My trusty X52, after almost 15 years of honorable service, is starting to show the first symptoms of failure. I don't want to suddenly find myself without HOTAS but I have a thousand doubts about replacing it.
I was pretty sure about buying the X56 but I read too many negative reviews that filled me with doubts and I can't find a valid alternative that doesn't cost a fortune.
I only use MSFS, no DCS or space simulators. No GA, no VFR but I change planes often, ATR, Boeing, Airbus, BAe, CRJ and hopefully Dash8 in the future.
Any advice, opinion and criticism is welcome.

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1 hour ago, Korundar said:

My trusty X52, after almost 15 years of honorable service, is starting to show the first symptoms of failure. I don't want to suddenly find myself without HOTAS but I have a thousand doubts about replacing it.
I was pretty sure about buying the X56 but I read too many negative reviews that filled me with doubts and I can't find a valid alternative that doesn't cost a fortune.

 

Unfortunately good hardware is not so cheap.But then again it depends on your budget.I got aThrustmaster T16000M FCS Hotas(joystick and throttle) and Logitech G Saitek Pro a few years ago and they still work ok.They are not top of the line but they work fine.I wanted to buy the VPC MongoosT-50CM3 Throttle and other things but it would take for ever for them to get  here.( I also live in the Milan area). My suggestion would be to stay well away from mediaworld and try to buy off amazon. (you can always return stuff if you don't like it.)Good luck 🙂

Edited December 27, 20232 yr by MindYerBeak
virus

I would say the Alpha/Bravo.Really like them. 

3 hours ago, Swe_Richard said:

I would say the Alpha/Bravo.Really like them. 

I don't have enough room for yoke/throttle and honestly I like HOTAS better. 😉

4 hours ago, MindYerBeak said:

Unfortunately good hardware is not so cheap.But then again it depends on your budget.I got aThrustmaster T16000M FCS Hotas(joystick and throttle) and Logitech G Saitek Pro a few years ago and they still work ok.They are not top of the line but they work fine.I wanted to buy the VPC MongoosT-50CM3 Throttle and other things but it would take for ever for them to get  here.( I also live in the Milan area). My suggestion would be to stay well away from mediaworld and try to buy off amazon. (you can always return stuff if you don't like it.)Good luck 🙂

It's not so much a question of budget, but of a real absence of mid-range proposals. It goes from around €250 for an X56 to more than double for products that seem to be made mainly for military flight simulators.

Is it really worth it, given that an X52 has satisfied me for almost 15 years?

The Main problem if you go T16000 is it have too little button on the top, might be OK for airliner only, but since X52 have quite a lot...

it depends on your usage, I use a POV hat for select ATC replay so a dual Hat config would be minimal, and also there is no good pair of button for trim at the top of T16k either.

 

As direct replacement of X52, maybe X56? I didn't have one so hard to say anything about it.

As for me, I went direct to $500 range with VKB Gunfighter and would never look back to a plastic friction mechanism (plastic grip is OK though).

14 hours ago, Korundar said:

My trusty X52, after almost 15 years of honorable service, is starting to show the first symptoms of failure. I don't want to suddenly find myself without HOTAS but I have a thousand doubts about replacing it.
I was pretty sure about buying the X56 but I read too many negative reviews that filled me with doubts and I can't find a valid alternative that doesn't cost a fortune.
I only use MSFS, no DCS or space simulators. No GA, no VFR but I change planes often, ATR, Boeing, Airbus, BAe, CRJ and hopefully Dash8 in the future.
Any advice, opinion and criticism is welcome.

I understand your question, same 'problem' here. This is my second X52 and I would like something new and 'modern' this time

The other day I learned about Turtle Beach and they could have a nice follow up. At least the price of an X52 but something new and can be used for multiple planes: https://nl.turtlebeach.com/products/velocity-one-flight-deck

It is not out yet, so no reviews yet, but I might be tempted by the time it is available. If you calculate the cost against the hours of joy, it is a good price......

2 hours ago, phmcr said:

I understand your question, same 'problem' here. This is my second X52 and I would like something new and 'modern' this time

The other day I learned about Turtle Beach and they could have a nice follow up. At least the price of an X52 but something new and can be used for multiple planes: https://nl.turtlebeach.com/products/velocity-one-flight-deck

It is not out yet, so no reviews yet, but I might be tempted by the time it is available. If you calculate the cost against the hours of joy, it is a good price......

This really fascinates me. Maybe a little too colorful and bright for my tastes, but it's within budget and would definitely be a step up from the X52.

It will be on sale from February 13th for €399. I'm not in a hurry and I'll still wait for the reviews but what a great discovery, thanks so much for the advice.

 

3 hours ago, C2615 said:

The Main problem if you go T16000 is it have too little button on the top, might be OK for airliner only, but since X52 have quite a lot...

it depends on your usage, I use a POV hat for select ATC replay so a dual Hat config would be minimal, and also there is no good pair of button for trim at the top of T16k either.

 

As direct replacement of X52, maybe X56? I didn't have one so hard to say anything about it.

As for me, I went direct to $500 range with VKB Gunfighter and would never look back to a plastic friction mechanism (plastic grip is OK though).

Yes, I could consider purchasing the joystick and throttle at different times and then have a good level setup.

While I wouldn't really know where to start, I'm left in the stone age where only Saitek and CH existed 😁