this is day two...


the RTA is a very sweet tool.

 

Nice! I'm getting my stuff on it this weekend...I'm excited

 

Not too bad! Curve looks decent already, good octave to octave balance with a nice slope (low to high) that's usually preferred for SQ systems. If you could just reduce that 1kHz peak with a narrow band parametric EQ, I'd say you're pretty close, based on the RTA alone.

Still just tuning for RTA, or have you started tweaking for your own ears yet?

 

my HU doesn't have a band to adjust 1khz unfortunately.

my goal wasn't a flat response. i am just using it to find dips and spikes and eliminate or reduce them. my system already pretty much sounded the way i wanted it to, so going and making it RTA flat is kinda pointless to me. i have found it very helpful so far.

i had a couple nasty dips and peaks that i mostly took care of and it really made a nice difference, and i have just begun. i spent about an hour last night working on the sub-bass and mid-bass region and realized the decent sized dip i had before at about 63hz was phase/T/A related. with the new crossover point and slope on the sub the bottom end sounds cleaner and smoother than ever, and also kicks like a mule on metal.

the mid-range and high end i got pretty much where i want it but i will do some more tweaking. but the gradually dropping response sounds great. real smooth with no hint of harshness.

 

I'm interested in which EQ settings you use for your mid-high range.

 

what EQ settings or what crossover points?

my EQ looks like a mess, i just did what made the RTA have the smallest dips and peaks. i don't have any boosts or cuts that are more than 2 EQ steps though. i hate trying to fix things with such a severe EQ cut or boost. it seems most big problems can be solved by messing with crossover points and slopes, and phasing.

this is where i am at now, day three.

1/3 octave


1 octave


notice it's nowhere near a flat response, nor do i want a perfectly flat response. i could boost my tweeter channels and bring everything up flat if i want to but that would sound terrible. i feel there is the perfect amount of mid-range and just enough in the top end as is. an RTA is a great tool to find gaps, major dips, and major peaks. i wish i could tame 1k a little bit, knock it down 2-3 db, but that seems impossible so far.

 

Are you running a separate EQ or are you using the head unit? If your using the headunit I would be interested in what bands you cut or boosted.

 

i am using the EQ in the 880 PRS

80,125,and 200 are all boosted by one step, 500 is boosted by 2 steps, 800, and 1.25, are all cut by 1 step, 3.15k is cut 2 steps, and 8k is boosted 1 step.

for crossover points i am at 63hz/24db on the sub, 80hz/12db to 2.5k/12db on the mids, and 4k/12db and up on the tweeters.

 

how does this work? do you play pink noise? or is it a sweeping tone?

 

i simply burned a pink noise track onto a CD and hit repeat.

you of course will need a laptop, the $50 mic, the $50 mic pre amp, the $40 software, and lastly the $32 usb cable. it's not cheap but it's an awesome tool if you are into SQ and wanna see what you're hearing.

 

I just wanted to reiterate your statement above, for the benefit of others. This is correct, and the best way to "tune". A good system shouldn't require much EQ, if it's not already fairly close "by messing with crossover points and slopes, and phasing", then no amount of EQ is going to make it sound truly good.

 

this is where i am at now.

as you can see i lessened some spikes and dips and raised the overall tweeter level. sounds pretty good. only problem is at higher volumes it sounds like i am destroying the tweeters now with their added volume.

so new tweeters are on their way.