Alpine CDA-9887 EQ Settings

[Cpyder 10+ year member]

I just installed an Alpine 9887 and I can't seem to make it sound good. There's way too much emphasis on the middle bands even when I crank the eq down in that section. It sounds like a radio or loudspeaker. Rap sounds good, but rock sounds off.

Can anyone recommend a good EQ setting?

Also, I haven't messed around with the Q factor on the parametric equalizer. Maybe that would help?...

Click to read more...

 

[eharri3 10+ year member]

Not an expert but Ill try to help since I just got m 9883 set up to my liking and listen to the same things. For me it took adjusting a bunch of different things, not just EQ. What all do you have in addition to the HU? Does it have the fancy IMPRINt thingy or just the regular built in parametric HU? Where are your crossovers and EQ settings right now? Are you getting a loud, booming bass or does it feel like it's directional, as in you have a sub behind you and you can feel an overwhelming sense of the frequencies coming from the rear?

For me the best compromise between rap and rock seemed to be bass center frequency at 80 width at 2, treble at 10 or 12.5, all boosts zeroed out, front comps crossed over at around 65-70HZ. Some of these things will vary depending on what the capabilities of the rest of your system are. I got mine to where it's almost perfect except I still sometimes have to cut sub volume for bass heavy blues music. Sometimes EQ will get you where you want to be, sometimes it's a bunch of different adjustments in combination that make things right.

 

[Cpyder 10+ year member]

Thanks. I'll have to get back to you on where exactly my crossovers are set right now. I know it's around 120Hz for my fronts. They are 4x6 Infinity plate speakers. They sound good at lower frequencies but I love to crank it up sometimes and then I'll some distortion. My rears are Infinity 693.9i and set around 60Hz. My subs (Infinity Reference) are off right now because my amp is being funny and keeps popping fuses. (Probably a grounding problem)

I haven't bought the Imprint kit yet. I don't have control over my bass and treble without it. I have a 5 band parametric equalizer or 7 band graphic. Here's the manual for it: http://support.alpine-usa.com/products/documents/OM_CDA-9887.PDF

The bass isn't overwhelming and it sounds pretty balanced, it's just that it always sounds very radio-like which is driving me nuts. Also, the treble really feels to be lacking. Maybe this is Alpine's sick trick of forcing me to buy Imprint so I don't have to figure all this out by myself.