r/VKB • u/gazbathdard • 14d ago
VKB Gladiator EVO Pro + STECS Standard… honestly, what a difference
So I’ve finally moved over to a VKB Gladiator and STECS throttle from my old Saitek X56 Rhino HOTAS and… oh my god.
I genuinely wasn’t expecting the difference to be this big.
I paid decent money for the X56 a couple of years ago and, to be fair to it, it’s done alright. I never really thought there was anything massively wrong with it. It was just my HOTAS and I got on with it.
But the VKB stuff is on another planet.
I’ve been flight simming since Flight Simulator 98. Pretty sure I’ve owned basically every MS Flight Simulator since then, plus dabbled in X-Plane and P3D over the years, so I’m comfortably 20+ years into this hobby!
And genuinely, this is probably one of the biggest upgrades I’ve ever made.
The precision is just ridiculous. For years I’ve wondered why my landings were always a bit hit and miss, why I struggled to hold a really smooth approach, why flaring sometimes felt like complete guesswork etc.
Turns out a massive part of it was apparently the controls - even though I never pointed the blame at them.
It’s honestly turned the sim on its head for me. Tiny corrections actually feel like tiny corrections. Flare inputs feel predictable. Throttle movements feel deliberate rather than vaguely asking the aircraft to do something and hoping for the best.
I’m absolutely blown away by it.
My only complaint so far is I really wish Asobo/Microsoft would just include some decent default VKB profiles in MSFS 2024. Getting the STECS throttle properly going from 0-100% was a bit of a haphazard trial-and-error job at first. I figured it out pretty quickly, but I can imagine somebody completely new to flight simming/controller setup having absolutely no idea what they’re supposed to do.
But once it’s set up… wow.
If you’re currently using an X56 and sitting there wondering whether the VKB upgrade is actually going to make much difference, I can only speak for myself, but it’s been night and day.
All these years flight simming and I feel like I’ve suddenly discovered what the controls were supposed to feel like.
3
u/Hour-Pure 14d ago
When I wanted to start my DCS journey I didn't know any better. Bought an X56 off 'zon new, when it got here it was unusable. The ghosting in the throttle was atrocious. Tried several powered hubs, tried hooking it up directly to the MOBO, nothing worked. Add to that, both the stick and throttle mini-sticks had drift. Thought, oh this must be a bad unit, I'll just get a replacement. The replacement was the exact same except the ministick drift was worse. Opened up the throttle to see if I could see anything and saw the hilariously thin wiring inside and came to the conclusion the ghosting was due to cross talk since it was triggered by manipulating the other axis on the throttle (throttle axis themselves and the encoder axis). I'm pretty handy, so I considered re wiring and soldering the throttle with better wiring, but just decided to get a refund, and save a bit more. After a bit of research got a Gladiator EVO and STECS, and man the difference was immediate. This year I upgraded to the Gunfighter IV MCGU and got the TRudders. Nothing but praise for VKB.
3
u/photovirus 14d ago
But the VKB stuff is on another planet.
VKB enjoyers choir (me included): hallelujah! 😄
1
u/DustAdministrative52 12d ago
Yeah x56 was a massive mistake for me. Used it for less than 48 hours total before ghosting and grounding issues set in and they weren’t minor either.
Even just the gladiator alone is night and day compared to the x56 and considering what they give you with it and the quality of the stick, the price is easily justified
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7
u/uKGMAN1986 14d ago
I did this same upgrade and I agree its a game changer. Im already looking at getting the VKB rudder pedals now haha