I haven't seen this question asked before so here goes. I was wondering what the optimal settings for the Empeg's volume are. I mean does it provide enough clean output at 0db. Right now I have my amp gains practically all the way up and the Empeg gets very loud around -20db.

The Empeg might be able to provide cleaner output than my amp. So would putting the gains down and the empeg volume up increase the sound quality? I am interested in the settings everyone else is using. Thanks in advance.

Tom

generally, you want every level to be as low as possible.
Start by setting everything to it's lowest setting,
turn all the amps, the volume and loudness settings all the way down.

Now turn up the volume as high as you can without getting distortion.
You should get pretty close to the top.
Then turn up your loudness setting up as loud as you can without distortion.
lastly turn up the amps.
The idea is to provide a nice strong signal to the amps, then have the amps do as little amplifying as possible.

the other plus to this method is that if you'll be able to turn up the volume all the way with no distortion, you'll never hear distortion, (unless of course it's encoded into the file)
because no one in your car is going to be playing with your amp gains.

Where as if the amps are juiced up and you can only turn the volume halfway up before you hear distortion, one day, you'll be adjusting the volume, hit a bump in the raod and send the voulme into overdive by accident.
Then you'll be turning into the car stereo store to buy replacements for the speakers you just blew, not to mention your ears and wallet.

LOL

Yes, the Empeg at 0db should have a clean signal. You adjust the gains a little differently than other car players, see the FAQ

Assuming a flat EQ and loudess setting, the empeg puts out perfect sound quality at 0db.

So you should adjust your amp gains so that the empeg's 0db is the normal maximum listening volume. This sets your proper maximum signal-to-noise ratio and gives you the best dynamics out of your stereo.

This is a standard installation procedure for car stereo equipment. It is covered in the FAQ right here.

You adjust the gains a little differently than other car players

Actually, it's the same for any car player with outboard amps. The difference is, on other car players, knowing where "0db" is on their volume scale. The empeg is nice because it tells you exactly where the peak is on its scale.

> Actually, it's the same for any car player with outboard amps....empeg is nice because it tells you exactly where the peak is on its scale.

That's true. That's what I was talking about, you can skip a step with the Empeg.

Now turn up the volume as high as you can without getting distortion.
You should get pretty close to the top.
Then turn up your loudness setting up as loud as you can without distortion.
lastly turn up the amps.

But... how would you know if you are getting any distortion if the amps are at zero?

As was stated, turn the empeg to 0dB (I recommend disabling and + numbers in emplode) and then turn up your amps until you get to either the max volume you would ever want or to the initial point of distortion.

It gets tricky, if the EQ and loudness (?) settings have been mucked with, 0db might not be the optimum setting.

Calvin

I dont think there is anything magical about 0dB. DB's are a relative scale, so it's important to understand what voltage corresponds to 0dB. As a matter of labeling, 0 dB usually means maximum gain, but it doesnt have to be that way. I believe the RIO is set up for 4Volt outputs, so the full scale might correspond to the 4V output.

That's all academic though, I think the right methodology was described... for optimal settings, start at the source, and turn it up as high as you can go without distortion. Then work on down the stream towards your speakers.

Here's an idea for a cool feature: a built in tone generator. You can look at the output with an mic. and an O-Scope to see at what point distortion comes into the waveform.

-Ted

0dB in digital means 0 attenuation. (I'm sure you know that). So, anything above that (+whatever) will create distortion. Digital distortion is not the warm, fuzzy fealing that analgue geeks love - it is harsh and consists of ugly square waves. So, I say, start at the sourse, get the highest output possible without noise (0dB) and work from there. Any amp, ANY AMP, will introduce more noise than the empeg. So, in order to have the lowest noise in the system - the lowest setting at the amp is needed. The only way to do that is to have the highest clean output from the empeg.

Another reason is that having a stronger signal in your RCA's will allow the least amount of noise to be introduced into the wires. My slight alernator whine goes away when I raise the volume. And since the amplification is constant (from the amp), it is the higher signal through the RCA's that is getting rid of it (and covering it at some point).

But basically, whatever you can do to get the lowest setting on amp - the better. They distort less and run cooler.

All of this is assuming no loudness. EQ shouldn't never be used to increase a frequency band's strength - only lower the others.

Not necesarrily, dB is purely a relative measure. You can say things like 0 dBFS to mean a full-scale digital signal. You can also say something like 0 dBm about an analog signal to describe a 1 milliwatt signal, but 0dB really means nothing unless it's relative to somthing. This is confusing, but I deal with this kind of stuff every day at work.

So, the test case to find out how the unit is designed (without the schematics) would be to generate a 0dBFS sinewave digitally, and look at the RCA output with an o-scope. I think that the waveform will be clean even above a 0db volume setting.

But I think everyone is saying the same thing, start at the source and go from there.

Also, as an aside, you are getting the same level of alternator noise on your input to your amplifier, but since you're applying less gain at the amp, it is less noticeable.

-Ted

"Gain" is a volume setting. It is not a power setting. Regardless of the gain setting of your amplifier, if you are producing a certain amount of power, your fatigue and heat will be the same. If you're getting the maximum out of your amp with gains at full or gains half way, there's no difference to power consumption nor heat.

You are adjusting the gain on your amp to allow you to make full use of the power it is able to produce. If you want to make it run cooler, then don't run it close to full power (that means it will be less loud - and you can do that by turning down the volume - at the source or at the amp).

Just point people to the FAQ and the FAQ will point people to the info at Eatel. And that will keep the Car Audio wive's tales from getting too far.

Bruno

Not necesarrily, dB is purely a relative measure.

Correct. On the empeg car player's volume indicator, dB is the amount of attenuation relative to "zero attenuation".

In other words, 0dB on the empeg's volume scale means it is sending its maximum non-clipping wave (the maximum capable by the DSP) directly to the output circuitry. Going down from 0dB indicates the amount of signal attenuation below that level.

1] If you are using your Empeg through another player...

Set your empeg to 0DB
Lock the volume from the menu to avoid accidental changing!
Turn your amp gain to mininum
Turn your car stereo to maximum (without distortion)
Now increase your amp gain untill you reach the desired level!

- Use your car stereo to control the volume!

- That's how you'll get the optimum!


2] If you are connecting your Empeg straight to an amp!

- Turn your amp gain to minimum
- Set your empeg to 0DB
- Increase your amp gain to maximum level without distortion

- Now your empeg volume will control the volume level and give optimum non-clipped sound up to 0DB!

- Hope this helps!!!! :-)

Actually, no - 0dB is the ideal setting. The attenuation is digital within the DSP, so you loose resolution the quieter the player is.

With a full-scale sinewave, anything above 0dB will clip - again, the gain is done digitally and you run out of bits!

The recommended setup (set 0dB on empeg, wind up amp gains to the point where it is the loudest you'll ever want it) as documented in the manual will give the best audio output quality, in terms of resolution and noise in the empeg->amp path.

Hugo

Thank you.

Hi, If there is distortion beyond 0db why does it go beyond that level(overdrive).Also the same question as far as the EQ settings,why are you able to raise the level past 0db?

It only distorts if the waveform is at full deflection. If you have a track which has not been correctly normalised and doesn't get close to full deflection, the only way to get that track up to "full volume" is to add some gain above 0dB.

Issues with driving a particular EQ band above 0dB are far more subtle, and boosting particular channels can be a satisfactory solution in many cases (e.g. if you're in a hurry!). In any case this is only a problem if the volume gain is up at 0dB or thereabouts, otherwise there's headroom to accommodate the EQ gain without clipping.

Rob