12 replies to this topic

[LexARSE]

What do you guys think the advantages and disadvantages are of each.
Do you think there is any advantage in terms of the quality of the equalisation or only in the setting up and using the eq, e.g. presets, memorys, etc.

And if youve had experiences with one or both, which did you like better in terms of usebility and eqing quality.

Cheers
Tim

[pwoida]

equalisation in the digital domain won't affect the phase of the signal(good)

[EcHo2134]

u don't need rca leads..just one fibre optic cable (good, easy to install).

=)

[dasherhalo]

Analogue EQ's don't need matching HU's to provide a F/O signal, therefore making available the benefits of high end equalisation to nearly every standard source. I've never had a prob with noise........... regardless of the interconnects!

Both serve their purpose. Who's going to notice the difference when you're cruising?

Variables in set-up and ease of use come down to the individual components. This has little to do with the method (digital or analogue).

[T-Bro]

i use audiocontrol EQT's and EQL, both are analogue. have had great results with them, easy to adjust, just twist the dials, as long as you have a perspex panel over each one, they are safe.

but i can see the benefit with digital, in that you can save presets, anc compare different curves one ofter the other, until you find the best mix. this would be valuable, even though i havent experienced it.

the other thing you need to consider is that you need to tune the thing, and its best done from the drivers seat, so the EQ will have to be on an extension to allow this to be done, then when finished it gets mounted in the boot on a regular lead. i dont think digital vs analogue makes a difference here, unless the digital provide a plug control module which would make things alot easier.

so yeah, either will do the job, digital just makes it a bit easier

[shiny_car]

with a digital EQ, the analogue signal it spits out will rely on the DAC. this may (or may not) have an influence on SQ. but there are few 'cheap' digital EQs, so you can expect a high quality DAC.

some digital EQs feature additional processing features, including xovers and time alignment.

but, as long as it has the EQ features you want (eg: parametric vs graphic, number of bands), then i don't think you'll have much probs with either. and if it's a high quality brand (eg: phoenix gold, audiocontrol), then an analogue will offer suitably high SQ.

[tuneman]

i have a pair of eqt's and reciently bought a audiocontrol DQT and i have had some issues with the sound and have since put my old eqt's back in my car' it just dosen't sound good at high volume! but it sounds great at normal level and it is good to have memories to store curves but my old eqt's(there series 1 models!) are virtually indestruktable and sound good no matter what.
any ajustments to the siginal are sapposed to be better when its done in digital form eg phase distortion especially with crossover points.
the DQT only has rca inputs so its not a true digital in/out type but converts the siginal to digital then back again whether thats a good thing i dont know but it makes it easy to intergrete it with a exsisting haed unit etc.

all the issues with the dqt may be due to it being quite a high tech piece of equipment utilizing computer technology, and the rest of my equipment being quite old' it was a little bit tempremental with the power plug comming out when it was on to' as it refused to work when i pluged it back in

[ December 27, 2003, 01:53: Message edited by: tuneman ]

[suparoo]

if you can get your hands on a HU with a digital out and a EQ with digital IN, itd be the go i reacon, less in the signal path, some digitals take the analogue signal convert it to digital, eq it then back to analogue, which leads to more in the signal path, though theres nothing at all wrong with a good quality anologue EQ, high end ones will have virtually immesurable distortion
and depending on EQ type you can have no effect to phase.

[-DJ-]

the only singe pain with going an "all-digital" system (like cpunky's) is that you'll need to add-in a pot or some volume control system (like an audiocontrol MVwhatsit).

this will frustrate a few, who like to twiddle to knob on their headie, as opposed to twiddling a pot somewhere else! you'll also lose all the other "handy" little features such as mobile mute and whatnot.

ideally, cyberpunky's car has it right. digital headunit to digital processing to high quality dac to volume control. to me, its the most elegant way to do a system cos you only fiddle the sound in digital.

d

[pwoida]

I just thought of a disadvantage of digital:

If you use a digital processor to divide the low frequencies(sub) from the rest of the audio spectrum it will be a zero group delay filter. If this signal is then fed to a sub amp and then to a sub without additional filtering the sub will play with a low group delay. Meanwhile the higher frequencies are fed to splits etc which use an analoque filter(including active(usually worse than passive because of the steepness)) which introduces some group delay. Hence the frequencies close to the crossover point which are played by two speakers will be out of phase.

However a good digital EQ should have phase adjustment etc to overcome such problems.

[jas]

the sony xes and pioneer digital systems (ODR) are by far the best things ive ever heard in mobile audio.

since these awesome products were released there are new porducts available

pioneer P9 combo

alpine f1 status

clarion 9255 (yes there is a new 9255 with lots of features)

[Bassaholic]

pwoida said:

I just thought of a disadvantage of digital:

If you use a digital processor to divide the low frequencies(sub) from the rest of the audio spectrum it will be a zero group delay filter. If this signal is then fed to a sub amp and then to a sub without additional filtering the sub will play with a low group delay. Meanwhile the higher frequencies are fed to splits etc which use an analoque filter(including active(usually worse than passive because of the steepness)) which introduces some group delay. Hence the frequencies close to the crossover point which are played by two speakers will be out of phase.

However a good digital EQ should have phase adjustment etc to overcome such problems.

This is correct, but also remember that just because it is digital, doesn't neccesarily mean it is a zero phase filter....

[jas]

an fir (finite impluse response) filter(which tends to be the more popular choice of filter over the iir type) has a linear phase equal to half the filters length

basically the longer the filter is (which is directly relate to how many points the designer uses) the sharper the slope will be and the longer the delay will be.

also you introduce phase and frequency errors when you go from digital to analogue. This requires an dac and current to voltage cct and analogue lowpass filters (simple 12db/oct opamp stage).

with all this being said i have really enjoyed the high end digital x-over and eq experience. The sony xes and pioneer odr equimpent when properly tuned can be truely amazing