setting your gains on music VS setting with test tones

[mat3833 10+ year member]

so i have no way to set my gains "correctly" with a test tone until i get a proper headunit. and it got me thinking, why do we set gains with test tones if we listen to music? this is my thought:

find a song with a good bassline, set your gains to ~95% of what you think they should be (aka you need to see 50V set it to ~45V). obviously there is something wrong with this thought process, so can someone shead some light for me please? right now i have my gains set very conservativly and im happy, but id like to know if setting gains this way can cause big problems. (keep in mind that in my case i have ~600W of power and 2 subs that can take 1K each)

Matt

Click to read more...

 

[Imtjnotu 5,000+ posts]

songs fluctuate in frequency response....50hz-60hz is where gains should be set with but not all music plays in that range so no.....

 

[mat3833 10+ year member]

why is 50-60hz the "magic number" 90% of the songs i hear peak at ~35-45hz. im just trying to understand why we set our gains to one frequency instead of music.

Matt

 

[Imtjnotu 5,000+ posts]

why is 50-60hz the "magic number" 90% of the songs i hear peak at ~35-45hz. im just trying to understand why we set our gains to one frequency instead of music.
Matt

music doesnt peak your car peaks...and im not sure somone tag keep hope alive

 

[mat3833 10+ year member]

music peaks as well... your car has a specific frequency that will be loudest for a given level of sound(not sure exactly tho), but songs have a frequency that peaks at a higher DB than the rest. one song may peak at -10db @35hz and another may peak at -12db@40hz.
@keep_hope_alive ;

Matt

 

[dbjunior 10+ year member]

Most dmm will only accurately read acv between 50-60hz that is why we use those frequencies. We use tones because they are a constant measure where as music can be all over the place one song -6db at 30hz and another -3db at 30hz you don't know. If you set your gains to the -6db and then play the -3db at full volume you will clip like crazy.

 

[mat3833 10+ year member]

now that makes sense. setting at 0db gain would be the highest you will find in music if im not mistaken. and since AC volts is @60 hz that also makes sense.

Matt