Any way to add a custom touchdown sound in MSFS?

I have made a DIY vibration transducers from old car speakers and they work fine on my DIY VR rig. I feed them low frequencies bandpassed form main audio output. However it would be so nice if I could just add a low “bump” sound on touchdown in MSFS, and maybe some other events. Is there a way to add custom sounds, maybe with FSUIPC? It looks like aircraft sounds are packed in a single PCK file, so that’s not editable. Just adding or “sideloading” sound would be nice… That way bu seat would “bump” on appropriate events. This would also add the sound to HMD audio, but that’s OK.



Sorry, I had to: Touchdown! - Sound effect (HD) - YouTube

LOL, that would be nice to add too :slight_smile:

Get OPUS for MSFS it has software to add that to touchdown. OpusFSI Live Weather instant weather updates, Live Camera view control, management and docking, Live View multi-screen networked displays

Thanks. It’s $20 though, and I want to try out if it’s a good idea first…

You can try this as its free.

I have never used it but people are happy with it.

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Thanks. I was hoping for something free/open source so I could try a proof o of concept first. It’s a DIY project, so I’m not sure it will work well…

Edit: sorry, just noticed you said free, but I saw this and I thought the plugin that can go out to aurio device is paid. I will revisit, maybe I got confused…

Edit2: yes, I was right - it says “Please keep in mind, I’m the dev of SSA and not the Sound Module which is a payware addon developed by Andre. You need this addon if you like to use a bass shaker for the effects…”

I used to have SSA with XP but I don’t like it. I just enable equalization loudness on the reverb and use voicemeeter to split the channels. With the sound boost from equalisation loudness, the touchdown sounds are very good for the buttkicker, you should be able to feel all the bumps.

I alredy did something similar: I used WMR “mirror to desktop audio” and made Voicemeeter Banana to route that with a low-pass EQ through another audio interface (built-in analog audio output) to an external amp feeding 2 ex-car speekers servine as buttkickers. So I can control that channel separately. But while PA28 engine vibration is really felt nicely, the touchdown is not really felt. It may be plane-dependent, but I can’t find a way to change just a touchdown sound for a specific plane. If I could, I would just add a low-end, but I don’t know how, it’s not obvkous as all sounds are packed and compiled to a single file. That’s why I’m lookingfor a way to trigger external sounds. I’d be just as happy to modify existing plane sounds.

I also use only sounds for bass shakers.
The thing that worked for me has been to use voicemeeter and greatly amplify the low end frequencies of 25-45hz and then roll of to about 70 hz. So i basically have a +20db increase at 35 hz, but +0db at 70 hz. This makes the landing, especially on rough terrain, the turbulence, the aerobatic maneuvers, have a great thump, but it also rolls of fast enough as to not amplify the engines vibration.

I still say use OPUS! I have 3 transducers hooked up to my setup. I found using three 1 on the seat and two on the controllers and desk. One is set to use the sim sounds and the other 2 are set up to use events like taxing, takeoff, landing, gear, flaps,spoilers and wind gust. With this combo my simulator is like a breathing thing. Once you get a taste you can never fly without it. Note it is recommended to use separate sound cards for each transducer. I also use 3 small mono amps to drive them.

I’ll try to adjust my EQ. I could do low boost and shelf cut instead of lo-pass. I do want some engine vibration, it feels very immersive to feel the engine work. I also have doubts my DIY car speaker-based transducers can handle 25-45 Hz. I think that’s too low for coils not purposefully built for such low freqs.

I don’t think I’m ready to invest in several off-the-shelf transducers. Just upgraded my PC etc. I’d like to make my DIY setup work first and see how far I can make it go…

I know what you mean. I have spent about $500 on my setup just for this.

Yup, and I just used two old car speakers and an old amp I had lying around. Good result, but I’d like to feel the “bump” on touchdowns and more pronounced feedback on some events. I have no problem making audio files to mix in (I have a home studio, and I’m a musician and a composer), but there is no way that I know to do that… Still an experiment, so don’t want to spend money on that…

Yes, do low boost +24 or something like that and shelf cut below 30hz. Watch out for distorsions, i don’t know what software you use, but make sure you have a soft limiter, like voicemeeter has on the outputs, and preferably only eq the shakers, so you don’t destroy the headset’s speakers.
Landing, ground and turbulence feel at about 30-50hz and engine sounds from 60hz upwards.

Thanks for the specific freq, that makes my job easier. Will definitely try that. I do have transducers on a separate output, so any EQ only affect what I send there.

Hmm. No luck. I tried differnet EQ curves, and I hear the touchdown, I don’t feel it. There is almost no low end in the sound, compared to the engine rumble. So if I set it the level to make engine vibration felt but not overload the speakers, I don’t feel the touchdown at all. I tried PA28, C152 and C172 and it’s the same, so it’s not aircraft-specific. Flaps are also not really felt. Some environment is felt, I think, but the important things are touchdown (main and center) and flaps, and I feel nothing…

Flaps are not felt, but touchdown definitely is, and is felt stronger the harder you hit the ground, or when you land and roll on grass ground.

Have you considered that your diy shakers, as they are designed, do not allow a lot of movement of the suspension, and that limits hz a lot, because afaik when you go lower down in hz, you either need more mass, more x-max or both, to have the same amplitude of perceived feel as when you have higher hz effect. For example, i have normal shakers that stock give a perceived peak at about 34 hz, but after i modded them with 2kg of weights attached to the voice coil, they now give a peak at just 13 hz.

You can use szinalsky.com and do a sweep test from 20hz to 100hz, and mentally note the perceived amplitude. Where is the peak and where is it not felt anymore?

That’s a great insight. I was thinking about recording a flight and analyzing the frequency spectrum of touchdown sounds, then do a narrow EQ there. Obviously car speakers are not heavy, and are not built to efficiently transfer low frequency, so if there is such a drastic difference it may be explained by the response curve of my DYI shakers. I do feel more then enough shaking from the engine at low RPM, or bass notes of the MSFS intro music. So they can deliver enough vibration. From what I hear in the Reverb G2 audio, touchdown and roll give noise in a much higher frequencies than engine rumble. I’d guess somewhere in the 400-800Hz range. So maybe the problem is that my shakers can’t move a lot at those frequencies plus the fact that I have low-pass at about 80Hz cuts everything above 100Hz or so. With higher cut-off I start hearing too much of the other audio from the shakers, like ATC voices etc.