Like I posted earlier I did my initial tune by ear and thought it sounded great but I am at/near my max volume (tuned at 44/50) at speed. I went back with the DMM and when I set the gains this time they were set way higher and it sounded like tons of distortion so I slowly backed the gains down till I had clean audio and they ended up about where I originally had them. I think I need to pick up a DD1 and try it with that.

 

In my younger days I used an oscilloscope daily for my job. I like being able to see the waveform distort, I don't trust my ears all that much. I don't know if it is the best way to do it or not but it worked for me.

Paul I noticed the same thing when I got out on the road. I found it helped when I put an RCA level control on the fairing speakers and another one on my lowers so I could tinker with them at speed to see what I liked volume level wise. That way I could set the gains for each channel "properly" and use the level controls for volume. On my Ultra Classic I was able to mount one control on each side of the switch plate so they are out of sight and protected from the elements but still easy to reach while riding in a straight line. I found that my lowers needed a good bit more volume out on the road than they did sitting still. Once I got a DSP into the mix I was able to do a basic blend between fairing and lowers (all of which are on the front of the fader control) and just use the RCA level controls for experimentation or slight tweaking.

Like a lot of us though sometimes what sounds good in the basement or garage doing things "right" may not always sound the best on the road. Rockford Fosgate has a good article out there discussing gain overlap that helped me tweak my lid speakers a little bit. A slightly higher voltage input signal on my rear amp made it sound a good bit warmer to my ears.

Oh BTW Haze, I know a lot of what you do is your bread and butter but we do appreciate when you drop by. Some of us don't have access to other bikes to listen to for comparison so advice from folks that have a LOT of experience with this stuff is appreciated.

 

I believe I had my wire lengths pretty close. We cleaned up the hornets nest under my fairing and now they are not equal. I didn't notice any difference.

 

Thats not time alignment its something you can set on DSP

 

Time alignment delays a speakers signal in order to have all speakers play at the same time. That's a basic statement.

Another thing that might be worth trying when setting gains, is to use a test tone and a db meter. Set your rear speakers, or lowers, and read you db's at ear level while seated. Then set the rest from there. That way your closest speakers dont overpower the others. Testing db levels can also be used for tuning to flatten any spikes or dips in your curve.

Before I get picked apart, that was a very brief and lacking write up.

 

Instead of test tone which only target 1 frequency to do a balance / fade volumes use Pink noise. Pink Noise will give you the full spectrum and show you peaks and valleys of the boosted or lack of specific frequencies on an RTA

 

Pink noise and rta is definitely a better option.

 

Rob has made some excellent points as well as many through the thread. This can go way deep or follow the kiss method depending on the equipment, the baselines used, etc. Always start at the input and output. Get your master gain set. Then focus on setting amp gains and look at pre and post eq. After that is done then work your crossovers, eq frequencies, q factor, and make small increment adjustments. I don't trust phone for rta and pink noise, so unless I drop the coin on a audio control dm rta I use my ears, My scope , and mainly my ears. All the rta is going to do is get you flat. You correct the peaks and valleys. But that sounds like ****. Your ears and small adjustments will refine the sound to the point where you can be satisfied. Not always a factor but there is always a 3db per octave rule that used to be used. Never deviate more than 3db per octave. Throw that out the window with pro audio and sled audio combined. Happy tuning.

 

Once I came to grips with that tidbit there I was happier with my sound. I didn't want to use aggressive EQ curves but for the most part I have cheap speakers and loud pipes. To be able to hear the frequencies I want to and tone down the ones that hurt my ears I have got pretty goofy looking EQ curves on my front stage. Sitting still it doesn't sound all that great but when I'm rolling down the highway I am pretty happy with the sound especially considering how budget minded my build is and the stock Harley functions I wanted to keep.

Also that American Hardbag article about bass got my to try tightening up my Q settings on the low end to lessen the boominess of the vocals that I had gotten when toning down some of the mid frequencies.

 

Without a DSP time alignment can be done with speaker wire length. Old school I know...