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set my gains with o-scope but...


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oscopes set a clean signal, I doubt 1 person out of 10 on here has a 100% clean signal my guess is 99.9% have clipping going on

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previously known as wenn_du_weinst aka fucking internet coward supreme.  I talk shit on other forums like a little bitch and hope i don't get caught out on the street.  

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a 0db tone is WAY too high to tune gains for music. most music is between like -15 to -5db (not including songs edited by, for example, decaf or bigpimpin). it seems quieter because your amp has much more headroom (unused power).

Edited by Kranny
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oscopes set a clean signal, I doubt 1 person out of 10 on here has a 100% clean signal my guess is 99.9% have clipping going on

Well the average person is also underpowering there subs and tune by ear so they stop when it starts to sound like shit. Which you are generally clipping before you can hear it happening.

Edited by AMI CUSTOMS

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even running over rms to their subs I bet they are clipping. you can clip a ton before hearing it or heating coils up

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previously known as wenn_du_weinst aka fucking internet coward supreme.  I talk shit on other forums like a little bitch and hope i don't get caught out on the street.  

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even running over rms to their subs I bet they are clipping. you can clip a ton before hearing it or heating coils up

Oh yeah but those group of people are replacing woofers left and right too. LOL

TEAM SOUNDQUBED -- TEAM SOUTH

TEAM S.O.B. - Founder & Captain

3x Streetbeat World Record Holder

2017 MWSPL 1st place Mayhem & 4th Xtreme 4 
2016 MWSPL 1st place Mayhem/2nd Adv 4/2nd Xtreme 4
2015 MWSPL 2nd place Mayhem & 4th Xtreme 4
2014 USACI 2nd place Streetbeat 5 - 162.6 db
2014 MWSPL 2nd place Xtreme 4 - 144.9 db
2013 USACI 1st place Streetbeat 4 - 161.9 db
2013 USACI 1st place Street Q+ - 162.8 db
2013 MWSPL 3rd Kaos2 & 4th Xtreme 4
2011 USACI 2nd place MOD 1001-2k - 160.0 db
2011 MWSPL 4th place: Adv3 - 157.8 db, Kaos2 - 150s db, Xtreme4 - 140s db
2010 ARSPL 1st place 501-750 - 160.3 db Arkansas loudest

Best score to date 164.4 db - Termlab Outlaw

Streetbeat 4 - 161.9 db

Streetbeat 5 - 162.6 db

MWSPL on Dash Legal door open (Music) - 162.5 db

Sealed on dash Legal (Music) - 161.1 db - Termlab

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I use cool edit pro to make my tones at 0db. I wouldn't use any MP3 download, only a APE, FLAC or apple lossless but they're hard to find. 0db is the loudest possible before clipping that you can get, but all that does is set the highest gain on your amps before clipping. It doesn't take into account the difference in efficiency between your mids/highs and your subs.

After setting all your gains, play some music while your bass/treble at +/- 0 and sub level in the middle, if your HU has one. Then whichever is louder (mids/highs OR subs) turn that one down until it sounds ok. Listen to a track you've heard a million times, I like Michael Jackson tracks for this... you can usually tell exactly how loud each instrument should be.

Edited by srp365

2007 Pacifica
Rebuild. Less quiet. Still not loud.

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not really if you used a dmm to set your gains 90% chance of clipping. I'm clipping right at 73hz but I can't hear it and my subs take it so I could care less

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previously known as wenn_du_weinst aka fucking internet coward supreme.  I talk shit on other forums like a little bitch and hope i don't get caught out on the street.  

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thats another point. the signal was clipped at 50hz but at 35hz i could turn the gain up quite a bit more without clipping.

and like kranney said 0db is way to high. why set gains to 0db tracks when you will very rarely listen to something recored that high and if you do its only going to clip for a short time for the most part

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If you use less than 0db to set your gains, it's kinda pointless to even use the oscope. You may as well set by ear.

If you use -15db to set your gains, anytime your music goes over -15db it's clipping. All CD recordings (and most properly mixed and mastered digital media) peak as close to 0db as possible to get the most dynamic range from the medium.

This was a direct rip from CD of Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight, notice the peak amplitude at -0.54db

Clipboard01.jpg

If you set your gains with a reference tone -15db, this song will clip well before your knob is cranked far right.

EDIT: In other words, if you use 0db reference tone to set your gain, you won't run into a clipped signal. EVER. If you use an attenuated tone, you give yourself the ability to play quieter passages of your tracks louder, but you're at a higher risk of getting a clipped signal to your speakers, which undisputedly burns out coils.

Edited by srp365

2007 Pacifica
Rebuild. Less quiet. Still not loud.

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  • 2 weeks later...

but as soon as I put in a hard rock I get no bass even with bass boost turned all the way up which easily clips the 50hz tone.

This is exactly what I thought would happen when tuning with an oscilloscope. I like the way my system sounds now (all music hits hard, no matter the genre), but I'm also afraid of clipping and damaging my subs..

I tuned my system by ear (I basically set my line driver to about 9v and the eq gain about 3/4 and turned the frequencies until I heard distortion), but that seems to be the foolish way to go about setting amp gains now-a-days (I miss the good ole days when I was an ignorant teen who just threw a system together and went on my way caring less about technicalities).

I'm either going to purchase an o-scope or go to a shop, but I'd be pretty bummed if afterward the music didn't hit as hard.. But at the same time, I can smell my subs after about 15-30 minutes of continuous play so I guess I have no choice..

Edited by Monergist

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