Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty - Page 3

Samboo · 12-05-2006, 05:15 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by audio_bird

Alto UCS PRO???????????????????????????????????????

Although it has some cool fine features it doesn't have the automatic eq to correct the OEM eq and adjust it to flat. In my honda the OEM eq was so heavily modified far from being flat I couldn't believe I was missing all that. I had absolutly no clean bass hits what so ever no matter what amps/subs/middbass drivers I add.

Besides the 3sixty.2 has a 31-band eq per channel vs 10-band in the alto.

RedGTiVR6 · 12-05-2006, 07:04 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by audio_bird

Alto UCS PRO???????????????????????????????????????

I think we get your point.....

check the stickey we have here that lists that processor if you want to discuss it.

the optimizer · 02-05-2008, 01:07 PM

just when you thought this one was dead.

i recently got an itch to check up on the 3Sixty and i found a beta release of the software for windows. Here

RedGTiVR6 · 02-05-2008, 02:08 PM

Great find!

Bimmerstyle · 02-06-2008, 01:30 AM

Never noticed this thread until now but if I had I could say the beta software for XP is out for about a year now.

I don't have a 3Sixty-2 yet because they are way too expencive over here in Europe (699€ --> 1025$) so I'm planning on ordering one in the States (399$ --> 272€+shipping

).

But I have been trying out the demo of the software in the past. It looks really nice and easy to use but there is one disadvantage for us CarPC minded people and that's the fact that it will only run on a resolution of minimum 1024x768. Since most of us are running 800x600 or 800x480 we will have to change our resolution everytime we want to change something on the 3Sixty.

But anyway this still beats buying a Palm only for using it with the 3Sixty.

Sonicxtacy02 · 02-06-2008, 07:50 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bimmerstyle

Never noticed this thread until now but if I had I could say the beta software for XP is out for about a year now.

I don't have a 3Sixty-2 yet because they are way too expencive over here in Europe (699€ --> 1025$) so I'm planning on ordering one in the States (399$ --> 272€+shipping

).

But I have been trying out the demo of the software in the past. It looks really nice and easy to use but there is one disadvantage for us CarPC minded people and that's the fact that it will only run on a resolution of minimum 1024x768. Since most of us are running 800x600 or 800x480 we will have to change our resolution everytime we want to change something on the 3Sixty.

But anyway this still beats buying a Palm only for using it with the 3Sixty.

damn the resolution requirement is a bummer. its always something! perhaps at some point an SDK will be created so we can control the program indirectly. I should be forking out the cash for my 3sixty this weekend. I cant wait to see if it makes a difference in sound quality with my existing components.

Bimmerstyle · 02-06-2008, 12:52 PM

As it turns out, the software was still on my harddrive. So I made a screenshot of it for people who wlould be interested.

On the left you can choose each speaker you want to tune.

Then, in the middle, you can set the filter (band, low, high), the frequency and slope. Also you can enter the delay for each speaker for time alignment.

At the bottom the 31 band EQ. You can link it for front and back or you can adjust each speaker seperately. At the top you can set the master volume for each channel. Also here you can link front and rear or set them seperately.

On the right are the specs of your 3Sixty (since this is demo mode nothing is there). Under that is the freq. responce before and after (again demo so a standard graph.) and below that you can set if the remote controls master or sub level.

In the file menu you simply can load or save a setting or create a new one.

As I said very easy to use and it has a nice look but it's a little too big to fit a 7" screen on 800x600.

EDIT: Oh yeah, on the sub channel you can't set any delay time but there you have a subsonic filter in stead with a slope of 12db or 24db.

thekl0wn · 02-06-2008, 12:56 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Sonicxtacy02

damn the resolution requirement is a bummer. its always something! perhaps at some point an SDK will be created so we can control the program indirectly. I should be forking out the cash for my 3sixty this weekend. I cant wait to see if it makes a difference in sound quality with my existing components.

I've been asking about an SDK or even command line/Windows messaging, but the only thing I've came up with (still theoretical) is using something like Girder to capture window events. (and that was actually tbone's idea)

ironfinger · 02-25-2008, 03:29 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Sonicxtacy02

damn the resolution requirement is a bummer. its always something! .

just use the program rezchanger. It will automatically change the rez of your monitor when you launch the 3sixty software, and change back when you close it.

I've been using the pc software for several months now with no problems. Actually I mostly use the software at around 800x600. IT crops the software to show the output level and xover controls, nice and large. I only go full screen when I need to adjust the eqs

Sonicxtacy02 · 02-25-2008, 07:51 AM

i tried using rezchanger but it didnt wanna switch properly on my test computer.. i'll try again in the car soon. I'm pretty happy with the sound coming from the 3sixty.1.. . though i must admit i had no idea it didnt come with a low pass crossover setting. thats kinda crazy. I'm also dealing with quite a bit of floor noise at low volumes. I've tried quite a bit to get that fixed but no solution yet.

hithere · 02-25-2008, 01:24 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Sonicxtacy02

I'm also dealing with quite a bit of floor noise at low volumes. I've tried quite a bit to get that fixed but no solution yet.

I'm sure you've done these already, but:

1. If you can do it on the 360, keep your car's stereo at the highest volume level that allows a clip-free signal to the 360, and control the stereo's volume from the 360. If you still get low-volume noise (elevated noise floor), then it is probably coming from the 360, in which case...

2. Check ground on the 360, and make sure it, along with all other aftermarket components, are grounded to a secure lug on the floor pan of the vehicle, and that battery ground to vehicle chassis is robust, as well as engine block ground to chassis. I've never gone wrong with a grounding lug in a small spot stripped of paint in the spare tire well.

With all the powered aftermarket components on the typical carPC install, you can find yourself in noise hell if the system doesn't share a good reference ground. It helps, however, that my source is optically connected to my processor, and my signal run between processor and amp is ~2 ft.

No low pass???? That's a deal-breaker for me.

Sonicxtacy02 · 02-25-2008, 01:51 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by hithere

I'm sure you've done these already, but:

1. If you can do it on the 360, keep your car's stereo at the highest volume level that allows a clip-free signal to the 360, and control the stereo's volume from the 360. If you still get low-volume noise (elevated noise floor), then it is probably coming from the 360, in which case...

2. Check ground on the 360, and make sure it, along with all other aftermarket components, are grounded to a secure lug on the floor pan of the vehicle, and that battery ground to vehicle chassis is robust, as well as engine block ground to chassis. I've never gone wrong with a grounding lug in a small spot stripped of paint in the spare tire well.

With all the powered aftermarket components on the typical carPC install, you can find yourself in noise hell if the system doesn't share a good reference ground. It helps, however, that my source is optically connected to my processor, and my signal run between processor and amp is ~2 ft.

No low pass???? That's a deal-breaker for me.

i've got all components properly grounded to a screw in the tire well thats bare paint. I have a feeling my noise is coming from the carpc itself. It acts as if its self grounded honestly... if i remove the ground from my m2 power supply and start the computer it acts as if the ground is still there and boots right up. Thats like the only thing outta whack with my install. As for properly setting the signal.. when i attempt to do that via the on screen instructions the clip led's never come on regardless of how far i turn the signal screws. There might be a fault in my 3sixty i guess.

and yes if i would have known it has no low-pass it woulda made me shop elsewhere. I still might sell this thing and upgrade to the .2 but i'm giving it a chance at this point. Truth is though i probably wouldnt be going for ANY of this if i didnt sit in that acura of yours and listen to perfection!

hithere · 02-25-2008, 02:12 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Sonicxtacy02

i've got all components properly grounded to a screw in the tire well thats bare paint. I have a feeling my noise is coming from the carpc itself. It acts as if its self grounded honestly... if i remove the ground from my m2 power supply and start the computer it acts as if the ground is still there and boots right up. Thats like the only thing outta whack with my install. As for properly setting the signal.. when i attempt to do that via the on screen instructions the clip led's never come on regardless of how far i turn the signal screws. There might be a fault in my 3sixty i guess.

and yes if i would have known it has no low-pass it woulda made me shop elsewhere. I still might sell this thing and upgrade to the .2 but i'm giving it a chance at this point. Truth is though i probably wouldnt be going for ANY of this if i didnt sit in that acura of yours and listen to perfection!

With regard to the input signal, I was thinking in terms of the headunit volume...if the 360 has a separate volume knob, you should have your head unit or whatever other source at approximately 85% of full volume before you even start fiddling with pots on the 360. I would imagine the instructions say something like "set head unit volume to x, then turn pot on 360 'til clipping light hits, then back off"? You can go slightly higher on your head unit volume, if you don't quite push the 360 enough to clip it, but it shouldn't be a real concern if you don't...provided your signal chain is relatively noise-free.

If you really want to set up your signal chain correctly, but want to do so without an O-scope, you could try the following:

A cheap and dirty way to find the clip point of your head unit is to connect the head unit pre-outs into a set of amplified computer speakers (with the computer speakers set to a low volume), then throw a test tone CD in...run the CD on a 0dB, 1 kHz tone and turn head unit volume up until you hear a change in pitch. This will mark the "0dB clip point" of your head unit pre-out) Since the 360 sits between your head unit/source and your amps, there's no real reason to run the source any higher than that clipping level...once you have the head unit figured out, just adjust the input pots on the 360 as high as you can without the clip light remaining steady (or max them out if you never light the clip light, and don't sweat it). Finally, you should match your amp(s) to your 360 with your amp gains. It's sometimes preferable to adjust your amp gains to end up with a neg 3-6dB clip point to maximize available output power, but it is never preferable, imho, to attempt to alleviate a high noise floor by allowing clipping to take the place of noise in the signal chain prior to the amps. This, imho, is simply masking the problem with another problem.

With regard to ground, I hope it isn't "bare paint", but "bare metal" under that "large bolt/lug" not "screw".

That DC power supply sounds like a problem...rest assured, if it operates, it's grounding itself somehow...which is scary if it powers up at ~45 watts or so and no connection to vehicle chassis ground...that means that it and everything powered by it is floating, or grounding itself via some goofy means like from the computer case to the carpet in the trunk (not good)...difference in sound between ground connected/not connected? If your PC/PS is grounded correctly, it doesn't mean that other paths to ground don't exist, it just means that your proper path to ground looks a whole lot better to Mr. Electron.

I imagine you have a low pass filter on the amp powering that sub, right? You should be fine with that, I would imagine. The TA on the .2 is where you're going to see the benefit...am I correct in that the .1 doesn't have time alignment? To me, that alone is worth the upgrade.

Spring is coming...i tell you what, if you end up with the .2 (or either way, really), I can help you get it set up at a meet or something...oh, and we gotta compare baby pictures (I got a new daughter since last we spoke

).

That Acura of mine...far from perfect, imho. I did, however, find a number of things wrong with my setup since last we spoke (gains, sound card output), as well as upgrading the sub to a single 10w6v2...the system is sounding much better, and should be ready for a thorough demo by our spring meets.

Sonicxtacy02 · 02-25-2008, 02:49 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by hithere

With regard to the input signal, I was thinking in terms of the headunit volume...if the 360 has a separate volume knob, you should have your head unit or whatever other source at approximately 85% of full volume before you even start fiddling with pots on the 360. I would imagine the instructions say something like "set head unit volume to x, then turn pot on 360 'til clipping light hits, then back off"? You can go slightly higher on your head unit volume, if you don't quite push the 360 enough to clip it, but it shouldn't be a real concern if you don't...provided your signal chain is relatively noise-free.

With regard to ground, I hope it isn't "bare paint", but "bare metal" under that "large bolt/lug" not "screw".

That DC power supply sounds like a problem...rest assured, if it operates, it's grounding itself somehow...which is scary if it powers up at ~45 watts or so and no connection to vehicle chassis ground...that means that it and everything powered by it is floating, or grounding itself via some goofy means like from the computer case to the carpet in the trunk (not good)...difference in sound between ground connected/not connected? If your PC/PS is grounded correctly, it doesn't mean that other paths to ground don't exist, it just means that your proper path to ground looks a whole lot better to Mr. Electron.

I imagine you have a low pass filter on the amp powering that sub, right? You should be fine with that, I would imagine. The TA on the .2 is where you're going to see the benefit...am I correct in that the .1 doesn't have time alignment? To me, that alone is worth the upgrade.

Spring is coming...i tell you what, if you end up with the .2 (or either way, really), I can help you get it set up at a meet or something...oh, and we gotta compare baby pictures (I got a new daughter since last we spoke

).

That Acura of mine...far from perfect, imho. I did, however, find a number of things wrong with my setup since last we spoke (gains, sound card output), as well as upgrading the sub to a single 10w6v2...the system is sounding much better, and should be ready for a thorough demo by our spring meets.

yes the 360 tells me to put the volume at 100% on the source unit, i do that and even then the clip lights dont turn on when i open the pots fully. I just think i need to tinker around with it some more because there is the potential that i'm doing something wrong lol. and yes i meant bare metal, paint was scraped off with a dremel then the metal was smoothed to create a good surface point. You do make a good point about other potential grounds.. the case itself is not sitting on carpet but i'm using metal screws which could potentially be touching some metal beneath the trunk floor.. Better get some rubber screws in there. Maybe that alone will solve the issue.

The .1 does not have time alignment (though again i thought it did) it does allow me to set an eq for each channel or pair the fronts and rears. When i bought this thing the only differences told to me between the .1 and the .2 were the number of channels on the eq.. guess they fooled me lol.

i cant wait to hear the improvements on your setup.. spring cant come fast enough

ironfinger · 02-25-2008, 05:28 PM

what is your source unit? Perhaps the output voltage is too low, and therefore the 3sixty will not reach clipping point. An ipod is an example of a source unit that will not cause the sixty to clip at max pot level.

Also, rezchanger is picky about what folder exe is suppose to be placed in.. I think after you generate the exe file, you have to make sure you place it in the 3sixty folder.. or something like that.