X56 Rhino

[SC86]

Has anyone bought an X56 stick and throttle within the last few years? Have they improved the quality? I hear people saying the wires get cut inside and the build quality is not impressive. I still have time to cancel the order I believe. Definitely should have read reviews before making the jump, but I have the X52 (not pro) and its lasted a long time. Even though I'm not the most demanding PC pilot.

 

Are there any other good quality joystick/throttle combos you would suggest?

[Drac]

I would recommend the Warthog HOTAS. I have owned the X-55 in the past.

[Zeagle]

I just bought an X-56 few months ago. I love it. I use a powered hub to power the X-56 and other things. There have been no problems so far.

 

I think the Warthog is over priced for what it is.

[Marcq]

I think the Warthog is over priced for what it is.

 

X2

 

Marc..

[DmitriKozlowsky]

I have been using it for 5 years including previous X55 and previous X52. I don't particularly like it. It took my hands and arms about 6 weeks to develop muscle memory. Fresh out of the box, it sucks. There is too much sticktion, and there is no lubrication. I went to auto-parts and got silicon based lube gel (giddity). Then went crazy and lubed the base of the stick (giggity). I chose the most firmest of springs. After that it took three weeks of usage for lube to works its way into the plastic between parts, and for break in. At about 4-5th week it got better. month and a half it was broken in, and could be used with helicopter mods and fixed wing. It is important not to judge it based on first impressions. Becouse stick and throttle have their own USB, it can be mixed with other controllers. For rudder I use TM Pedals. Those also took 3-4 weeks to break in, and for lube to work its way into nooks and crevices , and sticktion to mostly disappear.

Is it worth the money? A cautionary YES, with above stipulations.

[Devrim]

I had X52. I was happy with it, now I have got X55 for 2-3 years I guess.

 

Pretty happy with it. No issues, no problem.

[fitness88]

I like the X-56 but how do you tighten up the no-tension in the middle [neutral spot] of the joystick?

[TomOnSteam]

I think the Warthog is over priced for what it is.

 

 

I would recommend the Warthog IF they fixed the slew sensor out of the box. I'm really not sure why they haven't made a new revision of the Warthog with a proper slew sensor on the throttle. It's really disappointing to see such a cheap and hard to use thing on what is otherwise a solid feeling kit, and they haven't done anything about it in 10 years. So for now I must agree that it is over priced.

Edited October 6, 2019 by TomOnSteam

[Sokol1_br]

Have they improved the quality?

 

Logitech (now Saitek brand owner) announced that that make a "new" x-56 (the black/gray), see there:

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=202785

 

But in the topic are people complaining about the same old issues (soft "quirks", ghost buttons...)

[rglmsgt]

I just bought the X56 and having lots of problems with the stick. I cannot trim for the plane, F-18 any suggestions. Flys all over the place.

[Ergrim]

I have been using the X56 it for about 12 months.

You need to figure out a way to mount it to your (desk) otherwise specially your throttle will be sliding all over the place.

The throttle is not holding it's position, it will just slowly move by it self. Not really disturbing as you will have most of the time your hand on it and can adjust on the fly.

My stick is squeaking when you use the rudder, but if you lucky you will get "good" one.

Some of the buttons are just a bit "shaky".

The over all build quality is nothing more than just OK.. Personally I think this thing should not cost more than 150 euro.

If you have the money and are serious into flying games. I think the Warthog would be better choice, I imagine it is the real deal, not over priced toy like the X56 is.

I your only concern is the fact it will die because of the wire cut or something, I would not worry about that, you have 2 years warranty on this Logitech and if the wires don't cut in the first 2 years, then they will probably don't cut ever. Otherwise you will just get new one, with again 2 years of fresh warranty.

[VpR81]

I would recommend the Warthog IF they fixed the slew sensor out of the box. I'm really not sure why they haven't made a new revision of the Warthog with a proper slew sensor on the throttle. It's really disappointing to see such a cheap and hard to use thing on what is otherwise a solid feeling kit, and they haven't done anything about it in 10 years. So for now I must agree that it is over priced.

 

The slew sensor isn´t very good on the Warthog, that is true. But in comparison to the X-55/56, the Saitek/Logitech HOTAS are waaay more overpriced than the Warthog and Saitek/Logitech hasn´t done anything about the numerous and partly significant problems this thing has. They came up with two "rebuilt" versions, all having the same problems the very first X-55 already had. I heard of ppl owning both, the 55 and the 56, saying quality even got worse. There are only two differences. New stickers and higher price. I owned the X-55 for several years and i had ghosting issues from the beginning, buttons stopped working after a while and in the end some buttons on the throttle did only work at certain throttle positions. Be careful with the wheel for throttle friction, setting this too tight will cause some of these problems...

 

Replaced it with the Warthog and never had any issues with it. Besides the slew sensor, the Warthog is in every aspect 10 times better than the X-56 and opens the door to a world for modding and customise your flight controls, the Saitek/Logitech counterparts can never provide (while beeing only 100 bucks cheaper than the WH). If you treat it well and grease the gimbal from time to time it will serve you many years without issues and you can use the grips on various bases of other manufactors. I use my WH grip on a Virpil base for sidestick now and the Hornet grip on the Warthog base center mounted with metal extension and it still works perfectly. Impossible with the X-55/56. In relation to the quality, versatility, precision and used materials, the Warthog provides great flight controls for a moderate price, while the buggy and plastic X-55/56 is totaly overpriced.

Edited January 11, 2020 by VpR81

[Ergrim]

I just bought the X56 and having lots of problems with the stick. I cannot trim for the plane, F-18 any suggestions. Flys all over the place.

 

 

Your axes settings could by mixed up. You should look in your game bindings, maybe you have some other Logitech stuff installed, like a wheel or pedals, and they are displayed in your bindings. Delete those. also check if for example there are no double bindings like: throttle up is doing the same as turning right with your stick.

[Mouse_99]

You can create a dead zone in the DCS key mapping software. if you are having issues with the joystick applying output when you don't wish. Us the Axis tune feature and there are different sliders that do different things.

[Mouse_99]

You can create a dead zone in the DCS key mapping software. if you are having issues with the joystick applying output when you don't wish. Us the Axis tune feature and there are different sliders that do different things.

If you have trim bound to a hat switch, that's a first step. If you have other issues (not sure what "all over the place" might mean), you can adjust the sensitivity by adjusting the slider under the Curvature tab, this desensitizes allowing you to make slight corrections without great changes. Or, you can adjust the two axis and adjust the slider down to minimize the same thing - I do this a lot with the Mini-sticks on the Throttle and Joy Stick. Hope that helps.