How do you all feel about metal and ported boxes?

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

If you port it, bass will come.

 

[Chrisrizzy]

I ran ported before with 2 P1s, but that was prefab. So we can't count that lol. I just wanted to try sealed and it Obv ain't for me

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

[quote name='Chrisrizzy']I finally got some metal loaded onto my phone as I was looking to add variety to my phone's music collection and I decided to give it a try in my car. My 12 Kappa is in a 1.0 cuft sealed box and it's performance with metal disappointed me. I listened to some Trivium and Bullet for my Valentine and I expected the bass to give me a decent thump in the body but it just failed to deliver. Hell, I even popped in Metallica's black album and it was the same way. The bass came out clean but I felt that it just blended... Yet, I can go to regular rock such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and get a little bump with that.

I'm planning a 30hz tuned ported box build more for the rap and edm I listen to, but how do you guys feel about ported and metal? Do you really feel it in your body with a well built ported enclosure?[/QUOTE]

Horrible idea tuning to 30hz unless you strictly listen to bass modified music like decaf or slownthrow. I listen to all those metal bands and rap and edm. I play everything needed and way more. Sealed never gave me the gut wrenching, chest pounding thump i needed. My ported plays all the double bass kicks easily and gets hella clean chest thumps on songs Like waking the demon. Tune a lot higher get a lot louder over a wide bandwidth is what you really need to achieve. metal is mainly 40 to 70hz for the deep thumps. A t line can get you there @CSCStang can make your sub sing. Ps. We are the forum metalheads. Any bloke telling you to tune really low has clue what real upper bass thump should feel like.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

You can tune low and it will play more flat. I think it's a better idea because it will play anything. You can't put a lot of port area and you lose a bit of overall output. It will still play metal and everything else technically accurate.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Tune higher and get a line driver or use a lot more gain. Most of those older recordings were just light on the low frequency mix because the loudspeakers back in those days just wouldn't hang with what we're doing today.

Also low E on a bass guitar is 40hz. If you plan to listen to actual music there's little need to tune lower because critical frequencies for actual music (played on instruments) will typically suffer.

I use a few Skrillex CDs for playing loud and there's not even much in those below 40hz, there's little to nothing that 40hz tuning wouldn't control the cone for.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

You can tune low and it will play more flat.

This statement is highly dependent on a sub that will play flat tuned lower. It also flies in the face of what you'll measure real-world.

 

[Chrisrizzy]

You can tune low and it will play more flat. I think it's a better idea because it will play anything. You can't put a lot of port area and you lose a bit of overall output. It will still play metal and everything else technically accurate.

What would be an appropriate tuning? 33 or 35 Hz? I was sticking with the 30 because infinity recommended it.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

I listen to metal every day and I run a ported enclosure tuned to 36 Hz. Some metal just lacks a strong kick, and that's as intended. If you want to feel it a bass boosting hu setting or even just a bass knob centered at ~45 Hz can really wake things up.

 

[Chrisrizzy]

[quote name='Jeffdachef']Horrible idea tuning to 30hz unless you strictly listen to bass modified music like decaf or slownthrow. I listen to all those metal bands and rap and edm. I play everything needed and way more. Sealed never gave me the gut wrenching, chest pounding thump i needed. My ported plays all the double bass kicks easily and gets hella clean chest thumps on songs Like waking the demon. Tune a lot higher get a lot louder over a wide bandwidth is what you really need to achieve. metal is mainly 40 to 70hz for the deep thumps. A t line can get you there @CSCStang can make your sub sing. Ps. We are the forum metalheads. Any bloke telling you to tune really low has clue what real upper bass thump should feel like.[/QUOTE]
Thank you very much for the heads up. What's a good tune for a good response overall? Lol I trust you esp when your avatar is End of Heartache

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

What would be an appropriate tuning? 33 or 35 Hz? I was sticking with the 30 because infinity recommended it.

32 is fine for all around. Just model the speaker first. It will be the best guess on how it will play. Just mess with it until it's as flat and as wide as it can get.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

This statement is highly dependent on a sub that will play flat tuned lower. It also flies in the face of what you'll measure real-world.

True that it is driver dependent. That has to be taken into consideration. I choose stuffthat will do it.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Thank you very much for the heads up? What's a good tune for a good response overall? Lol I trust you esp when your avatar is End of Heartache

It would depend on the sub and its ts spec along with your cabin shape and length but ported 34 to 38 is pretty safe and still plays rap easily

A t line will be tuned close to the sub's fs so that can be tuned low if the sub calls for it and still hit a few octaves higher

 

[Chrisrizzy]

I'm just trying to go with a simple ported enclosure as I am building myself. And the vehicle is an Acura TL so maybe a sedan trunk may play a part in this although I open up the ski pass

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I'm just trying to go with a simple ported enclosure as I am building myself. And the vehicle is an Acura TL so maybe a sedan trunk may play a part in this although I open up the ski pass

what kind of bass are you getting with your current sealed sub? Are you getting a lot of deep low shaking bass? are you able to play up high into the lower midbass region as loud as your 50hz and 30hz region? Might help us figure out your cabin gain a bit better.

I listen to metal every day and I run a ported enclosure tuned to 36 Hz. Some metal just lacks a strong kick, and that's as intended. If you want to feel it a bass boosting hu setting or even just a bass knob centered at ~45 Hz can really wake things up.

It can easily clip as well if the person does not go about maximizing the output very carefully. However when done right, you do get pretty good results. I usually just raise the sub level a lot higher to match the db level the song puts out instead.

 

[Chrisrizzy]

what kind of bass are you getting with your current sealed sub? Are you getting a lot of deep low shaking bass? are you able to play up high into the lower midbass region as loud as your 50hz and 30hz region?

Well it really depends. Your average rap song gives me decent bass and it can hit pretty low, but output definitely seems to be lost a bit. And high into the lower midbass region is not loud, it def just kind of blends. I'm sorry, but I'm not really good at describing this stuff. If you can point out a couple songs I can definitely test them. All in all, I find the bass to be kind of "held back" on a number of songs. It sounds the best with country and regular rock such as Shinedown or Rage Against the Machine.