Subwoofer test music

[Mikes Z car]

I have noticed there is subwoofer test music available that can be used to evaluate speakers. But how would I know if a speaker I have passed the test? I tried playing some of the test music through the large over the ear headphones I have that are supposed to be stu dio monitor grade which I think means that they have a flat response. They are supposed to be good down to 5 Hz. The sound bass notes (it sounded like an electric bass) went lower and lower down the scale and then all I could feel was an air current but no sound when it got too low for me to hear it. I realize this question might be similar in difficulty to "what is the meaning of life" with no real answer but is there some way to analyze c ar speaker performance at all?

Edited December 15, 2013 by Mikes Z car

[30 Ounce]

I use this for all my audio setup:TrueRTA Real Time Analyzer FAQ Page

But I have seen this too and it might work well: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rta/id298839433

Music is hard to setup stuff with. But if you know what pink noise sounds like its pretty easy to find holes or lacking frequencies.

[Mikes Z car]

Thanks! I didn't know those resources existed. The RTA looks very interesting. My ears wouldn't be good enough to pick out holes in noise. I have heard white noise but I wouldn't be able to hear the difference between pink and white noise. You reminded me that I used to experiment with a windows app called spectrogram which was freeware ten years ago and apparently still is. Runs on windows 95/98/NT/XP and vista. If I experiment with the preferences it will give a 324 Hz display for analysis, I don't know if that is enough resolution to be useful for sub woofer sounds.

The web page for it is at:

Downloads - Spectrogram version 5.0

It can be downloaded at:

http://www.electronics-lab.com/downloads/cnt/fclick.php?fid=33

[TomoHawk]

What is your goal here? Why bother testing subwoofers in the S30? You're better off listening for the 1Hz sound of a pothole... Besides with all the rumbling from the engine, the rattling of the body, and the wind noise/tire noise, how could you tell what frequencies are what? (I used to play electric bass in a rock band, and String bass in college orchestra.) I like the punchy low sounds, not the rumbly kind (think Geddy Lee of Rush.)

Edited December 17, 2013 by TomoHawk

[Mikes Z car]

Hi TomoHawk,

Today I drove the Z. It was in the 20s, no rain or snow going on and mostly dry roads other than some patchy yet to be melted snow. They don't use salt here. Earlier this evening I put in the rubber boot that goes around the gearshift (missing when I got the car) but now after reading your post realize the 1Hz sound of the potholes will be harder to hear. Maybe I need a floor cutout heh heh.

Well I do love good bass in a car. I used to play a standard elec tric guitar (still do) but was never talented enough to play in a band. Pretty neat that you have played instruments, I wish I had more talent for that.

As far as goal I have six speakers I took out of a large scre en TV after I dismantled the rest of it with a sledgehammer (pair of 6X9s, pair of 5 inch with massive magnets and a couple of soft dome tweeters). I realize none of those speakers would necessarily be considered subwoofers. I want to put them in the z with home made enclosures and was wondering how small I can make them and still get bass that is fun to listen to. What songs define good bass? Some songs I like mostly for the bass line such as these really old ones:

Walkin' the dog by Rufus Thomas (1966)

Mr Big stuff by Jean Knight (1971)

There was a fairly recent thread on phasing and other aspects of speakers. I got a copy of the free version of RTA that 30 Ounce described above, what a great speaker testing program. I got to looking at a couple of old favorites for editing audio, Audacity and Cool Edit and notice they do phase reversing on one track and will generate bass frequencies. It would be fun I think to make an MP3 with normal and then reversed phasing across the stereo channels for different bass frequencies. Maybe make the MP3 run from 60 Hz on down to 20 Hz with 1/2 second tones a couple of Hz apart? Maybe have a voice describe what tones are about to be heard every ten Hz apart as the run continues? Cool Edit will do a smooth slide from one frequency to another, that potentially could be more useful as a means for looking for holes in the speaker response. The pink noise 30 Ounce describes might be technically better for that, not sure I know how to use it though. If I get anywhere interesting with this I will put it on a blog for download in case anyone wants to play with that. I am open to suggestions on what might be useful if any of this is. There needs to be a pothole simulation too.

I saw a website that talked about punchy bass. The difference between punchy and rumbling they said was a parameter they called QT which is determined by enclosure and speaker size.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Mikes Z car

[30 Ounce]

I use this a lot too. Actually have a few copies because they made 2 versions.:

The Stereophile Test CD | Stereophile.com

Tracks 20-31 are warble tones. They don't list them but they also have 1/3rd tones from 200hz to 20,000hz.

Edited December 18, 2013 by 30 Ounce

[30 Ounce]

You can check out my audio setup in my garage. I used a single Alpine 10" sub in the spare tire well and have a 31 band parametric eq (an equalizer that allows you to choose any frequency and boost or cut). When I measured it to eq the sub I was surprised to find I had a flat response from 20hz to 200hz without any tweaking!

Edited December 18, 2013 by 30 Ounce

[Stanley]

"I heard it on the grapevine", CCR version might be good for testing the bass.

[TomoHawk]

This stuff reminds me of back when you went to the car stereo store to buy a stereo or speakers. The sales guy would turn on some music with the cheap speakers, then switch to the expensive speakers and press the 'bright' button to show how the expensive speakers had a better "high-end."

Like it really made a difference to someone who grew up with symphonic music? Let alone flying in small prop planes to & from college.

It makes you wonder what kind of effect noise-cancelling headphones would have in an old car like the S30.

Edited December 18, 2013 by TomoHawk

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