setting hi/lo converter with dd-1?

[08tahoe]

Ya I connect my ipod through the bottom not the headphone jack, and the smd disk comes with a -0db track on it, so when I get home imma work on it and be distortion free

A 0db track is the same thing as a -0db track right?

[kickass audio]

Yes a 0db is the same as a -0db. The only reason they put the "-" next to the track is so you know what level the track is compared to the rest. I personally would set them all with a 0db track to ensure that you will not have much of a chance to clip/distort unless your song you are playing from the ipod has a volume level greater than 0db. The only time this really happens is when people dont have their eq set to flat and are boosting the living hell out of a range of frequencies to compensate for low powered and poorly built systems. You should really keep your eq set to flat even after you set your gains and only raise them a minimal amount when you have it all set up.

[08tahoe]

Thanks, that makes sence. I was thinking they were the same but wasn't sure. And ya I keep my eq set to flat all the time.

[kickass audio]

Alright thats great to do. You can turn the eq up just a bit but dont be the guy who turns the bass up to the max to compensate for a weak ass amp that cant produce bass. lol. You dont want to do that by any means because the money you put toward the DD-1 would be completely wasted on the spot.

edit: if you do notice your bass is very minimal after you set the gains on the radio and amp, you can turn the bassboost up WITH the DD-1 until the distortion/clip light illuminates. You would want to set the gains on the amp properly first with absolutely no bass boost. Once the gains are set on the amp, radio, and your high-low converter then you can turn the bassboost knob up on your amp slowly while playing a 40Hz track at -0db and then turn it up until the distortion light comes on the DD-1. Back the bassboost off slowly until the distortion light comes on. That will be the absolute max you can set the bass-boost without damaging your system. If it has too much bass for you, you can obviously turn the bassboost down to your liking but dont go and turn it up any further than you figured in this step.

Edited August 16, 2011 by kickass audio

[08tahoe]

Well I'm pretty frustrated at this point and I'm pretty sure its the hi/lo converters that arent working for me. It sucks having a stock h/u if your trying to set your gains the right way, I guess imma have to go back and set my gains by ear how I had them until I get a aftermarket h/u but I don't think ill be doing that with this car. Thanks a lot for your help kickass audio but I was not able to set my hi/lo converter so that it would work right with my amps and h/u and I tried a few different ways.

[kickass audio]

Yea the reason it probably didnt work with setting the high low converter is that it probably has a lower voltage than the sensitivity of the DD-1 itself. Dont give up just yet, there is a way to get around this and its fairly simple and wont involve another headunit purchase.

In your DD-1 manual, look at page 7 and 8. It has the entire details of how to set the high low converters. You should seek assistance with this unless you can clearly see the DD-1 while you are up behind your radio adjusting the gain levels of the high-low converter.

Here are my steps to get them set (more detailed than the dd-1):

1.) Disconnect all the speaker connections from all your amplifiers (dont want to play these test tones with your speakers connected, you can smoke them if you do)

2.) Insert the DD-1 disc and play track 1 (40Hz at 0db) and set your radio to repeat so you dont have to keep starting the track over if you reach the end of its play time

3.) Turn the headunit all the way up until the point you found earlier where it distorts (this is what you did or should have in the other post i made where you connected the red wire off the DD-1 to the positive speaker wire off the headunits harness, and connected the black wire off the DD-1 to the negative of the same speaker wire coming off the headunits harness)

4.) Connect the rca's coming from one of your high-low converters to one of your amplifiers

5.) Connect the red wire coming off the dd-1 to the positive wire of just ONE of the channels of your amplifier (if it is a 2 or 4 channel, if its a monoblock disregard this), then connect the black wire off the dd-1 to the ground wire of the same amplifier you are testing.

6.) Turn the gain knob on your amplifier ALL THE WAY DOWN, turn off any frequency settings such as crossover points (if you can switch the crossover to full do that to save the need to adjust the screws on the amp)

7.) Once the dd-1 is connected and powered on to your amplifier, look at the dd-1 while you turn up just one of the gain knobs of the high-low converter until the light clips (this part you may need the assistance of a friend or neighbor, etc if you cant see the dd-1 while you are setting the gains on the high-low converters)

8.) Once you set one side of the high-low converter, swap the red wire from the channel it is connected to now from step 5 to the other channel of the same amp.

9.) Set the gain the same on the high-low converter the same as you did in step 6

10.) You successfully set the gains on the high-low converter.

Notes: If step 4 was confusing, heres another way to look at it. Lets say you have a 2 channel amplifier for your door speakers. Connect just one rca wire from the left channel output of the high-low converter and then put it to the left channel RCA input on your 2 channel amp. Once thats connected, connect the red wire off the DD-1 to the left channel positive speaker terminal of the amp and then the black wire off the dd-1 to the ground of your amp (vehicles ground point). When you have this hooked up and the radio is at its max volume before it clips (you found this out in a few posts back), start to slowly turn the gain knob up for the left channel output of your high-low converter until your dd-1 shows that it has found distortion. Once you reach this point back it off a little until the distortion led no longer illuminates. Once that is done you successfully set the gains of your one output of the high-low converter. You now need to change over to the other side of the high-low converter and swap the red-wire the dd-1 is connected to on your 2 channel amp to the right channel positive, adjust the gain knob on the high-low and call it a day.

Its that easy, its amazing that i dont own a dd-1 but i know how to do all this stuff for it, lol. If only i lived near you, i would totally help you set the gains for free.

[08tahoe]

I wish u did live closer cause we'd both be here trying to figure this out lol.. Well I had already tried that but I just tried it again. And what happens is that as soon as I start turning the gain up on the hi lo converter just a little the distortion light on the dd-1 comes on right away. But at a lower h/u volume I am able to go higher on the hi/lo gain before the distortion light comes on.

I've been trying so much that my low batt light on my dd-1 already came on lol.

[lincoln68]

I have a 2003 Audi a4 and I'm using a scosche line out converter. Would I have to use dd-1 the same way kickass audio explained it? Here's how I have the l.o.c set up http://www.a4mods.com/index.php?page=webcontent/pages/stereo.html

[kickass audio]

Hahaha, idk what to say. Maybe those high-low converters are shit? It shouldnt clip if you are just starting to take the gain and turn it up on the high-low converter. Maybe it is correct for it doing that as the high-low converter is made to take the 40+volts that comes out of your headunits speaker terminals and turn it down to a low voltage like 2-6v that rca wires can carry without any problems. Do you happen to have a Digital Multi Meter? If you do i want you to try this and report back to me with the results.

First, you need to know where your headunit clips at (you already know this) and how high you can turn the little sensitivity knobs on the high-low converter before the dd-1 shows it has clipping. Once you have both of these figured out, proceed with step 1.

1.) With your headunit at full volume before it starts to clip, play a 0db track. It doesnt matter if its the 1000Hz or 40Hz one, just play a track on the DD-1 disc that is at 0db.

2.) Take the positive (red) wire from your digital multi meter and insert it in the opening of where the rca cables inner part goes in.

3.) Take the negative (black) wire from your digital multi meter and touch it on the outer jacket of the rca connector which you can visually see when looking at the converter.

4.) Set your DMM to AC Voltage (start it at like 200v AC and then if it has a low reading, turn it down some more. Dont turn it down anymore than 10v AC on your DMM or you can burn the dmm out)

5.) Read the voltage you see on the screen of your DMM. It should be in the range of 2-6v (idk what your output is rms on those converters so i cant say what it should be other than somewhere in that range)

6.) If your voltage isnt in that range then your high-low converter is crippling your output and you should really think about a new headunit. If it is in that range then it is perfectly fine and you can then set your gains on the amps.

Let me know what your voltage is when you hook up the DMM to the high-low converter.

Tip: If you have a problem with connecting the red wire and black wire off your DMM to the output of one of the channels on the high-low converters terminal, do this. Connect a single RCA wire to the high-low converter and go in the back where your amp is. That same wire you have hooked up just simply touch the red probe (positive) of the digital multi meter on the center conductor of the RCA (the part that is inside the outer ring and sticks out the longest), then touch the black probe on the outer ring of the RCA connector (the part that holds it down when you are inserting the rca cable in fully)

I forgot to mention before that the high-low converter shouldnt really have the knobs turned up very far, they should be down pretty low since if it is up high, you are boosting the hell out of your signal and clipping it to all hell.

[08tahoe]

Ya I'm thinking they are trash, imma try that tomorrow and let u know what happens.