For People Who Love Music On The Move - Four Masters

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One of the main differences between a run-of–the-mill sound system and the one in Jas’ car is separation – the ability to pick out individual instruments from a wall of sound. channel to drive a 12-inch subwoofer mounted under the floor in the load space. Many are put off by the term ‘subwoofer’, due to its links to huge boxes full of speakers crammed into the back of a hatchback in the 90’s, which pumped horrible bass distortion into the atmosphere much to the annoyance of local residents and passers-by. The subwoofer in Jas’ car could not be further from this and the bass and sub-bass frequencies reproduced by the Audison Voce AV 12 form a vital part of the overall audio experience. Bass and sub-bass frequencies require the most energy to reproduce, which is why this sub is driven with 1,000 Watts RMS. This is not so that the neighbours can hear it but to keep those power hungry frequencies balanced with the rest of the system. A little power is kept in hand as the rumble from tyre-on-road will effectively drown Music 4 Driving Recommended by Jas Adele - 21 Ed Sheeran - + Dizzy Rascal - Tongue n Cheek Ministry of Sound - The Sound of Dubstep 2 Nitin Sawhney - Last Days of Meaning out these frequencies, leading to the loss of the double bass and the low thunderous element of timpani in orchestral music or bass synthesiser and electric bass guitar in other genres. Good in-car bass reproduction not only needs seemingly unholy amounts of power but also some air space behind the speaker. The amount of air space required has reduced dramatically over the years and the subwoofer in this instance is mounted in a custom enclosure fitted neatly into the redundant spare wheel well. With a can of tyre sealant and run-flat tyres, who needs to specify an expensive spare wheel these days? Climbing into Jas’ car you wouldn’t know that it was anything other than straightfrom-factory spec. However, listen to a CD and you will forget everything else about the car, the sound sweeps you away to places you simply couldn’t drive to. The sound of your favourite artist seems to just appear in front of you and give you a big hug as if saying thank you for listening! Equipment List Audison VOCE AV 12 subwoofer Audison VOCE 5.1K Amplifier Audison AV bit IN Digital Interface Audison bit 10 Digital Signal Processor Audison Voce AV K6 Connection cables and accessories Skinz Expert Damping 10 Driving Sounds www.drivingsounds.co.uk Tel: 0800 652 5125
The science of sound is vast and complex. Fortunately, there is help at hand for our FOUR MASTERS in the form of a piece of equipment called a Real Time Analyser (RTA) We explore some of the reasons why they are a good idea. The Sound Curve T he human ear has a maximum frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 KHz. This is at its optimum but from the day we are born, this range starts to reduce. By adulthood the upper limit will have reduced to something like 16Khz but hearing is not simply a mechanical process as much processing happens within our brain, which can help to compensate for the deterioration of our aural organs. Because of this we are very good at getting used to substandard sound as our ears compensate in part for bits of information we may miss. However, getting used to bad sound and being engaged by good sound are polar opposites and in order to reach for perfection, we all sometimes need the support of science. An RTA offers an audio installer a visual representation of the way sound behaves in any specific vehicle. It consists of a box containing some very sophisticated electronics and is able to look at the audible frequency range (20Hz to 20Khz) plotted against amplitude or level (measured in Volts or more typically dB) in tiny detail and displays results on a LED digital display on the front of the unit. More specifically, each of around 30 specific frequencies across the audio spectrum is given a level value when listened to by a microphone attached to the RTA and those values are each displayed allowing installers to know which frequencies need adjustment. The sound the RTA is listening to is generated from a CD that contains different sounds from frequency sweeps (20Hz to 20Khz at a fixed amplitude or level) or other test tones specifically designed to help point out any deficiencies in the system, such as pink noise. However, it is not simply a matter of tweaking equaliser controls to obtain a flat response as although this may be technically correct, the human ear has it’s own response curve which is not flat. For example, our ears tend to be more sensitive to sounds around 1KHz and 3Khz, which is why we are quite good at hearing a baby cry. As we age, the response of our ears will Tel: 0800 652 5125 www.drivingsounds.co.uk be subject to change and also we will grow to prefer one sound to another. Therefore, even the most talented FOUR MASTER may ultimately need the listeners input in order to get a car to sound perfect. Through experience, many sound experts are able to get pretty close to good sound using their ears alone however, we all have off days and it is good to have an absolute reference for any adjustment. A RTA offers this and is an invaluable tool in the hands of a FOUR MASTER. Driving Sounds 11 KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Page 1 and 2: Issue Two £3.00 For people who lov
Page 3: CONTENTS Car Features We show you s
Page 6 and 7: I n this article, we explain where
Page 8 and 9: Masterful Mercedes A chieving a won
Page 12 and 13: Natural Beauty CS 260.30 The Audio
Page 14 and 15: apart from the incredible sound is
Page 16 and 17: F or nineteen years, Source Sounds
Page 18 and 19: With Wave Diffuser Without
Page 20 and 21: Founding Partner of UK car audio eq
Page 22 and 23: is produced by a Hertz EBX-F20 flat
Page 24 and 25: Why a FOUR MASTER? FOUR MASTERS are
Page 26 and 27: John Kleis Towers - Definitely Not
Page 28 and 29: Digital Radio (DAB) in ANY Car EZi-
Page 30 and 31: voids behind the mounting positions
Page 32 and 33: A n audio system in a car will draw
Page 34 and 35: Heavenly Catering f D eborah Grech-
Page 36 and 37: Distributed in the UK by www.fourca
Page 38 and 39: Established in 1991 by Jeff Lunn in
Page 40 and 41: Now You See It, Now You Hear It! C
Page 42 and 43: eproduction in the vehicle. The DA1
Page 44 and 45: SPOTLIGHT ON FOUR MASTERS Highdown
Page 46 and 47: The Music Lover’s Guide to Car Au
Page 48: Love music on the move? You don’t

For People Who Love Music On The Move - Four Masters

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