SMD DD-1....Oh my....
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 9,741
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From: Danbury CT
I used the dd1 on my son-in-law's bike today. He's running an arc Moto 720 amp and we had the same results. No distortion on the head unit at full bars. Dialed in the amp gains and much louder much clearer and much more punch!
GTX radio
Arc Moto 720
Hertz 6.5 neo sx165
Hertz 6x9 neo sx690
RF flash
Another buddy will be bringing his bike over in the next week or so. He's running a cicada BDA 1000 with Arc cx6's and cicada cxx69s. Very similar to my setup. Results to follow.
These bikes were dialed in with a voltage meter at about 3 to 4 bars from full volume previously. There's no comparison noe.... I was able to set the hpf lower on my son-in-laws as he has less power going into his speakers than with the arc720 vs bda1400.... now they both sound fantastic
GTX radio
Arc Moto 720
Hertz 6.5 neo sx165
Hertz 6x9 neo sx690
RF flash
Another buddy will be bringing his bike over in the next week or so. He's running a cicada BDA 1000 with Arc cx6's and cicada cxx69s. Very similar to my setup. Results to follow.
These bikes were dialed in with a voltage meter at about 3 to 4 bars from full volume previously. There's no comparison noe.... I was able to set the hpf lower on my son-in-laws as he has less power going into his speakers than with the arc720 vs bda1400.... now they both sound fantastic
Last edited by golfblues; Jun 15, 2025 at 06:06 PM.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 2,213
Likes: 671
From: Andover, MN
I used the dd1 on my son-in-law's bike today. He's running an arc Moto 720 amp and we had the same results. No distortion on the head unit at full bars. Dialed in the amp gains and much louder much clearer and much more punch!
GTX radio
Arc Moto 720
Hertz 6.5 neo sx165
Hertz 6x9 neo sx690
RF flash
Another buddy will be bringing his bike over in the next week or so. He's running a cicada BDA 1000 with Arc cx6's and cicada cxx69s. Very similar to my setup. Results to follow.
These bikes were dialed in with a voltage meter at about 3 to 4 bars from full volume previously. There's no comparison noe.... I was able to set the hpf lower on my son-in-laws as he has less power going into his speakers than with the arc720 vs bda1400.... now they both sound fantastic
GTX radio
Arc Moto 720
Hertz 6.5 neo sx165
Hertz 6x9 neo sx690
RF flash
Another buddy will be bringing his bike over in the next week or so. He's running a cicada BDA 1000 with Arc cx6's and cicada cxx69s. Very similar to my setup. Results to follow.
These bikes were dialed in with a voltage meter at about 3 to 4 bars from full volume previously. There's no comparison noe.... I was able to set the hpf lower on my son-in-laws as he has less power going into his speakers than with the arc720 vs bda1400.... now they both sound fantastic
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 9,741
Likes: 1,598
From: Danbury CT
I did not check at all. On my son-in-law's bike I had dialed in the front and rears at 150w 4 Ohms at about 3 bars from full 2 years ago. That's where it stayed until today. He said today that it was louder and clearer at a much lesser volume than before.... on my bike with the bda1400 amp I just adjusted the gains just below distortion showed up on dd1. About 200 Watts on the front (4ohm) and 300 on the rears (2ohm) but did increase the HPF to about 120 fronts & 130 rears. I don't think I will ever get higher than four bars from the top on volume as it is very loud. On my son-in-law's his HPF's were about 85 and 95 as he's running much less power.
I know all the speakers on both bikes could take the power given them. As long as the high pass filters are adjusted accordingly it should not be a problem
.
I know all the speakers on both bikes could take the power given them. As long as the high pass filters are adjusted accordingly it should not be a problem
.
Last edited by golfblues; Jun 15, 2025 at 07:45 PM.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 3,825
Likes: 980
From: Southern Virginia
I'm a sucker for buying tools that allow me to do my own work (like you did with the DD-1). I wanted to ability to go back to the RF flash if I wanted to so I bought the Techno Research tool. Once I flashed the head unit perfectly flat I haven't taken it out of the box since.
If you are happy with the sound now that's a good thing, because I also lost speed control volume with the new flash. That has been a serious pain in my rear. The GTS head unit with the RF flash was so clean that I could use the speed control volume without issue for over a year. I gained a tiny bit of that functionality back with the dynamic EQ function of the Arc PSM Pro DSP, but it isn't nearly as nice.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 9,741
Likes: 1,598
From: Danbury CT
If you get a flash tool like the Techno Research from Volunteer Audio you can experiment with different flashes to see what you like. For me going from the RF flash with fade to a flat flash without fade meant I got a much warmer sound with more low end grunt. That being said I do recall when I only had four speakers in play the RF flash wasn't too bad. When I got lowers and 6x9s that had the capability to play low at high volumes the system just sounded like it was shrieking once the motor started.
I'm a sucker for buying tools that allow me to do my own work (like you did with the DD-1). I wanted to ability to go back to the RF flash if I wanted to so I bought the Techno Research tool. Once I flashed the head unit perfectly flat I haven't taken it out of the box since.
If you are happy with the sound now that's a good thing, because I also lost speed control volume with the new flash. That has been a serious pain in my rear. The GTS head unit with the RF flash was so clean that I could use the speed control volume without issue for over a year. I gained a tiny bit of that functionality back with the dynamic EQ function of the Arc PSM Pro DSP, but it isn't nearly as nice.
I'm a sucker for buying tools that allow me to do my own work (like you did with the DD-1). I wanted to ability to go back to the RF flash if I wanted to so I bought the Techno Research tool. Once I flashed the head unit perfectly flat I haven't taken it out of the box since.
If you are happy with the sound now that's a good thing, because I also lost speed control volume with the new flash. That has been a serious pain in my rear. The GTS head unit with the RF flash was so clean that I could use the speed control volume without issue for over a year. I gained a tiny bit of that functionality back with the dynamic EQ function of the Arc PSM Pro DSP, but it isn't nearly as nice.
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 89
Likes: 7
From: WI
Measuring a headunit through an amplifier 1. This procedure will determine where the maximum unclipped volume setting of the headunit is. This is accomplished by setting the bass, treble, ect, to zero; and any EQs and crossovers in the headunit to flat. Later, when you set the amplifier gain(s); you can reset these to where you feel the customer will set them, or where you will set them for your own system. This time we are going to use the amplifier to boost the signal of the headunit. The DD-1 can measure the headunits distortion THROUGH the amplifier! 2. With the headunit connected to the amplifier, connect the DD-1 input to one of the amplifier outputs using the included harness. Red to speaker (+) and Black to speaker (-). (Note on some amplifiers, usually the right channel of a multichannel amplifier, the Speaker (-) terminal is where the signal actually comes out. In this case you connect the Red to speaker (-) and Black to speaker (+). 3. Turn the gain of the amplifier to its minimum position 4. Set crossover switch to Flat. (Note if this is a subwoofer amplifier and there is no crossover switch to set to flat, turn the crossover frequency all the way up). 5. Play track 1 on test CD, turn the volume control up until you see the signal detect LED illuminate. 6. Continue turning up the headunit and you should see the 40Hz Detect LED illuminate.
7. Slowly continue turning up the headunit until the Distortion LED illuminates, then turn headunit down slowly until it goes out. Note the volume setting. 8. If you have a full range amplifier, change to track 2. Repeat the steps 3-5 above, this time noting the 1kHz Detect LED. 9. Now take the noted maximum volume settings from the 40Hz test and the 1kHz test and average them. This is your maximum undistorted volume setting for the headunit.
7. Slowly continue turning up the headunit until the Distortion LED illuminates, then turn headunit down slowly until it goes out. Note the volume setting. 8. If you have a full range amplifier, change to track 2. Repeat the steps 3-5 above, this time noting the 1kHz Detect LED. 9. Now take the noted maximum volume settings from the 40Hz test and the 1kHz test and average them. This is your maximum undistorted volume setting for the headunit.
My GTS radio also has the SOUNDZ flash in it
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 3,825
Likes: 980
From: Southern Virginia
The oscilloscope is actually a more precise way of measuring the output. The DD-1 will give you a great result, but if you want to learn the signal amplitude ramp the scope will show you that. For beginners though I don't think you could go wrong with the DD-1.
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 89
Likes: 7
From: WI
bass and treble in the middle set correct for zero? Or no bars for zero?
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Seasoned HDF Member
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From: Danbury CT
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