Love your headphones but miss the bass slam and rumble of subwoofers?

Submitted by hunkichunki t3_zuz9vk in headphones

So thats the thought I had, wouldn't it be great if we could connect a subwoofer while using headphones at the same time!

That thought germinated a while in my mind til it reached the point where I realised I don't want to hear the subwoofer, but to just feel it.

Enter....the...

Buttkicker Gamer Plus

https://thebuttkicker.com/products/buttkicker-gamer-plus

Its used mostly for driving and flight sims to simulate vibrations and rumbles. Its basically a subwoofer without the cone, just the driver. So it doesn't make much noise, but produce the subsonic rumble of a subwoofer.

I connected it the RCA output on my IFI Pro IDSD which outputs to both its XLR output to my headphone amp as well as the RCA output to the buttkicker at the same time.

Since I use my headphones at my computer desk , I connected the unit to the centre metal pole/ shock of my herman miller aeron chair, but it will work with mostly any seat which you can "strap" it to.

After setting the highpass to about 140 hz and the gain level to 10%, I was off to the races. It was bizarre at first, but it does exactly what I wanted, it creates the subsonic frequencies below 140 hz in the form of haptic/rumble, but without making much sound.

After a couple of weeks of use, I can't use my headphones without it anymore. The mental trickery is real. The subsonic rumble makes the headphones sound (feel?) a MILLION times more low end than without. I have used it on my Stax L700Mk2, Empyreans, Arya Stealth etc... they require slight adjustment to the gain to work with each headphone but thats all.

Gain level never went above 15% so the Plus is more than enough for music listening and PC gaming.

And thats my experiment and review of the Buttkicker Gamer Plus with headphone usage :)

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Comments

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DowntownEgg6056 t1_j1m7t29 wrote

This reminds me of the headphones Skullcandy made with vibration so it seemed like there was more bass than there actually was.

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Far_Version_9043 t1_j1mb8d4 wrote

Yeah, the crushers are Insane. To put haptic motors in headphones is really really f*cking crazy, but... It worked for them!

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nhuynh50 t1_j1mz09q wrote

wait that was a thing? I've seen skullcandy buds and headphones at best buy and not once have a I seen anything promoting head or ear rumbling. lol.

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roughedged t1_j1mzxra wrote

They are called skull candy crushers, and they are relatively well received for what they are

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faustsofar t1_j1mlhvj wrote

Bluetooth buttplug subwoofer is the answer

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geumja-ssi t1_j1mimz0 wrote

Its all the same as another bass shaker, right?

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Farpun t1_j1mcrou wrote

I've always wanted to try this, really appreciate the impressions post

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VisceralVoyage420 t1_j1neswu wrote

I wish SubPac still made the S2, it's really good for music. Very immersive and accurate. Hopefully they'll eventually get their X1 into production. Apparently butt kickers are better for explosions and such and not very good for music. Seriously, look into the SubPac, it's the best thing I've bought for music.

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Titouan_Charles t1_j1mx7n5 wrote

Burson audio also offers this option on their amps, it's pretty cool

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RussianRoulette45 t1_j1n3lff wrote

These have been in car audio for years. All they were designed for was to vibrate your butt. I never got to “experience” them tho.

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Logic1984 t1_j1nuhn3 wrote

Yes this! I put a pair under the seats in my 92 Ford escort when I was a teenager. Technically they were from movie theatre seats but same device. I put switches for each one and coupled with my subwoofers people had no idea what was going on lol it was fun.

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RussianRoulette45 t1_j1nutq1 wrote

I bet you could really “feel” those 5 1/4 woofers in the back huh? Damn I wish I could have messed with these things! Sounds awesome!

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PeterKail t1_j1ntv3r wrote

Why is it so expensive? Gamer tax? There are already subwoofers like that for example the Monacor AR-50

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206Red t1_j1o3sm1 wrote

Great for b-ass

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Bread-fi t1_j1q0fiy wrote

I had a cushion thing like this about 20 years ago. From memory it was kind of silly and the cabling got annoying. I wonder what happened to it.

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