Buttkicker mini LFE

[Kercheiz]

Hi,

I just purchased a Buttkicker Mini LFE with a subwoofer amp.

I can't get proper results with it. I'm testing with simshaker 15Hz sine test.wav, if I set the amp to a low level I get a small vibration, and not much noise. If I increase the gain further it starts making noise (piston slamming against enclosure)  and the vibration gets random (as if the piston was bouncing out of sync with the input frequency).

How is the buttkicker supposed to be used? In the linear range (piston not touching enclosure), in which case the amount of vibration is tiny, or non linear, the piston hitting enclosure being "by design" ?

Or do I have a defective unit?

[Ala12Rv-Tundra]

are you using simshaker or just plain wave sound?

[Kercheiz]

Hi,

I am using simshaker. I tried both the test sound (15Hz sine) and other ones (engine rumbles, etc...)

I tried putting the chair on 3cm latex pads,  to make it wobbly. I tried mounting the BK on the bottom and back slats. On the seat frame. On the seat sides.

With always the same result : slowly increasing the gain, there is a tiny window where I feel a slight vibration, and increasing the gain just a little bit, or adding a gun sound above it, and it starts thumping in an incontrollable manner. And this happens with the simshaker sound module gain set to 20% and my 100W amp is about 15-20%.

I contacted the tech support by email, they say my unit is fine. If so, the vibration power you can have with those is really small.

 

[agrasyuk]

when you hear the piston hitting the covers it means you are overdriving it.
yes, I find the small shaker leaves a lot to be desired as far as power.

[hannibal]

yea, when you hear the knocking, is a bottoming out situation...

you have to make sure that the buttkicker unit is not mounted on something solid to the ground.

just to give you an example situation, a buttkicker would be mounted to a couch. how ever, it would then be necessary to add rubber feet (kinetic isolators) to the legs of the couch so that the is some wiggle play as it allows the couch to rock when the buttkicker is active..

http://www.infiniteelectronix.com/buttkickerrdb-120kineticrubberisolators.aspx

https://thebuttkicker.com/products/ri-4-large-rubber-isolator-foot

ButtKicker Rubber Isolator Feet maximize system performance and are critical to any type of haptic feedback installation.

As energy from a ButtKicker haptic transducer travels through a couch, chair, platform, stage, or sim rig, these rubber feet create a buffer between the fixed floor, allowing the furniture to move freely and independently to maximize the tactile feedback created with your ButtKicker haptic transducer.

The result is a much stronger haptic effect – without raising the volume/intensity level of the amplifier powering the transducer. Along with this increased system efficiency, users experience much greater tonal sensitivity and fidelity.