Advice needed for peripherals -Buttkicker & TIR5

Hi guys,

After trying to use my laptop to fly TOH i have finally succumbed to the need to upgrade to obtain better visuals... so... i thought also to get the entire immersion thing happening...

I am thinking of getting TrackIR 5 and Buttkicker 2 to really enjoy the game... after having just been in a Squirrel (at Sea World Australia) i was taken by the vibration and stability of the craft and want to replicate that...

Do the forum folks recommend any of those 2 devices?

Thanks guys once again

Doug

I can't advise you about Buttkicker. However the track IR is just indispensables to me.

You could also try to make your own free track. Much cheaper

Hmmmm... looks interesting ... thanks for the tip!

And I am pretty happy with my TIR4Pro in its most basic variant. If TIR5 is too expensive for you, TIR4 is still a good deal.

track IR (4 or 5 imo) is amazing and has incredible customer support. Bit pricey, but worth it.

Hi,

Haven't tried the Buttkicker in TOH yet, but can say it adds an amazing dimension to flying helis in FSX and X-Plane. In my opinion it's worth it.

BR

Rich

Thanks Komodo... with the buttkicker in FSx, can you feel the rotor slaps etc? Also, do you have to wear headphones when using it? Thanks mate

Doug

Hi Doug,

No you don't have to wear head phones. The Buttkicker is a very low freq. speaker that produces vibrations rather than audible sound. It is linked inline with your normal speakers, so if you have lower freq. sound in the sim you should feel something through your seat. So in theory yes you should. I will have a check later tonight with the Dodo 206 and throw it around a little to get some slap. It's an amazing feeling with the Huey X, feels great.

BR

Rich

Buttkicker looks interesting. How does it feel in ToH? Also a cursory glance shows it to be hard to get hold of here in the UK, and as a result very expensive compared to the US R.R.P. Anyone know of a good distributer here in the UK - I need to update my Chrimbo wishlist!

Will check it on TOH as well!!

---------- Post added at 08:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:11 PM ----------

In FSX you dont really feel the blade slap but more a constant vibration, you do get a slight increase I think. You can feel the blades turn as you start the 206 up.

As for TOH again you get a constant vibration thru the seat. It certainly does, in my opinion, increase the feel of both sims.

Hope that helps!!

Cheers

Rich

Thanks Rich -much appreciated in taking the time to test it out for us!

Sourcing this will be interesting from New Zealand!

Cheers

Doug

Will check it on TOH as well!!

---------- Post added at 08:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:11 PM ----------

In FSX you dont really feel the blade slap but more a constant vibration, you do get a slight increase I think. You can feel the blades turn as you start the 206 up.

As for TOH again you get a constant vibration thru the seat. It certainly does, in my opinion, increase the feel of both sims.

Hope that helps!!

Cheers

Rich

Cool - thanks for test driving it for us!

Not a problem, didn't exactly have to force myself!!:D:bounce3:

I cant say having a buttkicker in helos does a world of difference, thing is it depends on sounds and thats a bad thing, turn your head (with trackir) and suddenly the blade or engine sound drops, so until someone write a FFB to audio that you can assign to a secondary audio card its not the greatest (maybe Bohemia wants that task?). Gives another feel thats good yep it does. I cant really recommend it tho (car games rock however)

Trackir Is the best buy you can possibly get btw just run and get it asap

Thanks Trigen... that's very interesting and given the device is sound driven unless there is a 'constant' somehow it could be quite disconcerting... a lot of dosh to spend on something down these parts so grateful for the input!

Doug

I have both and like the Butt kicker best. The wired version plugs into your sound card and you can control the amount of vibration you get through your seat from teeth rattling to dull rumble with simple controls. Track IR can get a bit fiddly to use sometimes when you need to smoothly switch from head panning to a fixed view like with rear gunnery in Rise of Flight.

It also depends what chair you use actually, on an office chair the vibrations dont get trough so much (starts flashing red on the amp quite early) , put it on a pure wooden chair and its a big difference.

And to be 100% honest in sims like Il-2 it can be a real blast, same with racing games and even shooters, so if you play all that quite a bit its a good buy for sure tho a little expensive. For only helicopters i'd be a little more apprehensive mostly cause its expensive and i dont feel it gives the greatest bang for the buck unless you have constant low frequency (its a bass box) rumble (not that many helo's in games/sims have). Hopefully they will write a FFB to audio later on that will give it a true feel.

But thats just my opinion and your mileage my vary of course

I have to say that the Buttkicker does give that vibration that I feel flying helicopters real world. You don't always feel blade slap etc.. when flying but you do get a constant dull vibration, which I think the Buttkicker emulates really well. It's also great for watching films, I connect it to a metal framed sofa and you can feel the gunshots, crashes and anything else in the film that makes a good noise!!

But as ever it's a matter of personal opinion, if you get chance to try before you buy would be useful!!

BR

Rich