EXACTLY what I was looking for. The ONLY video that touches on setting gains of the DSP! Most people only worry with the head unit and amp and excuse the fact that the DSP can incorporate noise / clipping also.
I remember when I first saw the polarity checker, and thought the same as you. I’ve always been a , use a 9 volt to pop the speaker, kind of guy. But always worried if my tweeters were wired backwards. But since I got one, It makes checking polarity on my installs a breeze, and gives you piece of mind that you did absolutely everything to ensure that there isn’t going to be a problem with backwards wiring being the culprit. Keep up the great videos man!! Looking forward to seeing that dsp in action with the eq settings. 👍🏽👍🏽
I once bought a pair of Solo-Baric Eights from kicker that were mislabeled and one of them was out of phase. Thank God I checked the polarity of them before I sealed up the box because it was a 6 order dual bandpass that was not serviceable. This was using the good old battery test. The only thing it doesn't work on is tweeters
Amazing video, most helpful one I've found online. I've been working on a build for about 9 months and I have limited dsp experience and your video has answered answerd all the questions I've been trying to figure out for months. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and explaining everything In a way for someone with limited experience can understand.
The reason you want your speakers connected while setting your gain is because the load/resistance you put across the amplifier circuit causes it's power supply voltage to sag. This is the reason higher ohm louds usually get you less power from your amplifier. Some amps have circuitry to run the same power at different ohm loads but not many. I know how annoying it can be hearing ear piercing noises but it will definitely sound as clean as it can if you do. Other than that I love the video the explanation of the dsp was helpful and very understandable. The crossover is great but it definitely takes some tinkering to figure out.
Yes please more content! I'm thinking about getting Dayton myself... Been looking at used dsr1 and twk88 but the 408 price is on point. More tutorials might just make my decision for me so keep it up!
@DIY Audio Guy Hey i know this is an old video, but do you have a comparison between the dayton 408 vs the JL twk 88. I've been trying to get input on which would be better. Od assume both units have probably had some fixes since release. I like the price of the Dayton 408, but it looks to me like it's only a small upgrade to what my pioneer nex headunit is capable of. Being that the only downside to my headunit is it has just a graphic eq an not parametric, an it of course doesn't have any routing options. It does on the other hand have a pretty decent crossover various time alignment tools sound retrieval options which im not even completely sure what that does, it basically sounds almost like a built in compressor keeping audio tracks at a relative level from song to song. Ive been looking into dsp because id like better eq possibilities. Thanks for your input an sorry for the long reply
@@DIYAudioGuy do you have any engine noise from the dsp? I've been going through forums and it seems that with analog signal you will get engine noise..???
I'm really surprised I don't see much if any content using REW. You are missing out on 80% of the DSPs features unless you're using REW and a mic to tune the crossovers, timing, eq, sub alignment etc, etc. You also get real results when making comparisons. For example, people think having trunk subs pointed into the cabin is best, but I rolled my box around and found out my best sub response is having them pointed backwards (also with the seat closed!) I'm using a Scarlett Solo and EMM-6 with a 1/4" cable loopback timing reference. But you can use a UMIK-1 and the audible timing ref too. A lot of the info out there is for Home theater, but applies to Car audio for sure. You could probably do 100 videos on tuning once you get going. I'm thinking about making some videos myself, Just because I had to do a lot of digging to find answers to some basic questions others might have. Now I feel like my knowledge has exceeded most of the demos being posted on RU-vid.
@@DIYAudioGuy Assuming your audience is mostly bass heads, you could definitely show response curves of all the different boxes you build, compare SPL to different physical and changes you make, how to use the alignment tool for sub integration (not using a tape measure) the possibilities are endless.. my car had a huge dip around 70hz (and crazy peaks throughout the upper range) before I did everything right.
@@DIYAudioGuy Just to add, I think most guys really just don't know about it (REW).. I thought I knew everything there was to know. (Crossovers, power ratings, wire gage, box building) But when I got into tuning with REW I realized I didn't know half what I needed, and can't imagine doing anything stereo related without it. Many people are wasting money on expensive gear, when all they needed was a little tuning w a mic.
One correction. The link feature will not simply link the output or volume settings. It copies all setting, crossover, eq, etc. If there is a problem, you should try firmware update. Suggested to do firmware update straight out of box in case you are on an old firmware.
That is the way I thought it should work, but it did not work that way for me. I updated the firmware before the installation, I will give it another try and let you know what happens.
@@DIYAudioGuy the link feature can be tricky on it. I've been running it for about 3 months. It seems that all the features work much better from laptop than app. In the laptop software, it color codes which channels are linked, versus the app which shows all link options red. Also, much easier to eq from laptop versus phone, you can simply type frequency into box, as well as q and level. But, for price point, I will deal with shortcomings of app.
@@DIYAudioGuy maybe it's just mine, but I link them via laptop and the link option shows different colors for linked pairs, and shows only red for any linked option on app
Hello I wanna say great channel I'm subscribed I have watched most like your videos and they are amazing.I just purchased the 408 yesterday took it out the box straight to the car big mistake my problem is I can't get any sound from my oputs I was just told I have to do a factory reset before I can get any sound due to safety of the speakers my question is how and where do I reset it thank you very much.
@@DIYAudioGuy it’s actually easy using pac am pro kit you keep uconnect head unit it gives you plug an play t harness with 3 rca outs you add amps an upgrade speakers sound great
On the Durango I have, I had bought connectors to not cut the factory wires. Of course, it became apparently pretty quickly the expected polarity was reversed. How annoying to pull the doors back apart for that!
I do have one of those polarity testers, but haven't had much luck getting mine to work reliably. At some point I'll put an Amp Pro in there to get aftermarket amplification and something a little higher quality than the infinity reference 6x9s. The investment though, is pretty big to do it right.
I have lots of tools! I was selling and ordering car audio 04-06. The cost of aftermarket integration has gotten pretty steep though. Then again, there are also way cooler toys now like the DSP.
I am. It is good for the price. Rumor has it that nakamichi is going to have a 6 in 12 out DSP that uses the same software kernel. Allegedly it's less than 300 bucks. If it can do a proper center channel I might upgrade.
Any chance you have tinkered with a Power Acoustik RZ4-2000DSPB? I can’t find any kind of tutorials on it for tuning my motorcycle speakers and don’t wanna risk blowing them
you should have let us hear the way it sounded. i get youtube is not the best to judge the SQ of a system but it can give you a bit to judge is the SQ is just trash on the speakers of if there worth a try def with the different type tweeter. so what is your thoughts on each of the 3 speakers?? im going to do a 3 way active but with the cost of living increse the focals are now way out of the budget for now.
I finally powered up my Dayton DSP408 this week and I used this video as a tutorial. Based on your findings in the video I limited my volume on the DSP408 to 56 and i found the output quieter than i would have hoped for. This was only using the bluetooth dongle audio streaming input, I have not connected my factory head unit yet. I decided to purchase a cheap o scope and do some more research and measured the output myself on my new o scope and found conflicting and varying results. When streaming via bluetooth I was able to get a clean unclipped output using 0db 1000Hz and 200Hz signals (JL Audio files) but I was limited to about 61 at 50Hz when playing bluetooth from my phone (bluetooth volume on the phone was maxed out). Out of curiosity I tried a few different audio apps on my phone (I set all the eq settings to flat in the apps) and I got some that would support an unclipped output all the way to 66 and some only to about 56 (matching your results). Can you provide more details on what input you were using on your test and did you separately measure bluetooth and RCA input. I am trying to figure out if there is variation between production of these units and how much the input matters coming in. I feel that the bluetooth input being all digital should have the cleanest signal input but I am not sure. I appreciate any more details you can provide for your input signal when you did your testing. Thanks so much for making these videos.
@@DIYAudioGuy I was just curious what your set up looked like for comparision. I think you said you used 0db test tones also but I was really interested to know if you had measured the bluetooth vs RCA input and what were your bluetooth inputs on. Thanks.
Question: If I have a HU I can set the crossovers and the EQ would this Dayton DSP actually help improve the sound of my speakers? What I'm asking is if I took the same EQ setting and crossover settings on my HU and put the exact same settings onto the DSP am I going to notice a increase in sound and clearity? Or if I add the DSP will it really not benefit me at all? Appreciate your time.
The advantage of the DPS is that you get an EQ on every channel, but your head unit is just a general system-wide EQ. Say you are running an active 2-way front stage. That is 4 amplified channels. Each channel can be time aligned, so now your tweeters are time aligned with your mids. PLUS each individual speaker now has a 10 band fully parametric EQ. So you can pick 10 frequencies for your left tweeter (any 10 that your tweeter covers) and boost/cut as needed. You then have 10 more bands for the right tweeter, 10 more for the left mid range, and 10 more for the right mid range. PLUS you still have 4 more channels, each with a 10 band EQ, for rear fill and subwoofers.
@@DIYAudioGuy ty so much for the quick response. So I really appreciate your time. This is what I have in my Harley so I hoping u can now tell me if it's still beneficial to use the DSP with what I have. Andrew Clayton Neil I used a DD1 to get the distortion and then checked with my multi meter. I'm good there. So here is what I'm really looking for an answer too. I just got the Dayton DSP Which I have a friend who installs professionally. For what I'm looking to do he said go with the Dayton. It's user friendly and the price is right and it's a really good DSP. I have a Sony 5000 HU, (4) 8ohm MMats ran parallel and bridged, and the Stinger 700 Amp. I have the Crossovers in the HU set and I set the EQ to my liking. What I really wanna know is if I set up the DSP I have, will I notice a considerable difference in sound and clarity? Would it be worth it to do the DSP. I'm pretty happy with how loud and clear it currently is but if doing this Dayton DSP will be a huge improvement than I'm down to do it. Please let me know what u think with the set u I have going on. Ty again appreciate it
@@samrohde5066 depends on what kind of speaker setup you have. When I gather most motorcycle speakers just use a pair of coaxials. A DSP is not going to help you at all with that.
im curious if you'd do a video on this for home audio? What kind of volts are we looking at? Is it still wise to set it at 55 max for home theatre even though a receivers pre-outs I believe are in between 1-2v? I think marantz pre outs are 1.2 volts
I am seriously considering buying this dsp for my 2015 Tacoma with Entune non JBL. Reason I want to get this is because I do not want to change the HU because of the rear camera and steering control. Do I need to set the HFP on the amp after setting it on the DSP? And I found out that by using a molex connector from a fan and removing the pins it makes it easy to use a DMM without having a second person on those types of amps. Thanks for the great video.
My radio only has 2v preouts but its clean with the SMD DD1.. Installed the Dayton DSP and plugged it into the DD1 and it's clipping bad.. By the time I turn the master volume down to eliminate the clipping it's not even registering a signal on the DD1 anymore.. Checking outputs at the amplifier it's clipping with the gain all the way down.. What the heck? Put the PRV crossover back in and everything setup fine.. what you think??
@@DIYAudioGuy Have tweeter and 6.5 mid bass. Which are crossed over using the crossovers that came with speakers. Have 3.5 full range which were just replacements from stock. Also have a sub.
If you're running your mids and highs off of a 4-channel amp then 4 channels of output from the DSP would go to that 4-channel amp. One channel, or two depending on how you have it set up, would go to the sub.
@@dennischow7773 I'm not really sure what you're asking. This particular DSP has six input channels and eight output channels. The six input channels go into a mixer. This is handy if you are trying to integrate into a factory head unit. It allows you to sum channels so that you can take a tweeter and a mid-range input and get a full range output. The mixer will let you route any input (or combination of inputs) to any output (or any combination of outputs). This is usually pretty straightforward -- the right rear channel just gets sent to the right rear. But you can make it more complicated if you wanted to. The rest of the settings are for the 8 individual outputs. This is is where you can set crossovers, phase, time alignment, and a EQ. There is also a level control on each output.
Yes. You need to purchase the optional Bluetooth dongle. The Bluetooth signal is stereo on input channels 1 and 2. Then you can use the mixer to route those channels into the 8 outputs where you have full control of the crossovers and parametric equalizers.
Not a big deal, just have to turn it down. The spec state that the outputs are 2.5 volts. It puts that out just before clipping. So technically speaking it is performing as advertised. it would have been nice if they would have given us 4 volt preamp outputs. But is that really fair to expect on a DSP that you can buy for less than $150?
Hi, you probably should measure your clipping point like DIYAG did. It may be that it clips just past 2.5 Volts and, based on input voltage from the HU or LOC (different for each HU) may therefore reach that point at a different DSP volume setting (i.e., not necessarily 55).
@@DIYAudioGuy I have this dsp with 2 amps and powered sub and 8 speakers on the amp crossover I know they need to be off now but do I put them on all pass or high pass with the freq all the way down I just don't want to change the signal putting out flat on all pass or having a low freq on high and blowing my speakers I don't have a rta or anything to test the signal any help would greatly appreciate it!
@@drrckhamilton You are not going to find a better DSP for the price. it is easy to set up and you have a ton of equalization. This will be great for a classic car, or somebody that just wants to bypass a head unit entirely and use a phone or a tablet to control the system. My only real gripe is that the wired remote can not be used as a base knob. I'd like to have four volt preamp outputs, a center channel up mixer, a way to do right minus left so that I could set up the rear fill properly, plus a few extra channels. but there are some $600 DSPs that don't even have all those features. At the moment I'm keeping my eye out for a whole house multichannel amplifier, every now and then used once show up at pawn shops. If I can grab one cheap I'm going to buy another one of these DSPs and use it to make a fully active stereo system for my home.
ATTENTION in 2022 the spec sheet says it outputs 4 volts. I spoke with a part's express Tech and he said on the bench he personally has seen 3.8 out of it.
Despite what the literature states, I too only can get 2.45v of output from the 408. I'm likely returning mine. Without the proper tools to adjust it it's all a guessing game. I don't have hours on end to sit , listen, and make adjustments. I'm going to use a simple PAC LocPRO and deal with whatever it sounds like. It's a 2017 F150 base radio fyi.
Your supposed to set your gains with the speaker load attached. Your amplifier will not put out the same clean signal at the same voltage when you hook your speakers back up. Go watch some barevids he explains it all
Will this DSP handle 4v in? My Kenwood Head Unit is 4v out all the way at full tilt. What I am asking is, can I go full 4v in on the DSP and use the 2.5v out to the amps without an issue?
@@DIYAudioGuy It's been a question that has been bothering me since I bought the DSP. I will contact Dayton and see what they say. Will post back and let ya know!
DIY Audio Guy I’m running the exact same one but I’m running 14 10” prv mids 4 8” prv mids 16 tweeters two 12”s resilient sounds and I don’t have a eq just the 1 in my pioneer head unit
You mean the PAC Audio Amp Pro? If I had a new car with one of those overdone, under a powered factory radios I would for sure grab one of them. But my old truck is still old school. It doesn't even have steering wheel controls.