Upgrading my budget system [Help Wanted] 6/29/2016

[Jcdanible]

Voltage is fine, check your wiring.

Everything is fine, thinking its a bad unit.

 

[Jcdanible]

Voltage is fine, check your wiring.

Oh man.... I had the mic from my old Kenwood head unit plugged in and that caused all of those random problems... So weird and I feel so stupid. Thanks for all the help, I will be tuning everything and hopefully getting results and some questions and comments on it in. Thanks for all the help up to this point.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Wiring is fine, It is turning on fine after reset but it just won't open the menu and I can't get the remote to work. Also should I be switching from standard mode to network? (the more advanced mode) I've read that there are two modes... Also should i do the firmware update for bluetooth?

If you are running the p660c components dont even worry about network mode for now.

 

[Jcdanible]

If its the 80 prs, to just start you off, have the volume around 50, sub level at +0 and all your amplifier gains minimized. play your hardest hitting bass song and raise the sub amp gain until it stops getting louder, then back it off. sub level is in sub 2 in the options, the sub's low pass crossover is there as well, keep it at 80hz to start off.
Then with the 4 channel amp, just raise it up until it starts sounding nasty or distorted then back it off, its a lot more easier to tell mids and highs limits than bass. In the front crossover, have the high pass filter at 80hz to start off, you can adjust it later on if you want.

Then do the time alignment. Basically take a tape measure and measure the midway point of where your front mid and tweeter meets. Then get the distance from that point to your ear in the driver's side in inches and enter it into the time alignment. Do this for left and right. Then you can do it for the rears and subwoofer.

Afterwards, use a song where the vocals are dead center for example echosmith - bright(just a tuner song) and make fine adjustments to the left or right side time alignment values(doesnt matter which) until you hear the vocals right in the center of the dash.

Then finally do the EQ, usually you dont want to boost that much, most i'd go is +3 or so to fill in dips in the sound spectrum but if you do that, you should not listen as loud. Most of the times, you'll be cutting frequencies that sound annoying. You just need to play different types of music and play around with the EQ till you like what you hear. Just raise and lower each frequency so you know exactly what frequency handles what in the sound spectrum.

If all this sounds too hard, just plug in the tuning mic that comes with the 80 prs and get a stick or something to place it right by the driver side headrest and let the system auto tune the EQ and time alignment for you but you'll still need to redo some of the levels, you can use the speaker levels and sub level for this, no need to do anything with the amp.

Zip ties are your friend for wire management.

[Edit] fixed it, the gain was stupid low so idk if I bumped it or something but I definitely made sure to set it to the right setting on step one you gave me. Everything sounds good now. Think I decently figured out time alignment.

 

[Jcdanible]

If you are running the p660c components dont even worry about network mode for now.

So, Now that I think I have everything sounding decent... How should I EQ my stuff? should I use there pre-made EQ's or custom build my own or just try the auto eq?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

So, Now that I think I have everything sounding decent... How should I EQ my stuff? should I use there pre-made EQ's or custom build my own or just try the auto eq? And I guess kind of a question I have to partly answer myself but... what's next for upgrading the system? I want to get more into and invest more so I can keep getting a better system. I'm assuming buying a mid-range speaker?

Keep the EQ flat then try the auto eq, you can turn it on or off afterwards. If you dont like it, you can also play with the eq afterwards as well.

With manual eq, its best to do it yourself, every car will be different, an eq setting good for someone elses setup will most likely sound like complete sh*t in your car. Playing around with the eq is the fun part of tuning

 

[Jcdanible]

Keep the EQ flat then try the auto eq, you can turn it on or off afterwards. If you dont like it, you can also play with the eq afterwards as well.
With manual eq, its best to do it yourself, every car will be different, an eq setting good for someone elses setup will most likely sound like complete sh*t in your car. Playing around with the eq is the fun part of tuning

So what is a mid-range vs mid-bass speaker? Could I and should I add one to my system?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

So what is a mid-range vs mid-bass speaker? Could I and should I add one to my system?

midrange 500-3500hz midbass 60-500hz. Dont worry about it yet unless you have fiberglassing skills, it'll be too much money to have someone else do it.

Your current component set, the jbl 6.5 does both midrange and midbass duties. How's the tuning coming along?

 

[Jcdanible]

midrange 500-3500hz midbass 60-500hz. Dont worry about it yet unless you have fiberglassing skills, it'll be too much money to have someone else do it.
Your current component set, the jbl 6.5 does both midrange and midbass duties. How's the tuning coming along?

Well here's what I've found, don't use Auto-Tune it turns **** up and then at any volumes past 50 it's distorted as hell. I custom did time alignment and I'm new so I'm not sure how it should sound but to me it sounds like it's really good. I also adjusted the sub woofer gain and 4 channel amp gain and have all of my speakers working. Everything sounds like it's all pretty good. I'm on just the flat EQ right now and think it sounds decent so haven't messed with anything else. I honestly don't really know what to mess with but I guess i could just try stuff. Also not sure what to set the crossover for the rear door speakers on the 4 channel amp. Other than that It get's pretty loud, dosen't distort until about 63 volume and I think it maxes at 65..? I'm a freak for having my music loud so It's probably never gonna be loud enough for me but it's definitely pretty ear piercing. My friends all dig it as well. One other problem I'm having is that the sub knob doesn't adjust the sub enough it either turns it off or on not really down or up... I would really like to get it to turn up a lot more or less with the knob since I listen to Country/Rap which contradict each other a lot. Also every recording is way too different. One last question.. Is there a way to make it so the volume knob turns the volume up faster? I have to turn the knob for what feels like forever to get from 60 to 10 if I need to talk to someone or turn it down... All in all any tips for getting more volume?

 

Would say it is the best I've ever had my system sound so it is big improvement.

 

I know I keep saying one more question but... I just thought of this. Do you have any knowledge about getting hired at a car audio shop? Or any knowledge about how to get into the business? I think it would be a fun job to have and the hours would work for me but I'm not sure how to get into the business? I think I know a decent amount to get hired and trained and I have a great work ethic and want to learn more, But it seems like all of the shops are set on who they've got. In my area we only have a few different shops and I dropped off a resume at one of them and the owner told me he would call me for sure that week and then a week later I didn't receive a call. So i called him again today and he said he'd call me and get back to me but still nothing. Should I keep calling? Just FYI (I do have shop experience I was in a welding shop for 3 years and a car auto body/Collision repair shop for two 2 years. This was all high school classes but I do know how shop environments work, as well as I can weld decently well. Also not my first job so I'm experienced with work and a schedule and showing up on time. Also I have an Extremely flexible schedule this school I'm a senior and I can work anytime of day, any day a week.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Well here's what I've found, don't use Auto-Tune it turns **** up and then at any volumes past 50 it's distorted as hell. I custom did time alignment and I'm new so I'm not sure how it should sound but to me it sounds like it's really good. I also adjusted the sub woofer gain and 4 channel amp gain and have all of my speakers working. Everything sounds like it's all pretty good. I'm on just the flat EQ right now and think it sounds decent so haven't messed with anything else. I honestly don't really know what to mess with but I guess i could just try stuff. Also not sure what to set the crossover for the rear door speakers on the 4 channel amp. Other than that It get's pretty loud, dosen't distort until about 63 volume and I think it maxes at 65..? I'm a freak for having my music loud so It's probably never gonna be loud enough for me but it's definitely pretty ear piercing. My friends all dig it as well. One other problem I'm having is that the sub knob doesn't adjust the sub enough it either turns it off or on not really down or up... I would really like to get it to turn up a lot more or less with the knob since I listen to Country/Rap which contradict each other a lot. Also every recording is way too different. One last question.. Is there a way to make it so the volume knob turns the volume up faster? I have to turn the knob for what feels like forever to get from 60 to 10 if I need to talk to someone or turn it down... All in all any tips for getting more volume? 

Would say it is the best I've ever had my system sound so it is big improvement.

 

I know I keep saying one more question but... I just thought of this. Do you have any knowledge about getting hired at a car audio shop? Or any knowledge about how to get into the business? I think it would be a fun job to have and the hours would work for me but I'm not sure how to get into the business? I think I know a decent amount to get hired and trained and I have a great work ethic and want to learn more, But it seems like all of the shops are set on who they've got. In my area we only have a few different shops and I dropped off a resume at one of them and the owner told me he would call me for sure that week and then a week later I didn't receive a call. So i called him again today and he said he'd call me and get back to me but still nothing. Should I keep calling? Just FYI (I do have shop experience I was in a welding shop for 3 years and a car auto body/Collision repair shop for two 2 years. This was all high school classes but I do know how shop environments work, as well as I can weld decently well. Also not my first job so I'm experienced with work and a schedule and showing up on time. Also I have an Extremely flexible schedule this school I'm a senior and I can work anytime of day, any day a week.

 

you'll need to build up a work history mainly with local builds to show what you can really do, maybe hit up some competitions and such, its better to just do your own gig in your backyard first then show the shop what you can bring to the table. If you got some competition winning cars and some sick fiberglass skills along with great amounts of tuning knowledge, and a lot of builds that you can show off(record vids of all installs you do and post to youtube), you'll be hired pretty easy. Use social media to your advantage, instagram and youtube are money makers if you know how to use them properly, its not about the views a lot of the times its about building your own brand.

 

 

If your EQ is flat, then you can definitly improve the sound 10000x more with a proper EQ curve, you just need to play around and know what each frequency does to the sound. I usually like a bit higher midbass kick for rock and dubstep around 125hz and 200hz, a bit more 500hz to 1250hz for better rock male vocals and instruments. I have it pretty flat 2khz and 3.15khz because my female vocals are pretty much on point. I keep my 5khz to 8khz range slightly recessed because thats where the sibilance aka earpiercing sharp SSSS and shhhh sounds are from(however if you like that then no worries) I'd raise the 12.5khz, its where the airiness of the voices and instruments is, gives a lot of detail to music. 20khz doesnt do much so i just leave it flat. try not to touch the 50hz range or below unless you want to lower it to balance out the bass. KEEP IN MIND, thats in my car and my equipment, it might not sound good in yours so you are free to change however you want so it sounds good to you.

 

As for the sub knob, get rid of the amp's bass knob and get something like this

EFX RLC Universal Bass Remote Level Control Knob

Its an actual gain knob not a bass boost knob.

 

As for the volume man, just get used to it lol or set your gains a bit higher on the amp so that your max output volume is at 40s instead of 62. max volume on the head unit is 62.

 

 

For crossovers, turn them off on the 4 channel amp. Have it on 80hz for front and rear. Sub 2 should have the sub level control and the sub crossover, have that at 80hz as well to start you off.

 

As for time alignment, do you feel the vocals in the middle of the dash? when playing music can you discern where each instrument is coming from? if you can't, your time alignment needs more tuning along with your EQ. Good quality music files are ideal as well. What kind of music files are you using? what source are you using for music? At this point, you should easily hear a big difference from a youtube downloaded music file or pandora streaming vs 128kbps spotify streaming vs a proper 320kbps file transcoded from FLAC via USB flash drive or SD card. Quality of Files make a huge difference. I'd suggest torrenting from piratebay 320kbps files or flac files and coverting them to 320kbps mp3s.

 

AUX/radio

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

magic about the 80 prs is, you've still just scratched the surface of the head unit. Theres more the unit can do with individual left/right EQ and active networks etc.. Settle on it for now and learn how to properly EQ first. Once you get it sounding almost perfect to your ears, stick with it for a while and when you cant stand it anymore then get a more powerful amp and go active.

You'll always find ways to make your music sound better when playing with the 80 prs even a year into owning the head unit.

question tho,

Do you feel your subs falling behind your speakers yet?

 

[Jcdanible]

magic about the 80 prs is, you've still just scratched the surface of the head unit. Theres more the unit can do with individual left/right EQ and active networks etc.. Settle on it for now and learn how to properly EQ first. Once you get it sounding almost perfect to your ears, stick with it for a while and when you cant stand it anymore then get a more powerful amp and go active.
You'll always find ways to make your music sound better when playing with the 80 prs even a year into owning the head unit.

question tho,

Do you feel your subs falling behind your speakers yet?

Well TBH, I just don't really think there are any car audio shows in my Area (Boise ID) and there aren't very many car shops most aren't the custom shops like they have in california that do insane stuff and fiberglass custom boxes it's mainly just installing speakers, amps, and new head unit's IMO. But I guess i can't be 100% sure. I really would like to go to a show probably not participate because I really just barely scratched the surface of car audio. But it would be cool to talk to people in the business or see some cars that are "Professional" or see what other people have done... But I mainly just want to get a job doing what I enjoy as a hobby and it's definitely more realistic than drumming haha! Unless of course i got a job at a music shop. But back to the point I just want to get a job doing something I enjoy that i can learn more and eventually have a cool skill that sets me apart from other people.

I thought it was bad to set your gains too high because it will start to distort the music and hurt the speakers? But I guess that could work because I really do hate turning that dial a million times. I'll also try and just mess around with EQ'ing the only thing that makes me mad is that it can always sound better so I always get annoyed haha.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say "Do you feel your subs falling behind your speakers yet?" I definitely can tell how junk the subs are now but they can get just as loud (Obviously) but it sounds like **** and rattles. The bass just isn't clean but it also depends on the song sometimes I feel like the subs are decent when it's like Maroon 5 Sugar since the bass is very specific but when it's a bassy rap song it can sound just horrid.

Also can you explain going active again..? I really am not sure how it works. If i'm understanding correct it's adding a Digital sound processor DSP in between the amp and HU and it allows it to sound cleaner and you can use your laptop to literally program each crossover so they sound the way the speaker is supposed to sound? And in doing this I would need a bigger amp? Or just a bigger amp to make it sound cleaner?

Oh and do you ever watch the youtube show amplified? I've always thought it pretty sick to do the Ipad dash kits, And if I was able to do one of those then I might add that to a resume... What are your thoughts on those ipad dash kits?

LOL Another question... So the 4 channel amp has fuses on it and the power wire has a fuse right from the battery to the power wire so in between those but I'm wondering do I need a fuse in between the power wire and the Rockford fosgate amp?

 

[Jcdanible]

magic about the 80 prs is, you've still just scratched the surface of the head unit. Theres more the unit can do with individual left/right EQ and active networks etc.. Settle on it for now and learn how to properly EQ first. Once you get it sounding almost perfect to your ears, stick with it for a while and when you cant stand it anymore then get a more powerful amp and go active.
You'll always find ways to make your music sound better when playing with the 80 prs even a year into owning the head unit.

question tho,

Do you feel your subs falling behind your speakers yet?

The Car audio store called me back and the owner wants me to come in and "Get my hands dirty" and show him kinda what I know and just see If I like it and want to get into it. I explained I'm newer but want to get into car audio and get into the business and he said that's how he started... Any advice for me?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

The Car audio store called me back and the owner wants me to come in and "Get my hands dirty" and show him kinda what I know and just see If I like it and want to get into it. I explained I'm newer but want to get into car audio and get into the business and he said that's how he started... Any advice for me?

Learn as much as you can, tell him that you plan on getting MECA certified while you work there(get it ASAP and google it). Be organized and efficient and know some basic safety stuff while installing.

Here's a cite for most basics, read over it.

Basic Car Audio Electronics

you can run active with your pioneer head unit, no need for a dsp. Its only 3 way active though not 4 way. but you arent running a 3 way front stage so it doesnt matter.

Higher gain is only bad if you are being dumb and going up to 62 after you set your gain higher... Gain settings are just a way to match your head unit's pre-out voltage to your amp's voltage. As long as you arent at 70% up or something, you should be fine.

Does the sub rattle or the car rattle? most likely its the car and you need to do rattle treatment and deadening. Not really the sub's fault if its that.

I dont really care for in dash ipad kits, its mainly aesthetics, you can do it if you want, music via ipad cable is similar to USB so audio quality should still be on par.

 

[Jcdanible]

lll