AV Sound settings

[mgideon]

I'm trying to tune my AVIC Z120BT for the best sound. I don't listen real loud, but I like to hear everything very clearly. I have component speakers and a factory sub.

 

My settings are

HPF = 50hz.

Sub = 63hz.

I have the EQ set custom the far left is at zero, and each setting to the right of that goes up one level. I notice vocals are still a little.... muddy. For deeper vocals like Jimmy Buffett it is decent, but for something higher like Howard Jones it isn't good enough. I had to raise up the 800hz and 2k hz up to the 5kh mark.

 

If you like your sound, how do you set yours?

[1loudls]

asking about other people's setting is a loaded question, every car has different acoustic property's, every different speaker has different acoustic property's, and people's taste in music is always going to be different. no two cars will be the same, so unless somebody has the exact same car, and system, it wont help you much.

 

just keep playing with the settings making very small adjustment at a time, one band at a time until it sounds as good as you can get it.

[naughtyca]

best to use one of the eq setting which is closest to how you want your music to sound and copy it in customize and tweak it

[1loudls]

damn, how many pages did you have to go back to find this one?

[superslimer]

I'm trying to tune my AVIC Z120BT for the best sound. I don't listen real loud, but I like to hear everything very clearly. I have component speakers and a factory sub.

 

My settings are

HPF = 50hz.

Sub = 63hz.

I have the EQ set custom the far left is at zero, and each setting to the right of that goes up one level. I notice vocals are still a little.... muddy. For deeper vocals like Jimmy Buffett it is decent, but for something higher like Howard Jones it isn't good enough. I had to raise up the 800hz and 2k hz up to the 5kh mark.

 

If you like your sound, how do you set yours?

 

In my honest opinion,

 

The purpose of the HPF (High Pass Filter) is to cut out the low frequencies from the speakers so the high and mid frequencies are projected clearly, and the purpose of the LPF (Low Pass Filter) is to cut out the high and mid frequencies so the low frequencies are projected clearly. The settings you stated above are doing exactly the opposite. Your HPF is set way too low and LPF is way too high. The gap in your HPF and LPF is duplicating the signal cutoff to your speakers and subs, which means you're sending some of the same signals to both the subs and speakers (in your case it's between 50Hz and 63Hz). Most common bass frequencies are between 45Hz to 100Hz and by setting your LPF to 63Hz you're losing almost half the bass notes your subs can or and should handle. The most common high/mid frequencies are between 120Hz - 20KHz and by setting your HPF to 50Hz you're giving your speakers more than it should handle. This is not only sounds bad but also decreases the life and the performance of your speakers.

 

My recommendation for the most optimum HPF and LPF cutoff is 100Hz. That way anything above 100Hz is filtered out from the subs and anything below is filtered out from the speakers. This eliminates the gap and you're not losing or duplicating signals by sending distinct signals to speakers that are meant to handle them. This also maintains the life of your speakers. Last thing you want is a blown out speaker.

 

As for the EQ, set it to flat and play with each freq by increasing or decreasing not more than 3 levels (db) above or below flat (0). By going way above or below flat you're creating a sound nuance and skewing the musical property intended by the track and/or artist. Also the intervals between frequencies should not be more than 1 level (db) above or below from the previous and next frequency. If your intervals are too high you're again skewing the musical property intended. My personal recommendation for optimal 7 band EQ setting is (1 2 1 0 1 2 3) where 0=flat.

 

By the way '1loudls' is absolutely right. Every car and speaker has a different acoustical property and every listener has their own taste on how they enjoy sound. So the ultimate best setting is based on the acoustical property of the car and speakers as well as the listeners taste. The recommendation I've stated above is based merely on the fact that all frequencies are meant not to be lost in translation to sound and to hear every single note and frequency by not skewing the musical property intended, and of course given the acoustical property is able to handle it.

 

So if my recommendation above doesn't suit your taste then just play with it and hopefully you'll eventually find the setting that you'll like.