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The Loud One

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Posts posted by The Loud One

  1. ask how many members have used an oscope to tune their system. more improtantly how many have used one every time they made an adjustment. Sure its nice and very helpful but you dont need it.

    The same could said about every tool in your tool box.

    Your right you don't need one. Who would anyone want there system set-up correctly? Why would anyone want to maximize every component that they spent their hard earned money on? I guess because not many members have used one we shouldn't talk about them or even post links where to buy them at a reasonable price

    http://www.kiesub.com/prostores/servlet/Detail?no=385

    Hey I'm just trying to help out, sorry you don't agree.

  2. You are right, nothing is fool proof. This is the method we use when setting up a car, -10dB on the bass and -5dB on the mids and highs. We have had good sucess with this. If you listen to lot's of bass heavy or compressed music use -5dB or 0dB.

    "this is one of the reasons an accurate clipping indicator would be very helpful on rf amps... cough cough... or any other for that matter"

    Be on the look out for some new products in 09.

  3. decafcappucino,

    I'm not sure what you're driving at.....

    We have a tuning cd with different tracks recorded at 0dB, -5dB, -10dB, -15dB. Each of these are at 40 Hz, 1 Kz and 4Kz. This is used to set the gain structure of any audio system. We have been dicussing gain overlap.

    Gain overlap is a compensation mechanism to account for the fact that we don’t listen to test tones in mobile audio

    systems, rather we listen to music. Test tones are great for setting up the input levels on each component of the signal

    chain, but test tones are constant levels all of the time. Music has levels that simply are not constant all of the time.

    There are loud passages and soft passages in music, and these are constantly changing. Due to this fact, the maximum

    unclipped output levels determined by test tones will seem as if the system doesn’t play very loud. Certainly it’s free of

    clipping and audible distortion, but it’s not as loud as it seems like it could be overall. This process allows a measured

    amount of increase to be implemented without “guessing” by just turning up the gain controls on a random piece of

    equipment. Adding extra gain to the signal chain whether it’s at an upstream signal processor or at the amplifier at this

    point is a trade-off of benefits and drawbacks. Most people find that there is a good compromise of these trade-offs.

    • When you raise the gain above the levels achieved with a test tone, you will lower the signal to noise ratio of the

    system. In this scenario, the trade-off is higher output at maximum levels trading off for more hiss and system noise

    with the volume at lower levels. There is always an acceptable compromise.

    • Additionally, when you raise the gain above the levels achieved with a test tone, you will increase audible

    distortion of the system. In this scenario, the trade-off is higher output at maximum levels trading off for more

    frequent moments of “clipping” with both the volume and the music at their maximum levels. Check out the amount

    of time that there is added distortion in the signal based on the amount of gain overlap added. Once again, there is

    always an acceptable compromise.

    • Add in 5dB of gain overlap to achieve a higher volume with music (rather than test tones). It’s a safe compromise

    between slightly increased distortion (Less than 0.1%) and louder output (nearly 5dB). Less critical listeners could

    tolerate 10dB of gain overlap, but look what happens to the distortion increase. Some people will easily hear that with

    a great set of mid and high frequency speakers (certainly more evident on compressed audio tracks as well). Reserve

    15dB of gain overlap for subs, if at all. If you are using this setting, chances are you can go to a bigger amp for better

    sounding results at the same volume levels with less distortion and more headroom.

    • Use the gain overlap tracks on the RTTI/3Sixty set up disc to achieve the gain overlap safely without causing damage to

    the speakers. Simply play the same frequency (HP/BP/LP) as before and increase the voltage levels to the same place

    the recorded measurements were at 0dB levels for 5dB of overlap. If you use the 0dB tracks to increase the output

    voltages to do this, you will almost certainly damage the speakers if not using load resistors.

    There is a complete tutorial at the top of this section that explains the procedure in more detail.

  4. We recommend that the speakers be unhooked because it can damage them playing test tones, especially when the signal is clipped.

    Nice job on the videos. You are seeing a small amount of clipping with music as is to be expected, that is why the track is recorded at -10 dB. If you set your gains at 0 dB you would never clip and the system just wouldn’t play as loud. We have found -10 dB as a good trade off in the bottom end.

    How does your system sound overall? Did the dynamics improve?

  5. noobtastic14

    I'll post a link to our 3-SIXTY set-up guide. It has all the info on setting gains with an O-Scope, starting with the head unit, signal processors and then the amps. It even has a section that talks about gain overlap. It is designed to be used with the 3-SIXTY set-up CD. If you need one just let me know.

    http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/libr..._SetUpNotes.pdf

    Greg Cobbs

    Director of RTTI

    Rockford Fosgate

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