Logitech X-56 Rhino HOTAS for DCS World, Star Citizen & MSFS

I have this very stick. Not only do I have the ~lightest spring installed I also have a zip tie around it to compress it further and make it even lighter. He has it exactly backwards. You don't want stiffer for precise movements, you want smoother, and to get this you need lighter movement weight not heavier. As myself has flown UH-1H's in real life, I can tell you, the amount of force needed to move a hydraulic powered flight control is so minute that you pretty much just have to think about it. If you try to move the stick a lot, you'll end up dead real quick. The same is true for the F-16 stick, where in real life it only moves 1/4" in every direction ~that's how sensitive it is, and it was initially designed with only 1/8" of movement but pilots didn't like it because it didn't move enough. Even in a Cessna, you'd be surprised how little force is actually needed during normal flight. It's like driving a car. You only move that sucker a little bit at high speed for a major change, and they only find center through gyroscopic forces, that have nothing to do with the steering wheel. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about. I love this stick and as both a real world aircraft mechanic and sim enthusiast, I can tell you, this stick is a great and low price alternative to the Thrustmaster Warthog, and the Virpl flight controls. The prices he's talking about in this video aren't set by Logitech but the retailer. I got mine for $249 last year, you just have to know how look at other places other than Amazon, and Ebay for deals. I have no issues with helicopter flight or precise movement with this stick.

this is an awesome review from someone who actually talks you about the details on the controls, how the inputs fell, any problems with different parts, and goes deeper than just the feels of the controls.

As someone who just barely scraped one of these from a store with a few left and has it in the mail... this was a rollercoaster lol

"Fly an adult jet with one engine" Me locking up said engine in EO in my Flanker

I dont know why so many people are having trouble with this hotas. I do fine movements on BMS and DCS almost everyday and I've never had any problems with it. The HOTAS is just working fine for me.

I upgraded from a Logitech Extreme 3D stick to the X56 when playing Elite Dangerous, and the change in my gameplay was incredible. I also use this a lot in combination with the Logitech G923 wheel for Farming Simulator 19 and 22. The number of available mappings makes gameplay much more immersive for me, especially when combined with VR.

I have the Logitech x56 (same HOTAS, Logitech just bought Saitek) and I have experienced none of the power issues that he describes here. I agree that the deadzones need to be set larger than i would like due to the mushiness when the ring isn’t engaged though. However, the presence of the ministicks on the throttle and stick make this a really great option for VR DCS players.

It's my first hotas and I love it. I have somewhat smaller hands so pressing multiple buttons at the same time isn't a problem for me. Also as for the USB bit, my motherboard has a ton of ports on the back. Some of them are Usb 3.1, which I use for both the throttle and stick, and those don't give any problems with random button inputs. The motherboard is a TUF B450-PLUS GAMING. There's also a ton of other crap in the other USB ports at the same time; mouse, keyboard, a controller, headset and there are no issues this way.

Thanks for the excellent review, i was considering this and the Warthog and ended up with the Warthog. My decision was sealed after I read about the X56's lack of tension/stiffness (which was the same reason i sold my X52 Pro many years ago) and it being equally lacking in weight for assured desktop usage. Your comments on the buttons/levers were especially useful.

Bought this set when Microsoft flight simulator 2020 came out. It works so im happy

Very well said and executed. The detailed description and the attention to every part let alone the comparison with other products blatendly depicts the effort you put into the making of this brilliant commentary. Thank you for posting this beyond helpful review to the public!

I actually quite like the lack of centre tension, I find it useful for formation flying and refuelling.

after 3 years of use for this stick i can vouch for it, this stick is good for a-10c f16 and f18 in dcs because of the all 190+ programable buttons, as for the stick i had 0 problems with it, i use the lightest spring and i can say that it moves like butter, i even got a guy to make the x56 joystick all metal wich feels more durable. If you want a dcs experience for starters this is the one thing you can get now. Good review!

I saw this video before when evaluating the X-56. I only remembered the USB part, what's wrong with an externally powered USB hub that takes current from the same outlet your PC does and skips the Power Supply altogether? All it's doing is acting like a HUB with higher power levels. Also the problem with the X-56 isn't the power consumption but the Signal to Noise Ratio that creates the problems you're talking about, in Electrical Engineering that's called Crosstalk. That's actually solved through Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineering (the FCC/CE logos you see in products) and it has nothing to do with power intake at the USB port. That's just a work around to deal with bad EMC design and probably a lack of filtering. I got my X-56 off of ebay for less than 100 and you're totally right about all of its symptoms. I returned the X-52 before and you're also right about the stick(when it comes to behavior not really about stiffness being the cause). Because I knew all as well as learning the mechanical engineering reasons of what constitutes a good gimbal that I went with VKB and I would have gone with VKB for the throttle as well and not with Virpil. In short even though Virpil is famous their EMC design is just as bad if not worst than Thrustmaster's and TBH VKB are the only ones who have a clean EMC design.

Thanks for that awesome and indepth review, showing some of the problems and quirks not talked about usually.

Wow, I forgot I bought star citizen. Jeez, that was like 8 years ago

07:15 I had the same issue. It is quite easy to solve in DCS: use user curve for axis tune. Adjust knobs in that way that responce curve has flat part in your "usual" zoom position.

Sotas, the quintessential piece of equipment for all virgin starter packs everywhere.

One thing to count for refining your controller, is to look up a spring creator company, for customization of your joy con.. lengthening the longest spring this joy con offers, as "spring companies" offer users greater potential! As I have experience with riding through the challenges of limited product performance in such things. Also going to an "electronics shop that specialize in switches and dials, electronic tuning knobs and LEDs, is a great way to go looking into customizing otherwise unpleasant functions the "joy con comes with". To take a list of what best functions and abilities there are, and then dial into your system what makes your game most effective, changes a decent system into an amazing product! Also looking into getting a 3D printer and cad company to customize the body of your console's joy con controllers, may become even more enjoyable if you see build types you'd like to tune your joy con with.

One should set a dead zone on a stick only if the output signals are 'noisy' and hence inducing a jittery response. The really bad thing about dead zones is that they remove the center zone where the smallest deflections are effected. That is, the dead zone results in a sudden jump from zero to some larger value, with no intermediate scaling. This is how to REMOVE the ability to make the very fine inputs for such precision control necessary for, e.g., aerial refueling. To illustrate with an extreme example. Suppose one set a dead zone that cut out the lower 50% of deflection. One would then be able to push the stick through half its range to no effect at all. Then once crossing the dead zone threshold, suddenly the deflection output would jump to 50%. To counter this the curve of response would need to be re-scaled so that at the half-deflection threshold the output would be just commencing to rise from zero. But if there is overall 'noisiness' in the sensor, there will remain the problem of jitter at those small output deflections anyway. And the need of setting that center range of zero response is by itself detrimental to fine control. The ideal always is to have crisp response, with output deflection being completely continuous and uninterrupted through the center range of movement. To that end, non-noisy sensors are your best friend. If potentiometers, periodic replacement is wise under heavy use. And if the manufacturer or a 3rd Party make them available. A Hall effect sensor should be free of this issue.