hey guys

if any of you have bought this head unit, could you give me your audio settings? I find it really difficult to tune the audio setup.

thanks

what exactly are u trying to tune?

crossfaders? or bass and treble or what

They're not hard to tune dude and I'm more than happy to sit with you and tune it if you're in NSW.

Otherwise, which setting are you having troubles with?

On another note, we tune every car we do differently so there is little real world use in asking for someone elses settings. While it might be a good starting point, your system really should be tuned for your musical tastes. ;)

Every car is different ..
We all use Different speakers, different Music Styles.. So all is hard to do as we are all different.

I have found With Pioneer Decsk to have the Loud Set on Mid, the Treble on Level 4 and the Bass Set at Level 3... Seems to do the Job for most Genre's of Music


I like to have Major Bass and Crystal Treble with little Midrange... You may like Alot of Midrange and only a Bit of Bass or Treble..

your audio settings will be different to other users due to speaker type, placement, listening prefs and amplifier settings,filters blah,blah,blah...

If your after the mp3 Bimetric and BBE settings and such, I suggest that you also use your own settings. How about I show you the layout I have chosen and why. This may help you make the right choice for your setup.

BMX setting:

http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/Functionscreen.jpg

Get to the function screen and scroll (using the RH knob,the rotary commander) to the BMX adjust tab

http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/Functioncompression.jpg


I've chosen Bimetric expansion 1. This is a good setting for most MP3 and WMA types. It will add slight bass and treble extension to music playback, compensating for compression created with 128Kbps-192Kbps samples. Choose BMX2 for enhanced expansion (typically for 128Kbps or under files). Comp1 & Comp2 attempt to restore the mid freqs (which can affect your imaging and staging).

One thing to remember is that the BMX enhancement applies ONLY to MP3 and WMA playback. If you insert a normal music disc you will not be able to find the BMX tab in the function menu. The H.U. will not apply the BMX enhancement to standard music discs. This means that if you were to convert MP3 files to a standard wav file music disc, the H.U. would not apply any Bimetric expansion, therefore its better to leave the Mp3's as Mp3s so the H.U. knows to apply BMX.

BBE setting:

BBE attempts to compensate for a speakers inertial characteristics which govern music playback. For eg,

An amplifiers output of a single frequency burst can be displayed as this waveform:
http://www.bbesound.com/lic/tb1.jpg

Yet, due to a speakers relative efficiency, filter networks, and physical properties of the speaker and surroundings the playback of the burst may appear like this:
http://www.bbesound.com/lic/tb2.jpg

With BBE on the speaker distortion of the original sound can be minimized by enhancing the original burst at the start of the waveform from the amplification stage to produce this end result:
http://www.bbesound.com/lic/tb3.jpg

It's not perfect, but it is a better representation of the original waveform.

The DEH-p8650MP can sculpt the amount of BBE enhancment to better suit your speaker. +BBE enhances the signal more (compensating for poor speakers) and -BBE de emphasises the effect for more efficient, responsive (and typically more expensive) speakers. All speakers have this "colouration" of sound to some extent, so BBE is good, but in the correct dosage. For example, if you can hear your speakers giving a slapping or almost doublebass output on what should be a solid bass hit, then the BBE has exaggerated the front of the waveform too much (so turn the BBE down). If you are missing some finer detail in the music, the BBE may help give more clarity (turn it up). Very rarely would you ever need more than +2 BBE.

O.K. so we need to get to the BBE screen,

http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/getting%20to%20audio1.jpg

goto your AUDIO setting screen by momentarily pressing the RH knob and then turning the RH knob (scrolling) to the BBE tab.

http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/BBE.jpg

You can change the setting up or down, or turn it off altogether by pushing up,down and pressing respectively on the RH knob.
I chose the -1 BBE position, which is just shy of the standard BBE enhancement. This seems to be the best setting for my Focals, probably because they are quite efficient already, and don't need much of a push to get them going.

more info on BBE (http://www.bbesound.com/technologies/BBE%5FHDS/)

STANDARD vs Networking mode:

That's a whole kettle of fish that you can explore later, but basically it lets the H.U. take more control of the speakers. Phase correction is the main benefit of networking, as you can now digitally change all of your crossover settings and avoid phase change errors that passive crossovers have. Generally, you have more control over your system, but with networking, you also lose the auto TA and have to work it out manually.

Setting the Auto Time Alignment and Auto Equalizer properly:

to get the best from your auto TA, I suggest that you let the H.U. work out the best settings and go from there. This means that it's best to turn all of your amplifiers low and high pass filters OFF (which cause phase differences) and let the H.U. digitally sculpt each speakers output high and low settings.

I also suggest that you have your system running for about 5mins prior at moderate levels to get all the componets warmed up. This will make sure the eq settings get changed for the normal operation status of the system, with speakers and amps warmed up (podantic, I know!!)

Big things that can change the TA settings are speaker polarity, placement and passive filters...

To engage the auto eq:

From the normal playback screen:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/8650%20normal%20playback.jpg

goto your audio screen (press RH knob)
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/getting%20to%20audio1.jpg

scroll (turn knob anitclockwise or clockwise) to the listening position tab:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/Position.jpg

from here select where you will want the TA to be carried out (basically where the microphone will be). I've chosen the drivers position.

Now turn the H.U. off (with the ignition still on) and press the EQ button (to the bottom right of the the LH knob) for over 2 seconds:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/start%20taeq1.jpg

it will then move to this position:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/taeqready.jpg

O.K. now you have to put the mic. as close to your normal listening position as you can get.

grab some tape and sit as normal in the front RH seat. Now place the tape on the roof so it hangs down just where your head normally sits:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/red%20tape.jpg

Adjust the seat so the headrest touches the tape:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/headrest%20to%20red%20tape.jpg

Now you can place the mic onto the headrest, ajusting the headrest vertically,so that it is at your heads normal position:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/mic.jpg

plug the mic. into the H.U. (underside of faceplate) and push the RH knob for a 10 second countdown to start:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/start%20eq.jpg
Hop out and close the door!!!

The H.U. will first adjust the RH,LH speakers and the subwoofers equalizer settings (high pass, low pass ,filter slopes) for different spl levels using white noise.
Then it moves onto the "tick" response for TA, and finally it will set the equalizer for the flattest response curve.

At the end (6 mins approx duration) you will get the complete message at the bottom of the screen:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/completeeq.jpg

And your finished!!

Lets us know if you want to go into greater detail on the front and rear high pass settings ,and the sub woofer settings, and y the H.U. may place your time alignment of the components to 4m away!!!

Wow.Thanks a lot guyz.

When you get bored with the H.U. standard display, download the OEL Screensaver Studio (http://www.pioneer.co.jp/car/pclink3a/index-e.html) software and start creating your own displays.
The P8650MP is limited to changing only the 2nd video, 4th background video, the background images and none of the funky graphic equalizer displays.
When putting images in, be wary that the screen cannot display the colour green, and will make it an orange or grey tint instead...

If you can't be bothered making your own, download some cool screensavers from THIS WEBSITE (http://www.oel-downloads.co.uk/pc_link_3a.htm).

Example: http://www.oel-downloads.co.uk/3a_movie08/3a_simpsons_and_rem-oel.gif

After you have used the software and made an LKA file (screensaver file), you will have to then burn it onto a disc (as a data disc).

Downloading a screensaver to your H.U.

Turn off H.U. with your ign on (as per AutoEQ) and press the buttons "EQ" and "Band/Esc" on your front panel for over 2 secs.
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/display change enable.jpg

The H.U. will spit the disc that is in it out and ask for the LKA file disc (the one you just made)

put the disc in and it should begin to download it!!!!

N.B. GEEEEEEZ!!! It takes a while to download it into the H.U. (about 10mins for a full LKA file) so you may as well get some coffee and watch T.V. while you wait...

If you want to update just one bit of the LKA file then simply make an LKA with only the part you wish to change (just a picture) and the rest will remain the same when the new LKA is downloaded onto the H.U.

Stuffin round with the High & Low Pass Filters (the filters that the H.U. has meticulously worked out for you):

FRONT SPEAKERS:

If you want more SPL out of your front speakers, want to avoid harmonic distortions, and need an easy solution to door rattles you can use the H.U. high pass filter for the speakers.

The high pass won't cut out ALL of your bass to the front speakers, it just simply stops them from over working themselves to produce sounds out of thier low extension range.

to muck with the settings:

go into the AUDIO screen then scroll to the F-HPF1 tab:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/Fhpf1.jpg

This shows the filter slope to the front speakers. In this case I have the slope set at 12Db per octave. A higher filter slope will enable more attenuation of bass, however this may also make the speaker sound "hollow". A lower setting (eg,6Db) will have a more natural rolloff of freqs, but low bass may still effect harmonics in mid range output to that speaker.

goto the next tab, the F-HPF2 tab:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/fhpf2.jpg

Now you can choose the lower cutoff frequency by pushing side to side on the RH button (in my case 125Hz) and pushng up and down will attenuate the output (in my case LV -6), if you wish to lower the sound level to the front speakers (kinda like front rear fader). This helps avoid speaker damage due to too much power to the speakers, or enables the H.U. to control voltage output to the amlpifiers (especially if they are not rated to 6.5v).

You can use the same method for the rears (R-HPF1,R-HPF2) and generally they are set to a slightly lower sound level with a lower bass cutoff (80Hz).

The subwoofer filter has more control, enabling you to select in or out of phase:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/Subwreverse.jpg

and it has a LOW pass filter instead of a high pass filter:
http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/subcrossover.jpg
Here you can see I've set it to play notes under 63Hz with the sound level lowered to -9 (for sound quality purposes ;))

http://www.lavendergreenooaks.com/BEN/SW2slope.jpg
Be wary that the slope for the sub can be set at a maximum of 18Db in STD mode. To get the 36Db low pass filter, the H.U. must be in Networking mode