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TonyD'Amore

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Posts posted by TonyD'Amore

  1. SMD VM-1 LED Volt Meter! (its back!) Pics/short vid pg. 19 (new update pg 35)

    in D'Amore Engineering - High Quality Car Audio Installation Tools & Accessories

    Posted

    Steve since it does skip every .3v, if your voltage reading is in the middle of one of the readings, which way will it go, up or down? I know .3 isnt really a big deal, just curious.
    good question...Tony can probably answer that better. Also, FYI: technically, its only skipping .2v.
    Ahh good point. I fail at looking at the pictures. I still have no clue where to fit 2 VU Dins and 2 of these, plus 6 switches, 1 bass knob, 2 8s, and an ipad in my center console.

    A couple of notes on how it works.

    * It is self calibrating. No means or need to manually calibrate. -- because I could :drink40:

    * The voltage displayed above each LED represents the center of the "range" of each LED. What I mean is that if the LED for "12.8" is displayed the actual voltage would be between 12.65-12.95. The next LED "13.1" would be from 12.95 to 13.25. Ect. So each LED represents a range of 300mV I guess you could say, and the calibration of each LED is centered precisely in the center of the range. -- For the people saying they want to know their "exact" voltage... I assure you this is more accurate than your "digital readout". This is real circuitry, all analog. Robust and self calibrating.

    I feel that this is a great way to monitor your voltage. It gives you a visual representation of where the voltage is vs a number that you have to try to read as it is changing. Because that type has to be "read" there has to be circuitry in them to slow them down. So it is really difficult to see the minimums and maximums during musical peaks. This is why some fluke meters have the "min/max" function, because otherwise our brains and eyes aren't fast enough to see them. With this fast responding moving indicator, it's pretty easy.

    I hope you love it as much as I do.

    Tony

  6. SMD D'amore Engineering IM-SG Impedance Meter (Updated Pics Page 4 and 8!)

    in D'Amore Engineering - High Quality Car Audio Installation Tools & Accessories

    Posted

    I'm honestly curious because I've never dealt with impedance other than just wiring - what is the practical application for this? Like, what settings can it help you with, etc.?

    Just a few things off the top of my head, i'm sure some pro installers out there have even more uses for it.

    1. Signal Generator (this unit makes a true sine wave unlike some of the old units that made a stepped square wave)

    2. Ported or bandpass box tuning - It will tell you exactly where your port is tuned

    3. Measuring the T/S parameters of speakers (Fs, Qts, Vas, ect) can be measured and calculated with some knarly math. We will provide a spreadsheet or formulas to ease the pain.

    4. Test passive crossovers

    5. Find the Fs of any speaker (got some nice tweeters you want to bi-amp but not sure how low you can cross them? This tool will tell you)

    I'm sure there are other uses as well

    • Like (+1 Rep) 1

  7. SMD D'amore Engineering IM-SG Impedance Meter (Updated Pics Page 4 and 8!)

    in D'Amore Engineering - High Quality Car Audio Installation Tools & Accessories

    Posted

    wait wait wait

    how hard does this thing push the speakers?

    because if it cant move a speaker to full xmax then it wont give an accurate reading...

    or am i misunderstanding what this does?

    The Thiele-Small parameters for speakers (Fs, Qts, Vas, Qms..ect.) are measured at low level. Is this what you are referring to?

    • Like (+1 Rep) 1

  20. i think i might have a broken dd-1 :(

    in SMD Distortion Detector (DD-1) Topics

    Posted

    Glad to hear your distortion detector is working well. Our defective rate is really really low on the tool. Glad that you've tried it out on another setup. If the distortion light is on, there is distortion somewhere. We have found the following with the DD-1 by having issues like you had:

    * Bad line output convertors

    * Bad ground loop isolators

    * Bad iPods

    * Bad headunits

    * damaged amplifiers

    * distorted signal processors

    Its pretty amazing what it can stiff out, good luck!

  23. Am I doing something wrong here?

    in SMD Distortion Detector (DD-1) Topics

    Posted · Edited by TonyD'Amore

    I tested it with the amp, Please forgive me as I am very tired, I have been on nights for 5 days now and only 4 hrs of sleep per day.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmf_38VY8ls

    I am going to go check my brother's pioneer headunit, to see what it does.

    The only other test I can think of that might be useful would be to put the DD-1 CD into a home CD or DVD player and connect the RCA straight into the DD1 from the CD or DVD player's analog outputs. Use the 0dB tracks and see what kind of results you get. Other than that, just get it to us. Please give me your serial number and send it to us. We will run some tests on it and take care of whatever is going on and get it right back to you. We appreciate the videos and info to help us. Please put a note in the box with your return address, and your t-shirt size. I want to throw you one for your troubles and time making the videos.

    Thanks

    Tony D'Amore

    D'Amore Engineering

    340 Paseo Camarillo

    Suite 202

    Camarillo, California 93010

  24. Am I doing something wrong here?

    in SMD Distortion Detector (DD-1) Topics

    Posted · Edited by TonyD'Amore

    i been watching this thread for a week or so and if i remember correctly my kenwood x494 did not have this problem but my pioneer avh-4200dvd does. i will try to test in the next couple of days to see ill take video as well

    I have tested a least a dozen headunits that are distorted at 40Hz, from both the RCA outputs and speaker outputs. I have looked at them on a scope and they don't look that bad to the naked eye, but they are very distorted. I wouldn't want a headunit in my system that has this problem.

    photo2.jpg

    Yes 9.5% THD!!

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