SUBPAC S2 Tactile Bass System (2019 Edition)

Note: I originally wrote this review of the SubPac S2 for a computer audiophile forum. Sound Quality: I have now sampled my whole music library with the SubPac. It really rounds out what I think is by far the closest approximation to what I was looking for, for anything remotely close to the total cost I've invested. The bass experience is highly versatile. It is equally good for Trance, Jazz, Classical, and other genres. It is both full and punchy, it's not like having a subwoofer that's designed to deliver one kind of bass over another. I have the SubPac connected to the monitor outs on my interface, and the headphones connected to the headphone out, with independent level controls. I leave the SubPac's own level control at the halfway point (where the curve transitions from linear to logarithmic), and my interface gives me fine control over the balance. I can boost the bass pretty darned high just by turning up the SubPac level, without audibly (or palpably) distorting the sound, or turn it down so it offers a realistic level of body resonance that you would get from experiencing music live. The only caveat in the realism is that your spine is what typically vibrates most with a SubPac, as opposed to, say, your chest. That said, I am made very aware of where in my body specific frequencies resonate with the SubPac: some in my butt, some in my lower back, and others in my head. The 16 Hz Bombarde on my favorite pipe organ recording is delivered through my spine and head with absolutely earth-shattering glory, and yet the clarity remains intact like I've never heard from a subwoofer (granted, I've never heard an audiophile-level subwoofer in a proper listening room). Just the fact that no bass at any level causes any objects to rattle in my room is itself a godsend. Design/Comfort/Convenience: The SubPac is not a perfect product, but the complaints I have are all relatively minor. It feels like a solid product made of quality materials. The comfort is about as good as I can reasonably expect. The SubPac is slightly padded, but it does stick out and is not as physically comfortable for long periods as is sitting in my ergonomic computer chair without it. Between the SubPac and my HD380 headphones, the SubPac is the limiting factor in comfort for long sessions. The SubPac S2 comes with an x-shaped arrangement of adjustable straps to fit over various shapes and sizes of computer chairs. It also comes with an additional strap that's supposed to go over the top of your chair. This additional strap is not nearly long enough to go over my computer chair. The good news is this additional strap is not really needed. Without it, I've achieved a very snug and stable fit to my computer chair that has stayed in place for the hours I have used the SubPac so far. Some people have complained that they weren't warned about the control box. Well, you audiophiles understand the need for such a thing, to properly power it, and to provide an input and output some distance away from the epicenter of the vibrations. This control box comes with a strap to conveniently attach it to the underside of a computer chair arm rest. My only complaint with this part of the design is that the control box can fairly easily slide off the strap. The cables should keep it from falling to the floor, though, and I imagine an easy fix would be to stick some additional piece of cloth into the clip. Conclusion: The SubPac is definitely not a cheap gimmick, but a serious product of high quality to cost ratio, and what I believe is the best (and possibly only) way to hear and feel every possible frequency on a sub-$1,000 budget. The comfort of the seated (S2) version is decent relative to reasonable expectations, but it will probably make your ergonomic computer chair significantly less comfortable for long listening sessions. I'm tempted to compare it to the backpack (M2) version, particularly to see which is more comfortable, but I have to be careful about throwing around money to compare products given my budget. The only other complaints I have about the SubPac I mentioned above for completeness' sake, but they probably wouldn't be significant enough to affect most peoples' buying decisions. The SubPac offers a fundamentally different experience from listening to music on headphones alone. Whether feeling music the way the SubPac allows is for you is a personal decision. I don't know what level of headphones the SubPac would be able to compliment well in terms of quality, but I find it an impressive compliment to my HD380s, delivering a truly augmented experience without sacrificing quality.

I am a guy that does 15-20 Red Rocks shows a year and a good 20-30 other live music sets in any given year. A huge reason is the feel. I have now used this continuously for weeks and it is just amazing. I have sat on my couch at night with this and just catch an hour gone by and you get so lost in new layers of music you have heard a thousand times. If you really like music a lot this thing is incredible. It does take a bit to dial in. The very first round with it I was not impressed out the gate. It made me feel almost tired. I had the intensity way too high and it does take your body a bit to get used to what is going on. As I dialed it in, took time to get to know it just wow. Most of the time I have the intensity at ~25%. Have gone up to 50% but you don't need a lot. The more I've used it the more I've turned down the intensity and the results have been amazing. Overall I'm probably going to end up getting the backpack version too. I got this version as the Subpac website described this one as having the biggest depth to it because it comes with more surface area, but I'm so impressed ideally I'll get the M2 down the road as well.

I'll start by saying the only reason this isn't 5 stars is the price. It's a little pricey for what it is. You can find a cheaper solution for sure, but this is simple, plug and play, no hassle at all. It was boxed nicely and feels very well made. I bought this for gaming, and it really does add another level to the experience on top of Virtual Reality. Playing flight simulators and being able to feel the engine roar is exactly what I was hoping for. Something I didn't expect to like it for so much is music. You can feel those low frequencies with such precision. It's a great product, it's expensive because it's niche and no one else really sells a plug and play system like this. Worth the money if you have the expendable income for sure.

What can I say about this? I saved for this for quite awhile, as things like this are not a top priority in my budget. It was well worth the wait. It does what it is supposed to do for me, and definitely allows me to feel the bass in my mixes as I produce. Unfortunately, I am forced to produce with studio headphones most of the time, and can only reference on monitors on occasion. This often makes it difficult to tell how much bass is in the mix until I have the chance to reference on speakers, and even then, my room and sub are far from optimal. Apart from helping me with my production workflow, it's just a joy to experience so much music in a much fuller manner. I don't get to get out in front of the bass bins like I used to in my 90's rave era, so this helps me get a bit of that bone rattling experience I am missing out on.

Well. I serached online for a while and had some mixed feelings about these unit.s There was one guy told that after several hours it was completely broken and just rattles. I rolled the dice and bought it, installed on my chair, listened some music and it was soo good, then played a little elide dangerous and damn it was a wonderful experience to feel that engines and all. But after just a couple of usage, the unit completely dead and just makes rattling sounds thats all. The electronics section seems like dead or malfunctioning. The on off button still works and cut off or restores sound output to headphone jack, but thats all, the unit is completely dead and just rattles a little if I turn the knob, SO just 5-6 hours of usage and the unit is completely dead! And 300usd??? I am actually talking with the amazon customer care r,ght now and asking for a full refund actually. So dont buy, or take a chance but know that there are sometrue horror stories like mine out there...

So my wife just opened her gift and she loves her new toy. I just tried it and its pretty awesome. Many will think its just another gimmick but hey as long as you enjoy it why not? We are bass music lovers specifically dubstep. If it says anything we attend a lot of Bassrush Events. We tested listening to Never Say Die 100 by Skism set on soundcloud and the bass was doooooope. I cranked it up and could feel it in my neck and teeth lol. Felt like i was in the club or a festival =). I also listened to Kendrick Lamar and skrillex which didn't disappoint. I tried System of a Down and didn't feel it as much though. I can't say anything about battery life yet. Stay tune. On the next model, can you make it stronger so my eyes vibrate in the socket?

To be clear the product works as expected but it was clear from the moment I opened the box this gear was value-engineered to death. Someone stayed up nights to pinch every penny from the components and design I would estimate the product probably costs less than 100$ to manufacture. That said it works the battery life is better than expected so at least they didn't cut costs on the lipo cells. I was hoping for something that was a little more wearable this is definitely not that, if you are content with strapping this to the back of your chair then it will meet your needs just don't think it will be comfortable or durable directly against your back. The box dongle thing is stupid the pack could have been designed ergonomically and could have accommodated the electronics. The box also contains the battery pack so everywhere you go you are constantly trying to make sure it's not flopping around banging the mechanical knob around on things. Bottom Line: I absolutely love the haptic feedback it adds a dimension to the music that you normally only get when you're blowing your eardrums out at a venue this product delivers on that. The design of the product is poorly executed especially if this is a 2nd gen revision of the product. If the price was in the mid 100$'s I would say it would be worth the price but at 299 I feel a little cheated the mechanical pot and cheap LED make the product feel more like a prototype or an off-brand small home appliance.

Uh, OK! What fun! Interesting to say the least. Very cool for gaming also, but walking around listening to music with this thing on is quite the experience. I love it! Two things; first and foremost is DON'T TURN IT UP ALL THE WAY! It feels very powerful, like more mechanical than actually sound, so you'll blow it up if you push it too far. Two; The cord to the control box is way too short... I mean WAY too short! That is a real bummer, but doesn't take anything away from this devices purpose. When stuff like this comes out you really don't care much about the cost. The technology isn't anything new either, it's just someone had to bottle it so to speak. I really enjoy this!

Absolut Kaufempfehlung, Musik wird ganz intensiv erlebt, egal ob Klassik, Jazz oder HipHop.... Genial! Spiele noch nicht versucht aber vermutlich auch gut. Filme am PC und VR ebenfalls neue Dimension!

Used with PSVR on FPS and Horror Game. Fantastic...

Achat sans regret pour mon utilisation 1/ Ce subpac m2x est clairement destiné aux utilisateurs de vr ,pour ma part je possède un sony ps vr avec celui ci la connectique est rapide Parfait car même si le casque est branché sur le boitier subpac je conserve le son de mon systéme audio bose Un plus et pas des moindres en utilisant un casque via le boitier du supac le son est bien plus élevé ( son amplifié ) comparé avec le branchement directement sur le casque ps vr (il faut l'avouer son très faible en branchement direct au casque vr) par contre si vous désirez l'utiliser avec un cable optique il vous faudra racheter un d.a.c pas chére mais cela fait un petit boitier en plus et un cable en plus J'ai pu constater que l'immersion vr avec ce m2x prend une autre dimension,on fait ouahh!!!! que ce soit sur farpoint / re7 / super hot / rush of blood / dirt rally avec playseat et volant r300ts....... le seul petit moins est le cable de sortie du gilet qui se trouve a l'arrière en plein milieu du bas il aurait peut être été plus judicieux de faire une sortie cable sur coté car lors de l'utilisation sur siége ce cable amoindri le confort et unepeur d'abimer ce cale sinon dans l'ensemble et vu la qualité de fabrication en vr je met 4.8/5 2/ pour le mode nomade type musique avec un smarphone la ca se gâte un peu les réponse du systéme peu paraître un peu gadget tant les sensations ne sont pas au rdv suivant le type de musique il faut sans cesse jouait avec la molette de réglage d'effet pour chaque style de music je suis surpris que en publicité on voit des mixeur utiliser ce type de systéme pour cette utilisation je met 4/5 3/ en mode film la ca le fait tout aussi bien qu'avec le ps vr veuillez par contre a mettre la molette de réglage a même pas 1/3 un ps vr en mode 3d plus le sub pac on fait ouahhhh même avec de simple lunette 3d pour ce mode je met 4.8/5 cat le cable arriere assis se fait rescentir un poil j'espére vous avoir éclairer sur un futur achat de ce produit conseil ne pas hesiter

Utilisé sur playseat c'est bien, pour les films c'est très bien, pour la musique c'est très très bien !! Pratique à brancher et facile à glisser dans un sac à dos pour le rendre mobile. Petit manque de confort et de rembourrage pour un usage sur de longues heures. Bonne finition de produit mais génère un bruit dans le casque quand on utilise le subpac tout en le chargeant ce qui peut être gênant à faible volume d'écoute.

Was a little worried at first, as I was in contact with Subpac head of sales who was wondering where a Subpac for under £200 was from.... Anyways it’s definitely legit and a great bargain! Arrived a lot earlier than expected. Extremely happy with my purchase. Anyone into making music or just loves listening to music loudly or V.R gaming should look at getting one of these or the Subpac M2/M2X. Advice: when using wired headphones get yourself a mini portable headphone amp this keeps the headphones to a level that doesn’t make your ears bleed whilst having the intensity of the unit cranked up...