HU's with spectrum Analyser

hrdhtdvr

I see people talking about spectrum analysers and saying how they show where your peaks are in the sound. I am guessing that it shows the peaks caused by your specific enviroment (Truck, Car, Sound deadend or not, etc,etc) The question I have is does it show the specific frequencies or just a graph type display?

Thanks,
Jerry

hrdhtdvr

Bump

Greg Peters

While I've never owned one, I believe some of the Pioneer h/us with this feature have a microphone built-in, and will auto-EQ your frequency response based on the results.

I would suspect they don't give you a graphic response but simply make adjustments based on what the h/u interprets from your vehicle's interior.

Cody would probably have the definitive answer...

Thom

We have an Audiocontrol RTA. You play pink noise on the system, on a mic stand at about head level. The display shows you what's going on- it's a bunch of LED's that light up, and can be set in different increments. I use 3db steps because that's how IASCA always measured it. So, each dot is 3 db. If all LED's peaked at the same point, that's a perfectly flat response. For every step up or step down, that's a 3db difference.

There are computer RTA programs out that are way cheaper, I believe. There are also very cool set- ups that have multiple mics, and moving mics that average the readings. I was at Delphi years ago working on a project and they had a set up like this. Made me feel very low- budget when using the AudioControl...

hrdhtdvr

Thanks for the answers! So you are saying that in a perfect enviroment, if you set your eq to 0, (Flat, no boost in anything) that would be perfect? Again, that would be in a perfect world.

MacLeod

NO! Not even close!!

MECA has RTA competitions in which you try to get the most symetrical curve possible with the perfect being flat. There are a couple guys that can actually get their curve perfectly flat and their system sounds like ****.

Its weird I know cause youd think that a perfectly flat curve would be the best sounding but its not, they usually differ quite a lot.

For instance, a couple shows ago, I got my best score ever for SQ but for RTA, I got my worst!!

Thats not to say theyre not a valuable tool for tuning though. Using them to find peaks in your response, or dips caused by cancellation is a good way to locate problem areas that would be harder by ear.

Just remember, the perfect RTA curve is the one that sounds best to you.

VR3

To quote the guys from Mirage... (indirectly)...

"When I first started out, I made the whole flat response deal. It sounded bad. So now I make these."

Meeks32

Humans dont have the same hearing sensitivity over the whole audio range so having a flat curve wont sound the best to us.

MacLeod

I think a lot of it is that music isnt supposed to be flat. Drums are generally supposed to be louder than flutes and so on. Again, its all in the ear of the beholder.

I have my EQ and crossover set for SQ judging then I have a whole different EQ and crossover setup for my own personal listening.

Thom

Speakers with a flat frequency response are great to have, but they won't measure flat in a car. In a lab with no reflective surfaces nearby is a world away from the car- reflective surfaces everywhere. Not to mention less than ideal speaker placement.

Your EQ should be used to cut frequencies that are too loud, or boost those that are lacking. But it's a good idea to cut rather than boost, and not to boost more than a few db. If you've got a valley at a certain frequency that a few db won't fix, more EQ won't fix it.

MacLeod

Thom wrote:

Speakers with a flat frequency response are great to have, but they won't measure flat in a car. In a lab with no reflective surfaces nearby is a world away from the car- reflective surfaces everywhere. Not to mention less than ideal speaker placement.

Your EQ should be used to cut frequencies that are too loud, or boost those that are lacking. But it's a good idea to cut rather than boost, and not to boost more than a few db. If you've got a valley at a certain frequency that a few db won't fix, more EQ won't fix it.

Agreed 100%

Thats one reason why the SR's rule. I have very little EQ'ing at any frequency. I think my settings are -2 @ 80 Hz, -2 @ 700 Hz, +2 @ 5000 Hz and +2 @ 16000 Hz.

hrdhtdvr

So how does one know what to do for SQ? I mean if it sounds good to me, what does the judge go by? Some people like tighter bass than others and so on. Is there a guide? BTW, I am happy to hear from you guys that a flat EQ sounds like crap. That is what I thought when I tried to go that route.

MacLeod

If youre not going to be competing, then tune it til it sounds best to you and leave it.

If youre wanting to compete, the only way to learn what the judges like is to go to shows. Each organization seems to have its own tastes and it depends on their particular judging CD cause theyre each different.

Basically, the amount of bass you listen to for daily driving is more than likely way too much for SQ judging. That actually is the most realistic reproduction as bass is only supposed to be an extension of the midrange and shouldnt be any louder than the rest of the music. And worst of all, dont have "peaky" bass where say youve got 3 notes on a bass guitar and 1 of them is much louder than the other 2. Dips arent as important, its the peaks that are harder on the ears. Everything should be linear.

Other than that, the rest of it is just tonal quality. Female vocals shouldnt sound like she's got a cold, saxophones shouldnt sound like kazoos, male vocals should be chesty and realistic and so on.

Staging is almost as important as tonal quality. Making sure the stage is high, deep and centered with good focus is a sure way to make it into the winners circle on a regular basis.

hrdhtdvr

Thanks for the reply Mac. How did you get into competition? I have not heard anything about shows in my area. I am not intrested in participating, but I think it would be cool to check out other peoples stuff.

MacLeod

Ive been into car audio since I was 16 and have always been piddling with it. I just figured it was about time I actually got serious and did something with it!

More importantly tho, its fun as hell! At least in MECA. I tries USACi and it sucks pretty hard and IASCA doesnt have many shows near me. MECA has tons of shows and the best SQ format out there.