Kor-FX 4DFX Haptic Gaming Vest - The next step in game immersion?
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2016-05-06
·
1,350 words · ~6 min read
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welcome to my review of the core FX 4D FX haptic feedback gaming system from
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emers this is the first haptic feedback vest I have tried extensively and I'm
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super excited as I love devices that increase immersion immers has some
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pretty heavy claims about this device even going out of their way to include a
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safety note stating that the core effect generates powerful emotional and
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physical effects well Mark me down is
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scared and excited for more exciting reviews stay subscrib to lus techtips
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the cors our HX 1200i power supply delivers 80 plus Platinum efficiency for
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quiet performance and Corsair link digital Advanced monitoring and control
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click now to learn more first things first physical
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overview you have little pouches for holding various electronics and speakers
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along with included the four battery slots 2x two by the way batteries
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themselves are not included in the middle of the chest piece you have a removable velcro pad so you can put
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something like your clan logo and behind that you have the two vibrating
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transducers the yellow buttons on the right side of the chest piece control
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the amplitude of the transducers so essentially your intensity the buttons
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on the left side are power which is pretty self-explanatory bind which will
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bind your chest piece to the control box and mode which will use or change
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between three different modes or filters the first filter filter is the least
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inclusive and involves the lows like deep Bas the second filter also includes
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lows from the first filter but also now includes the mid-range filter 3 is as
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you guessed it an all-encompassing filter which includes lows mids and
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highs to explain that the core FX functions by receiving audio from your
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computer that little control box acts as an in between so you have a line in and
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a line out that would go to your headphones or speakers and then
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depending on the sound that comes into the line in the core effects will then
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vibrate I'm not going to go super in depth on how to set all of that up or
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setting up other various things because the core FX crew actually has some quite
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good videos on how to get yourself going in various different setups you can
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check for those at core fx.com slstart with the help of those videos
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and some well spent time you should be able to get this unit running very
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nicely very quickly the control box is a little lackluster in the way that it has
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no rubber or feet on the bottom and will likely just slide around your desk
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especially because it is so freaking light the Box features a line in and
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line in volume a plug for USB mini to deliver power line out line out volume
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and a power switch and a bind button to bind to the vest before we move on I
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must make a note about the cables they are really short and at first I was
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quite worried about this but in use I didn't actually find it to be that bad
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is the unit wirelessly connects to the vest so this little box can just live
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near the back of my computer where all my plugs are anyways although it's
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something to take note on depending on your setup in wearability terms it
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wasn't that bad it's size and adjustment
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abilities kind of allow it to fit on a very wide variety of body types but I
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really would have preferred it if the form factor was something like an actual
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tactical vest and not reminiscent of a sports bra this would make the unit feel
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much more real for the immersion people out there and would allow them to have
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more transducers speaking of transducers or
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lack thereof how does this thing perform well not that great unfortunately as
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expected the vibrations from the transducers are weak and the fact that
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there are only two of them and they both happen to sit right kind of on either
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side of my chest is a little sucky their
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positioning and the lack of any other transducers doesn't help with immersion
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anytime the legendary scenario of a grenade going off near me would happen I
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would just be too distracted by the fact that apparently the grenade only had an
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effect on my inner pecs to really appreciate the shrapnel riddle death
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that I just endured I want something with oomph I want something that
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actually makes me feel like I'm in the moment which is also a problem because
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of how the unit operates basing the vibration solely off of sound makes it
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really fun to listen a DubStep and maybe some metal but rather distracting in
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most games for Shooters you get vibration every time you shoot which
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makes sense because of recoil but it's a little odd because yet again it's in the
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middle of your chest not your arms or your shoulder shoulders if someone
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happens to talk with a deep growly voice your vest will probably vibrate if
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you're playing a game with background combat noise like Battlefield your vest
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will vibrate a lot if you're playing a racing game it doesn't feel like you're
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racing it feels like you're enduring the world's worst chest massage so in
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conclusion at $150 the corx vest isn't
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for me it doesn't feel like an actual vest I would wear the vibrations feel
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inconsequential and largely end up getting ignored especially because of
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the vest vibrating at all the wrong times to be fair though I don't actually
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want to rag on a Ms I walked into this review really hoping this thing would be
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awesome and it just unfortunately was not but I do think there is a market for
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highquality gaming vests especially with consumer VR right around the corner the
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thing is though that we really need a
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lot more force in the feedback of better overall vest construction so that it
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feels real a better logical system for when the vest should trigger which will
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probably require developer support so won't even be supported in that many
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games unfortunately that being said that
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ideal vest that I just described would be really expensive the the cost of
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working with developers the cost of more physical material because it would have
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to be a bigger vest the cost of a better way to interpret explosions and stuff so
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you can actually feel them more transducers better transducers all that
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kind of stuff is going to cost more that vest could easily be 500 or 600 bucks
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and then people probably wouldn't buy it anyways so I don't know so what do you
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guys think Am I Wrong is it awesome let me know in the comments down below over
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on the Forum while you're still here comment that my opinion sucks and this
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thing is amazing and that you really
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like the color of the vest because it's black and orange and that's our colors I
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just noticed that now anyways like dislike favorite share subscribe follow
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all that kind of fun stuff check out the link in the description down below to get a lonus techtips official shirt if
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you maybe still like our videos after ragged on this vest over on the Forum if
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you jump over there you can see the uh affiliate section and where our sponsors
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a contributor on the Forum that helps us out a ton as well thank you guys for
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watching I'll see you next time
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he