Bass restoration processors

[cobra93 47]

I've been looking at the audio control epicenter.

I would like to put some Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Molly hatchet and so on in the cd player and actually have some bass.

I know there are a few different bass restoration processors out there and I have a basic understanding of how they work.

I've been searching this topic for better then a week now, but the info. I like to know doesn't seem to be easy to find.

I see videos where a turn of the knob makes your subs start "doing work".

Most of the topics I run across are either useless videos or "my subs are blown up".

What I can't find is are they worth it?

Yes there may be more output at the turn of a knob, but does it sound "correct", as if it was recorded today?

25-30 years ago there didn't seem to much info below 50-60 hz. in the recordings possibly due to the equipment available to reproduce it.

I like to hear from people that have actually heard one in use.

Edited November 23, 2010 by cobra93

[CrazyKenKid 64]

great choice of music you listen to! and I am tuned into this thread as i like to listen to this type of music also!

[jcarter1885 995]

I personally love mine to be honest with you, I listen to a lot of old school music where it helps enhance the bass line. If you dont listen to old school music or music with limited basslines then I wouldnt get one. Most individuals who damage there sub using one dont use it correctly, just like the bass boost feature on an amplifier as well. In the wrong hands and on the wrong music than yes you can cause more harm than positive. It also has a voltage read out that is accurate but the mic isnt accurate like the tl meter but it does help with tuning and tweaking to see if you gained or loss dbs, may help or may not help you.

I like mine and had fun with it, if your really interested and you dont want to pay full price for it then I wouldnt mind parting with mine. If not more fun for me, just trying to help out. Just my take and experience on it.

[cheese20323 13]

I have had alot of bass restoration processors and my relatives had oo. I have tried they performance tekinque one the soundstream bx lines and the Epicenter and they all do the same thing and sound good doing it. The soundstreams are cheaper and have alot of features. And the performance teknique is the cheapest one.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

It's nothing more than an equalizer. The only difference is it is center around a certain frequency or band and Q.

[Skullz 8]

Iv'e been using audacity to enhance the bass portions of some of my music that i play in the car so i can control how much and where to raise the levels at along with making sure i don't have any clipping from the newly enhanced tracks, i think the processors do an ok job to enhance it but you have no way of actually knowing your clipping the signal till it's too late. I try to buy new digitally remastered songs over the older versions since they have taken the time to enhance the song along with the lower end of the recording that was lacking bass to begin with. My feeling on it is that i would rather have a better recording of the source than to buy something to enhance a certain genre of music cause if i decide to play something with more bass in it now i have to change things around and that just becomes a real pita after a while, been there and done that.

[todd.brust 29]

It's nothing more than an equalizer. The only difference is it is center around a certain frequency or band and Q.

A bass cube would be a parametric eq, but a Bass restoration processo,r like the epicenter, is not.

The epicenter looks at the signal coming in and finds a number of harmonics in the input signal and creates the low frequency that was non-existent before. Audio Control gives a good generalization of what the epicenter actually does on their site somewhere but it's more and an eq.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Yes, a self-controlled micro-processing equalizer.

[///M5 2,833]

Why not just invest in some monster midbass and listen to it like it was recorded? It will sound WAY better.

[cobra93 47]

Thanks for all the responses!

jay-cee> you have me puzzled. If it works so well and you like it so much, why would you be looking to sell it?

cheese20323> good to hear it works for you!

Tirefryr> I don't think it's just a parametric eq., but there is that thing called marketing hype, so maybe it is.

_______ I have a 5 band adj. parametric eq. in my head unit now, I'll try it again, but I don't think the mid bass/ bass sounds "correct" any more when my mids start to get louder. They sound muddy/pushed to hard.

________ I may be at there limit already. I have not tried the eq on the sub, it only goes down to a 63 hertz center freq..

Skullz> I've heard of Audacity before, but never used it. I'll do some research on it tonight.

todd.brust> That is exactly why I started this thread. Does this work as they say or is it hype. What bothers me, a little, is why do I need a gain knob. If it does it's job properly, I wouldn't think a knob wouldn't be necessary.

__________ I believe most people wouldn't buy it without a gain knob, just like most people I've run across want bass boost on there amp, I've never needed to use it.

///M5> I don't know where I'd put them. I could try using the "cone of confusion" and play with some larger mids behind me,in addition to the (4) sls's in the doors, but I'm running out of room.

______If I could figure out how to protect them, I'd pull the (4) 6-12" sls's out of the doors and try (4) 8" mids in the floor right in front of the seats. The trucks frame runs right down the center of both footwells, I could put two 8's in the floor on each side, but I don't know if I could keep

______ water, dirt and snow of my shoes/boots from accumulating on the cones over time and destroying the mids.

[jcarter1885 995]

To me over the years I have been thinking about getting rid of it as for as wiring goes and to be able to have a double-din unit in he dash instead of a single-din and epic-160(just personal preferences thats all). I have had it for 6 years, if I can part with it I wouldnt mind if someone was really interested in trying one out but if not I will keep it. I have had my fun with but dont plan on keeping it all my life either, to me it's like a toy you can only play with it for so much. I was just trying to help you instead of you going to out to buy one brand new(they can be pricey) if you were really interested in one.

The gain knob is to allow you to control how much bass enhancing you want to do to a song, some songs will require you turn it up more than others. Most songs wont need it and some will but this will also depend on your listening levels as well, at low volume the gain knob comes in handy more than it does at moderate or high listening levels. The one plus to it is if you have your volume at 3 or 4 and you want a little kick from your subs just turn the gain knob, this can be done on any song (new or old, bass lines or not).

[Notorious97200 339]

I would be afraid to use these things in my car, on my system.

So far, I've never blown any sub or amp or speakers, and I don't want that to happen to me !!!

But it might be cool on some songs, like on old reggae music : the bass lines were niiice, but not so low !!!

[cobra93 47]

To me over the years I have been thinking about getting rid of it as for as wiring goes and to be able to have a double-din unit in he dash instead of a single-din and epic-160(just personal preferences thats all). I have had it for 6 years, if I can part with it I wouldnt mind if someone was really interested in trying one out but if not I will keep it. I have had my fun with but dont plan on keeping it all my life either, to me it's like a toy you can only play with it for so much. I was just trying to help you instead of you going to out to buy one brand new(they can be pricey) if you were really interested in one.

The gain knob is to allow you to control how much bass enhancing you want to do to a song, some songs will require you turn it up more than others. Most songs wont need it and some will but this will also depend on your listening levels as well, at low volume the gain knob comes in handy more than it does at moderate or high listening levels. The one plus to it is if you have your volume at 3 or 4 and you want a little kick from your subs just turn the gain knob, this can be done on any song (new or old, bass lines or not).

Thanks jay-cee! I do appreciate you input.

I'm still toying with this idea.

My big problem is I'm high passing my mids about 60hz. and they're lacking as well on the same material, so I've got more then one choice to make. Three actually.

[cobra93 47]

I would be afraid to use these things in my car, on my system.

So far, I've never blown any sub or amp or speakers, and I don't want that to happen to me !!!

But it might be cool on some songs, like on old reggae music : the bass lines were niiice, but not so low !!!

Well some people are more responsible than others.

Some people just can't be trusted with a potato gun, way too much responsibility.

[jcarter1885 995]

I would be afraid to use these things in my car, on my system.

So far, I've never blown any sub or amp or speakers, and I don't want that to happen to me !!!

But it might be cool on some songs, like on old reggae music : the bass lines were niiice, but not so low !!!

Well some people are more responsible than others.

Some people just can't be trusted with a potato gun, way too much responsibility.

x2 its not for everybody but in the right hands you can have fun with it.

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

Why not just invest in some monster midbass and listen to it like it was recorded? It will sound WAY better.

:domoslay: :rockwoot: :rocking:

Seriously though, Why would you need the bass restored. If you want faithful sound reproduction, with EPIC bass, get a bigger sub, bigger box and cross it LOOOOOOW. Or get a more efficent sub.

[cobra93 47]

Why not just invest in some monster midbass and listen to it like it was recorded? It will sound WAY better.

:domoslay: :rockwoot: :rocking:

Seriously though, Why would you need the bass restored. If you want faithful sound reproduction, with EPIC bass, get a bigger sub, bigger box and cross it LOOOOOOW. Or get a more efficent sub.

What's up J!

I'm thinking about upgrading the sls's in the spring, it just so happens that the Aura sound NS-10's are on sale right now for $88.00. I'm considering snagging two of them now, but the 6" mounting depth is what's holding me back.

I was pondering the epicenter, but I think it may complicate things. I'd like to have them on the sls's so it's coming from in front of me, but I want more output than they can deliver.

I used to have my sub crossed around 80 hertz and the bass still isn't there. Those old recordings seen to be missing allot of low information.

I honestly don't think more speakers is the answer, I certainly could be wrong.

Do you have any old Judas Priest or Iron Maiden?

I'm curious if your system would play it "correctly", as if it was recorded today.

If you don't I'd be happy to rip a cd and send it to you so I could get your opinion on whether you think it sounds "correct".

Let me know, Thanks.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

They don't have any "low information" because it simply wasn't there to begin with. The kick drum maybe, but that didn't seem to be prevalent in metal until Metallica started being a little kick drum heavy in And Justice For All. Even then, it seemed to be few and far between. Your sub should easily have picked that up if crossed at 80Hz.

[cobra93 47]

They don't have any "low information" because it simply wasn't there to begin with. The kick drum maybe, but that didn't seem to be prevalent in metal until Metallica started being a little kick drum heavy in And Justice For All. Even then, it seemed to be few and far between. Your sub should easily have picked that up if crossed at 80Hz.

Exactly my thought.

Even when I turned the sub volume way up on the HU it wasn't loud and the sound was distorted.

I can't listen to it if it doesn't sound right.

I've got quite a few cd's that just sit there because they sound crappy, It's the recording that's crap not my system.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

I have several CDs that were "remastered" from an analog recording and they still sound like an analog recording no matter what I do. I just deal with it.

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

Why not just invest in some monster midbass and listen to it like it was recorded? It will sound WAY better.

:domoslay: :rockwoot: :rocking:

Seriously though, Why would you need the bass restored. If you want faithful sound reproduction, with EPIC bass, get a bigger sub, bigger box and cross it LOOOOOOW. Or get a more efficent sub.

What's up J!

I'm thinking about upgrading the sls's in the spring, it just so happens that the Aura sound NS-10's are on sale right now for $88.00. I'm considering snagging two of them now, but the 6" mounting depth is what's holding me back.

I was pondering the epicenter, but I think it may complicate things. I'd like to have them on the sls's so it's coming from in front of me, but I want more output than they can deliver.

I used to have my sub crossed around 80 hertz and the bass still isn't there. Those old recordings seen to be missing allot of low information.

I honestly don't think more speakers is the answer, I certainly could be wrong.

Do you have any old Judas Priest or Iron Maiden?

I'm curious if your system would play it "correctly", as if it was recorded today.

If you don't I'd be happy to rip a cd and send it to you so I could get your opinion on whether you think it sounds "correct".

Let me know, Thanks.

For earth moving bass like a concert without revealing its source is why I sugested the low xover point on the sub.

The aura has the same cone area as your two 8's so I don't know if you'll gain much, but could be wrong. I'm not famillar with the sls's. If you do want to try the 10" Aura's though, I have one I will send you that I am not using. Added note, the 12" is the same depth.

Yes I jam the Preist and Maiden, went to a Maiden concert earlier this year.

For this kind of music, I suggest taking full advantage of the mids and cross them higher for more output in this range than you can get from the 3's. Think more mid-range than mid-bass.

They don't have any "low information" because it simply wasn't there to begin with. The kick drum maybe, but that didn't seem to be prevalent in metal until Metallica started being a little kick drum heavy in And Justice For All. Even then, it seemed to be few and far between. Your sub should easily have picked that up if crossed at 80Hz.

You can't boost what isn't there.

I have several CDs that were "remastered" from an analog recording and they still sound like an analog recording no matter what I do. I just deal with it.

We are at the mercy of how the material was recorded. With lars as an exsample, he has his drums very heavily mic'ed when recorded.

[cobra93 47]

J, I appreciate your offer, but it'll be a while before I can work on the system again.

I don't have 8's, I wish I did, but they're 6-1/2"s.

The Aurasound NS-12's sold out pretty quick, but there are still some NS=10's left.

I don't know if you got my pm about the sale, I thought you might be interested in having a/some backups.

I haven't been able to mess with x-over settings lately.

I just about chopped the end of my left thumb off ~ two weeks ago, I'm not looking forward to removing the subs to gain access to the amps just yet.

I still have allot of tuning to do with what I have now. I just thinking of how to improve what i have at the moment.

This spring I pick up another set of door panels (spares) and work on getting some thing bigger up front to replace the 6-1/2" sls's.

I doubt I'll ever be done with my system, I always want more/better, but I'm getting closer.

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

J, I appreciate your offer, but it'll be a while before I can work on the system again.

I don't have 8's, I wish I did, but they're 6-1/2"s.

The Aurasound NS-12's sold out pretty quick, but there are still some NS=10's left.

I don't know if you got my pm about the sale, I thought you might be interested in having a/some backups.

I haven't been able to mess with x-over settings lately.

I just about chopped the end of my left thumb off ~ two weeks ago, I'm not looking forward to removing the subs to gain access to the amps just yet.

I still have allot of tuning to do with what I have now. I just thinking of how to improve what i have at the moment.

This spring I pick up another set of door panels (spares) and work on getting some thing bigger up front to replace the 6-1/2" sls's.

I doubt I'll ever be done with my system, I always want more/better, but I'm getting closer.

I did get the PM about the sale. Thank you. I concidered ordering another 10 at that price, but plan on using the 10" I have now for a different application that only requires one.

Its to bad you don't have better processing, I think alot of what you want to achieve is in the blending of what you have.

[cobra93 47]

J, I appreciate your offer, but it'll be a while before I can work on the system again.

I don't have 8's, I wish I did, but they're 6-1/2"s.

The Aurasound NS-12's sold out pretty quick, but there are still some NS=10's left.

I don't know if you got my pm about the sale, I thought you might be interested in having a/some backups.

I haven't been able to mess with x-over settings lately.

I just about chopped the end of my left thumb off ~ two weeks ago, I'm not looking forward to removing the subs to gain access to the amps just yet.

I still have allot of tuning to do with what I have now. I just thinking of how to improve what i have at the moment.

This spring I pick up another set of door panels (spares) and work on getting some thing bigger up front to replace the 6-1/2" sls's.

I doubt I'll ever be done with my system, I always want more/better, but I'm getting closer.

I did get the PM about the sale. Thank you. I concidered ordering another 10 at that price, but plan on using the 10" I have now for a different application that only requires one.

Its to bad you don't have better processing, I think alot of what you want to achieve is in the blending of what you have.

Just waiting for spring.

I think I'll be getting a Poineer p99rs, it's just allot of cash for a HU.

I can justify it to myself since I'll keep moving from car to car.

[helotaxi 46]

Since the question was never really answered...

The Epicenter at least is more of a synthesizer than any kind of equalizer. It samples the input signal over a certain frequency range and then adds sub-harmonics of the frequencies present in the original signal. So if, for example, the notes of the primary bass line are at 50, 60 and 80 hz, it would add content at 25, 30 and 40 hz to marry up with the original content. The idea is that the content added is based on the original signal so it should sound correct. IIRC the level knob adjusts the amplitude of the added content relative to the original signal.