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Impressed with Auto EQ - AppRadio 4


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I wouldn't consider myself a true diehard audiophile but I do trust my ears very much. I usually leave EQs flat and turn off any boost or signal processing. In my opinion that normally produces the most natural sound without artificial sounding boosted lows or highs, or a scooped out midrange. 

 

However since the AR4 has an auto EQ function, I decided to try it out. It requires an external microphone but I happened to have one that came with the Pioneer AV receiver that I use in my home. You plug it into the AUX input and tape the mic to the middle of the driver's headrest before initiating the process. When it completed the difference in sound was significantly better (to my surprise!). I like to keep my rear speakers on for passengers and with a flat EQ I could never get it to sound quite right. The fronts would provide a good soundstage on their own, but the rears helped to give the overall sound some fullness, bringing a little muddiness too unfortunately. I couldn't ever find a good compromise. After using Auto EQ, the soundstage is elevated, and the muddiness is gone. The sound is fairly equal in all seats and the subwoofer blends quite well. It's as if I changed my speakers. 

 

My EQ is still set to "flat" so it seems that the Auto EQ adjustments are hidden in the background and treated as a baseline for further tweaks. It did some interesting things with the crossover that I haven't tried before. The LPF and front HPF are set to 80Hz (makes sense). If I remember correctly the slopes were all changed to 12dB/octave. I kept setting it to 18dB/octave when manually tuning. The change that kind of surprised me most was that it set the rear HPF to 125Hz. I would have never done that on my own, so this Auto EQ helped me to think outside the box a little bit. That cleared up the muddiness I used to experience when setting my F/R fade to 0. And overall the clarity of sound is improved with that sense of open airiness that I have been craving for a long time. The sound from the rear seat is less boomy (a typical problem with a sub in the back) and the improved clarity doesn't come with ear-fatiguing added harshness.

 

I expected to merely try Auto EQ with the expectation of eventually disabling it. I'm definitely keeping it on! if you haven't tried it and are constantly fiddling with your setup, I think it's definitely worth a shot. Of course, YMMV. 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I'm about to install the Appradio 4 in my Saab 9-7X Aero. This microphone you speak of, is separate from the one for phone calls?

 

Yes, The mic is a separate accessory that has to be placed where your head would be when you run auto EQ. I already had one that came with my Pioneer home A/V receiver.

 

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/Accessories/AV-Components/CD-MC20

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