Tactile Immersion - General Discussion - Hardware & Software

[Novopaine]

I've been testing placement similar to yours. I hung the entire board under the two 40/40 rails. For clearance I mounted mine upside-down. I've also added a thin liner (meant for lining tool drawers) between the plywood and profile to ensure there's no unwanted rattles. You can kind of tell in the photo.

I can hear/feel subtle differences between the two, but nothing drastic. If had to troubleshoot your issue (@mgh24), I'd first swap the speaker leads (L <-> R) to see if issue moved to the other side. If the issue moved then I'd know it's not the transducer. Then I would swap the inputs to the amp (L <-> R) to see if the issue moves to the other side. That would rule out the PC as a potential problem source. If the issue moved then I'd take a look at the audio settings at the source.

 

[mgh24]

This morning I spun the board around to test, and it was a bit better. Looked underneath, and noticed I did not have the transducers evenly spaced, they were further to the left side. I slid the board over as far as it would go to the left side, and there was more improvement - treating the symptom, not the cause, but I'll take it.

Then went into Windows sound settings to work on left/right balance, but the Nobsound would not show two channels. Strange. Then it struck me to go back to SimHub, and sure enough, it displays both channels, and allows me to adjust them independently.
I'm going to send the dev(s?) some more money, what a great piece of software it is!

@Novopaine - If I put my board on the bottom as you have, I could get a bit more separation between my transducers. I may give that a try.

I admit I was skeptical that I would be able to feel a difference right to left side, I thought the vibrations would meld together, but there is a distinct separation.

This was a project well worth the time. Now, do I want to set up a front transducer...

Thanks again to everyone for the help.

 

[metalnwood]

I would do what you might think is the unthinkable.. drill in to your seat and mount direct. You will run them at 50% less volume and they will deliver a lot more then they are right now the ones I have under my seat in left and right positions give me the most for feeling like the track is alive.. kerbs, a bit of road noise etc.

 

[Mr Latte]

The BK CT is pretty awesome. The power is unbelievable. I have it mounted to a piece of timber that is spanning the main rails of the chassis, behind the seat. Honestly, with this much energy, that I can actually feel, I doubt there is much point trying to pull things apart to get it mounted on the seat. You can feel so much just from where it is and at least this way it's completely upright, no compromises on the mounting or anything. I'm seriously considering just removing everything else that I have and running this alone. I'll have to plug in some more effects, I wonder if @Mr Latte has any updated large BK unit profiles for me to test out....?

I've already transferred the suggested amp and EQ settings over and I will give that a go later. I was just running some laps testing the engine from the old large BK profile I had saved and it's so good. The unit itself doesn't struggle, at all. For now I can't hear any weird noises or rattling, anything that might annoy someone. The MQB-1 did have some of that but I can't work out if it's the actual unit itself of if it's residual energy going off and rattling the seat and other things.

I think having it on timber helps a lot too. It gives something soft-ish to work against, even though it's mounted along the frame and not totally suspended in the middle, I reckon this what I'll go with. I'll have to paint the mount black or something, but it should come up alright.

Glad you are liking it but come on man, all that money you have spent on other sim hardware over the years and you still restrain from just going all in eh? VR3, SFX have come and gone with you?

So, here is to the future perhaps that at some point, you may decide to apply all the (recommendations given) regards isolation and having the proper hardware, including TST with multi-exciters installed?

Yeah in an Irish/Aussie tongue/cheek humor type of way.......
I am trying to get you to pull your finger out of your ass.

At which time, then you are more able to enjoy the creative effects profiles being worked on that I seek to continue in bringing. I just recently accepted another tester from Germany and New Zealand but all my private testers are my own 1-1 clients and need to have the desired hardware installed to work on this pioneering approach taken with effects tests.

Why this direction?
Ultimately, frustration based on, several attempts made on these forums over the last 2 years, to try to get other people to engage in a deeper level of testing and experimentation or to share/discuss effects, development.

Exciter Concept: Takers But Not Talkers?
Look, even the exciters which can add quite a bit to immersion. All the people I helped with installing those, several people have bought into that. Yet where do you see a thread created by one of those users, to create more interest and testing on those? Someone that has explored for themselves, different approaches in effects mapping, body zones etc, and sharing their own findings?

Even in working with others' own rig builds and installation. Little ever happened in them bringing forward, their own long-term findings or preferences with effects? Most of the time very little has happened regards feedback. I tried several times to share and offer much of my own learning and progression freely here on these forums,.

Time To Quit
For me, the "Aston Martin" shared engine experiment, highlights one approach in how we can better use layers and harmonics in effects. Who else is even trying/sharing to develop effects beyond the norm to the level I am trying to push things?

I got some positive reactions but, even so, its lack of user feedback and discussion proved to me, it was time to stop trying to get people @RD Forums interested. Also, I discovered, I get more feedback from 1-1 clients who reached out to me for my personal time. Here, I help them to buy/connect/install the tactile. Save them trolling through this mega-thread that covers so many different things, it in itself makes things even more confusing.

So with these people and in already forming more of a personal connection with them. It becomes more enjoyable seeing, their own progression/experiences with tactile. Maybe better feedback is more possible, because by this stage they already, have an invested interest in the hardware recommended and seek to get the best from it, I can't explain it but I will not be openly sharing new effects discoveries already made this year and ongoing efforts, here on the forums.

The goal is to develop effects to consider offering some form of solution/package or membership that brings for tactile nothing anywhere seems to offer. Taking into account my own IP and development in this area.

Tactile as it currently is, fails miserably in allowing someone to buy into a solution/package that just works and has effects developed for that solution which present the best of what tactile can achieve.

Yet why, is it not about time this changes?
I don't want my own effects to only have my own input, so this is why I sought after a small but limited number of private testers to help develop this approach being made.

 

[Mr Latte]

I would do what you might think is the unthinkable.. drill in to your seat and mount direct. You will run them at 50% less volume and they will deliver a lot more then they are right now the ones I have under my seat in left and right positions give me the most for feeling like the track is alive.. kerbs, a bit of road noise etc.

Worth Noting...
When you mount a large unit like a BK direct to a seat back or seat bottom.
Then its power can quickly become overwhelming forming a hotspot with high gain levels and the user trying to fill the energy better over the whole seat.

Sometimes a plate with a unit attached and the plate having a wider coverage of contact points over the seat may help to alleviate issues when direct bolting to the seat.

Low Bass / Upper Bass Controlled Output
One example is a gearchange punch, a user applying a low bass high power output into the seat from a large BK beneath with more controlled volume. Here we are not relying on only the BKs energy to be delivered over and fill the entire seat.

As we are going to apply additional, advanced effect layers to the various exciters. We can achieve both the low bass output from the BK into the seat but have it output more effectively. To produce the output of the effect over the whole seat via the multi-exciters into the lower/mid/upper back regions.

We can also extend the felt sensation of the effect with delay and using harmonics of the fundamental frequency that the large BK output. A low bass to upper bass sensation, higher in the seat tends to be most preferred and more natural to people.

 

[anton_Chez]

Yeah that’s cool. Fully understand that. I have tried the exciter setup but found them for the most part ineffective compared to the larger units and even when they were running on their own were fairly underwhelming. That was only compared to the Mini LFE’s, which obviously are no match for the big boy. So I’ll definitely be going the larger unit method and now that I’ve experienced it and already have the capacity to power another one, who knows. I might just pull the trigger on it and get rid of the minis. I made a mistake not getting the LFE when I bought the MQB-1, I had one in my cart from Parts Express (refurbished model, decent price) but obviously went the other way.

Just some general questions about the amp. I’ve followed your guide in the previous post about setting it up for the BK CT, but not really done much since. If anyone with an NX1000D could chip in:

1. Am I able to run the 2 channels at different impedance? Channel A at 2ohms and Channel B at 8ohms? I’ve still got the MQB-1 connected and was contemplating keeping it. The software appears to allow me to select different impedance for each channel.

2. Since I’ve tried that, today, I needed to turn the gain dial up over 12 o’clock position to even get a signal from the BK CT. I can BARELY even hear it, let alone feel it. That’s with the gain pushed higher than before and the power limit REMOVED from within the software. I wonder if the 8 ohms I’m setting for Channel B is overriding the 2 ohms required for Channel A and thus giving no power to the unit even with the gain dial at half way.

 

[Mr Latte]

Yeah that’s cool. Fully understand that. I have tried the exciter setup but found them for the most part ineffective compared to the larger units and even when they were running on their own were fairly underwhelming. That was only compared to the Mini LFE’s, which obviously are no match for the big boy. So I’ll definitely be going the larger unit method and now that I’ve experienced it and already have the capacity to power another one, who knows. I might just pull the trigger on it and get rid of the minis. I made a mistake not getting the LFE when I bought the MQB-1, I had one in my cart from Parts Express (refurbished model, decent price) but obviously went the other way.

Just some general questions about the amp. I’ve followed your guide in the previous post about setting it up for the BK CT, but not really done much since. If anyone with an NX1000D could chip in:

1. Am I able to run the 2 channels at different impedance? Channel A at 2ohms and Channel B at 8ohms? I’ve still got the MQB-1 connected and was contemplating keeping it. The software appears to allow me to select different impedance for each channel.

2. Since I’ve tried that, today, I needed to turn the gain dial up over 12 o’clock position to even get a signal from the BK CT. I can BARELY even hear it, let alone feel it. That’s with the gain pushed higher than before and the power limit REMOVED from within the software. I wonder if the 8 ohms I’m setting for Channel B is overriding the 2 ohms required for Channel A and thus giving no power to the unit even with the gain dial at half way.

Hold on, have you tried to achieve 1-200Hz with a BK/TST/EXC multi-unit installation?
No, you did your own thing, ignored the advice, and tried to pair exciters with BK Mini and then Q1. You are welcome to show how you previously managed effects for the Exciters and BK Gamer in why you felt them ineffective.

You are a perfect example, on how hard it is to get people just to follow set recommendations even if the recommendations are based on thousands of hours of testing and effects creation?

For the record here's what testing for 2 years helps to achieve:

• We know what the best units are for the lowest bass, large BK is King.
• We know what the benefits a TST brings for smoother transitions and clarity.
• We Know what the benefits multi exciters on a seat brings
• We know what benefits DSP brings
• We know what benefits-improved isolation brings
• We know what benefits Simhub brings

We then COMBINE all those benefits.
We seek to build effects that use the best potential in felt sensations of each unit.
So that their "group performance" on a cockpit will offer immersion not possible by standard approaches

Please man come on, follow the recommendations properly or ignore them, don't try to half do them. Are you sure you are not purposely trying to piss me off?

Differnt Ohms
As for the amp, it uses "Smartsense" technology to detect the ohms.
As these are entirely different types of capable units and in the wattage, they will require it may be causing an issue.

I think I tried once to use TST and BK Gamer on the same amp but still with similar wattages needed. This scenario you are trying is quite different.

It would be recommended you apply DSP Crossover settings to suit each.
Remember, the front dial on these amps is the input trim, you determine the output levels via the crossover.

Use the meters within the software to compare or try to balance the input/output levels so each unit is getting a decent power. Normally I advise placing large BK on 3000 series as a pair and smaller wattage units like TST/BK Mini on 1000 series as a pair.

Seriously Please Consider:
Getting a 2nd large LFE and a pair of TST Silver and sell the BK MiniQ1 units to help fund them. I would recommend you at least achieve a large BK/TST/Exciter combo on the seat to fully appreciate the 1-200Hz. Then maybe opt to have a BK/TST combo in the pedals.

 

[RCHeliguy]

FWIW I'm finding that on a track the combination of G-Belt and tactile is actually more useful than motion is.

In Rally the motion is what sells the experience, but on the track there is no contest.

 

[Novopaine]

@Novopaine - If I put my board on the bottom as you have, I could get a bit more separation between my transducers. I may give that a try.

I'll be honest, I don't feel any separation. But I didn't expect to either as it's like sitting on a subwoofer with two drivers. I played around with mounting them to the left and right sides of the rig as well (with one out of phase since they were in opposing positions) and I couldn't tell the left from the right either. There was also a noticeable delay in feedback as that's a lot of aluminum to resonate through.

I would love to add the recommended exciters to the seat, but they are on a major backorder.

Question for others. Is there an up to date write-up on transducers that's not hundreds of forum pages long? I'm talking full write-up, including a Simhub settings deep dive. Maybe even a dedicated website somewhere? I've come across lots of info which is scattered all over the place.

 

[mgh24]

I got some positive reactions but, even so, its lack of user feedback and discussion proved to me, it was time to stop trying to get people @RD Forums interested. Also, I discovered, I get more feedback from 1-1 clients who reached out to me for my personal time. Here, I help them to buy/connect/install the tactile. Save them trolling through this mega-thread that covers so many different things, it in itself makes things even more confusing.

Mr Latte - as a newcomer to the sim racing world, and even newer to tactile feedback options, how do you suggest getting the kind of detailed suggestions you mention?
I was not sure it would be helpful for me to start an entirely new thread asking for recommendations, but as you rightly point out, trying to get through this thread is pretty daunting.

From browsing through posts here, I can tell you are very active, and have given many suggestions, so I thought it would be rude to ask you here to re-state what you have most likely already posted at some point.

I almost posted my impressions of my very basic setup, because I was excited at what can be accomplished with only a little time and expense. But again, I didn't know if I would just be cluttering up the forum with my extremely limited experience/knowledge on the subject.
I have hardly scratched the surface of tactile feedback, and I am already blown away by what is possible.

When doing a search on the web for information, it typically results in very basic setups.

Now, all that said, I would not be surprised to find that tactile feedback systems could be like audio equipment; you can get a huge improvement to your sound system with a modest investment, beyond which you quickly reach a point of diminishing returns

Oh, and exciters/transducers, are different names for the same thing?

 

[RCHeliguy]

Maybe we need a sticky post with rules of thumb that can be updated periodically.

 

[Mr Latte]

It's time someone else took the reigns for tactile here and perhaps decided to put together what you are looking for. I have shared the "Stage 1" hardware as the route people should consider to work towards and using the hardware it shows based on the performance it can achieve.

It is not I think by chance that in some regions (such as Europe) several of those items, are out of stock. Regards the recommended Exciters, the NX3000D, and even the Behringer EPQ 304 but maybe just a coincidence who knows?

Peters rig, using my own recommendations and having experienced some of my own effects ideas as well as being the first rig beyond my own to test the Race-Bass isolation concept. His superb rig thread is likely a good reason for that current stock shortage. His own written reports on how much the tactile has impressed him and people he invited to try it out. That alone considering the quality of rig he owns I believe has raised a few eyebrows in comments he made regards motion and tactile. Because tactile has almost always been deemed the lesser immersion tool. Yet I believe everyone that has tried his rig has greatly missed what it offered when it is turned off.

I believe some are beginning to grasp, that Chassis Mode-based installations like we were doing almost 10 years ago are not all they are cracked up to be. These most often using multiple budget tactile and amplifier solutions.

That better performance with effects is down to being able to apply multiple effects at once. Yet also being able to use the full frequency bass range for what represents those effects. Even Stage 1 has its limits but my own perspective on the potential with tactile is already far beyond what Stage 1 can produce. So those wishing to go even further with that as a concept is indeed possible too.

Much has been said about the exciters, since 2019 use the search function, to learn about them or comments made by myself or others.

You don't need to spend a load on hardware to get enjoyable tactile, as often the sheer experience of it working impresses people. Yet the honest truth is, I think the majority of people's rigs do not produce that good of a tactile immersion or maybe is that well configured, compared to what really is possible with it. The quality of the hardware and the quality of the effects are of course key elements too as is solation being used to decouple the seat and pedals.

Deep topic, it needs patience too and so many people have different hardware, different installations and their own views on what to do or buy. My focus is on another path than the forums at this time which I have hinted at here not so long ago as a new exciting prospect is on the horizon.

 

[Ruttman98]

It's time someone else took the reigns for tactile here and perhaps decided to put together what you are looking for. I have shared the "Stage 1" hardware as the route people should consider to work towards and using the hardware it shows based on the performance it can achieve.

It is not I think by chance that in some regions (such as Europe) several of those items, are out of stock. Regards the recommended Exciters, the NX3000D, and even the Behringer EPQ 304 but maybe just a coincidence who knows?

Peters rig, using my own recommendations and having experienced some of my own effects ideas as well as being the first rig beyond my own to test the Race-Bass isolation concept. His superb rig thread is likely a good reason for that current stock shortage. His own written reports on how much the tactile has impressed him and people he invited to try it out. That alone considering the quality of rig he owns I believe has raised a few eyebrows in comments he made regards motion and tactile. Because tactile has almost always been deemed the lesser immersion tool. Yet I believe everyone that has tried his rig has greatly missed what it offered when it is turned off.

I believe some are beginning to grasp, that Chassis Mode-based installations like we were doing almost 10 years ago are not all they are cracked up to be. These most often using multiple budget tactile and amplifier solutions.

That better performance with effects is down to being able to apply multiple effects at once. Yet also being able to use the full frequency bass range for what represents those effects. Even Stage 1 has its limits but my own perspective on the potential with tactile is already far beyond what Stage 1 can produce. So those wishing to go even further with that as a concept is indeed possible too.

Much has been said about the exciters, since 2019 use the search function, to learn about them or comments made by myself or others.

You don't need to spend a load on hardware to get enjoyable tactile, as often the sheer experience of it working impresses people. Yet the honest truth is, I think the majority of people's rigs do not produce that good of a tactile immersion or maybe is that well configured, compared to what really is possible with it. The quality of the hardware and the quality of the effects are of course key elements too as is solation being used to decouple the seat and pedals.

Deep topic, it needs patience too and so many people have different hardware, different installations and their own views on what to do or buy. My focus is on another path than the forums at this time which I have hinted at here not so long ago as a new exciting prospect is on the horizon.

By Peter's rig, Mr. Latte is referring to Peter Winkler. Thread here:

'Rig Report - Peter Winkler' https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/rig-report-peter-winkler.202685/

 

[metalnwood]

@Mr Latte , you are certainly in the minority when it comes to this kind of thing but I empathise with you not having the same enthusiasm from the people around you.

We all know people whom the sim aspect takes a back seat to the tinkering. I have been there for sure! When I was making my a10 sim I did little flying. Often telling myself I wouldnt even go for a small blat until x/y/z was finished.. Sometimes I didnt want to try something half done and then didnt actually do simming for quite some time.

I was happy enough, it's just that the part of the hobby that excited me at the time wasn't what most people who were flying were interested in.

My experience is that most dont want to do the tinkering. They want to get what they can with little effort. Often that means a bit of building, even spending the time to build something like the sfx motion but once past that hurdle I see far more people asking for ready made profiles than people wanting to spend time tuning.

There seems to be quite a large gap between what people will do preparing their hardware, which is often just buying and easy, and then the tuning to get the most out of it.

There could be a market for you to sell generic profiles and I realise that they will not be tuned individuals hardware but people are lazy and often willing to pay. I used your simhub rpm profile on my mini lfe's. So much improved on what I had even though it wasnt meant for my hardware. I look at the profile and pretty much figure that I wouldnt have come up with that. I am smart but it's not an area I know a lot about or at the time would have wanted to spend the time I imagined it would take to start improving it.

Thats where I believe it is for the majority of people, they are happy at 70%, dont know what 100% feels like and will not put in the effort which could easily amount to 20, 40+ hours to get better than something that already impresses them. Its human nature you are battling here

 

[lovemesomespeed]

Something I’ve been thinking about regarding stereo effects…. It has been discussed many times that in order to avoid “cross-talk” of the vibrations, you need to isolate pedals, different areas of your chassis, etc. But a race car doesn’t have that left/right isolation. I’d imagine in a real race car there is plenty of “cross-talk” as well. (I don’t have any experience in a real race car).

Isn’t it possible that having the visual stereo representation (we can see that we just drove over kerbs with our left wheels) and an aural representation (we hear the game audio of the kerb more in our left ear) makes our body interpret the tactile as coming more from the left side? And that this is how it would be in a real race car, even if you “think” you felt the vibrations coming from one side or the other?

(I know this touches on the debate between “realism” and “immersion” - and whether or not a sim should strive for one over the other).

Just throwing this out there to get some thoughts from others.

 

[mgh24]

My experience is that most dont want to do the tinkering. They want to get what they can with little effort. Often that means a bit of building, even spending the time to build something like the sfx motion but once past that hurdle I see far more people asking for ready made profiles than people wanting to spend time tuning.

I'm new here, so hopefully you will cut me a little slack, but I think that is a bit harsh . Unfortunately I don't have a lot of talent as a "tinkerer", so that puts me (and hopefully I am not alone) at a disadvantage. I can put something simple like what I have together, but getting into some more complicated designs, or modifications, takes a lot of help!

Then I see the rig mentioned previously by Peter W., and all I can do is throw my hands up in despair! My gosh, I doubt I could build that if Peter was living with me, handing me the tools, and telling me exactly what to do next - (Thanks @Ruttman98 for taking the time to post that link!!),

And now I have to learn how to tune, a completely new area! Add to that, my simple setup probably does not have the fidelity to realize much of the tuning.
Mind you, I'm not saying I'm not lazy, as I most certainly can be!

At any rate, is it great to have a community of people here willing to lend a hand to an (old guy) newbie. As much as I despair seeing what others are capable of doing in comparison to my own abilities, it is great to share experiences with other folks.

Thank you all!

 

[metalnwood]

Thats what I think for the pedals, but for the seat I have good separation and quite like it like that, especially for example esses where you might feel it on left/right kerbs in quick succession.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I'm new here, so hopefully you will cut me a little slack, but I think that is a bit harsh . Unfortunately I don't have a lot of talent as a "tinkerer", so that puts me (and hopefully I am not alone) at a disadvantage. I can put something simple like what I have together, but getting into some more complicated designs, or modifications, takes a lot of help!

You are not alone. I'm fairly technical, mechanically inclined and love building things, but tactile has always seemed like a lot to digest, and I've frequently had restrictions or design priorities that have conflicted with doing tactile "right".

I don't have the best tactile system, but my rig converts to flight use in a couple minutes and can be easily rolled to the corner of my media room or rolled back to the center and setup to race or fly with in just a few minutes. Those are important priorities to me.

That does not in any way imply that I'm discounting how good tactile can be. I think the work done by Mr. Latte is commendable.

However building the right system physically only gives you the means to getting it right. I've found that different games and different cars require additional tweaking to work well. Without personally reaching tactile nirvana, I can still see the additional work required.

Recently SimuCube released their Cloud Paddock system with FFB settings with ratings that can be shared and that made a huge night and day difference to my FFB. I found profiles that really work well and were much better than what I came up with by my self. This is with a standard piece of hardware that should work the same on everyone's rig. The key is that I was not willing personally to spend the time to become an expert to get the most out of my SC2 Pro, but when it was handed to me on a silver platter, I was happy to take the results of someone else's hard work and use it.

By comparison tactile seems much more complex to me and because every rig is different, coming up with a way to handle tactile in a way that works for many different people using many different rigs and many different sims is non-trivial.

I completely understand the direction that Mr. Latte is going. In a forum like this the same questions are asked over and over again. People get to a certain level and want to crow about what they've accomplished without having any understanding of what is possible. He is continually dealing with the unconvinced.

Working with a company to supply a hardware solution that gets the building blocks out there and then offering consulting services to help take people to the next level in tactile is the best way for him to maintain his enthusiasm and not go insane dealing with monotonous repetition. I don't say that to be mean. I think the best analogy I could make would be a graduate student doing advanced research at a university that is exciting and then teaching an intro 101 class that is beyond boring. He'd have to be a saint to do that year after year after year.

 

[metalnwood]

I'm new here, so hopefully you will cut me a little slack, but I think that is a bit harsh .

It's not really harsh and in the context of how I am trying to tell it, it's not demeaning to people either. Each person draw out of this hobby what they want. Some people will put in lots of effort and saying most don't insn't implying anything bad or taking away from people that do. I have been one of those people where the hobby was more around the tinkering than the sim itself but then there are other aspects where I just say - gimme a profile, whatever you have got is good enough for now.

I am just pointing out that tactile, just like motion, just like DD wheels that Mark points out above have people searching the net for profiles because they will probably find something that makes them happy

 

[anton_Chez]

At the end the day, I do 150+ league races EVERY YEAR. I’m a racer. I’ve done MORE than my fair share of experimentation, tuning and tutoring of others a very broad range of areas. VR, motion, OSW, even tactile although you might believe I’ve done none of that, apparently. I’ve sat at my rig, tinkering for days, creating threads and providing information for others that they have personally thanked me for making their sim experience that much better.

Has anyone done as much actual driving in here, as me? Hours of practice for EACH of those 150+ races a year. I built a sim ROOM for my hobby. Unfortunately for some, my hobby is actually driving and racing, rather than playing with 1’s and 0’s.

I challenge ANYONE to find someone that does as much tinkering and tuning across ALL the areas of sim racing while still spending the time I do in the seat. Add to that running a business in this ridiculous COVID period and a new born baby to boot.
I’ve contributed more than most to the sim racing community.

Just as a matter of fact, and I’m in the minority here because I can basically afford anything I want sim racing related, but the “recommended” build is probably the main reason why nobody wants to participate. First you need an 8020 profile rig, in a world where the VAST MAJORITY of people race from their DESK. Then, once you’re passed that, the gear itself is easily reaching into the multiple thousands of dollars. For me BK LFEs are 500 bucks, so that’s 1000 right there. The TSTs wouldn’t be far from the LFE prices and the amps are around the same, so you’ll need easily 3000 AUD before you’re even at the budget exciters. That right there is more than most people’s entire sim racing experience costs, by a mile.

The software, tuning and experimentation comes ON TOP of that cost, where you’re basically left to your own devices. Not mention noise considerations of people in apartments and with children’s bedrooms directly above them (me) when I spend most of my seat time during the early hours of the morning.

I’m not JUST stubborn.