I'm looking to learn/ recommendations what the internal "detail" audio settings should be for the head unit. Looks like we have frequencies and Q factor, etc. If anything I would like to maximize low end sound as these already have plenty of good treble and clarity.
Kenwood KDC-X695 Deck, a Clarion XC1410 amp, and Infinity reference 4x6 plate up front and 6.5 round in the doors of my 99 S10. I'm using the low input (RCA) to go to the amp from the head unit.
The only settings on the amp are: (Low/Hi input), and (90hz - 60hz - Flat) Currently on Low/ Flat.
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 12-22-2015).]
It is all relative. I try to balance out the levels as much as I can. If you sit there and adjust like you were getting an eye exam, you will hit a sweet spot for you music tastes and a plethora of other variables.
Take pictures of the levels when you are happy. My Pioneer loses settings if power is lost. I got sick of learning the adjustments every time I got in the Fiero after messing with the battery for what ever reason. I took pics, and set them quickly off of that.
The High/Low switch is for the audio inputs. Since you're using low-level inputs, keep it set to Low.
Does it say if the frequency selector is a high-pass or low-pass crossover? I'm guessing it's a low-pass crossover, to use with subwoofers. There's an easy way to find out, flip it to one of the other settings. If it is in fact a subwoofer crossover, then you should leave it set to Flat.
If you want to reinforce the bass output of your speakers, you'll probably need to use some equalization (i.e. EQ). Looks like your head unit has a built-in parametric EQ... nice. That's where the Q-factor figures in. Think of the parametric EQ as a bell curve. The center frequency is the center of the bell curve. The Q-factor affects how steep the bell curve is; a higher Q-factor makes a steeper curve. If you want to boost a wide range of frequencies, use a low Q-factor. Or if you want to boost a narrow range of frequencies, use a higher Q-factor.
Hope that helps.
[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 12-22-2015).]
Yes, leave the low/flat in flat and the hi/low in low. Use your headunits base/mid/treble to contour the sound if it has the 3. The Q factor controls frequency roll off. Basically, it sets an upper and lower frequency where the output drops 3db and continues to roll off from there. The lower the number the wider the range between the roll off. The higher the number the narrower the range between the roll off. For example this graph shows the roll of of a Q set at 1. If you look at the yellow verticle lines they show were the magenta line is down 3 db from the center of that range and continues to roll off from there.
This graph shows a Q set at 5. As you can see the band range is much narrower so the roll off happens quicker.
Personally, I'd keep the Q pretty low to give the flattest response possible, but that's just me.
Also, do you have a separate front and rear gain control on the amp? Reason I ask is because using the low out, you basically lose your front to rear fader. Usually the low level out is on the rear side of the fader so set it all to the rear and if you have seperate gains, use them to adjust the front and rear speaker sound level like you would a fader.
There is actuallly no gain knob on the amp, I thought it unusual but have only had sub woofer amps in the past. I chose this amp primarily for its small case size, it was also affordable, hopefully it wasnt a poor choice.
You could flip thru the System Q settings and see if one of them sounds good enough for you. If not, then you'll have to switch it to User and manually adjust the EQ settings.
[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 12-22-2015).]
How about the head unit's BASS and MID "CTR FRQ", and the "HPF" FRONT and REAR?
Thanks again open to all opinions and knowledge/ recommendations on it.
Would I also need to take into account that I listen to primarily "rock"?
Those you would have to adjust to the different cut off frequencies and see what you like best. As a starting point for me if listening to rock, you don't have the low lows of rap so I'd go more in the 100-120 on bass. For mids 1.5k or 2.0k and for highs I'd probably start at the lowest 10.0k and try up to the 15.0k and settle on the one with the best sound. 17.5k there just sounds really to high to me given the effective hearing range a human has.
Me I like going a step further and install a passive equalizer so I have more than 3 frequency bands to contour the sounds with. But for most people the 3 is probably good enough.
[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 12-22-2015).]
Originally posted by Khw: Those you would have to adjust to the different cut off frequencies and see what you like best. As a starting point for me if listening to rock, you don't have the low lows of rap so I'd go more in the 100-120 on bass. For mids 1.5k or 2.0k and for highs I'd probably start at the lowest 10.0k and try up to the 15.0k and settle on the one with the best sound. 17.5k there just sounds really to high to me given the effective hearing range a human has.
Me I like going a step further and install a passive equalizer so I have more than 3 frequency bands to contour the sounds with. But for most people the 3 is probably good enough.
Whats the benefit of cutting off the sound, conserve amp energy? I have played with them and am not sure I can hear a difference.
When KHW was talking about adjusting the System Q settings, and was using the term "cutoff frequency" when he probably should have been saying "center frequency".
Cutoff frequency is the point where you want the crossover to start cutting out the sound to that particular speaker. So for example, if you have a subwoofer and you only want it to produce frequencies below 150Hz, you'd use a low-pass with a cutoff frequency of 150Hz. Or if you have a tweeter that only needs to produce frequencies of 2000Hz and up, then you'd use a high-pass with a cutoff frequency of 2000Hz.
[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 12-23-2015).]
When KHW was talking about adjusting the System Q settings, and was using the term "cutoff frequency" when he probably should have been saying "center frequency".
Cutoff frequency is the point where you want the crossover to start cutting out the sound to that particular speaker. So for example, if you have a subwoofer and you only want it to produce frequencies below 150Hz, you'd use a low-pass with a cutoff frequency of 150Hz. Or if you have a tweeter that only needs to produce frequencies of 2000Hz and up, then you'd use a high-pass with a cutoff frequency of 2000Hz.
Yes and to explain a little more that frequency "cut off" point doesn't mean every thing above it is gone in the case of a sub or everything below it is gone in the case of a tweeter. Let's use a sub because it's numbers are smaller and let's also say you have a crossover that does 6 decibels per octave reduction. So you set your sub cross over point to 75 hz. At 150 hz the crossover will reduce the output by 6 db, at 300 by 12 db, at 600 by 18 db, at 1,200 by 24 db and so on. It doesn't completely eliminate all the frequencies it only reduces them at a steady rate per octave of the frequency where it started. Eventually you will get to a point where the sound is reduced so much you will no longer hear it over what the speaker is producing at full sound. Really though if yo think about it let's go back to our sub. Let's give that sub a steady 75 hz signal and have it playing at 94 db of output. That means if that sub is called on to play a signal at 1,200 hz it's only going to play it at 70 hz if it's the same 94 db like the 75 hz signal. Let's do the same thing but with a 9,600 hz tone same 94 db of strength. The crossover at that octave will reduce the sound by 42 db so it will only be heard at 52 db in comparison to the 94 db that 75hz is being heard at.
[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 12-23-2015).]
Your head unit has a high-tech version of a graphic equalizer in it. The bass, mid, and treble settings are like a 3-band EQ on an older head unit. But they're more configurable. Instead of just moving 3 knobs up or down, you can also move those knobs side-to-side and adjust how wide they are.
You mentioned that the mids and treble sounded OK to you. So you probably don't need to adjust those settings. But to get more bass output, you'll need to adjust the bass related settings. But before we get to that, let's make sure you have some of the basic settings taken care of first. See below:
On the amplifier... -- Set inputs to Low, and crossover to Flat
On the Head Unit... -- Set HPF Front, HPF Rear, and HPF Subwoofer to Through -- Set Subwoofer Set to Off
Now that the basics are covered, let's try to get some more bass out of the system. You can start by turning Bass Extend on and off, and see if that helps. Also, try fiddling with the Bass Boost, and see if that helps. Also, you can flip through the System Q options (rock / jazz / etc) and see if any of those help. If those don't help, then set System Q to User, and start tweaking the bass settings manually. Try these settings out first:
Bass CTR FRQ -- 80 Bass Q Factor -- 1.0 Bass Level -- adjust it up until you hear decent bass output
From there on out, you'll just have to tune it by ear. If the bass sounds too "boomy", you can try dropping the Bass CTR FRQ and/or bumping up the Bass Q Factor. If the deep bass is still weak, turn the Bass Extend and/or Bass Boost back on (of it's off), and/or drop the Bass CTR FRQ.
Just keep in mind that no matter how you tweak the settings, you're not going to get the kind of deep, satisfying bass that you'd get from a subwoofer. But you should at least be able to hear the bass drums in rock music.
[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 12-23-2015).]
Good description describing the EQ as being able to move side to side for width. I like it!
Ok i'll review the deck settings when I get a chance. I know the amp is set as you stated, and the deck is currently factory set except, BASS LEVEL is max at 8 BASS BOOST IS MAX BASS EXTEND IS MAX MID LEVEL is -1 TREB LEVEL is +1
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 12-23-2015).]
