Setting Gains - Do I Account for Impedance of Stainless Bolts/Terminals?

[frogcase2002 10+ year member]

The dd1 is useless. No one should get one. . Why would you set gains with one tone when music is MANY frequencies.

 

[sharkman]

The dd1 is useless. No one should get one. . Why would you set gains with one tone when music is MANY frequencies.

not to step on toes but if you set it by ear wouldnt you into the same problem. i think you are over thinking the matter here a bit. if you make sure you find your max h/u output and match it with the amp then the idea is that you would get no distortion. if i had the extra cash i would get the dd1 its just made to work without trying to find out how to use the settings on a o scope. plus if you wanted to set your gains with your on music doest change anything

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

When distortion clipping is audible simply back off the head unit volume a couple clicks and you're good. A good rule of thumb is to never try to take your head unit past 80% on the volume knob (though I've seen head units put out at full dial with a clean waveform).

What all the Steve Mead fanboys who claim "your distortion has been there a long time" don't seem to consider is that a couple clicks on the volume knob is typically 1.5-2DB which represents about 60-70% power from your clipped level. I'd be amazed if audible clipping -2dB wouldn't put you well into safe operating range.

You can set your gains retard-proof and leave a lot of headroom on the table, or use a little ******* common sense.... set gains to match output levels among your amps so that it sounds good and rely on some sense and the head unit's volume to keep it out of over-driving things.

If your system is designed to play music you should be setting your gains by ear listening to music.... if it sounds good it is good. If you're competing you should be setting your gains with a Termlab or other SPL meter because that's the only thing that matters.