Sounds comps....db mic....any interest?

[musthavemuzk]

so this is a start.
just be sure things are pretty clear before the event starts. as many do not like suprises. when you saftey check and class check the vehicles be sure to know what is going on. as some will not care and others will have questions. i am sure i will have some.
box placement, amp power, sensor placement are common things asked.
can a person be inside the car or do they have to operate it from outside with remote or can they run wires out for the head unit?
lots of things to think about.
cannot make everyone happy, but do not need to go pissing everyone off either.

as for termlab vs audiocontrol.
the old audiocontrol is crap. supposedly they redid and now have sensors also. since the mics would pic up wind noise and the sensor does not.

termlab is nice as it will be accurate run to run and day to day.

RTA is about useless now as i think 03 was the last year that any org used it. i know USACi did not that year, but i think IASCA did for SQ.

good luck with this though. and keep us informed as i would likely run what i have.

Monty

[Guest]

RTA is useless for a competition I agree, though it can still be useful for tuning (to get you close, after which all fine tuning should be done by ear)

[musthavemuzk]

it depends on how you set the RTA for prelim tuning.
i wish i lived closer to some of my car audio SQ friends. as i am happy with mine as it is for daily, but not near as happy as i am with theirs. theirs is always smoother and less harsh at high freqs compared to mine. so less fatigue on the ears on long sessions and or loud sessions.
music listened to...country, rock, blues, classic. i do listen to hip hop and rap, but not a whole lot. and for that it is hard to set it up to sound good. as it is typically boom boom boom.
now with the rest of the music there are actual instruments to listen to.

Monty

[Guest]

ideally for prelim tuning you run pink noise and set the curve so that there is no more than 3dB of difference from one frequency to the next on the RTA. Then you switch to some sort of reference material (autosound 2000 reference discs, IASCA discs, etc...) and (using a good 1/3 octave EQ) start with just the tweeters playing and TURN DOWN any spots that sound off, very seldom should you turn up the frequencies, then move to just the midranges, then the midbass (if applicable) then just the subs. (You'd be amazed at the noises/distortion that gets covered up when you try and tune the whole system with all the speakers hooked up at the same time). After you've made the adjustments on the individual components, its a good time to hook everything back up and do a final tune using the reference material on the full range of speakers so that you can tone down frequency overlap/harmonics. Doing a setup this way will without a doubt make your system not as loud as it could be, but it will make it sound more pleasant.

[Guest]

btw, that was not intended to teach you everything there is to know about music Monty, you seem very educated about the topic, it was more about tuning tips for those that don't normally work with audio.

[musthavemuzk]

i understand. i know alot, but far from everything. so if you have knowledge to share then by all means share. as i may learn something new and i am all for that.

with many it is all about being LOUD and impressing those a block away. and while i have been down that road in the past i am not there now. many i know know that i am into car audio. when they get into my ride they are like lets here this bad boy. and you can see the dissapointment when it is not loud. but it does sound good. i know it can sound better though.

Monty