At least once a week, someone comments on social media or in a forum that you can’t hear low-frequency distortion from subwoofers or amplifiers. We have no idea where this myth came from. However, if you understand what distortion is and how it works, you’ll know this myth is utter and complete nonsense. Yes, we know we’ve challenged the status quo. Don’t worry; we can always back up everything we say with science.

What Is Distortion?

In car audio systems, two types of distortion affect the accuracy of the sound reproduced by the audio equipment in our vehicles. Harmonic distortion creates audio information in multiples of the sounds the system produces. The second distortion is intermodulation distortion, or IMD, which adds unwanted audio content at frequencies that are the product of two different sounds. Yep, a mouthful. Let’s explain with examples.

Example of Harmonic Distortion

Let’s start by discussing harmonic distortion. Let’s say a performer plays a B1 note on a bass guitar. With conventional tuning, that would produce a sound with a fundamental frequency of 61.74 hertz. That’s well into the range in which most car audio subwoofers play. As with all sounds, natural harmonics are present to give the instrument its tone or character. For now, we will ignore those.

In a theoretically perfect audio system, the preamp, amplifier and speaker (or subwoofer) would reproduce this 61.74-hertz tone with no additional harmonic content. If we looked at this theoretically ideal system, we’d see a single spike on a spectrum analyzer at 61.74 hertz, as shown below.

In the context of this discussion about distortion, nothing else shows in the spectral domain above an amplitude of -95 dB. We can say that the 61.74-hertz note has at least a harmonic distortion level that’s better than -92 dB. Why not -95? Well, the signal itself, in this example, was created at a level of -3 dB FS. We chose this level to leave room to add some harmonic content without inducing clipping. So, 95 minus three is 92. This -92 dB level equates to <0.002512% THD.

Let’s introduce some harmonic distortion. Harmonic distortion implies that the additional unwanted content is an even multiple of the fundamental frequency. We’ll throw in some 123.48- and 185.22-hertz information as an example.

Amplifiers and Speakers Add Harmonic Distortion

The above is typical behavior for a car audio source unit and amplifier. We can see a second-order harmonic of 61.75 hertz at 123.48 hertz at a -75 dB FS level. A third-order harmonic at 185.22 is now present at -85 dB. If we combine the amplitude of those harmonics (with a bit of fancy math), we get a level of -74.5861. To compare that to our fundamental, we would subtract three (to compare to our fundamental frequency) for a distortion level of -71.5861 dB or 0.0263%.

Consider this for a second: We fed the amp with a signal with no more than 0.0025% distortion. That level equates to harmonic content below -95 dB FS. The amplifier has added content at 123 and 185 hertz because of distortion. This distortion is information above the low-pass crossover point. It’s information the subwoofer will try to reproduce.

Example of Intermodulation Distortion

OK, we now should understand how harmonic distortion works. We get unwanted multiples of any frequency that passes through the amplifier. What about intermodulation distortion? Let’s add a G1 note from our bass guitar to our musical experience. The G1 has a frequency of 49 hertz. This frequency is also well into the subwoofer region of a car audio system. Let’s look at G1 in the spectral domain.

Nothing stands out as abnormal so far. We have our fundamental 49 hertz at a level of -3 dB FS, and nothing else. Once again, this means harmonic distortion is better than ~0.0025%. We won’t be talking about harmonic distortion, so we need to add that B1 note at 61.74 hertz to explain intermodulation distortion.

So far, everything looks logical and makes sense. We have two notes or sounds played simultaneously. Having two frequencies playing is a requirement for explaining how intermodulation distortion works. First, we need to do a little math. The difference between 49 and 61.74 hertz is 12.74, which is called the f2-f1 frequency.

Showing what IMD Looks Like

The first thing that happens when an amplifier adds IMD is the addition of audio information at this 12.74-hertz frequency. Let’s add it to our spectral frequency analysis graph.

As you can see, the amplifier has added information that wasn’t in the original recording at this 12.74-hertz frequency. The f2-f1 frequency is only the first issue related to IMD. The second issue is sidebands, which are additional distortion frequencies spaced at 12.74 hertz (in this example) on either side of the fundamental frequencies. Here’s what one set of sidebands looks like on our graph.

It’s easy to see that an amplifier or speaker that adds significant harmonic and intermodulation distortion would change how our music sounds. Remember that this is an example with only two frequencies playing, and we’ve excluded the harmonic content that the instruments would add naturally.

Every frequency from every instrument or performer is subjected to some harmonic and intermodulation distortion. Simultaneously, intermodulation distortion adds unwanted content between and on either side of every frequency.

Subwoofers and Hearing Low-Frequency Distortion

A while back, we published a short series of comparisons of subwoofers to analyze their distortion characteristics. A good-quality 10-inch subwoofer with robust excursion capabilities adds 2% to 3% total harmonic distortion between 40 and 100 hertz when playing at 90 dB SPL measured at 1 meter. Increase the output to 100 dB SPL, and you are in the 5% THD range. Yep, compared to electronics, speakers add a LOT of distortion.

Let’s reverse what that 5% distortion means if we play a 61.74-hertz note. Converting the percentage value back to a decibel number, we get -26.02 dB. To simplify the explanation, if the subwoofer created a single second-order harmonic (at 123.48 hertz), it would be 26.02 dB below the fundamental frequency. That would be very audible.

Let’s look at that in the spectral domain, shall we?

Here’s what you need to remember when looking at this chart: The information at 61.74 is the audio signal from the amplifier. As shown, it doesn’t contain any distortion. The nonlinearities of the subwoofer itself add the harmonics at 123.48 and 185.22 hertz. You will hear these sounds that were not in the original recording.

Subwoofer Crossover Points and Hearing Low-Frequency Distortion

Harmonic and intermodulation distortion add frequency content to an audio signal because of nonlinearities in a source unit, digital signal processor, amplifier, speaker or subwoofer. By a long way, speakers are the worst in the amount of distortion they add to audio signals. Choosing good speakers is crucial. Every component in the audio playback chain adds a bit of distortion. Well-engineered audio equipment adds less distortion. The result is that your music sounds more precise, more detailed and more accurate.

Let’s tie all this talk about distortion back into the context of low-frequency audio playback. First, we know that the harmonic distortion characteristics of an amplifier and the subwoofer itself will add audio information to what we hear. This harmonic content will primarily focus on the 60- to 250-hertz range. Above those frequencies, harmonic levels drop off to below audible levels as other audio information will mask them. There will also be intermodulation distortion content that’s mixed in with the original frequencies.

So what does this sound like? The higher frequencies cause the subwoofer itself to be much easier to locate in an audio system. We typically choose a steep crossover point around 80 hertz for the top of the sub. However, harmonics at relatively high levels, one or two octaves above that crossover point, can trick us into hearing the sub-bass from behind the listening position. Of course, this assumes your subwoofers are behind you in the vehicle. If the amplifier and sub were perfect and did not play any audio much above 80 hertz, it would be much harder to pinpoint the subwoofer in an audio system. Aside from time-alignment phase issues, if you can pick out the location of a subwoofer easily, it’s probably adding a lot of unwanted distortion.

Hearing Sounds Not in Your Music

From a tonal standpoint, a subwoofer system with moderate to severe distortion of harmonics usually sounds boomy or tubby rather than tight and dynamic. The addition of unwanted midbass harmonics changes the sound of the instrument. In our theoretical perfect recording, our bassist playing only that B1 note creates only audio content at 61.74 hertz. Once distortion has affected the signal, we hear more like a good pluck of the B1 and a little bit of B2 and B3. It’s just not the same thing. Now multiply that by every note they play. What you hear is a slightly different instrument. You’ll still know it’s a five-string bass, but it won’t sound the same.

A kick drum generates another good low-frequency sound that can be affected by unwanted distortion. The sound of the beater hitting a kick drum’s skin is unique. When analyzed critically, it’s easy to pick apart. Depending on the drum and its tuning, you might have a fundamental around 40 or 50 hertz for an 18- by 24-inch kick drum. In a good recording, you can pick out the sound of the beater hitting the drum head. You can also hear the resonance of the sound bouncing back and forth inside the body. Hearing this requires that the audio system be balanced correctly in the spectral domain and have the lowest distortion possible.

Is Bass Distortion as Easy to Pick Out as Midrange Distortion?

So, why does the myth that we can’t hear low-frequency distortion exist? Almost all of us are used to hearing voices. No, the voices with our ears, not the “in our heads” kind. Many of us talk with people almost nonstop every day. When there’s something wrong with a voice in a recording, it’s very easy to detect. However, let’s say you are someone like Mark Petrocelli. Mark is the drum technician for Styx drummer Todd Sucherman, considered one of the top drummers in the world.

As with many experts in the field of drumming, Mark and Todd can tell you when the head of a drum is too tight or loose just by listening; they can probably tell you whether Todd is using a different stick or whether a skin needs replacing. Musicians simply become attuned to the instruments they play. The same goes for listening to audio equipment. If you focus on the music – the lyrics and the sound — then most gear might sound good. If you focus on the sound of each instrument, picking them out from the mix and analyzing their timbre and timing, you become very good at picking out good quality audio gear from the mediocre.

Hearing Low-Frequency Distortion is Easy

So, is it easy to hear distortion at low frequencies? Of course it is. Are most people good at detecting this distortion compared with midrange frequencies? No, not at all. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

Let’s wrap this up with a quick story. Last year, we attended an industry trade show in Canada, where we had the opportunity to audition a half-dozen demo vehicles. The one that stood out was the one that used subwoofers with significant distortion-reducing technologies. The bass was several orders of magnitude more accurate than all the other vehicles’. There was more definition to each note and better separation. Adding a shorting ring and copper inductance-reducing pole piece cap to the subwoofer design made a huge difference.

So the next time someone says that you can’t hear low-frequency distortion, you’ll know that comment makes no sense. You can hear distortion; however, it reveals itself as unwanted midbass information. No, it doesn’t stand out like garbled midrange frequencies, but it’s there. If you want a car audio system with clear, detailed, accurate bass reproduction, drop by a local specialty mobile enhancement retailer and audition their subwoofer solutions. Ask about the technologies included in the subwoofer motors that make them more accurate.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

When looking at the options for frequency response correction for audio systems, your installer has two choices: graphic or parametric equalizers. Both types of equalizers perform the same task in helping to smooth the peaks and dips in what you hear from your audio system. However, the two equalizer types deliver the same results in very different ways. Let’s take a deep look into parametric equalizers and explain how they work.

What Is a Car Audio Equalizer?

As we covered in a previous article, an equalizer is a device that allows your installer to focus on a specific frequency range and either increase or decrease the level relative to the rest of the music. Equalizers must be used with a real-time audio analyzer to correct for anomalies in the frequency response of an audio system. Everything from your smartphone and smart speaker on your bedside table to movie theaters and concert venues uses equalizers to improve an audio system’s frequency response.

What Is a Graphic Equalizer?

Before diving into the operation of a parametric equalizer, we should review how a graphic equalizer works. The number of bands included in a graphic equalizer indicates their suitability and capabilities. Each of these adjustments is called a band. Each band is assigned a specific frequency in a graphic equalizer (or EQ for short), and the number of bands defines the range of frequencies each covers. For example, if you have a 31-band graphic equalizer, each band will cover about 1/3 of an octave. Conversely, each band covers an entire octave if you have a 10-band graphic equalizer.

The technician can boost or cut these bands based on acoustic measurements made with a calibrated real-time audio analyzer. For example, if there is a 4-dB dip in frequency response at 1 kHz, the technician can boost the 1-kHz EQ band by 4 kHz. Graphic equalizers are very common in higher-end aftermarket car radios.

What Is a Parametric Equalizer?

Though the purpose is the same, parametric equalizers can be more flexible than their graphic cousins. In a parametric equalizer, your technician can select a specific center frequency and bandwidth for each equalizer band. For example, suppose a peak in a system’s frequency response is at 1.1 kHz. In that case, the technician can specify 1.1 kHz as the center frequency of the EQ and then apply whatever amount of attenuation is required to flatten that peak.

A parametric equalizer has a bandwidth adjustment labeled as Q. The concept of Q, or more specifically, Q-factor, is initially unintuitive. The Q-factor represents the ratio of the center frequency to the bandwidth the adjustment covers. A high-Q filter is very narrow, and the low-Q filter affects a broader band of frequencies.

How Is the Q-Factor Calculated?

The calculation to determine the Q-factor of an equalizer adjustment is relatively simple. That said, it’s not arithmetic we typically need to perform when calibrating an audio system. If you look at the image below, you can see the center frequency of the adjustment represented by the uppercase letter F. This would be something like 1.1 kHz, as mentioned in the previous paragraph. The following required information is the -3 dB bandwidth of the range over which the filter adjusts. Let’s use the example of the low-side to high-side -3 dB frequencies being 3,300 hertz apart. The lowercase letter f defines this bandwidth. To calculate the Q-factor, you would divide F by f, 1,100 ÷ 3,300, which equals 0.33. As you can imagine, it would take some measurement to determine the bandwidth of the -3 dB frequencies, so we never do the math to make adjustments.

A higher Q filter might be required if the technician needs to address a very narrow spike or dip. Let’s say that only 1,100 hertz of bandwidth requires boosting or attenuating. Our equation now becomes 1,100 ÷ 1,100 for a value of 1.

Common Q-Factor Knowledge

There are a few pretty common Q-factor values. If the technician wants a parametric equalizer to act like a 1/3-octave graphic equalizer, then a Q-factor of 4.318 will work. If you don’t have many equalizer bands, common in several car audio signal processors, and they want each band to cover an entire octave, then a Q-factor of 1.414 is ideal. These are often the default settings in many systems, though they are rarely suitable for any particular system.

The two images above show how a higher Q-factor affects a narrower range of frequencies. The image below is the ARC DNA software used with the Blackbird amplifier. It allows for Q-factors as low as 0.1 up to 20. The image below shows four equalizer bands, each set to add 10 dB of signal boost at a center frequency of 500 hertz. The white trace has a Q-factor of 10. The gray trace has a Q-factor of two. The green trace has a Q-factor of 0.5. Finally, the yellow trace has a Q-factor of 0.1. It’s unlikely you’d need the widest bandwidth adjustments, but they can come in handy on some processors that don’t have shelving filters.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Parametric Equalizers

The most significant benefit of a parametric equalizer is that it can zero in on specific frequency response issues quite easily. As mentioned, if a peak or valley is at 900 hertz or 1,100 hertz, then a parametric EQ is a better tool than a graphic EQ band. Many technicians and amateur enthusiasts get hung up on over-equalizing audio systems. Understanding how to interpret measurements from an RTA is crucial to making an audio system sound accurate.

A drawback of many parametric equalizers is that they are often limited in the number of adjustment bands they offer. Some processors have eight, 10 or 15 bands of parametric equalization. This is typically adequate to adjust a single speaker in a fully active three-way system, but fewer than 10 bands might be somewhat limited when used in a two-way application. We’ve seen several digital signal processors with more than 30 bands of equalization with parametric modes. In short, those will have enough adjustability for any system configuration and likely enough to get an amateur into lots of trouble.

What Is a Paragraphic Equalizer?

Just when you think you have a handle on graphic and parametric equalizers, we’ll throw in a third option: the paragraphic equalizer. As you can imagine, this is a hybrid of the graphic and parametric types. A paragraphic equalizer typically allows you to adjust the center frequency of each equalization band but not the Q-factor. These aren’t very common in car audio applications.

Is A Parametric Equalizer Necessary?

The type of equalizer used to calibrate an audio system is much less important than the accuracy and relevance of the system’s frequency response measurement. A technician’s experience in understanding what the RTA shows. It’s not uncommon for someone to adjust a system to deliver what looks like a smooth response on the computer screen, only to have it sound like it still needs work in certain frequencies. Parametric equalizers are powerful tools and can be an ideal solution to calibrate any audio system, but as with any tool, the craftsman’s skill matters the most.

When it’s time to take your car audio system to the next level, drop by a local specialty mobile enhancement retailer and ask about adding a digital signal processor to your car audio system with an adequately powerful graphic or parametric equalizer. Make sure they have extensive experience in proper audio system design and calibration, which is the key to reproducing music with realism and accuracy.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

The single most crucial upgrade a person can make to their car audio system is to incorporate a properly configured equalizer. Whether you have a radio and two speakers or a high-end four-way system with active crossovers, ensuring that the system’s frequency response is accurate remains the most important consideration concerning quality. Let’s examine how a car audio equalizer works and why they’re crucial.

What Is an Equalizer?

There are several ways to describe an equalizer. We’ll offer several definitions, as all do an excellent job of explaining their functionality. You can consider an equalizer to be a frequency-specific volume control. Unlike the main volume control, your installer would set this once rather than have it used frequently. Another description is that an equalizer is an audio filter that boosts or attenuates specific frequencies. Ultimately, an equalizer tool allows for the amplitude adjustment of particular frequencies in an audio signal.

In the image above, we see the response curve of an equalizer in a digital signal processor that has added 6 dB of boost at 1 kHz. Any audio signal that passes through this equalizer channel will have the frequencies at and around 1 kHz boosted by this amount.

This second image shows the equalizer set to cut or attenuate frequencies around 1 kHz by 6 dB.

An equalizer can cut or boost the amplitude of different frequencies by specific amounts. While seemingly simple, it’s a powerful and essential tool in creating great-sounding car audio systems.

Why Is a Car Audio Equalizer Important?

Imagine the perfect speaker. Let’s say it’s a 6.5-inch driver that delivers ruler-flat response from 80 hertz to 20 kHz. Magically, it has ideal directivity at most frequencies, producing even amounts of sound in every direction. It has distortion-reducing features like an aluminum shorting ring and copper T-yoke cap. It has a flat-wound voice coil for maximum efficiency. It also has a rigid cone that doesn’t resonate uncontrollably. The suspension design allows the speaker to move linearly through a wide excursion range, so it continues to sound good, even at higher volume levels. The engineers who designed this speaker would have spent significant time measuring its performance in an anechoic chamber to ensure accuracy.

Now, what happens when we put that speaker in the door of a car? It still functions the same, producing audio frequencies at the same amplitude with magically perfect dispersion. Would it sound great? Probably not. Why? Because the listening environment dramatically affects what we hear. This change in frequency response isn’t the speaker’s fault. Notably, a speaker should never be designed for a specific listening environment. Speakers should be as accurate and faithful to the source signal as possible.

Why does the environment affect what we hear? The answer is reflections and resonances. When we listen to a speaker in a car or truck, we hear the sound directly from that speaker. We also hear sounds that arrive a moment later that have bounced off the roof, windshield, side window, seats, floor, dash and center console. These reflections change our perception of the system’s sound reproduction. Depending on the distance from the speaker to the reflecting surface and from the surface to the listening position, the reflections might add emphasis at specific frequencies or reduce the amplitude at others.

Another issue is resonance. Because of the distances between certain surfaces, we can get additional peaks in the system response. For example, a distance of 5 feet between the left and right windows might cause a peak in the system response at 225 hertz and a smaller one at 450 hertz. If the distance from the roof to the floor is 3.5 feet, that might cause a resonance at 321 hertz. The materials on the surfaces affect how much resonance occurs. If your vehicle has a deep plush carpet and cloth roof, the resonance might not be as significant as if it had a vinyl floor and roof. The listening environment wreaks havoc with what we hear from our perfect speaker. The result is peaks and dips in the frequency response, and the system doesn’t sound natural.

How an Equalizer Improves Audio System Performance

Before we can adjust an equalizer, a technician must accurately measure what might need fixing. We use a real-time audio analyzer to make these measurements. A real-time analyzer is essentially a calibrated microphone and display that shows the frequency response of the measurement. Most car audio technicians use computer-based audio analyzers with a single microphone or a multi-microphone array.

Audio analyzers need to be very accurate. If they show a dip at a specific frequency, we should be able to apply a measurable amount of boost to that frequency with an equalizer to produce a flat response curve. This requirement means the microphone must be calibrated accurately. A microphone used for music recording or voice communication likely isn’t ideal for audio measurements as it will impose its frequency response variations.

In the case of all audio analyzers, knowing how to interpret the data they offer is crucial to making audio system adjustments. Understanding measurements and knowing what to adjust in an equalizer takes extensive training to deliver great-sounding audio systems. With that said, the basic concept is that the RTA graph will show peaks and valleys in the acoustic response of an audio system. The technician can then cut (attenuate) peaks or boost dips to deliver a system with a smooth response.

Types of Car Audio Equalizers

There are two ways to discuss types of car audio equalizers. We can look at the different physical solutions or how the equalizers adjust signals. We will discuss the available solutions in this article and save the operational differences for another time.

The simplest of equalizers would be the bass and treble controls in a car radio. Turning either up or down affects a relatively wide range of frequencies, and these are better suited to changing the overall tonal balance of a car audio system than correcting response issues. Many late-model vehicles include bass, midrange and treble control adjustments in their infotainment systems.

Regarding system frequency response correction and calibration, you need fine control over different frequency ranges. For the context of this article, this will mean you need a lot of bands of equalization. A band is a single EQ adjustment that can boost or cut a narrow range of frequencies. Companies like AudioControl, Phoenix Gold and PPI had analog 30- or 31-band equalizers that were popular with autosound competitors years ago.

These days, digital signal processing has made equalization easy. From source units like the Sony XAV-9000ES and XAV-9500ES to stand-alone processors from companies like Audison, Rockford Fosgate and ARC Audio, access to the tools required to calibrate modern car audio systems is easy.

These processors use software on a computer or iPhone/iPad to allow the technician to calibrate your audio system to adjust the equalizer bands on each output channel. As mentioned, we aren’t going to get into the details of the types of equalizer modes (graphic or parametric) in this article.

How Do I Know My Car Audio System Needs Equalization?

While all this information is essential, knowing whether your car audio system requires equalization is equally important. Unless it’s a factory-installed system in a relatively new model vehicle, the answer is yes, it needs equalization. Why don’t those systems need equalization? The answer is simple – they’re already set up for the speakers that came with the vehicle. Even modest, unbranded systems often include equalization in the radio that helps to deliver smooth frequency response.

If you’ve ever heard someone say they upgraded their radio or speakers to an aftermarket unit, but the system doesn’t sound as good, this is why. The equalization would be removed if it were built into the factory-installed radio. It might still exist if the new radio were feeding a factory-installed amp. At the other end of the spectrum, new speakers likely have different frequency response curves than what came from the factory. Changing speakers essentially invalidates the equalization.

If you’re building a new system from scratch with a premium radio and great amplifiers, speakers and subwoofers, part of the system design should include a way to equalize the system. You could opt for a radio like the aforementioned Sony units with an equalizer on each channel. You could also use a stand-alone digital signal processor between the source unit and the amplifiers. Another option is to choose amplifiers that have built-in digital signal processing.

If you’re serious about optimizing your audio system, you’ll need an equalizer for each speaker. The corrections required for a woofer in the front door will differ significantly from that of a speaker in the rear door or on the parcel shelf. More importantly, the equalization will be very different on the left side of the vehicle compared to the right. Having a single EQ for the entire vehicle is better than nothing, but if you want rock-solid imaging and fantastic realism, you need equalization for each channel.

You need someone with experience to set up the EQ. As we mentioned earlier, knowing how to interpret the measurements from the RTA is crucial. Adding equalization that won’t positively affect the system’s performance is easy. There might be a peak or dip on the response graph of the RTA, but it might be something that can’t or shouldn’t be fixed with an EQ. Having a thorough understanding of the laws of physics and extensive experience are crucial to creating a system that sounds genuinely lifelike.

Upgrade Your Audio with a Car Audio Equalizer Today!

If you want to elevate the performance of your stereo system, then you need a properly calibrated car audio equalizer. Start by visiting some local specialty mobile enhancement retailers in your area. Audition their demo vehicles or work they’ve done for other clients. If those systems sound good, they can likely deliver similar results in your vehicles. Don’t be afraid to shop around. You may have to travel to another city to find a shop that can deliver what you want.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.