Audiocontrol Epic-160 Small review

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

Hi everyone

Just got my epic-160 unit, thanks to kamania from here. While i was waiting for it, i did a lot of search and didn't found enough infos so i'm putting a small review on the unit.

Here's the specs and infos on the epic-160

http://www.audiocontrol.com/t34/5250/14152/In--Dash-Car-Audio-Processors/EPIC--160-In--dash-Car-Audio-Bass-Processor-and-160-dB-SPL-Display.html

So it's a 1/2 din in dash unit. It need a full range signal to works properly, so it got to be put before any crossover/equalizer. I'm also using a clarion 7band eq, 1/2 din too with subwoofer output control... a must if you use the epic-160.

As an added bonus, there's a db meter and a voltmeter... i'll be back on this latter on.

It does what it is suppose to, in a very impressive way imo. All the review i read were talking about how "un-natural" the added bass was or on how it's almost like an line driver, which ain't true at all. If used correctly, it an hella fun toy.... LOT OF FUN //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryhappy.gif.fec4fed33b4a1279cf10bdd45a039dae.gif

There's three important knobs on it.

1) Para-bass frequency center knob: 27hz-63hz

2) Bandwidth knob. Letting you choose on wide the restoration will be. from 30-250hz

3)Restoration level knob. How much added signal in the output

Some reviewers were saying that most of "already bass loaded" songs just sounded bad with it. There's a "restoration" button available, so in just a finger push, you can bypass the unit. Really cool

I did some test with songs with very little bass content like bryan adams and some local rock bands. Playing with the parabass center and Bandwidth know on each song really bring out some awesome clarity bass line that look really natural to me. You don't need to push anything and it sound cleaner than pushing the amp gain and trying to get bass were there is none. So far, i really love putting the parabass center at 27hz with a 30hz-50hz Bandwidth range. It put some lows... i mean LOWSSS!!!! bassline in every existant songs. I need to lower subwoofer output a LOT each time I use the restoration system

I tried it with rap songs too. On jeezy songs, the bass would sound "akward" sometime, but when you play with the control, you can definitively get something different. You don't like a bassline in a song, just modify it to your taste. I was surprise about how good i could make any songs sound. I tried with already low end bass songs like white girl and it does works too... just be easy on the restoration and look at the woofer wanging like no tommorow //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

I tried it on songs with higher bass frequency like "whatever you like" from T.I. I always hate how the bass was blending in that song. Content looks to be in the high 60s-70s and just didn,t sound great in all the systems i heard. Now it does.

With some tuning, i could get it to sound like a jeezy song with intense, low40s bassline. Now sound 100x better. Seriously my jaw dropped. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

I'll try it with some Celine Dion songs (she's Quebec's proudness) latter on. I'll def play with it a lot in the coming days.

Now on the look

The illumination on the unit is green, but very light compared to my headunit and eq. It does fit with my clock color though. On bright sunny day, i can't see what the db meter/voltmeter says, until i put my hand just over the screen. It ain't cool, but not too annoying too. At night/cloudy day, it is a lot easier to read.

The Voltmeter. It is more accurate than my 20$ shipped from hong-kong voltmeter i have near the dash too. This one seems to be .2-.3 under the real reading at front batt car on/off. Not too bad. When i start the car, it says 14.2 while at the front i'm at 14.4-14.5

The Db meter

I don't know how accurated it is, but i hope it's not that much. I scored 142 on music ( lost -guorilla zoe ) with my sig setup, which would be a nice deception. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif I won't take it too seriously, but the kamania, the ex-owner, says it was 1db under the tl. Still 143 ain't satisfying with two 15s and around 1800 +/- watts of power. It is really consistent and always give me the same score, with the same songs.

There's a peak holding button too. I register the higher score and keep it on screen till you reset it. The score always seems to appear half a second after the bass hit... not too bad. The mic seems to pick up only the bass, so i won't be able to tune my mids/high with it. It doesn't seems accurate at all under 120db though, as it's going from 65-94 db without any sound (car off in parking windows shut) Over that, each +1 volume increment on my headunit seems to bring few dbs more in a realistic way.

now on the bad side

Adding a lot of content in the lowend region also affect my mids a lot. Right now, the hpf set around 80-90 hz with a 18db sloppe. I'm sending a lot of power to the crossover too. It does boost them nicely at low level, but once you start pushing the mids at high level, you better keep the bass restoration at real low level. They pick up too much bass, even if I set everything at the lowest point. A better sloppe would probably help a lot.

so that's my epic-160 review, thanks for reading. Any question just ask. Sorry about all the gramathical error and the sentence structure. I'm a canadian frog //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

have a nice day and consider this audiocontrol unit if you love bass. I can't believe i didn't get one before. It is the ultimate bass toy. Just be carefull coz it could cook your subs pretty quick if you aren't using it properly

Click to read more...

 

[Sarthos 10+ year member]

Few questions about this then

1. You say this affects your mids? Are you using only one output on your HU, sending that through the Epic-160 and then to a crossover? I have a dedicated sub output on my HU, so this won't affect my mids, right?

2. Why is the Clarion unit a must? Because it can lower the subwoofer output? Couldn't the HU's subwoofer output be turned down instead?

3. Do you think this unit would sound good on country and older rock music? (Like Johnny Cash or Elvis?)

4. Does anyone know about the accuracy of the meter?

 

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

Few questions about this then
1. You say this affects your mids? Are you using only one output on your HU, sending that through the Epic-160 and then to a crossover? I have a dedicated sub output on my HU, so this won't affect my mids, right?

2. Why is the Clarion unit a must? Because it can lower the subwoofer output? Couldn't the HU's subwoofer output be turned down instead?

3. Do you think this unit would sound good on country and older rock music? (Like Johnny Cash or Elvis?)

4. Does anyone know about the accuracy of the meter?

i'm glad someone actually care for the 30min i spent writting //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

1. The epic-160 need to be placed before any crossover. That mean you can only use the front/rear rca channel, without any processing like hpf/lpf. subwoofer output from the deck usually have a lpf enable... that would kill the epic-160 purpose

2.I knob that you can adjust quickly is a must because the epic-160 can make shitload of bass out of almost nothing. It's a must if you, like i do, always play with the setting when switching song

3. I put some Éric Lapointe and got some interresting result. Bass was inexistent prior to the audiocontrol. I need had to "crank" the bass restoration knob more than half-way and that would give sick result... on anything i tried. That's why i want to try with some celine dion //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

4. Some says it's almost dead on. There's no decimal so it can't be as precise as a TL. I hope it's at least 4-5 db off... or I **** at building loud system

 

[Sarthos 10+ year member]

1. I *think* my subwoofer output is a full range output, it's labeled as "non-fading/subwoofer output". I'd have to test to make sure though by hooking it up to one of my 4 channel amps. Any idea why it needs a full-range signal? That seems weird to me.

2. Can't the restoration level knob be used instead of the knob on the Clarion unit? I'd just prefer to not buy an extra EQ on top of the 6 channel 30 band one I already have.

3. Cool. You should try with some Johnny Cash or Elvis for me if you have any //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. Also, you say the bass is "sick" does that mean it's loud or it actually sounds good or both? If it gives off loud bass that just seems like it's bass for the sake of bass that's not very good.

4. I've heard varied opinions about the microphone on it too. Partially just because of the location though. A TL isn't very likely to be measured directly below the stereo.

But thanks, I've been looking for some good opinions on one of these before I decide whether to buy one.

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

Bandwhich = Bandwidth //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Sounds like a fun toy.

 

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

Bandwhich = Bandwidth //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
Sounds like a fun toy.

thanks for the precision:laugh:

 

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

1. I *think* my subwoofer output is a full range output, it's labeled as "non-fading/subwoofer output". I'd have to test to make sure though by hooking it up to one of my 4 channel amps. Any idea why it needs a full-range signal? That seems weird to me.2. Can't the restoration level knob be used instead of the knob on the Clarion unit? I'd just prefer to not buy an extra EQ on top of the 6 channel 30 band one I already have.

3. Cool. You should try with some Johnny Cash or Elvis for me if you have any //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. Also, you say the bass is "sick" does that mean it's loud or it actually sounds good or both? If it gives off loud bass that just seems like it's bass for the sake of bass that's not very good.

4. I've heard varied opinions about the microphone on it too. Partially just because of the location though. A TL isn't very likely to be measured directly below the stereo.

But thanks, I've been looking for some good opinions on one of these before I decide whether to buy one.

1. They show why in the manual booklet. It need a full range signal to understand the higher harmonic patern. Once it has that harmonic signal (doesn't add bass to voice really... I think it gets most of the infos under 1k hz) but just calculate how the bassline should be. It blend nicely... just don't overuse the restoration knob. So far i get the best result with the restoration knob at min or 1/4 max.

2. You might not want to use the epic-160 on every song... You might need some tuning between each songs like i do... thats' how i am. That's why i suggest either a quick subwoofer output knob or a amp remote control. That way, if you pu a song and the bass is just too loud/not blending, a quick finger tip can resolve the problem.

3. I meant "Sick" as Awesome. I love pushing the lows, that's just me. Now every single songs can have a strong lowend and most of the time, it can sound real good and even better than without the epic-160. The bassline from "Whatever you like" from T.I. was almost sounding like a train horn before... with some tuning, it can sound like if the beat was produced for jeezy.

4. The mic is an add-on. No one care about ac score... they're not official. It seems pretty consistent... but maybe off. I haven't had a lot of time with it as now, but that will come soon. I did 131hz @ 20hz though //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif that score is great but the 142 on music ain't //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[PaulD 10+ year member]

1) The unit looks at 50-100 Hz and and creates a halftone for everything it finds

2) Heavy bass in a car can be adictive, if you need to adjust pretty much every song then either the stereo is not tuned right and/or you really don't know what to listen for.

3) It probably works best with sources that have very little below 50 Hz

4) It is off by several dB, fortunately though it's off consistently - meaning it probably reads 4-5 dB higher than the TL meter.

 

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

1) The unit looks at 50-100 Hz and and creates a halftone for everything it finds
2) Heavy bass in a car can be adictive, if you need to adjust pretty much every song then either the stereo is not tuned right and/or you really don't know what to listen for.

3) It probably works best with sources that have very little below 50 Hz

4) It is off by several dB, fortunately though it's off consistently - meaning it probably reads 4-5 bD higher than the TL meter.

1) The unit add fundamentals to the 1st harmonics, 2nd and 3rd harmonics. It goes a lot higher than 50-100, hence the need of a full range output

2) //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif I'm not going to sq comps. I'm listening to bass loaded music with my substage +15db over the mids/highs. I want the basslines to sound like I want. Not how like it was intented to be on a perfect environnement/flat system

3) So far, it works with anything. It does miracles on already low songs... as long as your subs/amps can keep up

4) //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif if it read 4-5 db higher than tl i'm doing 135 with two 15s and 1.8k watt. I would be the worst SPL competitor at any comps //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif I'm pretty sure its actually reading lower than tl and the ex-owner was 1db under too.

 

[ampresearch 10+ year member]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif if it read 4-5 db higher than tl i'm doing 135 with two 15s and 1.8k watt. I would be the worst SPL competitor at any comps //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif I'm pretty sure its actually reading lower than tl and the ex-owner was 1db under too.

this is true. i own both and the 160 is just a bit under the TL. i will find my post where i was testing the two on another site

 

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

this is true. i own both and the 160 is just a bit under the TL. i will find my post where i was testing the two on another site

Really interrested in that test. both unit at the dash?

 

[douglas.leejr 10+ year member]

1. Learn to spell.

2. Use your new spelling/grammar knowledge here.

3. ????

4. Profit.

 

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

1. Learn to spell.2. Use your new spelling/grammar knowledge here.

3. ????

4. Profit.

1. Learn to read. I'm a french canadian

2. I'm doing my best

3. ???

4. GTFO

 

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

wrong,they have only been 1db off on every setup ive used it on some times reading lower than a tl.
//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/furious.gif.fc81ca146dbff91fede3ed290dbc4f4c.gif im so tired of people saying that they are 5 to 10 db's off.if you havent testet it against a TL then STFU and GTFO.ive tested 3 epic-160 with many differant TL's and it was never off more than a DB.

they might be dead on too, considering the fact that there's no decimal.

let say tl 149.0

epic 148.9 ====> 148

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[80INCHES 5,000+ posts]

the audiocontrol epic160 mic is off BY ALOT....thats all in a nutshell..the only thing that correct is the voltage display that it has.

80

i sticking with the truck mount version becuz its much better imho