New Thrustmaster SOL-R Flightstick and HOSAS

Shurimal

Shurimal
By the looks of it, uses the same rubbish cup-and-ball stiff single-spring gimbal that the 16k and Warthog uses. Whereas VKB gives you a dual-spring gimbal with ball bearings.

I don't care how many buttons a joystick has or how ergonomical it is, if the gimbal is single-spring cup-and-ball, the stick is not good.
 

Shurimal

Shurimal
Em Why said:
At least they don't use potentiometers.
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That's the strange thing with Thrustmasters—they have these 16 bit* Hall effect sensors, then cripple their performance with bad gimbal design and bad grease. Even after modifying my old TM16k with Nyogel 767a to get rid of stiction, it never felt precise. Hard center bump and constant axis bleed completely ruined any precision maneuvers.

*16 bit sensors are complete overkill. 12 bits are all you need, giving 4096 steps that over the typical ~ ±20° deflection translates to ~1/100 degree resolution—no human can take advantage of that resolution, even with stick extensions.
 

Alec Turner

Alec Turner
If someone were to ask me if I would recommend a Thrustmaster stick I'd describe it as a bit like asking an addict if they'd recommend their filthy addiction of choice. I'm currently on my 12th Thrustmaster Hotas X/Four (I've dabbled with both variants). In many ways they're absolutely awful, the sensors last about 7 months tops before they start getting glitchy and unreliable but my muscle memory is so wedded to the stick that I can't bear the thought of switching to something else and end up just getting another one each time it fails. If you've never tried Thrusmaster do yourself a favour and walk away NOW!
 
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Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
Robert Maynard
Yeah - about that weakness for Thrustmaster peripherals....
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Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
Alec Turner said:
If someone were to ask me if I would recommend a Thrustmaster stick I'd describe it as a bit like asking an addict if they'd recommend their filthy addiction of choice. I'm currently on my 12th Thrustmaster Hotas X/Four (I've dabbled with both variants). In many ways they're absolutely awful, the sensors last about 7 months tops before they start getting glitchy and unreliable but my muscle memory is so wedded to the stick that I can't bear the thought of switching to something else and end up just getting another one each time it fails. If you've never tried Thrusmaster do yourself a favour and walk away NOW!
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Somewhere between the third and 12th you should probably have bought a VKB set ;).
 

Shurimal

Shurimal
the100thmonkey said:
It doesn't even take that long to rewire your muscle memory.
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I concur. Going from one stick to another is relatively short learning process.

Now, moving from twist stick to rudder pedals for yaw is a completely different ball game. When I did that, I was completely and utterly rubbish in combat for a month or so🙃 But then it became second nature and at one time when I had to do the reverse, in the middle of combat, due to malfunctioning pedals, I barely managed to win the fight🤪
 

Shurimal

Shurimal
Robert Maynard said:
There's a suggested game mapping for Elite Dangerous here: https://support.thrustmaster.com/en/product/sol-r-1-flightstick-en/

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I'd swap pip management and targeting. Because pip management is more important and the less you need to move your thumb to reach it, the better. I'd also put subsystem targeting on the scroll wheel and put firegroup switching somewhere else (left stick or one of the left side base rocker switches). Also, heat sinks instead of chaff—seriously, I can't remember the last time I put chaff on any of my ships, but heatsinks go with SCB-s every time🙃
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
Robert Maynard
I'm going to use the binding rework exercise to attempt to remove any reliance on keyboard (I use 2x Thrustmaster Cougar MFDs as controllers (28 buttons each), mounted on a sheet of clear acrylic to an 11.6" monitor in conjunction with my app to provide an active backdrop to the MFDs) - as I'm sick of activating chaff / gear / silent running when the focus to the chat box is lost.
 

Shurimal

Shurimal
Robert Maynard said:
I'm going to use the binding rework exercise to attempt to remove any reliance on keyboard (I use 2x Thrustmaster Cougar MFDs as controllers (28 buttons each), mounted on a sheet of clear acrylic to an 11.6" monitor in conjunction with my app to provide an active backdrop to the MFDs) - as I'm sick of activating chaff / gear / silent running when the focus to the chat box is lost.
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Did that right after the first time I accidentally boosted into an Unregistered Comms Beacon when trying to alt-tab to Canonn web page open in the background🚀➡️🛰️😨🫣🤬

At least I learned that the shield on my exloration Phantom was strong enough🤪
 

sinisalo

sinisalo
I've got a soft spot for Thrustmaster sticks, but the bits above about the gimbals is spot on. Thrustmaster is the only flight stick I've used for the past 23 years, and that's been just one, the Cougar. Yeah, I know, what a dinosaur eh?

At the time, in 2002 I was very much in to Falcon 4, so the Cougar was a natural fit, but the gimbals were poor. I modded it with the Evenstrain gimbal mod (or more accurately, sent the thing off to California to have it done), and it transformed it in to the best stick I've ever felt. Halls were added at the same time. Here we are 23 years later and it still feels perfect.

It reflects poorly when a new stick needs modification, but once done there have been no complaints.
 

Magic Man

Magic Man
Shurimal said:
By the looks of it, uses the same rubbish cup-and-ball stiff single-spring gimbal that the 16k and Warthog uses. Whereas VKB gives you a dual-spring gimbal with ball bearings.
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They're £150/160 each, you wouldn't get the grip alone from Virpil for that, what are you expecting...?
 

Shurimal

Shurimal
Magic Man said:
They're £150/160 each, you wouldn't get the grip alone from Virpil for that, what are you expecting...?
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At this price I'm expecting a semi-decent pincher-style gimbal (like VKB Gladiator and CH Fighterstick). VKB Gladiator NXT-s are about 230€ a pop and have infinitely better gimbals. The old Gladiator version (the very first ones with the WWII grip) were cheaper than these Thrustmasters and still had way better gimbals. I have Gladiator K which is the old Gladiator base combined with SCG grip, was released in 2020 and a predecessor of Gladiator NXT and it's gimbal is whole another world compared to my old TM 16K, which uses basically the same gimbal as every other Thrustmaster, including Warthog.

It's not a price thing; it's lazy design from TM. They go all out on gimmicks like "DJ controller buttons", but completely neglect the mechanical design of the heart of the device. I have handled different DJ stuff; this type of button may be reliable (not always), but they are just rubber domes with big chunk of translucent silicone. Real mechanical switches feel completely different, way more solid, defined actuation point and great tactile feedback. But of course they are more expensive (I've spent probably a few hundred € on the switches in my custom switch panels) so TM won't ever use them--or even decent microswitches like VKB.
 
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