don't end up with anything more advanced, I may switch back amd simplify my setup.

 

[metalnwood]

This bad boy?

Home

Dayton Audio DSP-408 4x8 DSP Digital Signal Processor for Home and Car AudioTake Control of Your SoundEase of use has always had its place in the consumer electronics industry. Dayton Audio has now brought to market a digital signal processor (DSP) that combines versatility, incredible sound...

www.parts-express.com

yes, but when I looked at it a second time, its not a channel, its 4 in and 8 out. I was fooled Still, it tells me that for people outside europre there may be options that are more expensive that could be got for the same price when sharing shipping while ordering other things together.

Eigh channels was interesting because I could have also inserted my 4 lfe mini's in the chain.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This is how I have my exciter wiring. I start sheathing the exciter wires when all 4 sets come together at the bottom. I could black out the exciters and cover the blue spade wrap with black shrink wrap, but the seat belts and G-Belt cables obscure what is behind my seat enough that I'm comfortable with this for now.

For now they are simply pressure fit with the spade connectors. If I find that they come loose over time, I'll cut the spade connectors off and solder them in place.

My exciter placement wasn't achieved through any scientific method. I went with lower back and behind my shoulders. The raised spine on the back of my seat directed placement. I'm happy with the result and I'm leaving them where they are. From the effects I'm feeling so far, I don't think that it's critical to find precise placement.

The G-Belt can only add to what I can feel from them by holding me firmly against the seat.

 

[Deleted member 1449502]

That looks clean! Do you think 4 is plenty for the back with a shoulder/lower back config? I remeber Mr Latte saying 6 would be best was that for a shoulder/mid back/lower back set up he was referring too, or having the other 2 placed somewhere else?

I was going to start like you said and run engine effects through them to compliment the same effects running off TST and I guess go from there

 

[blekenbleu]

exciter wiring

These exciters have a reputation for eventually failing terminals,
presumably from vibration fatigue.
Better to anchor wires to exciter bodies,
e.g. with hot glue or RTV silicone:

 

[RCHeliguy]

That looks clean! Do you think 4 is plenty for the back with a shoulder/lower back config? I remeber Mr Latte saying 6 would be best was that for a shoulder/mid back/lower back set up he was referring too, or having the other 2 placed somewhere else?

I was going to start like you said and run engine effects through them to compliment the same effects running off TST and I guess go from there

He did say that and I considered buying more exciters initially, but he suggested that I start with 4, so I did.

I do not know where the other two would go, but I'm sure the EPQ-304 would be capable of driving a pair of these per channel if they were in series creating an 8 ohm load. Considering I only have the amp at 2 clicks from 0 it shouldn't be hard on the amp.

 

[RCHeliguy]

These exciters have a reputation for eventually failing terminals,
presumably from vibration fatigue.
Better to anchor wires to exciter bodies,
e.g. with hot glue or RTV silicone:

Hmmm... My knee jerk reaction was that it's a bit late for that advice since:
1. I would have rotated all my exciters with the leads at the top if I were planning to do that.
2. The wiring is already cut to size and isn't long enough for me to run it high enough to come in from the top of the exciters.

However if I glued the spades to the backs of the transducers and carefully stripped the wire below the spades to solder to the leads it might be doable.

I'll think about it. Given how cheap the exciters are, I might wait until I see a failure and act then.

 

[Deleted member 1449502]

This complete overkill? https://lifestylestore.com.au/product/helix-dsp-mini-digital-signal-processor/

 

[RCHeliguy]

This complete overkill? https://lifestylestore.com.au/product/helix-dsp-mini-digital-signal-processor/

Overkill. It looks like it is audiophile grade.
A signal is only as good as the weakest link. What audio cards are you using?

 

[Deleted member 1449502]

Just creative x3s

 

[blekenbleu]

glued the spades to the backs of the transducers

Hot glue on what you already have might suffice;
even if cost is not an issue, availability seems to be.

 

[Tom_Hampton]

I do not know where the other two would go,

Right at the side of my hips seems to work well, for me.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Hot glue on what you already have might suffice;
even if cost is not an issue, availability seems to be.

Apparently so.

 

[blekenbleu]

Apparently so

.. even for the profligate: "In stock soon"

 

[RCHeliguy]

A few interesting Tactile observations.

Today I was A/B testing the BK-CT that Buttkicker sent me with the one I complained about squeaking. ( FYI, my original one stopped squeaking, now of course, so I'm keeping it.)

I got on my rig that is all dialed in for Tactile and sat on top of my seat belts and just threw iRacing on my 75" display. I also didn't have my correct SC2 profile loaded. That was completely freaky and disorienting and I was thinking where has all the tactile gone ????? I could barely feel anything.

I had to double check that my volume wasn't turned way down. I could feel it, but it wasn't hitting me at all

So I seat belted myself in firmly and put on my VR googles and BOOM! There was my tactile.

There were a few things at work here.
1. Being seat belted in obviously makes me feel a lot more of the tactile in the seat.
2. Without my VR headset on I could hear the transducers buzzing a bit, not bad, but I also wasn't hearing the sound track.
3. The reinforcement of the Audio track, FFB, G-Belt, motion all work together supporting effects and make tactile much more noticeable at lower levels.

It does make me wonder if people with triple screens need more Tactile power to get the same effect you get in VR.

Anyone here bounce back and forth between the two often enough to comment?

I'm getting ready to try out a profile I was sent to iterate with in Dirt Rally. It's not optimized for DR at all. That's what I'll be attempting to do.

 

[metalnwood]

I can say for sure that I feel the same. I have been in and out a little as it's generally easier to play with simhub while in a sim on screen and not in VR.

How I perceive the tactile outside of VR is different and far less immersive. I guess its like kissing your sister vs kissing your girlfriend. Can be the same kiss but one has more emotions that elevates it.