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A while back I posted a query to see if anyone had experimented with bass shakers to augment the realism of the Sim. Seems no one had. So, I decided to experiment.I bought an Aura Home Theater Kit on EBay for about $120 (there are two up for bid as I write this .... search for "aura bass"). The kit consists of two 25 watt bass shakers, two amplifiers and power packs and assorted cabling. I mounted one under my chair (a leather "office chair" that is about the size of a modern locomotive USSC engineer/conductor seat) and the second under my desktop.With the seat set at 6 and the desktop at 5 the vibration is VERY much like what I feel in a real cab. The improvement is amazing!I took photos as I did the installation and if there is enough interest I'll put a little guide together.krswen
You put one under your desktop? Your monitor isn't going to like all that shaking. (Assuming you're using a CRT) Your grid is going to pull away and misalign your guns.I experimented with bass shakers a bit when they just came out. I wasn't thrilled. If all you want is shaking, then they're fine. But if you are trying to add the illusion of more bass from your sound system as many try to do, they come up short. There's a big difference between mechanical vibration and acoustical vibration.But yes, post your pics! I'm always interested in seeing what people are doing with they're setups. -Jeff
Hmmmmmmm ... point taken. I've got an 18" LCD, but it probably wouldn't hurt to put some energy absorbing foam under it.I installed the bass shakers specifically for the mechanical vibration .... not more bass. I get plenty of good quality bass from my speaker setup.I found a grad student's thesis on the net where he instrumented a full-sized GE wide cab and did vibration surveys. The dominant frequency was 50 Hz. I may boost my engine wave files in the 50 Hz range to accentuate the effect.krswen
>I installed the bass shakers specifically for the mechanical >vibration .... not more bass. I get plenty of good quality >bass from my speaker setup. I knew you were going for vibration. >I found a grad student's thesis on the net where he >instrumented a full-sized GE wide cab and did vibration >surveys. The dominant frequency was 50 Hz. I may boost my >engine wave files in the 50 Hz range to accentuate the >effect. Or possibly a more elegant solution...Most likely all you'll accomplish by boosting 50Hz in your .wavs is giving your subwoofer fits, and probably adversely affecting your engine sounds. Depending on the "Q" setting (bandwidth) on your equalizer to get the desired vibration. This could have the net effect of "muddying" up your soundfiles.You can purchase a used signal generator (oscillator) fairly cheaply from most electronics suppliers. (even kits you can build) Dial up a 50Hz sine wave and feed it into your bass shakers amplifiers. (you might need a preamplifier)This would give you vibration, but no loss of sound quality. Alternatively, you could route the 50 cycle tone through the line in's on your soundcard, but then you'd have an annoying hum through your speakers.Granted, this method will give a constant vibration level which wouldn't be exactly realistic, but seems a less intrusive method than modifying your .wav files.-Jeff