How accurate is Audioque clipping light?

[AllenH427 10+ year member]

On my headunit, I have my gains set to where my max volume is 25 (out of 35.) My AQ 1200D has the gain all of the way down, and at around that 25 volume, the clipping light starts to blink a little. My headunit has 4V preouts, but my gain being set at the lowest it can go is 8V on the amp. I can also turn it up a little passed 25 and the subs crank and they dont sound distorted at all, but obviously the clipping light starts to blink a lot more. So how accurate is that light? I've read numerous people saying its not accurate at all.

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[TheFiverMan 10+ year member]

Hows your voltage?

 

[AllenH427 10+ year member]

Idles at about 13.8V

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

The only true way to test clipping is with an oscilloscope.

 

[TheFiverMan 10+ year member]

Yeah oscope is your best bet.

 

[Cruzer 10+ year member]

Honestly i dont know, im not AQ but it sounds like u have something wrong.

i have no idea my voltage, but i called AQ when i got the amp and asked them to help me set it up.

he explained and i set it up. When volume is low no matter how hard the song hits it does not blink at all. When volume is say half of what i listen to, its possible for it to slightly blink. But when everything is set correctly (and i guess its fair to say nothing wrong with the knob/amp) at max listening volume and the subs hit, ur light should come on solid red, but should go off. There is a difference between the fullness of the color if u pay attention to it. just cuz it blinks doesnt mean much. once u set it up right u will see it gets really really red when hitting hard.

Idk what u mean by u have ur headunit's gains so ur max volume is 25 but my headunit is untouched on any settings.

also do u have bass boost on anything?

 

[thericanballer 10+ year member]

idk bc sometimes my aq indicates clipping but i dont think it is...

i set everything up with a dmm and everything, yet it says its clipping sometimes...

 

[groundpound4200 5,000+ posts]

whats the amp wired to?

 

[AllenH427 10+ year member]

@Cruzer- Like when I set my gains by ear (at least with the 4 channel) I make it as loud as possible with no distortion whatsoever when my headunit is volume 25 out of 35, and then back the gain off a little. That is the correct way of doing it without a DMM and oscilliscope. And no I don't have bass boost on and my LPF is set at 100 HZ. Also, say I'm listening to a solid tone, I can get it to where it actually just blinks a little bit, but I really dont know if that is damaging to the amp or not.

@Thericanballer- Yeah, I can turn the music up to where it's definitely indicating clipping but everything sounds fine, even when I open my trunk to get a better visual, it still sounds fine.

@Groundpound- 1 OHM, after impedence rise, if I remember correctly its 1.3.

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

i had a 1200d for a few months. i know when there was some long bass notes the light would stay red for a second or to. i 2 would not hear nor smell anything to think there was a issue . i know my voltage would drop but not to the point where there would b a issue. i say dont live and die by that **** light .

 

[Cruzer 10+ year member]

@Cruzer- Like when I set my gains by ear (at least with the 4 channel) I make it as loud as possible with no distortion whatsoever when my headunit is volume 25 out of 35, and then back the gain off a little. That is the correct way of doing it without a DMM and oscilliscope. And no I don't have bass boost on and my LPF is set at 100 HZ. Also, say I'm listening to a solid tone, I can get it to where it actually just blinks a little bit, but I really dont know if that is damaging to the amp or not.

Much like how u set urs up, i did the same but not by ear. He told me to put the volume on what i would normally listen to it on, make sure the knob is set to 0 bass, then turn the gain 3/4 way maxed out. play a song on the volume u listen to, turn the knob's bass up until the light comes on solid for a full second when the bass hits. thats where u want it to be. a he said as long as its flashing, and not coming on and staying on its doing no damage to the amp or subs and is at optimal settings.

after i found my sweet spot, i played with it so i could max my knob out and it would be at the right setting. that way if i want no bass i can just turn the knob all the way off and when i want it back on i dont have to try and find that sweet spot again. i can just turn it max and its right back where it is.

to do that i turned the gain off, turned the knob bass to max, then gradually moved the gain up till the light was doing what it was doing when i first set it up.

hope it helps. maybe u can post a video of what urs is doing. ill see if i can figure it out as well to show u what mine looks like just to compare

 

[AllenH427 10+ year member]

Lol I know what you're talking about... I was just wanting to know how accurate the knob was. He told me different though, he made it sound like you don't want it flashing at all, maybe for a kick or a higher note occasionally is okay. And just for lulz, my knob actually doesn't work. I just use my headunit and keep it at 10 out of 15 and adjust my bass that way if I want. I just didn't send it back because I really only want it for the clipping light.

 

[Cruzer 10+ year member]

Im not sure how anyone other than an AQ person would know how accurate it is. just because its flashing doesnt mean it really is clipping. AQ may have designed it just to be a warning. Maybe if it flashes ur damaging ur subs.

but i know for sure he told me to turn it up untill it flashed when it hit. not every little tiny hit, but the big hits. i love the light and from now on i want one to have that light because it makes tuning the gain super easy and so far effective for me.