Very interesting, I am open to start right off the bat with something that is pretty decent. While I don't have thousands to throw at the rig for tactile immersion, I am more inclined to purchase something that is straight off the bat somewhat "future-proof" and have the better price/performance right before reaching the peak where the price is exponential for meager performance gains, but I don't know enough about bass shakers to be able to tell what's good and what isn't.
Which shakers would you recommend for the CM, seat and pedal setup (sorry I'm not able to tell the shakers that are in your diagram)?
Cheers
From what I know now and have experienced.
I wouldn't recommend a CM installation for most rigs as the best way to start into tactile.
Perceptions
The problem is most sim racers considering tactile "think" it's the best approach as they expect and want to achieve multi-positional effects from the 4 corners. Besides, it's what most people aim to do right?
It has been the "cool" idea to have a transducer represent each wheel since 2012/2013 when Simvibe was the first tactile to offer this. Yet it did so with the vast majority of effects not even being output in proper stereo, defeating part of the purpose.
Lets not upset anyone here, yes Simvibe is multi-dimensional, that it allows many effects to be used and sent over 8 transducers but from my experience not necessarily good at all for stereo sensations. "Suspension Bumps" appeared to be its main effect that did use stereo well. Yet really it has been outclassed by newer and now free options.
Simhub, which has more advanced (output mixer abilities) offers more effects that we can output in stereo for CM installations.
However, explain to me how two transducers bolted to a plate, rig frame, or set of pedals and can sustain independent outputs without their energy mixing? The same applies to how lots of people install tactile to a seat as they enable two transducers to deliver/mix their energy output even before it reaches the seat.
4x Budget Units
When you have 4x units that are all restricted in what frequencies they can output and a user is sending multiple effects to each. You now have a scenario of frequencies overlapping which increases the amplitude of those frequencies being used at the same time with various effects.
The performance of budget tactile and lets be clear here, a BK Mini is an entry-level product as a "piston" based transducer. It has drawbacks and issues with piston pang. The SimXperience concept using upto to 8 of these. if we be honest, is not even close to the true potential we can achieve from tactile. Yet today as a package from any sim company this is probaly as advanced as you can buy or appears to some the most awesome looking option.
Users will by habbit, apply the same similar frequencies for various effects. Mostly those within that 30Hz-60Hz range being the sweetspot of performance for the vast majority of budget transducers and smallest BK units.
People are kidding themselves, thinking they can have many variations in effects sensations by making one effect 5Hz-10Hz different to some others when they are especially limited to this restricted bass range, that budget units have.
So effects will still have a lot of frequency overlap with the effects they choose and this is commonly termed as "less is more" because having more than 3-4 effects that may operate at similar times just makes tactile mush. Ahh but now on a CM installation, this becomes 4x (Quad Tactile mush).
Small Med Large BK
A user that has BK Mini, that then upgrades to BK Advance that then upgrades to the largest BK LFE or Concert. What they primarily achieve is the ability for greater low-end sensations. They expand the potential in now they are able to spread out effects more to have greater variation in felt output with more bass bandwidth. Now they can experience the low dynamics of bass better with each larger model.
This output can be achieved with much more wattage and yes it will certainly shake a rig. Yet this still ties the user down to the output characteristics and limitations BK units have in them being piston-based shakers. They are rather limited when it comes to mid-bass and harmonic-bass frequencies which are finer/faster for improved detail and timing.
Pump Up The Bass
For tactile people always put the emphasis of importance on the bass/punch smack/rumble but good quality tactile is not just about that, no not at all when it comes to achieving greater range in felt sensations for different effects.
We cannot achieve the best tactile sensations, using any single make or model of unit.
You only discover this when you research and test what the primary benefits are from different products. This is why my own solution combines different products. However, it then takes the understanding to develop effects that incorporate their own layers to make use of each unit's operational benefits to then generate effects that deliver individual aspects to each unit for the greater combined output.
Quality speakers, use woofers, mid-range drivers and tweeters. They do not rely on a single speaker element to produce all frequencies. To make tactile more musical in that it follows the principles of how audio and harmonics work. This is why my own approach mimics this woofer/mid/tweeter arrangement by using most suited hardware for the appropriate key frequencies it performs best with.
Advanced Effects Creation / My RaceBass Approach
We no longer have to think in the mindset that tactile effects go to specific units as a whole. Then we channel that effect to the units we want it operating on. The same thing is being sent to each unit.
Now, instead, we apply elements of a much more advanced effect via "individual tone layers"
These can be routed to multiple units representing the low/mid/high bass frequencies.
An effect can be comprised of elements with the specific elements to suit the BK, the TST or in some scenarios the Exciters. We instead combine the output benefits of each unit to form the "complete effect" and this is the primary difference my own approach uses.
This is why the approach I have applied easily can outperform any CM-based installation that is held back by crosstalk issues, limited frequency output, and using the standard approach to effects creation.
Better Immersion
The best immersion is not about trying to fit 4 wheels into a small cockpit. The key element is not "more of less". Also, regards lesser performance/budget units being installed and may I say applying often frequency limited generated tones now x4 isn't ideal with using repeated/frequency restricted effects to them.
My friends, the key is to find ways to develop and bring much better effects and then apply a way for those frequencies within those effects to be best represented. Using an installation incorporating the most suitable and capable hardware.
You cannot take this approach I have for specially developed effects creation and then expect to use it on your own budget or standard tactile installations. These effects layers may use the full bass range (1-200Hz) so it's impossible to feel the "full intended effect properly" on any single unit as no single unit can achieve the performance desired with the full bass frequncy range.
I get asked a lot for effects, thanks but no thanks, I don't spend many hours on effects creation for people to then only feel part of their immersion with the tactile hardware they have installed. The effects and the hardware approach I use go hand in hand.
With the emphasis of offering the full bass energy and higher detail, we can achieve taking the hardware that is best with generating the low/mid/upper frequencies individually.
Its not 2012, we need to advance tactile beyond....
