Hey folks,
We all are here chasing our own personal unicorns, but my ARC PSM has helped me get soooooo much closer to mine that i cant believe it! Anyone that has viewed any of my previous posts will know that i jumped in this pool with the disadvantage of wanting to keep my stock head unit in my 04 flhtcui. I was also trying to keep a reasonable budget in mind too.( yeah i know)
I come from a more than average car audio background, pro sound reinforcement and live music performance, so i have a better understanding than the average joe when it comes to this type of thing, but I still came here to this forum to try to bone up on the HD specific stuff. I have had lots of great help from guys like Haze, Gannicus, SBates and many others and do greatly appeciate all the help that imhave gotten here!!
After a bout of being sick and generally too busy with customer bikes, yesturday i finally found some time to install the PSM unit that i have had waiting on the shelf on my bike. Holy SheepShit Batman!!! It has made it a monster!!! I have installed an tuned a couple for customers, but their total installs were not as involved as my bike is. Man this little magic box woke it the f up!!! I only got about 20 minutes to play with the tuning phase, but in that 20, the bike is night and day different! It has been said that these are difficult to set up and use, but i kinda of disagree. The hardest part is actually understanding what the adjustments actually mean/do, then how to properly adjust and apply them. My background has shortened my learning curve, but i can understand where someone just getting in the pool can get overwhelmed!
I'm pretty sure that Haze and SBates have said that it's not magic, but understanding and application and I could not agree more! I am also NOT claiming to be an expert by any means, but i am ecstatic with my current results and can't wait to spend some more time with it!! This is a very powerful tuning tool and if your budget allows for it i do recomend getting one, or a similar product.
Just my 2 bits.
Marco

 

 

The PSM is a great feature to a system in the right hands.If you have the patience to learn and tame that little block box or have any audio background in tuning the PSM or any DSP will change the way a system sounds in a very positive way.
The features the PSM have really allow you to fine tune a system to your liking.

As for wiring the presets to a switch or a switched circuit for different tunes yes it has been done. I currently have mine wired in so I can have 1 preset for my off bin files and another preset for the on bin files with my stock HU on my 14 limited.

Before jumping into the deep end of the pool without your floaties on do your research and make sure you are in for the challenge of trying to stay afloat with the proper size floaties to keep you from getting in over your head as there is limited info on taming this beast.

 

 

There is a lot of valuable info on youtube, check out the CAF videos,,,car audio fabrication, Mark covers a lot of the basics in crossovers and such which i think you might find useful.
M

 

I started with googling "parametric equalizer". There were several sites that gave good info on the various definitions and what each actually do. One of the biggest things I took away from the research is to tune by subtraction rather than addition. Meaning reduce settings instead of adding. I am far from educated on this subject, but playing with it has provided better sound for me. It just takes time, patience, a laptop charger and lots of battery power on the bike.

The arc psm comes with a tune that arc audio sets up for Harleys. Right out of the box, it sounds better to me than a line leveler. That tune is the default. You can play and adjust from there and if you get to where it's not good, don't save that session and go back to the original tune. If you start making adjustments that you like better, save that file in slot 2 and go from there. You can continue tweaking as you go and save as needed or not save and go back to where you left off.

Hope this helps!!! I will say this, when i help friends with their upgrades, I try to get them to spend the money on one. I think it's a worthwhile expense.

 

 

I should qualify and give credit where credit is due. I had someone i consider a friend help with my first tune. It made a world of difference. I was afraid to mess with it at first. He is the one that clued me in on saving and not saving and not worrying about screwing up.

So a big thank you to Matt!!!

 

Still seems to be a lot of over hyping on these threads about the DSP. One dude acts like he is putting a man on the moon and it's damn funny to watch him puke all over himself!!!!

It's just an EQ folks!!!!

U will get out of it what u put into it and at 60 that margin shrinks due to the obvious. U could educate urself to advanced tunes in a 6 pack or two with the assistance of google and you tube. Hell, "phone a friend" is always an option.

The biggest decision to make is whether or not u need one. For simple sled setups stick with the Line Leveler. With multi speaker setups or more complex setups the ability to EQ even the slightest bit will provide better sound. If ur wallet is ok with it, go for it. If ur ears work it's cave man stuff. Hell a HU with EQ is damn near all u need for 99% of our setups but since the Boom does not have an EQ, this DSP gets ur ship to shore. Replacing the 6.5 HU for EQ capability is just a bad move thus the DSP is the solution for those wanting more tuning capability.

The worst case scenario with a DSP is that u don't immediately get the full potential of your speakers but in time ur ears will take u where u need to be as EQs tunes are a individual thing and not at all a one size fits all due to the varying setups, each ear being different, riding styles, genres, and etc.....

So this fantasy land bullshix that tuning an EQ requires some sort of advanced education is a crock. Not much more than the ability to operate a computer, some hands on experience with the tools and ur setup, and not be deaf is all that is required. U will gain experience with your system and the EQ in short order and your ears will guide u. Yesterday when I ride my ears told me I need to add a little bass to my lid 8s and pull a little vocal out of my TP so in 3 mins this was accomplished. Cave man shix.

So when these yahoos come on here with all this hype about EQing, they are selling something, have no clue about the audience here on the HD Forum, or are just stroking themselves. 99% of us don't sit in parking lots back slapping each other about our sled audio systems. We r not tuning to the same 5 songs in static conditions!!! We ride!!! And we set up our sleds for our individual riding desires and systems.

If the specific conditions for your setup dictates that a DSP would provide benefit, jump on in the water boys!!!! The water is calm!!!!

T.

 

My sentiments as well T....... now if you could just ride bitch with me and tune going down the road, I'd really appreciate it. LOL