Should I add a processor, will i gain anything?

[truedef]

Im pretty new in car audio as far as doing a full blown system.

Currently running:

Pioneer AVIC8000-NEX

JL Slash 300/4v3

JL HD750/1

JL W7v3-12"

And kicker 6.5"s up front and Kicker 5.25"s in the rear.

I plan to upgrade the speakers again to either JL or something nicer then what im running

Im just confused as to if I can get any gain or benefit from running a processor or if my headunit will take care of that?

Im a newb

[hdorre]

for you and your setup, don't bother.. imho

[truedef]

for you and your setup, don't bother.. imho

Alright,

soo what is a benefit of having a processor?

[Noel989]

It would depend on what processor you get

[truedef]

Ive been seeing the RF 3sixty3 pop up a lot.

anyways can someone give me some pros of having a processor?

[BassMunky]

that for a full surround setup and to dial in where you sit in the car and balance everything out to make it where you sit in the driver seat so it sounds even....

[GSanders17]

If you were running an active setup meaning no passive crossover for a component set, you would greatly benefit from one.

[BassMunky]

I was torn between this and the audiocontrol dqxs with the ddc. Both really high end processors packed with all the features you need for tuning as well as excellent integrated line drivers and crossovers. This won due to the ability to tune using a full computer screen, which sure beats fuddling through tiny menus on a small controller.
The parametric eq is by far one of the most precise eq's I have ever used and has allowed me to reinforce any frequencies lacking and turn down high ones. The crossover is top notch with selectable slopes and db drop-off control. You can group speakers and work with the groups in isolation to tune more precisely simply done with checking the groups mute box. There is a visual layout of the vehicle which helps you visualize sound-scape. Once your gains are set properly and matched to the deck, You can sit in the car and you stay there tuning, not having to jump out continuously and run to the back for crossovers, bass boost, on amp eq control, etc. In my case where my stock navigation system/multimedia center thing built into the dash seriously lacks tuning wise this unit really shines. The built in bluetooth audio is a nice feature although it's already built into my car, I'm sure someone will find that handy. I did not use the built in oem integration so I don't know how good that is. I'm using an audiocontrol lc6i with summing mode I already had it in there, it's probably the best loc that I have every used, so why change what's worked perfect. The controller they provide with this allows me to select different eq tunes for different genres which is a real nice feature and if using any of the other inputs allows you to toggle in between them. The knobs are assignable I use one for sub volume to turn it up and down and the other for punch eq. No additional bass knob needed. There should be no need for a line driver, this puts out strong clean signal. It has a self controlled trigger output with audio sensing, basically you wont have to tap into a line that comes on when the car is on. It will sense the signal and send trigger to the amps. It has a trigger input if using an aftermarket deck with a trigger out.
I used to work in car audio for years and still do as a hobby and I can say most processors are a pain to tune. Most other processor's have awful controls, something your backyard mechanic would not be able to use effectively. A novice can use this device, the wizard makes setup a snap and the way they laid out the controls on the main screen it's very intuitive. Whether this is your first processor or you have been doing this for a long time, the 3sixty.3 appeals to to all people. Call them if you need help they aren't the nicest people but they sure are knowledgeable. All processors of decent quality are not cheap and this is no exception, although I will note when compared to my other choice I sure did save a bunch, and feel I have lost nothing, probably even gained. This is THE processor to buy, there is really nothing even close to what your going to get for your money.

[BassMunky]

The 3sixty.3 is designed to let you improve the sound of your factory head unit by intercepting the speaker outputs and providing low level input to aftermarket amplifiers and speakers. Many factory heads have integrated navigation and climate controls so it isn't practical to change them. I installed mine in a 2007 Honda Accord w Nav.

Inputs: The 3sixty.3 has dual front (for center channel) and single rear, plus Aux and Sub RCA jacks, Toslink Optical, and a Bluetooth Dongle and 4 pairs of high level inputs (from your factory amplifier with a Molex type connector). I used front & rear high level, aux and bluetooth.
You'll also need an RCA jack to 3.5mm cable if you want an aux input for your ipod

Outputs: Paired RCA jacks for Front x 2, Rear, and Sub for your amp(s).
Other: USB Jack for configuration with your PC, a dual knob remote

Configuration: The 3sixty.3 has a sophisticated parametric equalizer combined with a automatic or flexible manual input leveling tool. It runs on Windows XP or Windows 7 and requires .net framework 3.5. Installation was not easy, it didn't work on the first laptop I tried (a Macbook running bootcamp with windows 7) but worked under parallels 8 w Windows 7 on a different Mac.

First step is to configure your active inputs. In my case, it was the 4 standard (RL Front/Rear) high level inputs from my factory head. Second is to configure the outputs. I used 4 standard (RL Front/Rear) and sub since my speakers have passive crossovers. Port selection is completely flexible.

The 'auto normalize' function removes the factory equalization and delivers output which you can adjust by analyzing input from the included CD. Next, I used the AudioTools app SPL meter to equalize volume from each speaker by playing test tones from the CD. It was much easier than twiddling with the pots on the amps. I used a FFT display (Audiotools on iPad) with pink noise (on CD) to create a flat curve profile, plus one with a gentle downward slope above 8Khz. You can modify the equalization profile on each speaker, or link pairs together, and tie your sub output to one or more speakers. It was easy, albeit time consuming, to compensate for the non-linear response of my Focal speakers and add low bass from the sub while avoiding the midbass hump.

Each output can use all,low,high or band pass, or high/low shelf. Xover types include Chebychev,Butterworth,Bessel and Linkwitz with slopes from 6-48dB/oct. You can also set the Xover frequency. I used a simple high pass (for speakers) low pass (for sub) with a Linkwitz 24dB/oct filer @ 80Hz. This provided the most balanced sound for my speakers and sub. Removing the low frequencies from the speakers improved clarity dramatically. The 3sixty has 32 bands and you can vary the Q (band range) as needed.

You can also configure the remote for inputs (1-4 settings - main,bluetooth,aux,opt), and select up 4 profiles. The knobs press in to switch input/profile and turn for level. I assigned sub level to one and main level (for aux&bluetooth)

Bluetooth functionality worked great. Pairing was super easy (only one device supported) and I was streaming from my 6.1 IOS iPhone in less than a minute. You can change the passkey through software. There is also an autoplay function. It switches the input to bluetooth when the phone pairs or if you have any output from your phone (ringing, text message tone, etc). Rockford needs to work on this feature and insert a switch delay.

The software version I used (1.2) is not stable and hung frequently and lost communication to the 3sixty.3 too. It improved a bit with a firmware upgrade to the 3sixty but was very frustrating to use. Rockford has promised an IOS and Android app, but it wasn't available. In addition, writing configurations to disk and to the 3sixty.3 is confusing and not well documented. The remote only has 4 profiles but the software prompts show 5+ profiles when saving. Sloppy.

In addition, sometimes there is no sound or the remote doesn't work. Power cycling the radio and 3sixty.3 fixes it.

Plan on 3-4 hours to configure the device, more if you want more profiles. You'll probably also have to make adjustments to compensate for road noise, or music type, but that varies car by car.

After all of the grief installing it, the sound is absolutely fantastic. It's a huge quality improvement over the previous 3sixty.2 unit. I was amazed at the difference that equalization makes, and how little distortion the unit introduced. Pricy but worth it.

[CleanSierra]

Those responses are not yours BassMunky