Preferred method for adjusting gains.
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Neither. Ear is all that's needed.
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I use the oscope first for a clean signal then Dmm and after listening I set by ear.
I use the test equipment to find my limits then work down from there. Doing this helps keep my equipment working at tip top shape.
agreed, ears tell the most. basicly start really low, if you get the volume you want without any speaker breakup or audible clipping, your done. if its too quiet and you know the drivers can take more, go up a bit. This is how I mostly do it, but someone with an oscope could be a bit more precise, which some customers may want and I'm ok doing it that way too.
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By ear....
Ear is how I've done it in the past and I've not had a driver fail, but I've always wondered how much higher I could have safely gone or just how clean the output really is.
I then switched to using a DMM for assisting with gain settings with equal luck, but again, that "unknown" factor.
More recently I used a cheap Scope to find my HU's clean output limit, which as far as internal amp power, I found the output to distort at the exact same level. Preamps on the other hand, for the full-range, pretty much the same tune, but with my sub amp, the Scope showed a very distorted wave (no real flattening out of the wave like a normal clipped wave, but a "fuzzy" line throughout for my wave) at every level and setting high enough for the scope to register the amp's output. This put some fear into me and I'm currently in between subwoofer setups, which I'm REALLY missing my low end.
Either I am getting induced noise or it's just the CLass D circuitry, but I don't know 100%.
I then switched to using a DMM for assisting with gain settings with equal luck, but again, that "unknown" factor.
More recently I used a cheap Scope to find my HU's clean output limit, which as far as internal amp power, I found the output to distort at the exact same level. Preamps on the other hand, for the full-range, pretty much the same tune, but with my sub amp, the Scope showed a very distorted wave (no real flattening out of the wave like a normal clipped wave, but a "fuzzy" line throughout for my wave) at every level and setting high enough for the scope to register the amp's output. This put some fear into me and I'm currently in between subwoofer setups, which I'm REALLY missing my low end.
Either I am getting induced noise or it's just the CLass D circuitry, but I don't know 100%.
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1.Ears
2. Scope
3.Ears
2. Scope
3.Ears
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Always ears. With lower power amps I can see the need to set them for max undistorted output then adjust from there with the processor. With way more power than you'll ever need I'd be more concerned about hearing damage and/or launching a coil out of the gap with CLEAN power.
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Ears then scope if I hear some funkiness.
I set the deck to 1/2 volume then adjust the gains until I am at what seems like the "max" level I would want to listen to. As long as the amp can keep up with the power you are wanting and the deck isn't clipping, you'll be fine.
1/2 volume because some recordings are softer than others.
I set the deck to 1/2 volume then adjust the gains until I am at what seems like the "max" level I would want to listen to. As long as the amp can keep up with the power you are wanting and the deck isn't clipping, you'll be fine.
1/2 volume because some recordings are softer than others.
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Some of you trust your ears to set gains on your amps but not to determine differences in sound quality..........OK so that's how it works. Just wanted to get that straight.
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We bury the gains at the lowermost setting on the amps and use the processor for level matching between speaker sets. We have a lot of head room (power) to work with.
My team mate Davy H uses a combination of both amp gain and processor. We ran into a small issue when we switched to optical. Just was not loud enough for me. He went to the amp gains and made some very small adjustments there to raise the output.
We do not use a scope to get every single unclipped watt from the amps.
My team mate Davy H uses a combination of both amp gain and processor. We ran into a small issue when we switched to optical. Just was not loud enough for me. He went to the amp gains and made some very small adjustments there to raise the output.
We do not use a scope to get every single unclipped watt from the amps.
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Hi Mike. As an objective third party that just read through the above posts on gain setting and then your above comment in this thread, I have to wonder what your intentions are? Your post does not add anything to the discussion at hand, and frankly comes across as an attempt to troll for another sparring match.
Maybe that wasn't what you intended, but it is hard to read it any other way.
I am surprised by this in face of the various comments you made in the 'amp signature' discussion that labelled several of us as being immature (in particular your comments toward Hanatsu).
Seems just a little hypocritical, no?
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That's where I was headed with this thread. I have also read some threads on here about performing the same method on amp gains as well. To do so on amp gains do you use a certain test tone to find when clipping occurs? Obviously the clipping point is audable but seems using an o-scope would be much more precice. My hearing certainly isn't what it used to be
I bought a SainSmart ARM NANO DSO201 earlier in the year. As I said above, it confirmed that my HU's internal amp clipped at the same exact volume level that my ears (with the aid of test tones) detected. Same pretty much held true with the front/rear preamps, though the way "I" tested such was by hooking the Scope to the amplifier's speaker terminals and dialed up the HU volume until clipping was detected, all while the amplifier gain was set to the minimum level.
With my mono amp however, the wave displayed on the scope had a weird jagged/fuzziness to the wave and didn't actually look anything like that of the clipped output of the HU and full-range amplifier. Well, when I cranked the volume up to near to the maximum clean volume I had previously determined, the wave finally begins to appear clipped. It was puzzling as to the reason the scope showed the wave so jagged/fuzzy. I assumed it meant I had some sort of induced noise or that it was merely a inherent trait of Class D circuitry. Wasn't too long after that I decided to take out my sub setup, just in case, and have yet to actually address the issue.
Numerous people talk about switching the firmware to BenF, so I did that more recently and haven't yet gone back to retest with the new software.
FYI, there are many versions of BenF and it took me a little while to track down a version compatible with the new version of the NANO 201.
"IF" you opt for one, I'd gladly point you in the right direction for a version compatible with the one you get.
Yea, everyone's hearing is different and degrades over time. Even someone with good hearing has their hearing become less sensitive throughout the day and any sickness can easily affect your ability to clearly hear 1%THD.
To find the HU's max clean power, "I" played various test tones, lowest tone used was 100Hz, highest was 1kHz. I found my HU seemed to distort earliest with a 250Hz tone, of the tones "I" used. Use of 0dB tones is required for this step.
When setting amp gains, "I've" heard recommendations of 1kHz for highs and 50Hz for lows. This is what "I" used when setting the gains on my amps, though I did use the same various tones with the PBR300x4 to find my HU's max clean power on the preamps (leaving the amp gain at minimum at this time).
After I set the amp gains of the RF, I found it to be too much for myself
(I could hardly stand being in the car) and so I lowered it until it was at a more comfortable level, though still more than loud enough for myself. I don't go beyond level 35 on my HU and 45 is the level I used to set my gains. Yea, I'm a wimp when it comes to LOUD noises.
To find the HU's max clean power, "I" played various test tones, lowest tone used was 100Hz, highest was 1kHz. I found my HU seemed to distort earliest with a 250Hz tone, of the tones "I" used. Use of 0dB tones is required for this step.
When setting amp gains, "I've" heard recommendations of 1kHz for highs and 50Hz for lows. This is what "I" used when setting the gains on my amps, though I did use the same various tones with the PBR300x4 to find my HU's max clean power on the preamps (leaving the amp gain at minimum at this time).
After I set the amp gains of the RF, I found it to be too much for myself
(I could hardly stand being in the car) and so I lowered it until it was at a more comfortable level, though still more than loud enough for myself. I don't go beyond level 35 on my HU and 45 is the level I used to set my gains. Yea, I'm a wimp when it comes to LOUD noises.
When you're you're tweaking the gains by ear and you hear a difference. that difference can be measured, difference in amplitude right? Now, when you set two amps to the same output and then switch back and forth between them and make a claim that one amp sounds warmer and the other more clinical, what you're saying is that the FR from the two amps is different. That's the only way you can hear a tonal difference, so that FR difference is measurable right?
Cause if the FR is the same and you still hear a difference then it's no longer a fact, just your opinion and you know what they say about opinions.
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