Subaru Crosstrek and XV Forums banner

Going further with your EQ

10K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  Ice 
#1 ·
So this has been a post that I have been meaning to add for quite some time. In short, we all know that the audio quality in our XV's could be better. We also [should] know that audio is a very subjective topic. For that reason, take this with a grain of salt.

But I'd like to share an experience I had that may be of interest to some on this forum.

After going a number of months without a subwoofer (something I have always had in previous cars), I finally caved and decided to perform the ol' "line level converter/keep your factory head unit" setup. Going through the buying/configuration process and installing everything was pretty straightforward. However, where things got interesting was when I started the system up, it was just all out-a-whack. Bass was too punchy, treble was too sharp, mids were missing.

So I imagined I had some work to do with the EQ. Now admittedly, I have played with EQ's in the past, but more often than not I was just adhering to the "default" higher on bass and treble with slightly lower mids (a sort of "v" shape). Beyond that, I never got too much fancier.

So I ventured to the Googles and did me some searching. There I found some odd things, but also some helpful things. Those helpful things included a process that seemed so obvious, I was surprised I hadn't come across it on the forums.

This process, put simply was to play pink noise through your car stereo and measure it using a RTA (Real Time Analyzer). Then with the results, flatten out your EQ and then tweak to your desired settings. This lead to some very interesting findings. First of all, to achieve a flat EQ on our stereos took some major adjustments. I will show a pic below.

This was the result of the RTA measuring the pink noise played at about ½ volume.

Red Text Screenshot Font Design
(notice the spike around 100Hz and the drop off around 1k)

From here I aimed to flatten out the RTA by adjusting the EQ on the stereo. This is pretty simple as we only have a 7 band EQ, but the adjustment required in order to flatten out the RTA was surprising.

The closest I could get to flat looked like this...
Red Line Pattern Architecture Shipping container


In order to get to this, the EQ on my XV looked like this...

Technology Electronic device Multimedia Electronics Audio equipment


Wild stuff right?!?!

Anywho, I tweaked the bass down a little bit, and pretty much left the EQ flat, but I will tell you all something...

If these settings don't make each of my very eclectic choices in music sound great at nearly all volumes, then I'm not sure what would...(choose a different car would likely be the answer.)

It was a dramatic improvement to say the least and it was all done from my iPhone with free apps. So I just figured I would share my excitement.

Please note that each car's desired EQ may vary based on user preference*, but if you have any questions, I would be happy to explain more.

*I currently have the Polk 6.5" coaxials in all four doors, as well as a Alpine Type-X subwoofer, so my settings will vary from others.

Hope this helps/entertains!
 
See less See more
3
#4 ·
Yes, more info please. Like, what is "pink noise", and how does one play it? Also, what apps would be good for this, and are they Android compatible? I only have the stock speakers, but I'd like it to sound the best I can make it, and this also would be useful once I get around to replacing the tweeters.
 
#6 ·
Idk about that head unit specifically, but I know most subaru head units have a default eq that isn't shown in the eq settings. It affects the eq as well as the balance (extreme rear bias because of no tweets in the rear.)
Getting around that is called "through mode" usually. I think some head units call it "eq off"
On my '14 I had to go into a secret menu and turn a couple settings off in order to achieve a flat eq. One of them is like ASV or some 3 letters.

Anyway, there's trickery happening behind the scenes. Your eq settings are obviously not accurate on the head unit because of these background settings.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#8 · (Edited)
Idk about that head unit specifically, but I know most subaru head units have a default eq that isn't shown in the eq settings. It affects the eq as well as the balance (extreme rear bias because of no tweets in the rear.)
Getting around that is called "through mode" usually. I think some head units call it "eq off"
On my '14 I had to go into a secret menu and turn a couple settings off in order to achieve a flat eq. One of them is like ASV or some 3 letters.

Anyway, there's trickery happening behind the scenes. Your eq settings are obviously not accurate on the head unit because of these background settings.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
Yeah, that totally makes sense...let's call it "Subaru Sound Processing" :tongue:

Oh, and I meant to ask...do you recall where you found that secret menu info? as well as what head unit model number you have.
 
#13 ·
Just used this method on mine and it did make a much more noticeable impact than I thought, eq wasn't as drastic as yours but that may be because I have the alpine ktp powering the speakers but it helped me tune the kicker hs8 a little better. Here's a pic of my eq the alpine gains are at about 25% front and back high pass filter is 60hrz. I have the gain just under 50% on the kicker ha8 with the bass boost at 25% and the low pass at 90hrz sounds great Light Text Display device Font Room
 
#14 ·
I have a 2015 limited with the stock radio, speakers, and tweeters. I tried this by playing the pink noise through my daughter's ipod and using my Samsung s4 as the meter. Despite massive changes there was little difference in the meter reading. Finally went with a V and called it good enough for now.
 
#17 ·
I can't believe I haven't even thought about doing this (yet)... thanks for the insight! Many days, I just don't care, but other days I'm tweaking the EQ every few minutes - I find the radio stations and different song files will have their EQs set up differently. This is reflected in the vehicle's audio and needs to be tweaked per station, if not per song. Oh the joys of audio! :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top