The VAN is the ROOM in REW: Room Eq Wizard!

[kryptonitewhite 1]

I knew this was how it was going down, so I went with it. I hoped to get solid replies on the input to my Alpine IVA-W505 HU. I do not want to run RCAs because they tend to be nasty dirty from PC, but I just might have to. Also IDK if I kept the AUX IN RCA connector for the HU. So I tried the 3.5mm LINE OUT on the PC to the 3.5mm in jack on the IVA thats usually used in conjunction with the USB... both go to one end of the iPOD Y-cord, and the other end is the jack to plug into the POD.

I get no audio from the HU from the PC in USB, AUX, or AUX + IN.

The rig: I dismantled the rig I built for the HT and rebuilt it for the VAN. RS meter and Audyssey mic.

VIDEO

REW the van is my ROOM

[kryptonitewhite 1]

pulled the dash out...cant pull the deck, I mounted my amps inside the enclosure for the same reason i CAULKED the deck in instead of a plastic 3 screw mounting kit: want my deck, bring a razor, 2 screw drivers, and take your time

The RCA out and RCA in are one connector so i am good! I ran a short set of RCAs to each, before I had a long pair coiled up in the net pouch on the right along with the long ass iPOD cords. USB for audio and control and apparently 3.5mm jack for the video.

While I had her ripped open I got another replacement toggle switch..no more burnt out lights. The new ones dont get as hot, I am assuming me taking them back so many times they rebuilt them better :-P

Ill bring the PC out again later and run some sweeps and see what ive got. I might turn the gains down first though, I raised the 10V and 14V amps to 17V with the other too and its too loud with the sub level set to 0 on some songs. So much work though, pain in the ass matching!

[ssh 924]

I love your van. I honestly wish I could hear it

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

Nothing i have ever seen from you has been conventional.

Keep doing your thing Bro.

[kryptonitewhite 1]

I love your van. I honestly wish I could hear it

Nothing i have ever seen from you has been conventional.

Keep doing your thing Bro.

Thanks guys! It means a lot to hear that stuff, for real, when shit pisses me off and I wanna give up!

when the subs arent hooked up and I am running a sine wave, they dont actually draw much current at all right? I re-gain matched cuz the shits too loud with the sub level at 0 so all 4 are within .3V now, 27.3V avaerage with the deck at 20 of 35 and sub level 10 of 15. I never play above 20 unless its a really quiet song. that way I can drop all the way to 0 so the subs are very quiet, or crank it to 15 on a quiet song.

It is not an easy task, gain setting, a hair this way... too much, a hair back, too far, so leave that one and try to get the others to match it: good luck.

On top of that, one amp is very hard to move the knob, but when it moves just a tiny bit the voltage changes drastically. The one next to it is easy. The other 2 on the other side move WAY to easy and I dont like it, I dont even turn them... i touch my mini flat had...just touch them.. and they move

I started the van and the lights were dim, the motor labored, alternator whining (not squeeling) voltage was way way down! WTF?!?!

[kryptonitewhite 1]

Thank you Scott again for giving me so much to do for the last month or however long it has been. I have been building mic stands, running wires, calibrating sound cards, cutting reinforcements to my house (that werent in use not even contacting anymore LOL) down to build walls and using fence latches and foam to seal up and create door ways, boarding up my windows... rewiring my furnace and basement... and now... the VAN! Scott never asked for a thing, just that I share my results with him. That is a fellow DIY guy. Thank you Scott.

As anticipated I have some issues to work out, and my peak burping frequency was as I guessed. First problem, today while re-gain matching... that is a BITCH..I HATE that ****... I noticed a 60Hz hum. I have noticed it before and am still baffled, as this is not home AC power. My 1st sweep I did at volume 1 and PC volume 50% to be safe. Then I tried volume 7 PC 50%, then vol 7 PC 100%. After that I tried 10 and noticed something was WACK. Tried 13 but didnt even make it.. when i turn the HU to 13 I get nasty feedback! It gets louder and louder. When i swept at 13 it was terrible.

I always guessed my cabin would resonate above 40Hz, and I had this feeling that since I am tuned ungodly low...almost verified now at 23.3Hz... I always guessed that since I am tuned to 23Hz I will have a peak at 46-48Hz. I show a peak at 47, so I am guessing when i go burp again, 23Hz will be about a 149dB and 47Hz will be mid-50's.

I cant get good snap shots, even with the sub at 0 ( max is 15) I get almost 105dB only at volume 7 ( I listen between 18 to 21) down low but up high below 60dB.

this got terrible with the feedback

[kryptonitewhite 1]

well, under PEQ I only have 2 bands under subwoofer, band 1 either 20Hz or 22Hz, band two's lowest setting is 57Hz.

Keep in mind I have been saying before I even started this build that I hate the 45Hz center on bass boost, that if I could invert bass boost on an amp to attenuate 35Hz-55Hz I would... so before even knowing my 47Hz peak i already intended on brining it down...

So do I go with a narrow cut at 57Hz and slowly widen it until I look good?

Or should I flatten PEQ for now and check out graphic? I assume graphic will have the same bands...Ill go check...

[kryptonitewhite 1]

Im gonna catch hell for this like everything else, so what, whats new.

PEQ flattened everything.

GEQ:

20Hz +9dB

25Hz +9dB

40Hz -9dB

50Hz -9dB

Ill give it a listen tomorrow and if I ever get feedback on my feedback problem Ill run some sweeps like that and with the extremis phase reversed.

[Dictator 39]

Im so lost but it looks unique!

[///M5 2,833]

Im gonna catch hell for this like everything else, so what, whats new.

PEQ flattened everything.

GEQ:

20Hz +9dB

25Hz +9dB

40Hz -9dB

50Hz -9dB

Ill give it a listen tomorrow and if I ever get feedback on my feedback problem Ill run some sweeps like that and with the extremis phase reversed.

9dB? Why'd you even post that. Ugh.

[altoncustomtech 773]

lol... I love the crazy shit you're always doin' too... I feel sorry for that van though, lol... keep it up dude, and good luck with the problems!

23hz at 149db has got to be REAL nasty BTW, poor van....

[kirill007 52]

Im gonna catch hell for this like everything else, so what, whats new.

PEQ flattened everything.

GEQ:

20Hz +9dB

25Hz +9dB

40Hz -9dB

50Hz -9dB

Ill give it a listen tomorrow and if I ever get feedback on my feedback problem Ill run some sweeps like that and with the extremis phase reversed.

Edited April 13, 2011 by kirill007

[kryptonitewhite 1]

Heaven for a minute, so much excitement... the EQ was so much better but still lacking up high a bit so I brought 50Hz back up to 0. I love it. So happy. Didn't have to crank it up I got to enjoy it at a reasonable level, sounded amazing. A song that had a deep low, a mid, then high note was perfect... it nailed the low part, got quieter on the mid, then the high part was strong...the way I like it. Next song is one I usually skip because it just pounds/thumps. Now it is much tighter and snapier, now I like the song. Next song theres a part that sweeps down deep once in a while, before it was quiet and I was always thinking "I tuned this low for a reason, parts like this, when it sweps down its supposed to get stupid loud then back to normal". Now it does.

But of course things always have to be short lived. Something was still off, so I killed the other drivers. Subs only. Listened. Watched. Watched. Listened. One sub wasn't moving like the other 3.

I have a bad amp. I played, switched RCAs, disconnected the others and played by itself. Hooked it to a different sub. Checked to see if it was the sub or amp. Its the amp. The one I have been having trouble gain matching. It's hard to move the gain on it, when it does move the voltage change is drastic even if I barely move the knob. When I was done gain matching it was in a much different position than the other 3. I turned the gain up with it hooked up by itself cuz the sub was quiet but sounded somewhat OK, it clipped and sounded terrible but wasnt loud at all.

Contacted [email protected] we will see if they cover it.

[kryptonitewhite 1]

Im so lost but it looks unique!

Thank you, that is the idea, apparently its working cuz it gets strong opinions (hate) all day long

9dB? Why'd you even post that. Ugh.

IDK, because the deck has the option in the first place for a reason? Because much as you like to think your way is the only way, you are obviousely wrong, or again, it wouldnt even BE an option?

lol... I love the crazy shit you're always doin' too... I feel sorry for that van though, lol... keep it up dude, and good luck with the problems!

23hz at 149db has got to be REAL nasty BTW, poor van....

hope to have more power when the amp is replaced, 3 subs pushing and one acting like a PR in a ported alignment... nict zo gutt.

Thank you a ton, and yeah 148 @ 25Hz was fun as hell and I bet I do get 149 @ 23Hz this time around

Van complains, despite all the foam, caulk, atc... it stilll bitches about being kicked from the inside

uh huh, and it's the best thing Ive done to her in a long while. Now i actually enjoy the way she sounds and shes not sucking up so damn much power from that 35Hz-45Hz shit that I hate so loud in the first place. Im finally getting somewhere...oop, bad amp, 20 steps back.

[kryptonitewhite 1]

so theres a pretty good chance that the REW sweeps corroborated what i was saying about the substage FR curve for a good reason, as well as a loss of output, more current drop than should have been, and a few times a touch of stinky: same reason that two amps before gain match were 17.3V-17.9V, one was almost 15V...a bit off, but one was 1/2 at 9.8V... prolly blew a channel on one amp.

I havent heard back from [email protected] so like last time, I contacted audiopipe myself. Jackie knows her shit. I mis spoke when she said "so you blew a channel on it?" and I said "no, it's a monoblock Im running bridged" and she said " no its two 1500s" and I said "yes two 1500s strapped". OOPS! My shit comes out wrong all the time, but it was pretty hott havin a female put me in my place... then again that happens on the forums every day wink wink.

So she says if its within 12 months I can send it in and they will determine if its warranty. She wouldnt give me info to shi it until I found my paperwork. Well i initially bought 4 amps, a kid bought one from me before i installed them, so i ordered a 5th. I bought the 5th one 1 year ago today! What are the chances of that? So now watch, the serial number on it will be one of the original four

Anyway, this hopefully explains the unexpected FR responce. I'll flatten the EQ and re-sweep if/when I get the amp repaired/replace and hopefully that was the issue. But damn it if I have to EQ up and down 9dB to get what I want, screw what the smart girls who know their shit have to say... Ill do what it takes to get what I want.

KW: SMD's Douchebag of the month July/2010, Car Audio's laughing stock

[kryptonitewhite 1]

on a few of these forums, the ones which I refer to the sexy girls that are always there to politely put me in my place like Jackie did, I need to mention, as I know this is one of the things you will jump on: The other warranty issue was with the kid that bought one of the original 4 amps from me, he is apparently even worse at this than I am, he hooked his wires up backwards and cooked his. This is my first issue with these since I got them over a year ago....yes, despite them being mounted inside my enclosure, and yes...despite me being the one to install it in this terrible awful install.

KW: that guy

[kryptonitewhite 1]

Well running REW in my van certainly did a lot for me. I recognized visually what i was hearing, something was wrong with the subs: BLOWN AMP therefore a sub acting as something like a PR with a bit of power to it, making my port a 20" leak in the box. I saw that at my crossover points I had huge dips, phase issues. I also saw that despite having 2000 RMS available up front, 8 very good drivers in sealed enclosures, and a bitchin crossover system... my front stage was weak. Matched up with what my ears were telling me.

I sent the amp in for repair and it should be back any day now. I wanted to test my front stage and get it where I want it, that way when i get the subs, I run 2 sweeps...regular and subs 180 degrees, pick the better of the two and be done...well, run sweeps with EQ too.

The front stage situation, I hate mids. In my case the 710Hz-14kHz my FR125S's cover. If I could quadrouple my subs, Extremis, tweets, and power on them all...and leave the FR125S's as are... I'd be a happy camper. My tweets, I had a new build house issue. I started off with 2 2005 Vifas on a KX200.2 thinking the KX amps were 4ohm stable, not 2 ohm. I was getting half the power, and with my wanting tons of 14kHz and up and no 14kHz down, I was getting clipping and break up: bad. I ordered a 2nd pair of Vifas, but since 05' they changed significantly. My 200.2 was running parallel 2ohms now.that helped... but the new tweets were MUCH louder and sounded quiet different. I worked with Madisound extensively after I blew both new tweets. I upgraded to the SX500.2, used it's 36dB/oct slope in conjunction with the PXA-H701's 30dB slope... now I am golden. But after blowing the first 2 I was scared.

Well I stepped up to the plate and turned the FR125Ss back up and the tweets back up, reversed phase on the Extremis, now I am golden!

First some pics of the new mustard! I havent spray painted them yellow yet, but here's the re-rejob:

redid the mic rig:

Set the PC up a little more friendly:

Initial sweep after working volume up slowly for safety

2nd sweep windows up to compare.

2nd sweep windows up to compare.

PHASE play!

[kryptonitewhite 1]

it's amazing how much air 4 18's can move if all 4 of them are moving the same direction. It's amazing how much air movement you lose when one amp probably never worked in the first place, so your port never functioned correctly and one sub was moving the inverse of the other three.

Much love to Audiopipe. I called Jackie what, a couple weeks ago and sent it in? I got a BRAND NEW amp today, even improved to run off 16V. Thanks Jackie.

So my setup is completely different now. I love it.

It's a good thing I turned my mids and tweets back up, they still cant keep up though.

Oh, and amazing sound quality is sort of killed by insane door flex.