Tactile Immersion - General Discussion - Hardware & Software

[karloy]

I agree a TST and BK LFE on a NLR v3 mount requires some clever DIY. I hope that losing the direction from the seat pucks will be replaced with a much better overall experience.

I am also trying to figure out how to best handle the pedals. RIght now I have a Ultimate+ Baseplate mounted a GT Omega Prime pedal plate, which gives the ideal height. If I remove the GT Omega Prime plate, mount vertical bars with Race Bass isolators and the Sim Pedals Ultimate+ Baseplate on top of it might work. But does the Sim Pedals Ultimate+ Baseplate have the correct holes for a TRT and BK CT/LFE? Wondering if someone tried this.

 

[SafetyThird]

Latest update in my tactile adventure. I've added a layer of foam over the pucks that are inset in the main seat foam and then the cover is over them, much more comfortable. I'm going to need to take the cover apart and use it as a pattern to cut some black velour I've bought so I can sew up a new cover without the various holes that are in the current one.

The budget isolators are also now fitted. They're not going to be remotely as good as Racebass but for £20 they'll do for now. I'm sure they'll need upgrading if I put bigger tactile units on the rig but that'll have to wait until the house extension is built later this year and the rig moves onto a solid floor at the other end of the house.

My lumbar cushion arrived and definitely improves the comfort of the old seat for less than £20, well recommended.

The 5th and 6th pucks are now sandwiched into some foam to sit above the lumbar cushion and wired temporarily into another little two channel amp. I was contemplating making a single cushion cover to keep this piece and the lumbar cushion together and hang it over the back of the seat. However, it pushes me a bit too far forward and I'd really need to tilt the seat further back as I'm now very upright, almost uncomfortably so.

Tilting the seat is probably more awkward given the sliders that are attached, I don't think a simple front spacer would do the job as then I'd be stressing the rear mounts and the seat is mounted from underneath rather than the sides as it's from a car rather than being a sim-style seat with side mounts that allow for easier tilting.

The other option would be to hard mount the two pucks to the wooden board in the back of the seat. That would make the tactile effect more for the whole seat rather than being against my back and I'm not sure if these pucks would work well enough for that but it would at least be a simple thing to try out.

I'm debating whether to strip the cover off the entire seat and reupholster is with the pucks mounted into foam and make a proper new cover. I could take the old one apart by unpicking the stitching, use it as a pattern and make a new one from velour, which wouldn't cost me much. The alternative is buying a new seat which would cost a lot more and would still leave me with the issue of how best to mount the tactile pucks but would give me more options in the future to mount other bigger units or smaller exciters for other effects.

Anyway, for now some pictures.

 

[stigs2cousin]

+1 for keeping and reupholstering the seat after some more testing.
Than you could form the cushions for the best feedback/comfort solution.
Maybe even integrate some pucks into the shell of the seat? I personally wouldn´t go lower than than the lumbar region as most of the brake pressure is exerted into the seat at this point.
When you are satiesfied a new cover will make it look nice again.

About reclining, how about tilting up the profiles the seat is bolted to by using higher angle brackets in the front? Be aware that depending on the brake pressure you exert there will be a lot force pulling on the front mounts.

 

[SafetyThird]

+1 for keeping and reupholstering the seat after some more testing.
Than you could form the cushions for the best feedback/comfort solution.
Maybe even integrate some pucks into the shell of the seat? I personally wouldn´t go lower than than the lumbar region as most of the brake pressure is exerted into the seat at this point.
When you are satiesfied a new cover will make it look nice again.

About reclining, how about tilting up the profiles the seat is bolted to by using higher angle brackets in the front? Be aware that depending on the brake pressure you exert there will be a lot force pulling on the front mounts.

The problem with this seat is that it doesn’t have a shell, it’s a tubular frame with a trampoline type base, a wooden board at the back and the side areas are just soft foam with a cover.

if I wanted to mount tactile to the seat the options are to the narrow wooden back board, which is where I’m thinking of attaching the two pucks or I’d have to bolt/weld plates to take additional exciters. Anything larger would have to mount to a new place underneath.

I think for now I’m likely to take the cover off, scrap the old tatty foam, attach two pucks to the back board and build some fresh foam onto the board. Costs nothing right now and let’s me experiment but means I’m not going down the Mr. Latte route of exciters and large LFE/TST just yet.

one mid ground alternative would be to get 4 exciters for the back board, keep the 4 pucks in the seat cushion and put the two spare pucks on the pedals or pedal deck. Need an additional amp but I’m working on that anyway

That way I could at least make a start down the route I’d like to go and add bigger drivers and a different seat with a shell as funds become available.

 

[stigs2cousin]

Than just bolt the backrest pucks to the back board, little work, no difference in seating position and the board should transmit the vibrations nicely.
Somewhere on Youtube there´s a video where someone just stuffed a board with two puckes into the cover of a cheap recliner seat.

Should you want bigger shakers they could be bolted to an additional plate between sliders and seat, also little extra work and cost.

 

[SafetyThird]

Than just bolt the backrest pucks to the back board, little work, no difference in seating position and the board should transmit the vibrations nicely.
Somewhere on Youtube there´s a video where someone just stuffed a board with two puckes into the cover of a cheap recliner seat.

Should you want bigger shakers they could be bolted to an additional plate between sliders and seat, also little extra work and cost.

Sounds like a plan. Watch this space.

 

[SafetyThird]

Today I became fed up with the foam dust falling out of the tears in my old bucket seat every time I sat on it. So, remove from rig and up to the workshop. Strip the tatty cover off to be met by some very old and damaged foam. Strip that off and wire brush the remains down to the frame and wooden back board.

Used some hog rings to re-tighten the trampoline seat, then add new foam to the back board along with some velcro for a lumbar cushion. I cut the top off the seat as it just got in the way of my VR headset so this will be more comfortable.

Tidied up the wiring for the TT-25 pucks in the seat base, added a layer of foam and some velcro to keep the cushion in place on the trampoline. For now, I've refitted the old cover but i'll make a new one soon. Fitted the other 2 TT-25 pucks to the back board and zip tied the wiring in place. Added some extra pads where the old seat belt straps would have been and refitted to the rig. I'll get some foam pipe insulation to cover the frame members in a few days.

It's certainly more comfortable and the transducers definitely add something to the seat when driving compared to being in the cushion. Next is to start looking at the frequency setups for the effects and make some better options.

I may upgrade to 4 of the exciters on the back board and move the pucks to the pedals. We'll see.

There will be a new seat at some point but, for now, the money can be better spent on transducers

 

[Ruttman98]

That looks really cool to my eyes.

If comfort was not at issue, I would consider keeping the exposed frame and polishing the tubes or painting them a magnesium tint for a Ducatti Monster aesthetic.

Another minimalist approach could be to clad the tubes with roll bar padding.

 

[stigs2cousin]

Thank you for the fotos, that answered a lot of questions I was having.

I´m still using my street car seat from a BMW I once owned and these "pipe frame" seats are not better suited for tactile without mayor fabrication.

So when (if) I upgrade it will be to a fiberglass seat.
On the other hand that might not happen as I really like the forced ventilation of my recent seat and it´s stiff enough for my Heusinkfelds since I reinforced the backrest with a belt tower.

 

[SafetyThird]

When i stripped the chair and saw

That looks really cool to my eyes.

If comfort was not at issue, I would consider keeping the exposed frame and polishing the tubes or painting them a magnesium tint for a Ducatti Monster aesthetic.

Another minimalist approach could be to clad the tubes with roll bar padding.

the frame I thought the same thing. It would take a lot of work and solvent to get the old glue and foam remnants off but would look good polished up. It wouldn’t be very comfortable though so most likely I’ll wrap it in foam tube I think.

 

[stigs2cousin]

As we are already "upside down in the rabbit hole" how about getting it media blasted and powdercoated?

Maybe even weld in some extra plates you can bolt exciters to?

A sceleton seat in a nice colour with tactile out in the open could look fire

It could have cushions like this:

Of course it would be completely over the top (which nobody in simracing has never ever considered doing )

 

[SafetyThird]

As we are already "upside down in the rabbit hole" how about getting it media blasted and powdercoated?

Maybe even weld in some extra plates you can bolt exciters to?

A sceleton seat in a nice colour with tactile out in the open could look fire

It could have cushions like this:

View attachment 646514

Of course it would be completely over the top (which nobody in simracing has never ever considered doing )

Honestly, I think I'll just end up buying an NRG Prisma at some point.

 

[SafetyThird]

The pucks in the seat cushion work suprisingly well, the sound doesn't transmit and you feel the effects very well. I've been pleased with that, though there's definitely room to improve the fidelity etc.

Things moved on a bit today. I made up some brackets to tilt the seat back in various amounts. Found a setting that worked and was comfortable that lifted the front of the seat 2". Interestingly I had to pull the wheel deck 4" backwards and tilt the wheel upwards to be comfortable. I'll post a couple of pictures tomorrow but this evening I spent a bit of time taking the GR86 round Oulton International again. I'm sure some of it is just familiarisation but i knocked 3s off my best laptime, getting down to 1:56, which I was very pleased with.

However, the bass pucks on the back of the chair really rumble and transmit sound MUCH more than when they were in the cushion. I have some isolation mounts on the seat rails but it rumbled so much my wife started feeling nauseous in the room below. As I've said previously, we live in an old cottage and the floors transmit noise, despite new flooring and sound insulation, the joists are still just 250 year old tree trunks.

I'm now looking at RaceBass isolators and a seat plate to see if that might improve things. Not where I was planning on spending money just yet, but wife acceptance factor, as I'm sure many folks know, can be the difference between being able to get on the rig in the evening or not.

Currently the rig is in the spare bedroom which is above the snug where the TV is so I need to fix this. By the end of the year we'll have a new build extension to the cottage that the rig will live in and this won't be a problem as that will have a concrete floor with hardwood over the top but I'll still want to isolate the tactile as much as possible. Seeing video of other rigs with big tactile transducers on them and hearing how little sound they make, definitely shows it's doable.

 

[SafetyThird]

After looking, the race bass springs are out of stock so I'm now looking at getting the parts separately to build my own and ordered some isolator bobbins to arrive tomorrow to see if that helps a little.

Meanwhile, it's the road rumble that seems to be the main culprit so I'll be turning that off for now.

 

[stigs2cousin]

Damn I didn't take your living situation into account.

I had a similar Problem with a neighbor (concrete floors) which got solved half by putting my profile rig on M10 feet with a rubber block under it and the other part by her moving out.
Nowadays these feet are carrying the rig with strong springs which I put between the bracket and the fort over the bolt.

That does a lot to isolate the rig from the floor.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

I use those under rig feet

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BVEMLR4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[blekenbleu]

bass pucks on the back of the chair really rumble and transmit sound MUCH more than when they were in the cushion

Understandable; consider instead:

• laying a metal (aluminum, steel) sheet on the trampoline seat base:
  
  
  
  ... thin enough to conform to your weight.
• Run screws thru washers and that metal sheet to hang bass pucks beneath.
• that trampoline seems adequately isolated from the frame
  for bass pucks to efficiently energize your bottom without wasting energy in the frame.

 

[SafetyThird]

Have decided to make some DIY race bass isolators. Have found the Penn Elcom 9106 rubber feet available in the UK for £1.50 each and springs on amazon, though just need to check which size and strength will work best. Washers and bolts I have in the workshop. I'll make up a set to isolate the seat and get enough spares to have a set for the pedal deck when I get round to adding tactile to that.

I've also decided to upgrade the seat back to 4 dayton exciters and the T-tracks mini DSP amp, that way I'm on the road to tactile 4.0 and can benefit from all the work that's gone before and use some of the profiles already generated.

The amp I already have will then run the 4 pucks in the seat cushion for bass shakers for now and, eventually, run some bigger tactile shakers. once I have things isolated properly. I won't go down the TST-429 and buttkicker route any time soon, the TST's are £850 each in the UK. However, something like the DST-1 will be cost effective and, along with the exciters on the seat, give me a great setup for a lot lot less money.

Funny how fast you fall down the rabbit hole, isn't it

 

[cnhoff]

Those springs have been working very well for me for over a year now in my 9106+spring-style isolators. These are sourced in Germany, but you can look at the spring specs for reference.

 

[JohnBeardmore]

Have decided to make some DIY race bass isolators. Have found the Penn Elcom 9106 rubber feet available in the UK for £1.50 each and springs on amazon, though just need to check which size and strength will work best. Washers and bolts I have in the workshop. I'll make up a set to isolate the seat and get enough spares to have a set for the pedal deck when I get round to adding tactile to that.

I've also decided to upgrade the seat back to 4 dayton exciters and the T-tracks mini DSP amp, that way I'm on the road to tactile 4.0 and can benefit from all the work that's gone before and use some of the profiles already generated.

The amp I already have will then run the 4 pucks in the seat cushion for bass shakers for now and, eventually, run some bigger tactile shakers. once I have things isolated properly. I won't go down the TST-429 and buttkicker route any time soon, the TST's are £850 each in the UK. However, something like the DST-1 will be cost effective and, along with the exciters on the seat, give me a great setup for a lot lot less money.

Funny how fast you fall down the rabbit hole, isn't it

Where did you find the 9106 for sale at £1.50? Farnell?
Have you seen they have a £15.95 delivery charge on these as they are USA stock?