I need to buy a new controller for to use with dolphin, but I had some questions and need some recommendations. The last controller I had got the buttons get stuck from button mashing so I need a controller that can withstand the occasional button mashing. I also am considering buying a wireless controller to use, but last time I bought one and tried to connect it to my PC, it didn't work. How would I connect a wireless controller to my PC?
If you have Windows 10, you can purchase a Xbox One controller with the Xbox One Play & Charge-kit (which is essentially an accu-pack that replaces the need for batteries) and the Xbox One Wireless adapter for Windows. You don't need necessarily Windows 10, but that OS comes built-in with driver support for Xbox controllers, eliminating the need to download drivers separately. The great thing about the Xbox One controller is that the same controller is used for both wired and wireless. You can just plug in an USB-cable in your controller to your PC if you need it to be wired. It is the same controller as is used for the Xbox One console.
The great thing about the accu-pack is that you can charge it by connecting the Xbox One controller through your USB. If I am correctly the Play & Charge-kit comes included with a USB-cable, which is just a micro-USB to USB cable. Newer Xbox One controller revisions (the third revision) comes with BlueTooth 4.0 support. Just plug-in an BlueTooth adapter and you're set as well. Through using BlueTooth has it's limitations. It might not be capable of using the full rumble and you could only connect one controller at a time through BlueTooth, but personally I have not tested that myself, I just use the Xbox One adapter for Windows instead. You can opt to use a USB-cable and play wired with your controller (which also charges your accu-pack in the meantime) or disconnect the USB-cable and connect to either BlueTooth or the Wireless adapter and play wireless.
But that's my recommendation. Never had a better controller in my life before. The Xbox 360 controller was great too, but the Xbox One controller is far more superior in it's ergonomics. Since the Xbox controllers uses Xinput natively it is great for PC gaming in general, since most modern native PC games offer support for Xinput.
The downside is that a Xbox One controller is one of the more expensive controllers (more so with the accessories mentioned previously), but you wouldn't likely find a much better one. The upside is that if you need to replace you Xbox One controller, you don't need to replace the accessories.
I never had a DualShock controller through. The DualShock 4 controller has a gyroscope which might be useful for Cemu for example. Dolphin doesn't support the emulated Wii Remote Plus controls... yet. If Dolphin decides to emulate that, the DualShock 4 might work with it? I dunno. As far as I am aware (please correct me if wrong on this), Windows has no native support for the DualShock controllers, so you would need to search for drivers. Even so, the DualShock 4 controller might not even support xinput natively, which might be an issue for games to detect the controller properly. You might need to use some mapping software to map the DualShock 4 buttons to their respective Xinput settings.
I general I would avoid DirectInput controllers which are now outdated, Xinput is essentially it's successor.
For a wireless controller a dualshock 4 would be the best option if you dont have windows 10, if you do have win 10 you can use the xbox controller wirelessly using Bluetooth. If you are on a budget, you can buy some cheap controllers on AliExpress or Amazon
Keep in mind that the DS4 controller uses Bluetooth, which has latency compare to the modified Wi-Fi signal of the Xbox One controller.
I went with the wireless PS4 controller and it works great, thanks for all your help!