D'amore Chime in? Mind boggling Electrical with the DD1

[dereileak]

Alright, I consider myself very logical and can think things out pretty well, I was setting my whole system with the dd1 today, and ran into a few things that made me think... These are very big scenarios and require reading the whole thing to understand my point

1. Found my headunit output unclipped on 0db, 40/40, then continued to the EQ with a line driver, got it setup, was able to push out 8v's cleanly if I wanted but the next piece of equipment, my Kicker KX3 Crossover only takes 5v, so I then hooked up my dd1 to my 3 way crossover, it was showing distortion, no matter what, so I lowered the line driver, and it would distort until the voltage of the RCA's were below 4v's, including 3.99v, then it was fine, so I figure the kx3 only can input 4v max, so while setting the kx3 It allowed me to turn the output knob all the way up with the dd1 showing no distortion for both 40hz and 1khz @0db, the odd thing is that it would output around 7v's and the kx3 crossover is only rated to 5v's, PLUS the kx3 does not have a line driver, so it was taking in a 3.99v signal and cleanly outputing a 7'v signal, this completely confused me, doesnt make sense, so I set the output of the kx3 to 3.99v's so it matched the input and I know it would not be distorting.

So let me know why you think this is, very very odd

Question for D'amore about the DD1 and 0db vs -5db vs -10db

2. So since the eq with line driver and the kx3 crossover would be considered like a headunit piece (all dealing with signal output except they are external), I set it all with a 0db signal. Ok so thats all fine and dandy, next is the amps, I read the manual, says to set the amp gain with a -5db (for sound quality) or a -10db (for louder sound). This is where I began to think, I set it using the -5db, and it sounds great, but I can tell there is a tad bit of clipping at the higher volume around 38+/40 for the headunit. I then turned on a 1khz tone @ 0db, and if you check all the outputs on the amp it will all show distortion unless you lower the gain or the volume. So I guess this is my Questions for D'amore, is setting the amps with a -5db vs using a 0db simply to allow for quieter recorded material to be played at your car max potential, because if you play a track that is recorded in 0db, which I believe most tracks are recorded in, then as soon as you go to the very upper range of your headunit 38+/40 you will begin to clip the amps, if set with a -5db track. All the signal going to the amps will be clear since they were set with 0db, but the amps will begin to clip. So shouldnt the manual say for maximum sound quality set the amps with 0db, for quieter material set with -5db (warning playing 0db recoreded material at full volume will result in the amp clipping), same goes for -10db except it will clip earlier and play louder before you reach your decks maximum undistorted output?? and wouldnt this also apply to the subwoofer amp gain setting, as you use a -5db, -7db, or a -10db, and essentially if you set it with lets say a -5db track @ 40hz, then played a song that was recorded with 0db and you set your deck to 40/40, then your signal to the amp would be clean, but the amp would be trying to output something that was set with -5db, and it would cause the amp to clip, and thus giving you stinky voice coils ??

Also if I set my amp gains with -5db I get alt noise back feeding through the tweets and mids, but If I set it with 0db I get rid of all Alt noise completely, I know my signal up to the amps (the eq with line driver and kx3 crossover) are all outputting a signal that maxes at 4v's for both 40hz and 1khz @0db, so its a full clean signal at the maxiumum that the equipment can provided.

Chime in and let me know what you think, it makes sense to me, but perhaps im missing something the dd1 definitly made it sound so much clearer, the problem with an analog eq is you can turn the output or input gain of the eq around less then 1 degree and it causes the voltage to change a lot, so your fingers have to be very very precise

[dereileak]

Did a ton of reading, and I understand my answer to question 2 now, so music is not usually, how do I say it, peaking or output at 0db's, most music is around -6 to -3 db or even lower to around -12db, with 0db being the loudest something can reproduce sound without clipping, so if you set your amps with the 0db track, you will never ever have to worry about clipping really, unless you introduce it with an eq or bad recorded music, but you could lose power that you would normally have, since almost all music is not at 0db's, so you compromise a little. From what I have read many artists have the peaks of there music reach around -3db at most, so a system set at -5db would be pretty much safe from most music, and this is where you come in as a volume controller, if you hear clipping or know something isnt right you simply turn it down a bit it all makes sense now, but my first question with my kx3 still baffles me with why it outputs almost double the voltage cleanly (the dd1 verifies this), and it doesnt have a line driver, the input only allows 4v's in without distortion, yet outputs around 7v's no problem, and it says the max it handles is 5v's, uhh, anyways I may set the output to 5v's then redo my gains on my amps to combat the alt noise, as it goes away when the gain goes down a bit