Clipping?

[Branden2277]

Hey guys so today I was running some test tones on my amp to see where the output voltage was sitting and ran a test tone of 50,40,and 30 hz. Now at 50hz I'm sitting spot on at my target voltage of 34.6V but when I did into the 40hz and 30hz I'm pushing 40-47v and it starts clipping and buzzing very quietly. So now I'm curious as to if I should turn the gains down all together or leave it. Cause in reality how bad is it for a sub to clip briefly. I listen to country mostly but when my friends jump in they always play dub step and lots of bass songs. thanks

Click to read more...

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

do you use bass knobs aswell? i'd retune your system if it were me

 

[Branden2277]

I don't use any bass boost the only boost I use is a 60 hz but a very slight one

I really wanna know if clipping for brief seconds really affects a subwoofer I can't imagine it to be too good for it but I was just curious as to the degree

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

clipping is bad, period

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

clipping is not good but a soft clip wont really hurt.

 

[yogegoy]

Listen to your amp, when it clips you'll hear a very faint buzz from inside so you need to quiet it down (no buzzing). The harder the clipping the louder the buzz would sound, make sure you double check with a DMM, DD1 or OScope.

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

Listen to your amp, when it clips you'll hear a very faint buzz from inside so you need to quiet it down (no buzzing). The harder the clipping the louder the buzz would sound, make sure you double check with a DMM, DD1 or OScope.

well technically a DMM wont show you clipping. the oscope, DD-1 will tho

 

[Branden2277]

I gotta get my hands on a dd-1 is there anyway to check it with a multimeter or DMM that's all I have right now

 

[Branden2277]

I guess I could also check some music in audacity and see how low the hertz get and know to turn it back a bit on them

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

I gotta get my hands on a dd-1 is there anyway to check it with a multimeter or DMM that's all I have right now

no way to check with dmm/multimeter. are you setting it with your car on or off?

 

[Branden2277]

I have it running

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

I have it running

whats you box tuned to? you said you set it with a 40hz tone. i have always been told to use a 50hz tone

 

[bbeljefe]

Clipping at or below 1% isn't bad but, clipping doesn't become audible until about 10% so if you can hear it, it is at a dangerous level.

 

[Branden2277]

And what exactly does clipping sound like it should be like distortion right

 

[calebkhill 10+ year member]

Clipping sounds like the woofer starts playing a different tone.

As much as I've set my gains, I've never been able to hear my subs clip, even looking at the wave clip on a scope.

It's hard to hear clipping at sub levels. Just cut back on that buzzing