Time Delay
 

Well im finally going to try to get some more sq out of my front stage, my truck is not a sq vehicle at all, but i want to make it sound better from the mids and highs. I have a 99 s10, running only door speakers, Rockford Fosgate T-1652-S, tweeter is mounted about 1.5" above the mid. I have an Alpine CDA-9830. I have been reading the manual a lot, and not sure if im getting it right. I want it to sound the same for me and the passenger, not just for me. But im not understanding how to do that so its equal for both people, or if its possible. It says on page 16, example 2 for all seats, but not grasping it really.
Also curious if the MX mode is worth using or not. It says on page 18, it corrects information that was lost at time of compression.

If anyone could help me get more out of my deck that would be great. I have played a lot with the EQ to get it to some what where i like it, But im lost when it comes to EQ and where it should be set, i just set it by ear and tried my best for a few hours. Any help there would also be great.

I want to get this setup until i can afford a better head unit, which i am looking into, but wont be able to purchase until mid summer.

*edit* i also use blackout mode, which turns off the display. It says it helps with power consumption which enhances sound quality.

You can't get it to sound the same for both seats...the only way to improve it significantly without major speaker location modifications, or expensive new processors is to use a centre channel for mids/vocal. The time alignment is there to maximize sq for one seat. Unfortunately, every time you use t/a to make it sound better for one seat..you make it worse for the other seat (typical 2 seat set up). Remember what the concept is here...you're using an electronic component to delay the closest speakers to you, so that they may sound like they are farther away from you. For example; the image without t/a from the driver's point of view is closer to his door, and likewise the passenger's is closer to their door. When you use t/a to make your image more centered, you have to delay the driver's side speakers some time so that the sound arrives at your ears at the same time as the opposite speakers...this creates an image more centered in front of you....butttt...when you do that, the image for the passenger is now even more biased to their door because the sound from your speakers take even longer to get to them. See the problem...now, there are new components (alpine imprint, jbl ms8, etc..) that claim they have fixed this problem using extremely complicated eq, t/a, cross overs etc...so that may be what you need. For now, your best bet is a centre speaker(which may require a processor anyway..read expensive or there are ways to do it though summing the l+r signal), speaker placement (this means moving your speakers to better locations to equalize path lengths to both seats), and no t/a (turn off the t/a as it won't help, and most likely hinder 2 seat sound) for best sound for both travellers.

ahh i had a feeling that i wouldent be able to use ta for both seats. Was hoping it was like audyssey on receivers and you can set it up for multiple seats.

I cant move speakers around. I like the way it sounds now, but i always like improvements. Esp. if they are free lol. I just turned my internal amp off on my H/U also.

Also, if you dont mind, could you look at the manual online, and go to page 16, it says something about setting it up for "all seats"

also what about MX mode? and "bass focus"

sorry forgot to post link to manual. Click on get this manual and it comes up PDF, thanks
http://audio.manualsonline.com/manua...1_cda9830.html

But it does work the same as the Audyssey setup. Every seating position you add degrades the previous ones.

The whole reason for time delay is to have the sound from every speaker arrive at your ears at the same time (it delays the signal to the speaker to compensate for the distance that speaker is away from you, ie. the closer the speaker the more it has to be delayed). General physics states that can only work for one place in the vehicle (one set of ears). Get it?

Usually you can save more than one TA setting. Therefor you can set one preset so it sounds best for you when you are alone in the vehicle. If you have rear speakers and/or a sub in the back you can change the seating position to "front" and then have your second TA preset to have your rears/sub align somewhat with your fronts but your L/R will still be off.

If you're ever in the Bowmanville area I can show you on my vehicle the effects.

I understand how it works. Just never really played with it to understand it some more. I do come to the durham region very often. I would love to hear it! ive never really heard an sq system before.

So i guess i can scratch the idea of TA then.

What about the MX mode? and what about the "bass focus" it talks about in the manual in the Time Delay section.

bass focus is t/a used specifically to adjust front and rear and left and right speakers in pairs to manipulate the bass centre. Essentially by delaying sets of speakers at a time it can help to make the bass sound like it's more up front, and closer to either left or right side...unfortunately, any other t/a used affects this setting as well, so it doesn't work as well if regular t/a is used. In your case, if you don't use the regular t/a to enhance your listening position, then it will work well to bring the bass further ahead. Mx mode is a fancier loudness button. Some people like it as it can enhance poorly recorded material or give some more life to older, duller tracks. Many could care less for it as it can make good recodings sound overly bright and tinny. I use it on occasion for older tracks or 50/60's music to brighten them up.
Back to the t/a for a second; you can still experiment with it to help time align the rear speakers to the front a little better. Just make the listening position the center of the car between the front seats and adjust based on that. I actually have that as my passengers in vehicle setting and it works well (i also have a center channel and dedicated processor with center output, so that helps a lot). Just play with it...one suggestion is to always keep track of your settings in case you come upon a sweet setting...worst thing is to change it and you can't remember what it was!

The MX feature is basically a Loudness button. I tried it on my 9835 and I preferred it off most of the time.

If you've got TA already then you definitely owe it to yourself to at least play with it to the point where it's set up properly. Listen to it like that and then turn it off and see if it's worth it to you to leave it on or not. your stereo is for your ears primarily so if it really matters that much to you what your passengers think just have a different setting for when they get in the car (or turn it off). TA isn't just going to help your imaging. With TA off your going to have speakers working against each other and that's going to cripple the final sound at your ears. TA helps the most in the midbass/mid range region.

If you get a chance to listen to my vehicle I'll give you an A/B comparison with/without TA and I garauntee you'll go home and start trying it on your your system.

Yea im going to scratch the MX idea. Not a fan of loudness. But i will def try playing with TA, it doesn't hurt to try it out. Also i dont have rear speakers, only front doors. Also i will def right it down as i have a bad habit of doing what you said and forgetting a setting lol. Hardwrkr, i will shoot you a PM next time im heading down! thanks