Further Impressions

Appeal

From the small exciters we find the best looking with its black paint and metal body to be the EX32EP2-4. Trailing right behind it is the Dayton Puck. somewhat in the middle we find the EX32U2. The HESF and 58FP simply do not look very appealing, sorry.

Both big bass shakers has similar design and looks, but we find the BST-1 a little more pleasing to the eye.

Immersion

Dayton Audio TT25 PUCK: Despite the solid low frequency performance this mini shaker has too little power. It is best utilized for very focused feedback - for example on pedals or right next to your body under a cushion. As it is able to work at low frequencies it delivers very nice deep vibration, but has really to be close to the body. In our application it works OK if you do not have other big shakers or motion in your system, but if you do - its effects easy get cancelled.

Dayton Audio EX32U2-4: We were surprised how strong this exciters feel. It performed both very powerful and able to reproduce low frequencies. It felt almost as the big bass shakers. Too bad it breaks so easy with the plastic spider.

Dayton Audio DAEX58FP: This exciter come with high power rating and low actual performance. It felt underpowered all the time. It's performance is similar to the Dayton Puck but at higher frequencies (55-70Hz). Also because of the big mounting platform and small travel it is a little noisier. We do not think this is suitable for our intended application.

Dayton Audio EX30HESF-4: The High Efficiency Sound Exciter lives up to its name. It rightfully is one of the main contenders for the title and is widely used in Sim Rig tactile setups. It was able to run constantly at high volume providing good strong vibrations. Only issue is that because of its small body mass it reproduces better high frequency effects. For low frequency at 40Hz it is generally OK as long as you do not have other strong shakers cancelling it. It is perfect for application on rig seat near shoulders/someplace on the side where body would have close contact for directional effects.

Dayton Audio EX32EP2-4 Thruster: The other pretender for the best exciter title here. The heavy body has high moving mass and paired with the steel spring make it very powerful and has even decent low frequencies. We have to say the old model felt for some reason definitely more powerful, but the new one did not get so high amplitude at 100% volume and we were able to drive it louder. Performance is on par with the HESF but with noticeably better Low Frequency response. Again it would be best used on seat for supplementary High frequency effects to keep it from breaking the steel spider.

Dayton Audio BST-1: This full size shaker has solid performance, definitely can feel both engine rumble and shifter effects in the two shifter and handbrake handles. We have several other BST-1s in our setup and this one felt exactly the same - when placed on well decoupled surface it feels quite good. When attached someplace on the solid construction without vibration isolation it feels little faint in 40Hz. Above 45Hz performs definitely better.

AuraSound AST-2B-4: As expected the Aura again was the best performer from this list. It is close to the BST-1 but has much stronger and solid low frequency response. Engine vibration effect felt much richer and we were able to tune it down significantly from the default level we used for all other transducers. You can definitely feel the revs changing and when engaged the overlapping deep gear shift effect is very noticeable. And when used for suspension effects they are fantastic. Jump landing is also very fun effect to put on one as it delivers very deep and solid thud - under the seat it feels awesome in every jump in Dirt Rally 2.

Note: as in the performance section we cannot directly compare both shakers and exciters. Both classes will be graded separately.

Reliability

We already mentioned some of the issues we encountered over quite long time span. Let's summarize here:

Dayton Audio DAEX32EP-4 Thruster: This is actually the old model, new one appeared quite recently. Out of 6 units we developed after time broken spider on 5 of them, one also got a dead coil. They failed over different period of time.

This reportedly can be avoided by driving them at lower volume and higher frequencies. We did just that with 3 of the units, but ultimately they failed after about 3 months of use. You also have to be very careful with testing them in SimHub - the sound test signal is with very high volume and immediately drives them with abnormal amplitude which makes them hit their mounting surface.

On the other hand the newer model behaved differently. Because of the added height from the interchangeable mount it does not hit the mount plate any more at higher amplitudes. Perceivably it also felt a little weaker than the original one. Ultimately it has the same steel spring spider so all of the above considerations still apply. We did not spend enough time with this speaker, will be implementing shortly the two test units in our new seat configuration and we will see how they behave over time.

Dayton Audio EX32U2-4: These were very powerful and promising units but after two weeks of heady use both of them got a broken spider and one got dead coil. It is quite possible to run them at lower volume and keep them alive but we decided not to continue with them. The plastic spider will always be a weak point.

Dayton Audio EX30HESF-4: A set of 4 HESF shakers were abused under heavy load for quite some time and worked pretty well on the sides of our seat. Also overlapping effects were set on them so they got immediate transitions between effects and were stressed as much as we could. After all of this abuse only 1 unit got a dead coil and we are not sure it is something defective on it or we just took it to its limit. Either way these units were never designed for such application so presumption is if you do not overdo it they would be fine.

Versatility

Interchangeable mounting system Exciters: All three options which use this area easy to mount with the new system. You either user M3 mounting hardware or simply tape it to flat surface. All options are with small footprint, very compact - definitely this upgrade is worth the extra cost. They can be placed on multiple positions everywhere on your rig.

Adhesive tape mounted exciters: Over the extended period we used such exciters we often changed their position. You can easily remove the original pad and put new one, but especially for the HESF small mounting surface this requires really strong tape and some attention. In this case it is very good thing Dayton decided to upgrade it to the new mounting system.

Dayton Puck: Bigger, heavier, better mounted with and adapter. It comes with plastic interface, which is not comfortable for sim rig application. Most probably you will need some custom/3d printed solution. Double sided adhesive tape also worked well.

Full size exciters: They are big, bulky and heavy. Also require flat surface to be mounted. In order to transduce properly vibrations it should also be a solid mount. best mounting positions is on seat itself, pedal decks, any flat surface close to you. Also proper vibration isolation is important here - you do not want vibrations propagating and overlapping throughout the whole rig construction.

Value

This one is easy. Best prices small transducer is the Dayton Puck - for this low price you get a decent working item. For the full shaker that would be BST-1. It is not that good as the Aura, but is almost half the price.

All of the above we will try to summarize and quantify below:

Summary

After all these being said it is finally time for our Conclusion: