bass boost okay if no clipping?

[bigdub_diesel 10+ year member]

is it okay to turn the bass eq up if there is absolutly no clipping? i thought the bass equalizer lik controlled the wattage coming out of the amp. ive had one 300 watt sub on a 1000 watt amp for about 2 weeks, and i set the bass eq about 1/4 the way up, and i havent had it clip once. im getting 2 more 300 watt subs in a few days, so im just wondering, cause all ive seen about turning the bass eq up is that it causes clipping and can damage subs if clipping occurs too often. so if there is no clipping, is there a problem?

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[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

It's fine to use bass boost without clipping, you'll just have lower the gain to achieve this. I'm not a big fan of bassboost. I like to set and forget.

 

[MBrock4u 10+ year member]

It would seem to me thats o.k. to do since thats about were I have my bass boost at. I have had no problems with it or at least so far. I also don't have the gains set high either. Don't need to with my system.

 

[DIGIDIGIBOMBO 10+ year member]

Everythink is ok if there is no clipping and ur not exceeding mechanical properties of the speaker. U can even set gains to 100% and bass boost to 100% if ur HU preout voltage is soooooooooooooooo low ( theoretically). Some times i dont use bass boost, now i am using 50% bass boost, its all about training ur ear to detect distortion or even when the cone is ratteling in subwoofers...There is no such thing as, set ur HU equalizer and settings once and for all, every song is different...i am not gonna open my trunk and set gains+x-over for each cd/song i listen to. Thats y i like good HU with too many option settings, i change them at every song At some songs i do not exceed Hu volume of 30 out of 62, at some i go till 55. The maximum unclipped volume and DMM settings will keep u on the safe side, but its better to train the ear. When i will change my HU, i might set bass bosst to 0% or perhaps not go beyound HU volume of 20, i am exagerating numbers here, but trying to get u the message Good luck

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

That was one of the most difficult to read posts that I have seen in a while. Punctuation is your friend. The spacebar is you friend. Complete sentences are your friend.

Not sure what this "train the ear" stuff is, but I can assure you that you can drive an amp to clipping, especially a sub amp and not hear it until it is too late. Ears are terrible distortion meters. If you gains are set to get the max out of the amp using a DMM and a 0dB test tone and you add bass boost after that, you're asking for trouble. +3dB is DOUBLE the power. Unless your amp is grossly underrated and you set the gain to only get rated power then even 3dB of boost at the volume you set the gain at will mess stuff up.

Another thing to consider is that amps aren't the only things that clip. HUs clip, too. If you turn up the volume and turn up the boost on the HU, the outputs will clip, sending a clipped signal downstream and wreaking havoc with amp input stages and output stages as they exceed their duty cycle and start to overheat/blow.

I'm not saying that there is no place for a little bass boost. At low volumes it's OK to get the subs into the audible range, but I see it used more often than not to try to get more volume out of the subs with the system cranked.

 

[DIGIDIGIBOMBO 10+ year member]

I have tried using the DMM methos many many many times, and honnestly my sub was barely moving. It was only successfull when i used it to set gains for my speakers. I always ended by throwing the test tone cd, and setting it by ear. I used a 45Hz tone, set the right voltages for my sub etc....but with no results at alllll. Sure with low frequencies u cannot hear distortion as with speakers....i might try to use and O-scope sometimes and if still i dont get results, i will continue setting gains by ear, as i didnt have any problem till now by using this method.Even without using a DMM etc...i find myself not exceeding a HU volume of 20 out of 62 on some songs, and on others i go up till 55. When using a test tone and DMM, most music i listen to is barely audible from my system and output is soooooooooo poor.

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

yea i agree with above, setting by ear isn't a bad way to set gains as long as you can hear the distortion. once you hear the distortion you can back off a bit.

 

[DIGIDIGIBOMBO 10+ year member]

I went to my car now and took a DMM and a 45Hz odB test tone to see what is my output voltage that i have set by ear. I pluged the test tone cd, and connected the DMM, i kept on turning the HU volume up to reach the right voltage, i wanted to see how far i am....At a volume of 25 i reached the right voltage. KNOWING that when i listen to strong cd bass i do not go beyoung 30 relying on my ears. With other bass songs i do go up till 45. So i guess i am kinda hitting my settings on the right spot with no DMM right? Relying on the DMM, my maximum HU volume should be 25 if i dont want to touch my gain settings...so only for super super strong bass songs, the sound will be good, as for average bass songs, the sub will barely move, and thats y i am going up till a volume of 45 when playing those cd's, so here i am back to point 0 i am not able to see how u guys are happy with the DMM method or maybe i am doing realllly something wrong without knowing it help help:S:S:S

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

is it okay to turn the bass eq up if there is absolutly no clipping? i thought the bass equalizer lik controlled the wattage coming out of the amp.

Bass EQ's like Bass Boost and NOT the same as a REMOTE GAIN. Remote gains actually control the input voltage the amp sees. Bass EQ's and Bass Boosts BOOST a certain frequency, some can be variable, others not.

Since every CD is produced differently, the more EQ or Boost you use, the more you'll be messing with it. And what's worse, any ripped song can get really outta whack with the bass.

Setting gains by ear isn't reliable, you won't hear distortion, you'll hear HORRIBLE CLIPPING though.

Check my sig, there's a GREAT little cheap remote gain, variable LPF in it. It's passive, so it only attenuates and discreet.

Anyway G/L with it.

 

[Dj-torn 10+ year member]

are these cd's that you have created? If so you might want to check how you dwnlded the song. Some songs i have dwnlded sound like they were recorded using i mic, and not burned of the original cd, or fed strainght into the mic in.

If you can Nero burning allows you to eq songs before you burn them, i use cool edit pro, there are plenty of programs out there that can help you with this.

this could be one explanation

 

[DIGIDIGIBOMBO 10+ year member]

Yes, all of my cd/s are recorded and burned from the pc using nero:S