Equalizer and Gain relations

[7ender 10+ year member]

After years of running my setup and being happy with it, Iv'e found i'd like to try running a little more midbass in the 100-600hz range.

My sub is currently crossed at 80 hz.

Now, what I am trying to figure out is how I get a little boost in the frequencies i'm looking at from my components without affecting the sub. In other words, my head unit only has a basic equalizer and by increasing the "low" frequencies, i'll also be boosting the 80hz and unders.

So is there a way to isolate my eq effects to only my components up front? I had thought of just setting the low portion of the equalizer higher and redoing my sub gains, but by doing this I would be essentially sending my sub a clipped signal, even after resetting gains to compensate (correct?).

Hope this wasnt' too confusing. Haven't been around here in a longg time so i'm a bit rusty .

Thanks

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[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

Get an external equalizer //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Many out there from $50-$500 and above. 5-band all the way through 31-band are common.

The more bands, the more control.

 

[7ender 10+ year member]

I actually had that in mind and have been considering getting one. Just hoping there would be a cheaper way of doing it

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

better sound costs money my friend. you don't have to spend a lot. you can get a decent EQ used for a good price. If you want more than 9 bands you have to choose between a digital EQ or a trunk mount EQ. You can get a decent shape Audio Control EQL for around $60-80 usually, but it's a decent EQ for the money. Or the older 1/2 DIN EQ's can work out well.

More EQ bands are key. That way you can adjust 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz etc. and not affect the sub EQ band of 63Hz. Note that those are standard octave bands - a 7 band EQ will have 63, 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000Hz. You can also get bands up to 8000Hz, 16000Hz, and some down to 35Hz.

as far as clipping goes - you should be able to adjust your head unit EQ without worrying about clipping the output. As long as you aren't using full volume and maxing out the EQ boost - you can just adjust your sub gain. Use a DMM to monitor amp output so it remains below it's rating - or use an oscilloscope and do a frequency sweep to verify you aren't clipping.

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

Do you have space in your dash?

This Arc Audio 1/2 din EQ just went up on ebay, and including shipping the guy only wants $45 for it.

ARC Audio KEQ5 5 band Equalizer W/ Sub Preamp - eBay (item 230491475679 end time Jul-03-10 18:18:10 PDT)

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Both excellent EQ's - the Audio Control DQS and the Kicker KQ30:

Audio Control DQS Equalizer - eBay (item 120586715907 end time Jun-26-10 14:39:31 PDT)

Kicker KQ30 30 band EQ 1/3 octave, Flawless Condition - eBay (item 110548892995 end time Jun-25-10 18:23:39 PDT)

Even the Alpine 3331

http://cgi.ebay.com/ALPINE-3331-GRAPHIC-EQ-W-SUBWOOFER-/110549578323?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19bd44b253

 

[7ender 10+ year member]

Hmm, thanks guys.

With some of those 1/2 din equalizers, I notice they have controls for 5-9 bands and sub level. However, again if I were to adjust the "low" band (seen on the arc audio unit posted above) would this leave me with the same problem i'm currently having that it would also be adjusting the sub level? Or do the units isolate the sub as separate and not affected by these adjustments?

 

[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

Hmm, thanks guys.
With some of those 1/2 din equalizers, I notice they have controls for 5-9 bands and sub level. However, again if I were to adjust the "low" band (seen on the arc audio unit posted above) would this leave me with the same problem i'm currently having that it would also be adjusting the sub level? Or do the units isolate the sub as separate and not affected by these adjustments?

If it has a sub control, then shouldn't affect it. The sub control should send info via the sub RCA's whereas the rest should send via the RCA's to front amp. However, not familiar with that specific unit.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

since you should have crossovers on your speakers, adjust an EQ band below your speaker crossover or above your sub crossover, won't affect both.

if you have an 80Hz crossover point (for sub and speakers)

at or below 63Hz will only affect the sub

80Hz will affect both sub and speakers

at or above 100Hz will affect only speakers

if you really need to adjust the output at the crossover point - independent for speakers and subs - you need active processing with the crossover in or before the EQ.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Boosting with EQ = meh

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Boosting with EQ = meh

Correct. If you want more midbass, adjust everything else lower. Assuming you had your gains set correctly before, boosting with your EQ will cause clipping. Always cut with an EQ, do not boost. And use the components with the lowest output as the starting point to adjust all other speaker outputs too.

But if you insist on continuing your current path, you want a parametric EQ, not the standard fixed band EQ's mostly being discussed in this thread.