Has anyone ever tested the Rushmore HU with a DD1 or O Scope to see what volume the HU distorts?
After determining this, has anyone used a DD1 or O Scope to check what gain setting triggered distortion on the BT355 Line Leveler output?
How about distortion on the output of your specific amp, ( to include the BT4180 / BT2180 to see if the previous settings create amp output distortion)?

Very curious, as it seems we are all using some different tuning techniques and defaults for the HU, BT355, and amps but bet the sandbox could be a little more clearly defined, that is if the overall tuning conditions are similar (update #, bass 0, treb 0, fade 0, AVC 0, bike running and not running tests, battery charge, etc....,

Thanks!!!

T.

 

I think we had a similar discussion on a post with GreatSteaks and Bert. Trying to remember but at the HU it was max, and the 355 was roughly 12 oclock.

 

Tailwind
I had posted my results in the discussion of head unit distortion.I had given voltages volume setting for the head unit, bt355 line levelers and amp output.
I can repost my findings here when I get home from work.

Edit:
My post with my finding
I did me testing last night before and after I changed all 4 speakers.Removed infinity kappas, installed Arc Moto 602 in the fairing and Hertz HCX 165 in the tour pack pods.

Testing is done with 1.19.0 update
SMD DD1
Blue point MT 586 MULTIMETER


I removed the TRU-Connect line converters and install 2 BT355s.
My head unit showed distortion at 16 clicks on volume on 40hz test tone and 15 clicks on 1khz test tone. Both with bike running and off.
With the tru connect line converters I had distortion at the same levels as the head unit. Output voltage was at 2 volts.

With the BT355 stock settings I had 1.27 volts on rca output at max volume and no distortion detected on a 1k test tone.

My final setting on the BT355 was 2.93 volts with a 1k test tone before I saw distortion with a volume setting at 14 with bike running.

Checked for distortion at out put of amp (Soundstream pn4 1000d) and did not have any distortion until 26 volts with head unit set at 14 with a 1k test tone and at 24 volts with a 40hz.

26v at 4 ohms is appropriate to 175 watts which for the Soundstream is pushing it passed its rating of 140 advertised wattage and the test done in the sticky

So when it was all said and done with bike running the BT355 were set at 2.93 vac
Amp at 24 vac and head unit set at 14.

After some time letting the new speakers loosen up I played a few songs and adjusting the freq on the amp when set on high pass I was unhappy with the bass response. Rechecked with the same songs on full pass with the bass adjusted all the way up on the head unit and had the same results of very low bass.Granite the system sounded good BUT I had lost something.

So I reset the head unit to 0 on the bass and treble and then ATTACKED the bt355 and got the sound I was looking for (warm and punchy)

 

Thanks for the info BB!!! So I am trying to dumb this down here and stay out of the pocket protector stuff as folks are simply not going to dive into tuning using Ohm's Law and a DMM. We will go by ear and hope for the best as the volts really are not going to mean a damn thing for most of us cave men.

The SMD DD1 seems to be the tuning tool that will apeal to the largest audience thus want to try and stay with the results that this device is consistently delivering on the various Rushmores that are being tested.

So you think ur HU is distorting at 15 using the DD1?

Did you by chance use the DD1 when setting gain for the BT355 output at lets say 14 on the volume and if so, what was that max value?

Did anyone then test the BT4180 Amp output using the DD1 to see if the LL settings were keeping it out of the distortion arena?

Considering we are in this group think mode I would assume that we could also have some basic parameters for the 6 or so different amps that we all tend to be using. E.G, what was the distortion gain figure when testing your amp output for the amp u are using?

So here is my cave man strategy with the Rushmore folks interested in getting some good tuning:

1)Test the HU volume for the distortion value with DD1 (all HU parameters at 0). Define that volume value that should never be exceeded on a Rushmore.

2)Using this HU volume limit, a test tone, and the DD1, determine the max gain value for the BT355. Rid the red light and now we have a max setting for that piece of audio equipment.

3) Not much to do with the BT4180 or BT2180 other than confirm that the above settings do cause distortion on those amp outputs. If they do, then the LL setting will have to back down to a new max.

4) As for the other amps being used, I can share the max distortion setting for the NVX while others can share the max levels they are consistently experiencing on those core amps being used my a majority of the folks that frequent this site.

You picking up what my pea brain is laying down? I think that tuning is a massive weakness for us sled guys thus if we can define a comfortable outer edge of the sandbox for sleds that have some very similar parameters (Rushmore HU, & BT LLs), I think we will all be getting the most prudent sound possible out of our systems. Of course the fine tuning aspect is a completely different animal, but that will be in the next chapter.

Just trying to kick the can down the field here in hopes of getting us all better audio performance.

T

 

Interested in seeing what you guys come up with.

 

T,

BB and myself tested the Rushmore HU in this thread.

To summarize what I found using the DD-1 to test the Rushmore HU ONLY.

Test 1: with 1KHz 0dB test tone, the HU did not distort at max volume.
Test 2: 40Hz 0dB test tone, the HU started to distort at volume mark 15.
As suggested you take the average of the two test tone values which is 16 and that's your the distortion free volume level, with no safety margin. The average VAC = 8.35 See post #8

So the maximum non distorted volume on the Rushmore HU (bike not running, bass & treble flat) with software version 1.19.0 is 16 using the DD-1 and there instructions. With a safety margin in mind I am tuning at 15 and find no need to go over the 13-14 on the volume. Hopfully the tuning wizards will chime in and let me know if my thinking is in the ballpark.

I have a new DMM coming today and will take readings on LL output and the BT amp output that you are asking for.

 

Thanks Bert!!!! Good info on the HU Max.

As for additional testing, not interested in any DDM figures. No pocket protector stuff. Looking for dial setting for us cave men generated by the DD1.

Max HU Volume for Rushmore HU = 16
Max BT355 Gain Setting w Rushmore HU = ??????
Confirm BT4180 / BT2180 amp output is clean at above settings.

Then we get into the other combos:

Max Clean HU Volume for Rushmore = 16
Max Clean BT355 Gain Setting w Rushmore HU = ????
Max Clean Gain Setting for ARC 600/4 output = ??????

Max Clean HU Volume for Rushmore = 16
Max Clean BT355 Gain Setting w Rushmore HU = ????
Max Clean Gain Setting for PND1000 output = ??????

Max Clean HU Volume for Rushmore = 16
Max Clean BT355 Gain Setting w Rushmore HU = ????
Max Clean Gain Setting for SSXXXXX output = ??????

Max Clean HU Volume for Rushmore = 16
Max Clean BT355 Gain Setting w Rushmore HU = ????
Max Clean Gain Setting for HDP4 output = ??????

Max Clean HU Volume for Rushmore = 16
Max Clean BT355 Gain Setting w Rushmore HU = ????
Max Clean Gain Setting for B52/B54 output = ??????

Max Clean HU Volume for Rushmore = 16
Max Clean BT355 Gain Setting w Rushmore HU = ????
Max Clean Gain Setting for NVX MVP4 output = ??????

Am I in the weeds here regarding getting good clean sound to our speaks?

T

 

Very interesting stuff,will be following with the need to learn more about this audio tuning,thanks

 

Amen Brotha!!! Really just trying to pull some of this cool info from these smart guys and get it in a basic format that us cave men can use to maximize the performance of our audio.

The core focus in this first phase is making sure we all understand how to get the optimum clean undistorted sound coming out of our amps via proven setting for the Rushmores with LLs. We can also throw in a few different amps that the majority of us are using and come up with approximate wheelhouse settings. I repeat the word "settings" as the goal here as I am certain that many folks just are not going to spend the time jacking with DD1s, DDMs O Scopes, and Voltage charts. They will plug the stuff in and run around at half capacity when all they needed was some proven guidance and a small screwdriver.

Setting Goals:
Determine the max clean HU volume setting. Determine the max clean LL setting.
Verify / Set the max clean Amp output. In some cases this is where the DMM and Slyes chart really comes into play as some may be lowering their gain settings to obtain those optimum numbers but in most cases the DD1 numbers will be really damn close.
After that would be the art of dialing in the sound. You might pull 25 or 50 watts out of the lids, lowers, or fairing to keep in line with the Specific speaker RMS wheelhouse while running max clean sound at other speaks.
Then comes the crossovers, HP/LP, etc.....

Could be a long discussion but I think that first and foremost each and everyone of us needs to be able to understand the core settings and deliver good clean sound out of the HU, LL, and Amp or we do not have a chance at the advanced level of tuning that the Gurus could possibly assist with.

T.

 

I will be playing with my scope and dummy load I made to see where my current settings are vs flat and also have varying tones to test and see how the system behaves. You need a dummy load to accurately see how the amp handles the power with a load using the tones with a scope. Without the load the amp may or will respond differently. It's all about accuracy with dummy load.