Bass boost and Loudness

[95Prober 10+ year member]

Curious, why are these 2 settings on an amp and deck even there for if most recommend to not use them and leave them on zero of off ???

Is there a positive scenario where you'd use them and not hurt any of your equipment?

Click to read more...

 

[Blue Fury 10+ year member]

Probably the same reason as to why men have nipples.

Just kidding

Probably to have a different option to manipulate the signal to those that like the resulting sound.

 

[KyleBechtold 5,000+ posts]

what most people don't take into consideration is if you have an eq and you turn your 40hz up you are using bass boost essentially.

 

[microhaxo 10+ year member]

Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes, Clovers, and Blue Moons, Amps with turned up Bass Boost Brings a Flame War on You!!!

 

[Twista89 10+ year member]

I use loudness on my HU only because there is no bass output without it on...even with the gains set correctly. I barely hear the subs at full volume without loudness on MID. But I dont use any bass boost...I did increase my SLA up two notches though.

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Curious, why are these 2 settings on an amp and deck even there for if most recommend to not use them and leave them on zero of off ???Is there a positive scenario where you'd use them and not hurt any of your equipment?

Yes, but it appears no one here uses their equipment in a fashion that may require them.

Loudness and Bass Boost are meant to be used at *low* volume levels where it may be necessary to increase bass frequencies in order to provide a fuller, more rich or balanced sound.

 

[MBrock4u 10+ year member]

I use mine on my sub amp, but only a little to give it that extra push. You can use it, but just be careful. People usually get into trouble when they blast it with the gains cranked. People will also tell you it can invite distortion into your system, which we all know is a big no no.

 

[schackel 10+ year member]

Probably the same reason as to why men have nipples.
Just kidding

Probably to have a different option to manipulate the signal to those that like the resulting sound.

Nipples for the win!

 

[darsum 10+ year member]

btw, what's the Q factor (width) of the bass boost of most amps? Is it 1/2 octave, 1 octave, or...?

 

[mike11202 10+ year member]

only use loudness in low power and sealed box applications.. does wonders

bass boost i would never pass 1/4 with it

 

[MBrock4u 10+ year member]

Exactly, 1/4 on the boost in most cases is enough.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

I don't have a loud button on my deck, lol!

 

[blackdragonaudi 10+ year member]

The reason loudness and all are there is for 2 reasons. The first is for at lower volume the bass frequency are increased for a more balanced sound. As for the second reason as if anyone even uses it anymore but when listening to the radio the bass is muddy and compressed by using the loud or bass boost it allows the bass to sound more as if it was played off a cd. I don't use either at all so I don't have to worry about kicking up any bass.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

Bass boost is for people who don't run their amps full tilt and want some EQing in the bottom end and don't want to make a new box to fix frequency response problems. Basically, not the people who frequent car audio forums which is why it gets flamed so much here.

Like said earlier, any boosting done on any EQ is going to result in early clipping at those frequencies near full tilt.