Gseat GS5/Transducer Puck help

[NetLawMan]

Hi.
Hoping the experts can say in. I am going to try adding the puck transducers to the gseat. I called Sim Experience and they said it is not an official mod and so they didn’t have any guidelines or install help. For those of you who have done it:

1 - why do you have to use the cut out in the gseat panels?

2 - do the puck protrude so you feel them in the seat?

3 - can you share any install instructions, videos, photos, suggestions, gotchas, or lessons learned?

Thanks!

 

[HoiHman]

SimXperience made it very easy to install transducers to the GS-5 seat.

At the bottom of the seat frame there are two mounting options for a couple of mini LFE's and the panels have cut out's in them for the pucks.

Why use the panels and not stick the pucks to the seat ?
Because one small puck can shake the individual panel like crazy. Because these panels are only fixed at the hinge they are sort of isolated. Isolation is very important for good tactile performance.

When you are sitting in the GS-5 your body comes in direct contact with all four panels.
The vibrations will not transfer into seat but into your body instead

Sorry i don't have any instructions. Installation is very straight forward;
- cut the pre-cnc-ed circels
- mount the pucks with 3 bolts
- lead the wire to the inside hinge and tape the wires to the seat with duck tape.

Depending on your preference you can either connect :
- All pucks in parallel to one amp ( for one effect group)
- Pucks in two groups in parallel ( 2 effects group )
- Or wire each puck individually to a amp ( 4 groups )

Be sure to check you have the right impedance when connection them to your amp.
Explanation is this video :

 

[NetLawMan]

SimXperience made it very easy to install transducers to the GS-5 seat.

At the bottom of the seat frame there are two mounting options for a couple of mini LFE's and the panels have cut out's in them for the pucks.

Why use the panels and not stick the pucks to the seat ?
Because one small puck can shake the individual panel like crazy. Because these panels are only fixed at the hinge they are sort of isolated. Isolation is very important for good tactile performance.

When you are sitting in the GS-5 your body comes in direct contact with all four panels.
The vibrations will not transfer into seat but into your body instead

Sorry i don't have any instructions. Installation is very straight forward;
- cut the pre-cnc-ed circels
- mount the pucks with 3 bolts
- lead the wire to the inside hinge and tape the wires to the seat with duck tape.

Depending on your preference you can either connect :
- All pucks in parallel to one amp ( for one effect group)
- Pucks in two groups in parallel ( 2 effects group )
- Or wire each puck individually to a amp ( 4 groups )

Be sure to check you have the right impedance when connection them to your amp.
Explanation is this video :

Thanks for your help! Quick question. Do the pucks protrude through the panels such that you will feel them? If they are mounted on the under/back side of the panels, why is there a need for the cut outs?

 

[NetLawMan]

Another question is what effects do people use the pucks for? With a dbox system plus gseat, I would think that the only effect is rpm?

Then, is it worth it to do another other than use them together on a single channel?

Finally, does it bring enough value to the the rig given motion, actuator haptics, wind, and gs5 gforces?



Thanks!

 

[HoiHman]

Thanks for your help! Quick question. Do the pucks protrude through the panels such that you will feel them? If they are mounted on the under/back side of the panels, why is there a need for the cut outs?

In panel mounting is the best option that's why the cut outs are there. It eliminates the need for the extra mounting bracket. On top you will probably feel them and there's not enough room i think to mount on the under side of the panels.

Another question is what effects do people use the pucks for? With a dbox system plus gseat, I would think that the only effect is rpm?

Then, is it worth it to do another other than use them together on a single channel?

Finally, does it bring enough value to the the rig given motion, actuator haptics, wind, and gs5 gforces?



Thanks!

RPM and gearshift. But that's a personal preference.

Definitely worth it, i have put them on a single channel. In simhub you can assign a rotary to the RPM effect and independently from all other effects raise or lower the RPM effect on the fly, which is pretty cool.

Probably the best value for money from all the upgrades i have done to my rig.

You might think these 4 small pucks will not make a big change, put to things in perspective : On my GS-5 the 4 pucks give a much better RPM effect than the LFE and BK advance ( which are both on my GS-5) combined.

 

[crooksy]

I installed pucks and they are great for engine effects, that's all I use them for and I've wired them together in a combination series/parallel. I cut away the pieces in the panels using a drimmel and the pucks protrude the panels so that they aren't flush - like you I was worried I would feel them through the cushion but you don't.

The pucks are very good at providing the engine effects that the GS5 motors can't simulate.

I ended up removing 3 shakers from my rig, one under the seat and two at the back because the GS5 provides me all of the feelings and detail I need combined with the pucks when using the bump and road surface effects in the GS5 seat.

It's pretty amazing when you get everything dialed in correctly, when you hit a bump and the front shakers, wheel and GS5 seat all respond at exactly the same time with the detail and intensity you would expect with no delays or anything out of sync. That's one of the major benefits of the wheel, shakers and Gs5 seat all running through the same software.

One thing with the pucks is that I do have to dial in the engine effect in the advanced setting for each car to get a comfortable vibration, rather than one general default engine setting for all cars because sometimes it can be a little too intense with the pucks so close to your arse.

I also have switched off the engine effects everywhere else so that ONLY the pucks are providing the engine vibration, this allows your other front shakers to focus on road texture detail and bumps

I plan on using an amp JUST for the pucks which would allow me to change the volume and engine vibration intensity on the fly, because currently the pucks share the amp with the pedal shaker and I like the volume up high on that effect for the road texture.

 

[stigs2cousin]

I don´t know anything about the G seat, but have a multy transducer setup on my normal, dead as in not motion rig.

The best use for the exciters for me is wheel slip and wheel lock because those information can make me drive from feel without thinking about it.

Like in my IRL car on track or drifting I just feel the fronts and know if steering and gas/brake overtax the front tyres so i can react/correct.
Same in the rear with transducers on the seat.

RPM and road impacts/vibrations are more a "nice to have/immersion" thing, but the wheel info really helps with the driving.

MFG Carsten

 

[crooksy]

I don´t know anything about the G seat, but have a multy transducer setup on my normal, dead as in not motion rig.

The best use for the exciters for me is wheel slip and wheel lock because those information can make me drive from feel without thinking about it.

Like in my IRL car on track or drifting I just feel the fronts and know if steering and gas/brake overtax the front tyres so i can react/correct.
Same in the rear with transducers on the seat.

RPM and road impacts/vibrations are more a "nice to have/immersion" thing, but the wheel info really helps with the driving.

MFG Carsten

I agree I keep as many effects away from the wheel as I possibly can now and have it focus on tire feel.

That's the beauty of the GS5 and the pucks they have a specific purpose that you isolate effects away from the wheel to let it do its thing best.

An IndyCar with the GS5 on an oval is amazing when it's dialed in well you can feel the G forces through the corner and tell when the car is getting loose along with feeling the suspension travel, and it isn't an exaggerated motion that messes with VR head movement.

 

[NetLawMan]

The only thing I worry about is if I mount the transducers into the plates and then I feel them, there’s no returning back to the store I would have to order a new panels from SimExperience. I guess I could give it a try . For me it would only be for engine vibration though, and so unless I get something really unique over engine vibration, I have to figure out what I achieve over simply letting dbox handle Engine vibration

 

[crooksy]

The only thing I worry about is if I mount the transducers into the plates and then I feel them, there’s no returning back to the store I would have to order a new panels from SimExperience. I guess I could give it a try . For me it would only be for engine vibration though, and so unless I get something really unique over engine vibration, I have to figure out what I achieve over simply letting dbox handle Engine vibration

If you have a DBox then I wouldn't bother with the pucks, that is unless you arent satisfied with the engine vibration from a dbox which I very much doubt since the pucks don't have the range and strength to compete with dbox

 

[pihops]

I have d-box and gs-5 , I am thinking about the puck, because the RPM from d-box send small vibration across the entire rig and I worry about other component on the rig being damage over time. Even thought it is pretty cool to feel engine virbation in the steering wheel I would not be suprised to have enough RPM feel on the seat and spare the rest of the rig. I also worry rpm at heavy seting will wear the dbox more than any other effect.

 

[NetLawMan]

If you have a DBox then I wouldn't bother with the pucks, that is unless you arent satisfied with the engine vibration from a dbox which I very much doubt since the pucks don't have the range and strength to compete with dbox

This has been holding me off. I have the pucks here but have not installed them. There are so many effects and engine rpm is just one. On the other hand I do admit that I feel the dbox vibration less since getting the gseat.

 

[John Bruno]

The only thing I worry about is if I mount the transducers into the plates and then I feel them, there’s no returning back to the store I would have to order a new panels from SimExperience. I guess I could give it a try . For me it would only be for engine vibration though, and so unless I get something really unique over engine vibration, I have to figure out what I achieve over simply letting dbox handle Engine vibration

Try the Dayton DAE32EP-4, instead of cutting out the panels and reaching a point of no return, they have a pretty strong adhesive that stick to the back of the panel cut outs. There's enough room behind the panels to mount one exciter per panel (4). 4ohm, 40w and great feedback especially for RPM.

 

[crooksy]

This has been holding me off. I have the pucks here but have not installed them. There are so many effects and engine rpm is just one. On the other hand I do admit that I feel the dbox vibration less since getting the gseat.

I presume you only use the g force effects in the G seat and have all the other bumps and road surface switched off since you have a DBox?

If you are feeling the engine vibration less then that might be enough of a reason, although you would need to have the engine vibration match between each system unless you switch engine vibration off on the dbox.

You could always do a test run, ie get some industrial strength velco to stick the pucks and then give them a test run before making a final decision and cutting into the panels

 

[NetLawMan]

I worked a little more on this yesterday. The GSeat is like fine wine, and that it gets better with time and refinement . I only use the GC for acceleration braking and cornering. I use dbox for engine vibration, road texture, suspension, and movement. To be honest, after last night, and taking into account the fact that I find road texture more interesting than engine rpm, I decided to simply bump up the D Box road texture slider and to a lesser extent rpm., and leave it at that. I have no plans on installing the pucks. I will however, install my Clarke synthesis transducer onto the GSeat but driven by the game soundtrack. That is how I did it before G seat and I was super happy with it. So why make the whole thing more complicated