QuestionMark, I've been playing around with my system and it sounds ok(much better than before)but i know could sound much better i have my xovers set like this: sub -2,12db,80hz mids -3,12db,100hz highs -2,12db,125hz am i completely way off with these settings? also the switch on my deck, the 2 or 3way setup is set to 2way and a alpine service tech told me that the xover- mids- is useless with the 2way setup but it still seems to be adjustable,don't know whats up with that?any thoughts. One more thing you told me that the higher the q in the equalizer the sharper the bell curve does this mean i should set the q at 3(highest) for all five bands?Oh yeah, the mx button adds alot of bass almost to much but without it the system sounds kind of dull. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated and once again thanks for your time ----------------------------------
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still a little confused, got your email and appreciate the quick response alpine cda eq Band 1 +-6,1.0-3.0,20-400
Band 2 630-1.0k
Band 3 1.0-3.2k
Band 4 6.3-8.0k
Band 5 16-20k
trying to figure it out but im lost with each band and how to adjust the numbers to make it sound good,really want to learn how to do this and im glad your able to help once again thank you.
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sure, no prob. glad to help. each band is independent of eachother and has a range which you can adjust. band 1 is for making adjustements in the 20-400hz are.
band 2 is for adjusting 630-1,000 hz. etc.
The gain applies to each band separately, so here's an example (this is just an example, I'm not sugesting to set it this way)
Lets say your car is missing some very deep bass but is ok in the punchy bass area. this means we need to turn up the 30-40hz but leave the area from 60-100hz alone. this setting would help with this:
band 1 - +4 2 30
having a +4 means its louder by 4 db
haveing a Q of 2 means it's going to effect 1/2 octive which wouldnt effect freqencies above 45 hz much.
and having the freqency of 30hz means it will center the effect at 30hz.
you can use the remaining bands to correct other problems. maybe you should just play with it to get a feel for how it works and then what I wrote will make sense.
Like I said you dont adjust an eq to give extra empasis on things, the ultamate goal of an eq is to correct for problems in the speaker or your listening area. its not an easy thing and you need to develop an ear to get it right.
Good luck!
Answernot sure why you have sub, mid and high? it sounds to me, that you have the unit set to 3 way, I think your setup is 2 way though, so it should really be sub, front and rear right?
as for the setting themselvs it sound right with 1 exception, looks like you have all them turned down 2 or 3 db which is ok, but doesnt make a ton of sense cuz ultimately everythings just quieter that way. in other words you said you have it set like this:
sub -2,12db,80hz
mids -3,12db,100hz
highs -2,12db,125hz
so really the mids are -1 db compared with the other 2 settings right? so it would sound exactly the same if you set it like this:
sub 0,12db,80hz
mids -1,12db,100hz
highs 0,12db,125hz
but it would sound slightly better this way cuz there's less attenuation and less processing being done. (probably not noticibly better sounding, but set more correctly)
as for the Q setting on the equalizer, Yes, the higher the q the sharper the bell curve. but sharp curves are always what you need. if your sound has a problem that spans a wider range of freqencies, then a lowwer Q is better to use to fix that. like I said, its very difficult to get it right and requires a bit of an ear. most of the time people just set an EQ so the bass is emphesized and the trebble is empesized. People like me in the audio world call that a smile curve, cuz the ends are pulled up. setting the eq like this often sounds good to people cuz it makes the music brighter and deeper and seem more impressive. but ultimately its wrong cuz the more ACCURATE the sound is reproduced the better it sounds, and changing it from how it was orriginally recorded makes it reproduced INACCURATELY. know what I mean?
that MX thing is crap, leave it off, it's basically like a loudness setting that compensates for compression and stuff like that. thats more of the same stuff that tries to emphesize things that dont need emphesising!
the other thing I noticed is that you have the (mid) setting with the lowwer volume in the crossover (-3 or like I said it's -1 relative to the other stuff) I think this mid band is what's going to your front speakers if I not mistaken right? the front speakers really should be louder than the rear speakers. I'm not sure anymore what size your car is and if you replaced all the factory speakers etc but why dont you start with this rule of thumb and see how it sounds to your ear after a few days:
sit in the car and look forward as you would when normally driving. it helps alot to have a friend do this, but measure the distance from your ears to the front speakers and average those 2 numbers together, then measure the distance from your ears to the rear speakers and average those 2 numbers together.
If the 2 distances are the same, make the rear speakers 3 db lowwer than the fronts, if the distance to the rear speakers is closer to your ear than the front speaker go even lower, like -4 or -5 db. if the rear speakers are further away from your ear then only go about -2 or -1.
If the rear speakers are twice the distance to your ear than the front, then keep the rears the same volume as the fronts.
I think you'll see a pattern there that you can kinda tweak but generally you want the rears quieter than the fronts and this will help.
Please let me know how it goes and if it sounds better after listening this way for a while.
