Dave317 Posted February 18, 2013 Posted February 18, 2013 I have heard good things about tactile transducers or bass shakers and want to make my own. A buttkicker would be great but i'd rather try and save a lot of money and make one myself. Amazon has sine live bass pump 3's that seem really cheap. Could I connect this up to an amp bolt it the the underside of my chair and use it in the same way as a buttkicker? I also only have 1 line out on my motherboard for audio which goes to a subwoofer and then has a left and right output for the desktop speakers. Would it be best to get a cheap soundcard that splits everything up?
AceKng1 Posted February 19, 2013 Posted February 19, 2013 (edited) I use an Aura Pro Bass Shaker that I got for like $30. I simply used self tapping screws to attach it to the frame of my chair. It is hooked up to a Dayton Audio 70w sub amp and works fantastic. I have a center/sub line output on my sound card that feeds the amp. If you only have 1 line out, you could connect this to your amp and it will work but you would have to split it somehow. It would probably be easier to get a sound card to split the outputs. I would definitely recommend the Aura Pro Bass Shaker. With my amp it provides plenty of shake with almost no noise. I actually have to turn the gain down to about half as the shaking is so intense that the chair itself rattles and becomes loud and my apartment neighbors get annoyed (This is the chairs problem). I have heard you definitely need an amp though as just using the shaker by itself it won't be very effective. One idea, do you have a separate headphone jack or digital audio out? I personally play with headphones that use a the digital audio out on my board. I have the audio simultaneously output to both the digital out and the speaker outputs. This lets me feed the bass shaker amp with the center/sub line on the speaker outs while hearing the game audio through my headphones. Edited February 19, 2013 by AceKng1
Dave317 Posted February 19, 2013 Author Posted February 19, 2013 I'm planning on using a car amp to power it and using a computer psu to run the amp. If I didn't fit a new sound card would it be best to fit a low pass filter before the amp so the shaker only moves with the bass?
AceKng1 Posted February 19, 2013 Posted February 19, 2013 That would probably be a good idea. Before I figured out how to turn off the center feed portion of the center/sub line I could sometimes hear music and other sounds coming through the bass shaker very quietly. It wasn't a huge deal for me, especially as I have headphones on when playing and the higher range didn't really cause any shaking, but it may get annoying to other people.
metalnwood Posted February 19, 2013 Posted February 19, 2013 I recently got simvibe and 4 transducers that I use on my racing rig. I am unsure of the reason and it may not apply to you but car amps just didnt work well at all. It could be because simvibe sends signals through the amp which are not usual for an amp expecting basic and easy sine waves or it could be that they are generally not powerful enough for a transducer. I would do a bit more reading to see people doing it if you dont already have a car amp. For the cheap price of an aura I would do that over a driver from a speaker. I have seen people do that but not with great results. The coils and in particular the piston wasnt really designed for it so I dont think you will get as good as you could for similar price.
DD_Crash Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 I was thinking of using a car sub-amp as well but was told that the problem would be getting enough power (amps) to the sub. Maybe a better way is to buy a used home cinema mains powered sub.
Dave317 Posted February 20, 2013 Author Posted February 20, 2013 The amp I have has a 20 amp fuse. If I were to get a 450 watt pc psu and my calculations are correct it should give out 37 amps which would be plenty.
PeterP Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) Before I got a Real-Buttkicker I followed this instruction: ..., but I made it a 'little' bigger as in the vid. ;) And attached it to my chair: I used a 4ohm 20-800hz bass box and powered it by a 150watt sub-woofer car amp. IMHO: Now I can tell you: the real Buttkiker looks better and your guests will stop to raise their eyebrows when they look at your chair :) ...- but I don't feel a real difference to my Diy. Buttkicker 150€ Diy = 60€ max when using second hand parts . Well, the DIY is now in my couch and gives nice rumble when watching a DVD or listening to music. Edited February 20, 2013 by PeterP
DD_Crash Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 Cool Mr P, How did you power your car sub amp?
PeterP Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) With a ordinary 12V / 10 ampere power supply. Edited February 20, 2013 by PeterP
DD_Crash Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 Thanks for that :) I cant find anything like you used so its either a PC psu or a battery charger, but I am not sure how to get the psu to start without a motherboard. Do you think that I could use the old power supply of my busted buttkicker? Connector A feeds the pcb Lead C goes to a heatsink B and then into the transformer.
PeterP Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) Please stop this kind of experiments without even knowing the fundamentals ... ! :huh: Please! Your power-source must have at least a 10 Ampere output for using it with an 150-200Watt amplifier - otherwise it goes first very hot - and than you can even have a burning piece of melting metal. And I don't know anything about the PSU you have dismantled there - and it's not the appropriate thing for this - I would only considering doing something like you when I'm stranded on Mars and the PSU is my only hope to get my radio powered to call for help. Do you life on Mars ?! - No? So: get a normal 12V/10A - 120 Watt power supply - they are cheap and you don't risk to harm you/someone else. Edited February 20, 2013 by PeterP
Dave317 Posted February 20, 2013 Author Posted February 20, 2013 PeterP do you mean 12v or 24? Surely a 450 watt psu would better than a 10 amp converter with no heatsink or fan.
PeterP Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 PeterP do you mean 12v or 24? Surely a 450 watt psu would better than a 10 amp converter with no heatsink or fan. sorry, I meant 12 . fixed now. Sure - heatsinks are nice , but do you really want to explain DD_Crash how he converts the PSU in a power-source for a 100 watt (that is fully sufficient) car amp?! ;) ...while there are 12V/10+ A 120Watt converters for less than 30€
DD_Crash Posted February 21, 2013 Posted February 21, 2013 Thanks for your advice Peter, I have searched ebay but cant find a 240 to 12v 10 amp converter. Do you have a link?
PeterP Posted February 21, 2013 Posted February 21, 2013 Some of the 300+ Hits I got for German sellers (as I don't have a clue where are you living): http://www.ebay.de/itm/Trafo-LED-12V-10A-120W-NETZTEIL-NETZADAPTER-LED-SMD-RGB-STRIP-SPOTS-Downlight-1-/121062174953?pt=DE_M%C3%B6bel_Wohnen_Nachtlichter_Lichts%C3%A4ulen&hash=item1c2fde30e9 http://www.ebay.de/itm/12V-10A-15A-20A-30A-120W-180W-240W-360W-Netzteil-Stromversorgung-Trafo-fur-LED-/150985879474?pt=Bauteile&var=&hash=item232775afb2 http://www.ebay.de/itm/12V-10A-120W-Netzteil-AC-Adapter-Trafo-fur-LED-SMD-RGB-Strips-/110925586501?pt=DE_M%C3%B6bel_Wohnen_Lampen_Lichtzubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item19d3ae2045 http://www.ebay.de/itm/12V-10-20A-120-240W-Netzteil-Stromversorgung-Trafo-fur-3528-5050-5630-RGB-LED-/150974729302?pt=DE_M%C3%B6bel_Wohnen_Lampen_Lichtzubeh%C3%B6r&var=&hash=item2326cb8c56 http://www.ebay.de/itm/12V-10A-120W-Schalter-Trafo-Netzteil-Netzadapter-fur-LED-SMD-RGB-Strip-Streifen-/261163585836?pt=DE_M%C3%B6bel_Wohnen_Lampen_Lichtzubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item3cce90112c http://www.ebay.de/itm/12V-10A-120W-Trafo-Netzteil-Netzadapter-LED-SMD-RGB-Strip-Streifen-Band-Zubehor-/110863552569?pt=DE_M%C3%B6bel_Wohnen_Lampen_Lichtzubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item19cffb9039 http://www.ebay.de/itm/Power-Supply-Switch-Schaltnetzteil-Trafo-Ladegerat-LED-Netzteil-DC-12V-10A-120W-/300612889204?pt=DE_M%C3%B6bel_Wohnen_Lampen_Lichtzubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item45fdecaa74 http://www.ebay.de/itm/12V-10A-120W-Netzgerat-Schalt-netzteil-Trafo-LED-Strip-/370732683743?pt=DE_M%C3%B6bel_Wohnen_Lampen_Lichtzubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item565163d1df http://www.ebay.de/itm/Einbau-Netzteil-Trafo-Adapter-Netzgerat-12V-10A-120-Watt-/400309027662?pt=DE_M%C3%B6bel_Wohnen_Lampen_Lichtzubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item5d3447034e http://www.ebay.de/itm/10A-Schaltnetzteil-12Volt-12V-110-220-Volt-120-Watt-solide-Heimwerkerqualitat-/281064009810?pt=DE_Haus_Garten_Heimwerker_Sicherheitstechnik&hash=item4170b87052
Dave317 Posted February 21, 2013 Author Posted February 21, 2013 As you have 240volts ac i'm guessing you could be from the UK so this one should do in 10 Amp form. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2A-4A-6A-10A-UK-Adapter-Transformer-For-5050-3528-LED-Strip-Light-Plug-DC-12V-/230817707788?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Night_Lights_Fairy_Lights&var=&hash=item35bdceb70c
Dave317 Posted February 28, 2013 Author Posted February 28, 2013 All done and it works really well. I had to get a cheap soundcard with a separate subwoofer output so I could adjust the intensity of the vibrations but it seems pretty good. Shame simvibe isn't avalible for DCS.
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