Buncha audio settings questions

[peepsalot]

I was messing with my headunit settings today, and I came up with some questions that I can't find the answer to. Hopefully you guys know some of these answers.

1) Why are the subwoofer settings called Non Fading?

2) Say for example my front and rear speakers are set up with a 100Hz HPF, and the NF LPF is set to 80Hz. Doesn't that mean I am missing out on the part of the spectrum from 80-100Hz?

3) If I have a single subwoofer, does it matter which way I have it connected(positive/negative wires) in reference to the rest of the speakers?

4) I read somewhere on this board that equalizer settings on the head unit should not be tweaked very far from 0, since it will cause ditortion which blows speakers, and that adjusting the bass should be done through the NF level. Won't the NF level cause clipping too? What about the amp "sensitivity"(is that the same as gain?) If I turn up my amp's sensitivity all the way, will that also cause clipping/distortion?

5) Should the NF LPF be set at the high end of the frequency response for a subwoofer, or something different?

6) Anyone know what the frequency response for the JL 8w3v3-d2 is?

 

[Murda]

I was messing with my headunit settings today, and I came up with some questions that I can't find the answer to. Hopefully you guys know some of these answers.

1) Why are the subwoofer settings called Non Fading?

You have 3 types of outputs. Front, Back and Non Fading. When you adjust the fade settings, you can fade from front to back. Fading front reduces the output to the rear and fading rear reduces the output to the front. Adjusting fade should not and does not adjust the output from your sub. Thus, your sub receives its input from your NON FADING output (NF).

2) Say for example my front and rear speakers are set up with a 100Hz HPF, and the NF LPF is set to 80Hz. Doesn't that mean I am missing out on the part of the spectrum from 80-100Hz?

Yes. The way you have it set up, you are missing out between 80-100Hz. How you choose those values is up to you. As for me, my fronts are HPF at 80Hz (play 80Hz+). My rears are HPF at 60Hz (play 60Hz+). My Subs are LPF at 80Hz (play 80Hz and below only).

3) If I have a single subwoofer, does it matter which way I have it connected(positive/negative wires) in reference to the rest of the speakers?

Positive to positive.. negative to negative?? I don't believe you can reverse them... safely.

4) I read somewhere on this board that equalizer settings on the head unit should not be tweaked very far from 0, since it will cause ditortion which blows speakers, and that adjusting the bass should be done through the NF level. Won't the NF level cause clipping too? What about the amp "sensitivity"(is that the same as gain?) If I turn up my amp's sensitivity all the way, will that also cause clipping/distortion?

Venturing beyond my knowledge here. But, I'll give it a stab.

You should be able to hear clipping/distortion. When tuning your sub, I believe the standard is to set your volume to 75% your MAX listening volume. Turn your subs gain up until it distorts. Then, turn it down half a turn or a bit to get safely below the distortion point.

Keeping your equalizer settings near 0 is a safe bet. As for tuning your front and rear stages... don't go too crazy?

5) Should the NF LPF be set at the high end of the frequency response for a subwoofer, or something different?

Check the documentation for your sub. 60-80Hz LPF is normally safe.

6) Anyone know what the frequency response for the JL 8w3v3-d2 is?

JL's website? Sorry.. no definitive answer.

 

[peepsalot]

So 80 or 60Hz is not too low for the door speakers(stock MSP)? Would setting a speaker too low a frequency would blow them, or just sound like ass?

 

[Murda]

Don't know. I drive a P5 and when I upgraded my head unit, I upgraded my speakers.

What were the stock settings?

 

[peepsalot]

Front High Pass 100
Rear High Pass 100
NF Low Pass 80

Hehe, that's why I asked about those settings, they came like that, all screwy, from the dealer. I am sitting here staring at this "Mazdaspeed Audio system Recommended settings" paper, thinking "wtf?"

 

[sndsgood]

I was messing with my headunit settings today, and I came up with some questions that I can't find the answer to. Hopefully you guys know some of these answers.

1) Why are the subwoofer settings called Non Fading?

2) Say for example my front and rear speakers are set up with a 100Hz HPF, and the NF LPF is set to 80Hz. Doesn't that mean I am missing out on the part of the spectrum from 80-100Hz?

your not missing the 80-100hz range, the crossover is not a wall that blocks every sound below 80hz. depending on how steep the crossover slope is will determine in how mucy quieter the 80hz to 100hz range will be, but in reality that slope is fine you won't have an issue with it. the diffrence in sound between 80hz and 75hz will be something like a .5db diffrence. not much.

3) If I have a single subwoofer, does it matter which way I have it connected(positive/negative wires) in reference to the rest of the speakers?

for a single woofer no it does not matter u can do plus to plus and minus to minus ro do plus to minus and minus to plus either way it will play and be fine. i suggest doing it normally listen and then flip the wires and listen again and see wich one sounds better to you.

4) I read somewhere on this board that equalizer settings on the head unit should not be tweaked very far from 0, since it will cause ditortion which blows speakers, and that adjusting the bass should be done through the NF level. Won't the NF level cause clipping too? What about the amp "sensitivity"(is that the same as gain?) If I turn up my amp's sensitivity all the way, will that also cause clipping/distortion?

i try to use the adjustments on the headunit as little as possible. if you are adjusting them wich is fine just make sure your not distorting any of the speakers. and yea turning the gain up all the way will cause distortion and clipping this i feel is how the majority of people out there blow subs. by thinking if they turn the gain up they will make it louder. the gain is adjusted to match the headunit.

5) Should the NF LPF be set at the high end of the frequency response for a subwoofer, or something different?

i set my crossovers on my front speakers as low as possible without distorting them. then i set my sub to match.

6) Anyone know what the frequency response for the JL 8w3v3-d2 is?

dont know it off hand but i try and run my subs as low as possible.

 

[SP33D]

Well I came up with my own settings and I really like them. Maybe you could try what I run and work from there. Taken from an old post... but edited to current settings.

Press SRC until radio is off

Hold Q
Speaker Setting - off
Woofer setting - 12in type B

Press SRC until you get to the CD part

Volume offset - 0
Loud - off
Bass FRQ - 80Hz
Bass - +3
Bass Q - 2.00
Bass Ext - off
Mid FRQ - 1.5Khz
Middle Q - 2.0
Mid - +3
Tre FRQ - 12.5Khz
Tre - +8
NF Level - 0
HPF Front - Through
HPF Rear - Through
LPF NF - 80Hz
NF Phase - Normal

Adjust the NF Level accordingly depending on the type of music or the CD or your subwoofers.. I'm not sure where to put this for the stock sub, but I'm guessing it's close to the same area, possibly a little higher.
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[Murda]

If you want more "punch" from your sub. Keep the setting at 80Hz LPF. If you want to only "rumble", keep the setting at 60Hz LPF. Ultimately, it's up to your ears.

Disclaimer: Only used those terms because I couldn't think of better descriptive words.

 

[sndsgood]

So 80 or 60Hz is not too low for the door speakers(stock MSP)? Would setting a speaker too low a frequency would blow them, or just sound like ass?

easy way to find out, put them on 60hz and listen, slowy turn the volume up. if they get to the volume you normally listen to and dont sound distorted your fine, if they start breaking up and the music is distorting switch to 80hz. i have a good feeling youlle be switching to 80hz though. even 80hz may be a struggle for stock speakers.

 

[Douggie]

2) Say for example my front and rear speakers are set up with a 100Hz HPF, and the NF LPF is set to 80Hz. Doesn't that mean I am missing out on the part of the spectrum from 80-100Hz?

Filters don't truncate the frequencies dead on. They have a rolloff range, so you will get some frequencies that are below your HPF and some frequencies above your LPF, just that they are attenuated. This also means there's an overlap of frequencies if you set them too close.

 

[chuyler1]

For best results there should be a gap in between where your front speakers roll off and your subs pick up. This allows you to turn the sub gain up a little more to get some real low-end into the mix without making radio announcer's voices sound boomy. If your fronts can handle a 75-80Hz crossover at high volume then set your subs at around 55-60Hz. This will also smooth out the frequency response across the range...if I could draw a picture I would.

Anyone have a recording of a Bassist playing scales? I really need something like that to perfectly tune my system.

 

[Poseur]

Basically if you have your highpass set at 80 for your doors and your lowpass at 80 for your subs, that range around the vicinity of 80hz will have an unnatural "hump" or possibly dip in output because you'll have 2 speakers playing the same sound. (dip would mean that they're out of phase with eachother enough that one sound is cancelling the other out) if you separate the 2 a bit, one rolls off and the other picksup, if you get the gap and crossover slope right, they'll simply transition smoothly to eachother instead of both getting together at their common frequency and cuasing tuning havoc.