Digital Time Alignment - How To Use?

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Well, like the thread title states...I'm a bit confused as to the advantages of having a HU with DTA over one that doesn't.

I'm kicking around the idea of upgrading my HU once I return stateside and as I am a rather loyal Kenwood fan the choices would be either the eXcelon KDC-X889 or the 25th Anniversary XXV-01D. I know that some say the only real difference between the two is the XXV has a bit better display but according to the stats on paper it is allegedly built with better internals than the eXcelon stuff....but that has nothing to do with why I've made this thread.

The 4-band EQs I feel confident that I could work out pretty easily. I'm further intrigued by the ability to use different EQ settings for the front and rear simultaneously. This seems like it would allow for a bit more in-depth system tweaking than my current HU allows for. I have heard/read from several trusted sources that the presence of the SRS WOW processing does more to detract from the sound quality than it does to improve it so it being part of the onboard processing doesn't particularly impress me much.

The DTA, however...I've never had a HU that incorporated it. Seemingly every HU that has it which also has an automatic DTA setting option seems to garner reviews that the AutoSet feature leaves much to be desired and that the user would be much better off making these adjustments manually.

What advantages does having DTA provide and how would one go about setting it having no real previous experience doing so?

EDIT: An involved answer isn't absolutely required...YES, I DID search. I found no in-depth discussions on DTA but rather simply mentions that this HU or that one actually has the feature. If there is an pre-existing online discussion about it that someone can link me to I would be most appreciative! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Click to read more...

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

TA is one of the best features an HU could have. basically the TA will center you in the car. Like how you sit in your driver seat, the left side is obviously closer to you than the right side so without TA, the left speakers will come to you faster than the right side so the majority of the music you hear will come from the left side. but with TA you can delay the left side so you now you could center yourself in your cabin. just how headphones are used, both the left and right side will come to your ears at the same time.

as for how to use a TA my manual came with a lil tutorial on how to use it and it also gave an equation on how much to delay each speaker. just read the manual.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Thanks, Kenny.

I'm leaning very hard towards upgrading as a treat to myself. Then I'll have to off my current HU to someone to try and make back some of the expenditure, I guess.

Anyway - thanks for answering.

 

[DiamondFanatic 10+ year member]

Upgrading to?

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

yea trust me getting an HU with TA is well worth it. lol whenever i have a passenger in my car and at first i Time align me as the center and then i will then TA my passenger, centering them, i say to them "can you hear a difference?" and they say, "yes did you add more wattage or something?" aah TA is great.

and also what are you upgrading to?

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Upgrading to?

I'm kicking around the idea of upgrading my HU once I return stateside and as I am a rather loyal Kenwood fan the choices would be either the eXcelon KDC-X889 or the 25th Anniversary XXV-01D. I know that some say the only real difference between the two is the XXV has a bit better display but according to the stats on paper it is allegedly built with better internals than the eXcelon stuff....but that has nothing to do with why I've made this thread.

One of those two...I've been a die-hard, loyal Kenwood fan for years and years. Don't see any reason to jump ship now that they're starting to put out some really, really nice HUs again.

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

Prowler Time Alignment is great. I have an Alpine 9853 and I love my time alignment. Like alphakenney said it basicaly centers you in the car, by delaying the speakers that are closest to you. The way I did mine was a measured how far my passenger speaker was away from me and put that number into an equation that Alpine provided and adjusted the drivers side speaker the appropriate number of Milliseconds. Get the HU with TA it is well worth it.

 

[thefunkybunch 10+ year member]

how i do it is measure from my head to the drivers side tweet, write it down. then to the drivers side woofer, and write it. then pass side tweet and pass side woofer. you subtract the distance of speakers from the distance of the speaker furthest from you. most HU's will come with a table (usually in cm)of how much delay the other speakers will need. usually the one furthest from you will be at 0. the rest will be at whatever delay the table reads. but i have no rear speakers, and am bi-amplifying my components in the front and it is very nice to be able to time correct the mids from the tweets independantly because my stock mid location is in the bottom of the door, and the tweets are in the sail panels.

yes, it makes a WORLD of difference. it does take a little tweaking from your measurements above, but those will get you very close. it will help put your soundstage right where it should be //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

i have been a little disappointed with kenwood's time alignment, it's kind of a pita to set up. they could have made it much more user friendly, but wiht enough playing you will get it right //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif