Sound/tuning Question

[batmanjl]

Hello All, looking for some advice on tuning my inside speakers. im aiming for SQL, as my trunk is purely SPL (lol). my current setup back to front is as follows:

2 12's tantrics in a 2:1 4th order box, on 1 3.5k Twisted sounds amp (currently doing 153.2 out the trunk) Blowthru.

2,4 channel Amps- Kenwood X4R with built in DSP and 5 band parametric eq, and a boss armor 1600.4.

1 Epicenter. 1 memphis line driver, and 1 audiocontrol three.1 (so much overkill i think).

inside, 2 Memphis pro audio loudspeaker (6.5s) in the front doors, 2 JL c5 6.5s in the back,(just replacement speakers). 2 mojo super tweeters in the front door as well (virtually on axis), 2 boston ac 3.5s in the dash. and soon adding 2 clarion tweeters in the pillar when i have time.

HU: Pioneer Avic nex 5000 with 13band graphic EQ.(currently set to flat).

i have the 6.5s on the kenwood amp, the tweeters and 3.5s on the boss.

and honestly sounds like S*** at high volume. especially once the bass knob is up. all im looking for is a "loud" but clear vocally blended sound. i listen to alot of rap and R&B, and i know "good " is subjective and varies by ear. t used to sound good when i was running the kenwood only and b4 i decided to add and seperate everything per amp/channel. HPF is set at 100. and up. have some passive XO laying around, some memphis that are crossed at 3.3,(power reference) and some kickers crossed at 4.5 and 7.0 (ks series), any suggestions on which EQ to use 1st? kenwoods dsp? the HU? or the three.1? if using the HU any suggestions on settings? where to cut/boost?, good crossover point for the 6.5s? then the 3.5s? and super stweets? use my passive xo? go active? any input is appreciated....

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

You need to ditch a lot of stuff and get a pure digital signal processor with 8 channel output along with 31 band parametric EQ. Then you can basically get an RTA service and see what frequencies you need to control

 

[batmanjl]

You need to ditch a lot of stuff and get a pure digital signal processor with 8 channel output along with 31 band parametric EQ. Then you can basically get an RTA service and see what frequencies you need to control

parametric over graphic? in that scenario, using what i have available, should use the built in DSP on the X4R for mids/highs?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

parametric over graphic? in that scenario, using what i have available, should use the built in DSP on the X4R for mids/highs?

No. Leave everything out All processing done by the DSP only. Amps are only there for pure power and thats it. No audiocontrol, no EQ no epicenter no line driver. All of that is not overkill, a signal disaster.

 

[batmanjl]

No. Leave everything out All processing done by the DSP only. Amps are only there for pure power and thats it. No audiocontrol, no EQ no epicenter no line driver. All of that is not overkill, a signal disaster.

So just to be clear, the X4R only? lol. any suggestions on how to tune the Q factor?

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Ditch the Boss 4 channel. Build a proper ported box. Gt rid of the epicenter and other line drivers. Ditch EQ's.

Get a nice processor and make sure your doors are treated.

 

[Tripn88]

There's nothing wrong with his sub stage....

Just simplify it down 5 band EQ is lacking for sq. although I run mine completely flat with no dsp I can't say much. Are your lpf and hpf set correctly. Maybe your front stage is producing sounds it shouldn't.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

So just to be clear, the X4R only? lol. any suggestions on how to tune the Q factor?

Keep everything on the XR turn off all processing. Get rid of everything else. Its just harming your sound rather than helping.

 

[batmanjl]

There's nothing wrong with his sub stage....
Just simplify it down 5 band EQ is lacking for sq. although I run mine completely flat with no dsp I can't say much. Are your lpf and hpf set correctly. Maybe your front stage is producing sounds it shouldn't.

with no bass involved its "decent" till i crank the volume, then it sounds s****y. not sure if i need ot make cuts everywhere, or what. lpf for sub is set to about 80/90hz. Hpf is set to arounr 100/120. wether on X4R or headUnit, thats where i normally set it at. HU is on flat though. Doors are treated. ive read about band passing mids, but not sure on how to do that given my current setup.

 

---------- Post added at 05:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:00 PM ----------

 

Keep everything on the XR turn off all processing. Get rid of everything else. Its just harming your sound rather than helping.

three.1 and normal Line driver included? even for SPL purposes?

 

[batmanjl]

Was thinking, i could run sub output into three.1 or to amp, and use lpf from HU and use HPF on amp to BP mids?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

with no bass involved its "decent" till i crank the volume, then it sounds s****y. not sure if i need ot make cuts everywhere, or what. lpf for sub is set to about 80/90hz. Hpf is set to arounr 100/120. wether on X4R or headUnit, thats where i normally set it at. HU is on flat though. Doors are treated. ive read about band passing mids, but not sure on how to do that given my current setup. 

---------- Post added at 05:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:00 PM ----------

 

three.1 and normal Line driver included? even for SPL purposes?

The more sh*t you have in between the easier it is for you to clip/distort the signal along with introducing noise. Its best to get rid of all of those completely and reset your gains properly.

Was thinking, i could run sub output into three.1 or to amp, and use lpf from HU and use HPF on amp to BP mids?

nope. Once you have a DSP, you have extreme precision crossover options already and a clean strong signal to the amps, no need for anything else boosting the signal into distortion levels.

I'd recommend you watching these videos to catch a glimpse of what DSPs can actually do tuning wise and you'll see all the tuning gear you have right now are unnecessary and useless in comparison.

This is a cheap budget DSP, this is a soundstream harmony and ppi dsp 88R clone and you already have this much features. Skip to 04:35






I'd recommend selling a lot of your unnecessary stuff and just getting a proper DSP like a helix DSP pro 10 and get your setup sounding amazing the right way.

 

[batmanjl]

The more sh*t you have in between the easier it is for you to clip/distort the signal along with introducing noise. Its best to get rid of all of those completely and reset your gains properly.


nope. Once you have a DSP, you have extreme precision crossover options already and a clean strong signal to the amps, no need for anything else boosting the signal into distortion levels.

I'd recommend you watching these videos to catch a glimpse of what DSPs can actually do tuning wise and you'll see all the tuning gear you have right now are unnecessary and useless in comparison.

This is a cheap budget DSP, this is a soundstream harmony and ppi dsp 88R clone and you already have this much features. Skip to 04:35

Most everything "added" I already had I a couple other cars. Added the three.1 for volume control on the fly. Added Memphis line driver to boost my subs amp and a tally replace the epic. I played with the Kenwood a while before adding the extra. Just couldn't get it right. I'll have to double back and play around again