Confused about SimShaker Wings + Buttkicker

[gnat]

Hi all,

 

I looked at some of the other threads but I'm still having issues.

 

My setup: SSW + one BK + dedicated sound card

 

I have two questions:

 

1. How do I get SSW to connect only to my dedicated sound card while the game audio plays out of my speakers or headphones? I have SSW set to the dedicated sound card in the Audio Parameters box. However, the BK will work only if my PC is also set to the dedicated sound card.

 

2. How do I get the SSW gain sliders to work? The BK responds to everything in-game (engine, gun fire, landing gear, etc.), but I'm unable to control the intensity via SSW.

 

Thanks

Edited March 26, 2022 by gnat

[DragonDaddy]

Do you have two separate sound sources? You’ll need one source for game sounds and another for the ButtKicker. I have my headphones connected to an external sound card for game sounds, ButtKicker connected to onboard sound from my motherboard. The 3.5 mm ButtKicker jack is plugged into the green 3.5 mm output from the motherboard. 
 

Check this forum to find additional recommendations on how to separate sound sources. There are several ways to do this. 

[JG1_Labroisse]

Instead of getting another sound card to power the buttkicker, you can also use HD Audio from your graphics card. Plug your buttkicker into your monitor's audio out and choose HD Audio in Simshaker as the source.  Set up your HD audio like this:

 

 

 

[gnat]

13 hours ago, DragonDaddy said:

Do you have two separate sound sources? You’ll need one source for game sounds and another for the ButtKicker. I have my headphones connected to an external sound card for game sounds, ButtKicker connected to onboard sound from my motherboard. The 3.5 mm ButtKicker jack is plugged into the green 3.5 mm output from the motherboard. 
 

Check this forum to find additional recommendations on how to separate sound sources. There are several ways to do this. 

 

Yes, I have two separate sound sources. I have my speakers connected to my MOBO, and I'm currently trying to get my BK to work with an external sound card. (Currently, my BK only works if I set my PC to the same sound source as the one SSW is using.)

 

I looked through the other posts but am still not clear on how to proceed. For example:

• Do I actually need the SSW Option? I thought that was only necessary if you wanted to have more than one bass shaker.
• Do I need something like Voicemeeter if I want my BK to work with the external sound card?

Also, can anyone help me understand why the SSW gain sliders aren't working? I've been trying to reduce the engine output, to no avail.

 

12 hours ago, JG1_Labroisse said:

Instead of getting another sound card to power the buttkicker, you can also use HD Audio from your graphics card. Plug your buttkicker into your monitor's audio out and choose HD Audio in Simshaker as the source.  Set up your HD audio like this:

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion. This didn't work for me. Probably because I didn't do something correctly. Or, could it be because I'm using a DisplayPort?

[Panzerlang]

All I can offer is that I had nothing but grief, multiple times over the years, when I tried to use my single ButtKicker. 

Since lashing up my own solution (x2 mini-amps and x4 BTS-1 transducers), absolutely peachy. It's kind of the old "throw money at the problem", though the BKs aren't cheap any longer.

SimShaker, mono vs stereo, seems to be a thing there maybe.

I have both on-board sound and a sound-card dedicated to SimShaker. I tried that, plus other single-source solutions with my BK, nothing worked properly.

Edited March 27, 2022 by Hetzer-JG51

[Jeroen83]

I have the same problem. Simshaker Wings is detecting IL2 startup and I can play the test sound on the transducer, but nothing happens ingame. I have a seperate usb dac soundcard for the transducer as well. My main sound plays on headphones through Bluetooth.

[gnat]

42 minutes ago, Jeroen83 said:

I have the same problem. Simshaker Wings is detecting IL2 startup and I can play the test sound on the transducer, but nothing happens ingame. I have a seperate usb dac soundcard for the transducer as well. My main sound plays on headphones through Bluetooth.

 

This is frustrating. Try setting your PC audio source to the USB soundcard, as well. You won't have audio through speakers/headphones, but at least you can check whether your transducer responds to IL2.

 

A quick note: I can get my BK to work with IL2. However, I think it's using the audio rather than telemetry. And it only works if my PC audio source is the same as the BK audio source.

 

In the past, I used a 3.5mm splitter, which allowed me to play audio through my speakers and get my BK to work. But I'd rather have a dedicated sound source for my BK, and I'd like to know that my BK is using IL2 telemetry rather than audio.

 

9 hours ago, Hetzer-JG51 said:

All I can offer is that I had nothing but grief, multiple times over the years, when I tried to use my single ButtKicker. 

Since lashing up my own solution (x2 mini-amps and x4 BTS-1 transducers), absolutely peachy. It's kind of the old "throw money at the problem", though the BKs aren't cheap any longer.

SimShaker, mono vs stereo, seems to be a thing there maybe.

I have both on-board sound and a sound-card dedicated to SimShaker. I tried that, plus other single-source solutions with my BK, nothing worked properly.

 

I have my BK attached to my Monstertech flight chair, so additional BKs or transducers aren't an option. And I've tried mono vs. stereo, but that didn't help.

Edited March 27, 2022 by gnat

[DragonDaddy]

15 hours ago, gnat said:

 

Yes, I have two separate sound sources. I have my speakers connected to my MOBO, and I'm currently trying to get my BK to work with an external sound card. (Currently, my BK only works if I set my PC to the same sound source as the one SSW is using.) Make sure you select your external sound card in SSW software under “Dedicated Sound Card”. Also select “1 (mono). 

 

I looked through the other posts but am still not clear on how to proceed. For example:

• Do I actually need the SSW Option? I thought that was only necessary if you wanted to have more than one bass shaker.
• Yes, you need to install and use SSW software. 
• Do I need something like Voicemeeter if I want my BK to work with the external sound card? No, VoiceMeeter is not necessary. 

Also, can anyone help me understand why the SSW gain sliders aren't working? I've been trying to reduce the engine output, to no avail. 

Sliders may not work if software is not properly configured. 

 

Thanks for the suggestion. This didn't work for me. Probably because I didn't do something correctly. Or, could it be because I'm using a DisplayPort? I also use DisplayPort with no problems.  Good luck!

 

 

[gnat]

@DragonDaddy When you say that, yes, I need the SSW software, are you talking about the additional SSW for up to 6 bass shakers? I have the base SSW software, just not the option. I'm confused because the SS site says that the base SSW software works with bass shakers, and that the option is for users with more than one bass shaker.

 

Also, can you elaborate on what kind of configurations are necessary for the gain sliders? I have selected the correct sound source (my external sound card). And I've tried mono, but that didn't fix anything.

[DragonDaddy]

4 hours ago, gnat said:

@DragonDaddy When you say that, yes, I need the SSW software, are you talking about the additional SSW for up to 6 bass shakers? I have the base SSW software, just not the option. I'm confused because the SS site says that the base SSW software works with bass shakers, and that the option is for users with more than one bass shaker.

You don’t need the additional software you mention for one or two ButtKickers/transducers.
 

Also, can you elaborate on what kind of configurations are necessary for the gain sliders? I have selected the correct sound source (my external sound card). And I've tried mono, but that didn't fix anything.

Uncheck the box on the effect you are changing. Move the “bass shakers” slider to where you want it, check the box on the effect you just changed. Fly and see if your changes took effect. 

 

If you are setup correctly this should work. If not, I suggested you reinstall SSW, check all of your connections, and start again. 

 

[DD_Crash]

You can try this, it works for me

 

[gnat]

@DragonDaddy Selecting mono, unchecking the desired slider box, adjusting the slider, and rechecking the box didn't work.

 

I just realized that the Text Log Information box doesn't show any information beyond the following: "Listening for IL_2_Great_Battles UDP packets at port 29373. If there is no signal yet, please refer to Integration section of SimShaker-Wing User Guide:". Should this box show info related to each telemetry input while I'm playing IL2?

Edited March 28, 2022 by gnat

[DragonDaddy]

Gnat: I wish I could offer more suggestions but I think you may have more than one problem going. If it were me, I would uninstall then reinstall everything. 
 

My text log info shows “Extended demo mode enabled”, “SimShaker- Wings Version 2.7” when the sim is off. It does show “Listening for IL2…” when the sim is activated. 

[Jeroen83]

On 3/27/2022 at 7:47 PM, gnat said:

 

This is frustrating. Try setting your PC audio source to the USB soundcard, as well. You won't have audio through speakers/headphones, but at least you can check whether your transducer responds to IL2.

 

A quick note: I can get my BK to work with IL2. However, I think it's using the audio rather than telemetry. And it only works if my PC audio source is the same as the BK audio source.

 

In the past, I used a 3.5mm splitter, which allowed me to play audio through my speakers and get my BK to work. But I'd rather have a dedicated sound source for my BK, and I'd like to know that my BK is using IL2 telemetry rather than audio.

 

 

I have my BK attached to my Monstertech flight chair, so additional BKs or transducers aren't an option. And I've tried mono vs. stereo, but that didn't help.

I stand corrected, I made a stupid mistake by altering the wrong startup.cfg file. When I added the call for telemetry data in the right startup.cfg all was fine. My apologies!

[gnat]

53 minutes ago, Jeroen83 said:

I stand corrected, I made a stupid mistake by altering the wrong startup.cfg file. When I added the call for telemetry data in the right startup.cfg all was fine. My apologies!

You have multiple startup.cfg files?

 

@DragonDaddy, thanks for your suggestions.

 

@DD_Crash, thanks for the suggestion. I'll try it out.

 

If anyone else has another suggestion, please share. I tried changing the port in the config file to match the IL2 PID displayed in the Task Manager, but that didn't help. Uninstalling and reinstalling SSW didn't work.

[JG1_Labroisse]

On 3/26/2022 at 10:19 PM, gnat said:

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion. This didn't work for me. Probably because I didn't do something correctly. Or, could it be because I'm using a DisplayPort?

 

I would think it would still work the same since Displayport also carries audio to the monitor.  But, I could be wrong.

 

On my Samsung, I had to specifically enable audio out in the monitor settings so maybe check that.

 

[gnat]

Everyone, thanks for your responses. It turns out my VPN was the issue. I just need to turn it off whenever I play IL2.