[Technic]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

I don't believe the "8" corresponds to the delay. I think the "8" corresponds to the number of output channels. The product was named years and years before the design was near finalized, so the duration of the delay could not have been predicted.

I remember reading in the other forum that Andy mentioned that the "MS-8" was because of the 8ms...

[VP Electricity]

I think he was trying to be funny...

[cdgatti]

Technic and VP - you both responded to my question about the gain control on the alpine h800 crossover menu. It also has a speaker level output separate from this, which does boost as well as attenuate. Could you provide some insight into the differences between these 2 controls for tuning a system?

[VP Electricity]

First off, my earlier answer was based on my misunderstanding -my apologies.

I had not noticed the input gain controls.

In a factory system such as Logic 7, there the woofer channels of the factory amp should have more output than the mod/tweeter channels, you should have the ability to set different input sensitivity settings for those different channels, so that one doesn't clip before the other.

[JerryK73]

Hey Ken is that the P-DSP? Been thinking about swapping out the MS-8 for a different DSP since I am not happy with the mid-bass performance of the MS-8.

[thumper88]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

Just posting some pics of a Musicar Level Three install with DSP in a 2011 E90 M3:


This is not required for all cars - The E60 and E83 are two we know this isn't needed in (with the right adapter), and we doubt this fits in the E70 at all (tbd). This approach is for the E90. We will be testing an E92 and hopefully an E82 soon to see how this will work there.

Ken, did you get around to trying this underseat enclosure mod on the 1-series you spoke about yet? Or was it rendered unnecessary by the factory German Maestro adapter rings?

[VP Electricity]

Those rings don't fit any car. And no, haven't had access to one yet.

[thinset]

Hi all, and hi Ken at MusicarNW...Jeremy in Chicago here.

I've been a longtime lurker on this forum and recently sold my 2006 E83 and picked up a 2010 E91. Most of my time over the last 12 years has been hanging out on Audiworld and now Quattroworld. I have spent lot of time and money in car audio since my first car +20yrs ago. That said, Ken and the guys at MusicarNW are putting together a Level 3 system (Mobridge DA2/ Helix DSP/ Arc Amps/ lots of fancy speakers) for me to be shipped for install later this week. Due to a multitude of reasons, I've opted to stay out of the hands on part of the install this time and hand it over to the guys that helped me with the last one.

I have a (hopefully) quick question for a problem that has thrown me for a loop the last couple of days. The car is one of those PITA 2010 models with Base Stereo including iDrive/ Nav/ iPhone/ BT. We are looking to recode the MOST from Base Stereo to 677 Top HiFi for a full digital connection to the Helix DSP. I consulted with my independent BMW mechanic that I have worked with for years yesterday about the recode. Because he uses the BMW dealer computer (not Autologic) he was concerned that the recode will not stick because the Mobridge DA2 is not in place to recognize. My predicament is that the my local installer (in Chicago, not Portland) needs the recoding in place to complete the install and ensure everything is working properly.

Is there a workaround when using the BMW computer for coding? Or do I need to find a mechanic with Autologic? And if I need to go the Autologic route, what is the recode required/ how is this accomplished? I'm fairly certain it's not as easy as typing 677 in a box and being done with it.

Thanks in advance for your help, and I look forward to chatting with more of you in the future.

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by thinset

Hi all, and hi Ken at MusicarNW...Jeremy in Chicago here.

I've been a longtime lurker on this forum and recently sold my 2006 E83 and picked up a 2010 E91. Most of my time over the last 12 years has been hanging out on Audiworld and now Quattroworld. I have spent lot of time and money in car audio since my first car +20yrs ago. That said, Ken and the guys at MusicarNW are putting together a Level 3 system (Mobridge DA2/ Helix DSP/ Arc Amps/ lots of fancy speakers) for me to be shipped for install later this week. Due to a multitude of reasons, I've opted to stay out of the hands on part of the install this time and hand it over to the guys that helped me with the last one.

I have a (hopefully) quick question for a problem that has thrown me for a loop the last couple of days. The car is one of those PITA 2010 models with Base Stereo including iDrive/ Nav/ iPhone/ BT. We are looking to recode the MOST from Base Stereo to 677 Top HiFi for a full digital connection to the Helix DSP. I consulted with my independent BMW mechanic that I have worked with for years yesterday about the recode. Because he uses the BMW dealer computer (not Autologic) he was concerned that the recode will not stick because the Mobridge DA2 is not in place to recognize. My predicament is that the my local installer (in Chicago, not Portland) needs the recoding in place to complete the install and ensure everything is working properly.

Is there a workaround when using the BMW computer for coding? Or do I need to find a mechanic with Autologic? And if I need to go the Autologic route, what is the recode required/ how is this accomplished? I'm fairly certain it's not as easy as typing 677 in a box and being done with it.

Thanks in advance for your help, and I look forward to chatting with more of you in the future.

I'm not the expert but could they not temporarily have a CD changer hooked up for the coding to make it "stick"?

[thinset]

Good question. My mechanic literally just called and updated me. I left the car with them overnight to see what they could do and it looks like they were able to get the recode done. Logic 7 menus appear on the iDrive, and he thinks it will be fine. Fingers crossed, won't know until next week once everything is installed!

I'll update you guys once the installer gets a hold of the car. And I'll be sure to get pics of the stealth install images, which is most likely going to be the pre-amps and amps only!

[VP Electricity]

Glad to hear it. I got off the plane from the MERA national convention about an hour ago, I will check status of our builds in the morning, but it's good to hear he got it to work.

[Morally Gray]

Hi Ken, I have your level 3 system above. I've managed to install it but I don't believe either the amp or DSP is configured correctly.

Is there a pre configured file that can loaded via sd or USB?

Should the head unit enq still be working, I would have thought with the DSP this isn't required.

Any advice you can offer would really help as it sounds not so great at the minute.

Thanks
Chris

[Quasimodem]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

Sorry I missed this question before, ctuna. But yes, car had Rear PDC, I don't want to eliminate the rear audible alert unless the customer doesn't care.

For those who have missed my position on rear speakers and center channels:

Commie Plot!!!

Well, if you have to drive around more than one communist at a time, the ones in the back seat will plot to get better sound back there.

I am not too keen on mid bass coming from under the seats, so I went with speaker pods. That being said, getting in and out of my car would be a good practice for a contortionist. But it keeps the ummm "less-than flexible" chicks out too.

[TMR]

Originally Posted by Quasimodem

Well, if you have to drive around more than one communist at a time, the ones in the back seat will plot to get better sound back there.

I am not too keen on mid bass coming from under the seats, so I went with speaker pods. That being said, getting in and out of my car would be a good practice for a contortionist. But it keeps the ummm "less-than flexible" chicks out too.

Do you have any pics of your system?

[Quasimodem]

Originally Posted by TMR

Do you have any pics of your system?

Nothing from the trunk (There are straps all over the place holding the sub in place). Everything else is in this thread: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=299816
Tomorrow, or over the weekend, I will add a picture of my mounting the Matrix on the rear armrest with the sub peeking through the ski port. It works well because it gives me access to the Matrix and it hides it and the sub when I flip up the rear armrest. By pure luck the Matrix fits perfectly in the ski hole gap.

[E91-Gaz]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

But what about the underseat woofers? So, normally. Musicar systems are 100% plug-and-play, bolt-in. However, these new Level Three woofers are just too big to drop in.

Hi,

Can I ask why you needed to cut the bottom of the enclosures for these instead of using a spacer ring to lift them?? Is it because of the basket width at the bottom?? I'm presuming they are the German Maestro ones in the following link 58mm thk??

http://www.german-maestro.de/US/swf8012he.htm

Cheers

Gareth

[DavidZ]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

Stock grille goes over it no problem!

So we can do this if you send in your enclosures to us for modification. We may start a core program if there is sufficient interest. The kit will include these parts but will be assembled:

I'm interested in upgrading my Jehnerts to the GermanMAESTROs. Do you have E90 cores to exchange in advance or would I have to send my enclosures in for modification? Please PM me for price.

Thanks

[cdgatti]

Question for anyone with the Helix, and maybe any dsp for that matter. I recently just installed the helix dsp, same one in this install by vp. I did a very rudimentary tune, which merely consisted of setting the crossovers and inputting the speaker distances for the driver seat. No level setting or eq work yet and I know fine tuning the time alignment will also help. Already I can see what I was missing with just my amps, the music in the driver seat sounds really good, above the dash, almost like I hear it in my head and can't tell where it is coming from.

Problem is the front passenger seat is terrible. Music coming from the passengers's right knee. I know we can only tune for 1 seat at a time, but since the helix has 2 settings that I can switch between, figured I would have another setting that didn't sound so bad for my copilot! What do most people do for a general setting for both front seats? Just turn off time alignment all together, or do some type of parallel alignment for the center between the seats?

[Wongway]

Not knowing how you time aligned...

Did you do it by ear? If so, you probably just set the sweet spot for yourself is all. From what I can see, MusicarNW uses a microphone stuck in the center between the two front seats.

(never mind, I was wrong... Could have sworn I saw someone else put the microphone set up between the front seats...)

[cdgatti]

my current first pass alignment is purely based on measured distances from the driver's head to the individual speakers. The Helix allows just entering these distances and it will calculate the necessary delays for all speakers except the furthest away. I know it worked because the sound from the drivers seat is very centered around my head. But the passenger side stinks, and I would like to set a reasonable compromise setting for when I have a passenger if I can't come up with a method I'll just defeat all time processing and run the center channel.

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by cdgatti

my current first pass alignment is purely based on measured distances from the driver's head to the individual speakers. The Helix allows just entering these distances and it will calculate the necessary delays for all speakers except the furthest away. I know it worked because the sound from the drivers seat is very centered around my head. But the passenger side stinks, and I would like to set a reasonable compromise setting for when I have a passenger if I can't come up with a method I'll just defeat all time processing and run the center channel.

The physical distances of the speakers to your head are only a starting point. From there on, you have to fine-tune by ear.

[jeffb335]

Originally Posted by cdgatti

my current first pass alignment is purely based on measured distances from the driver's head to the individual speakers. The Helix allows just entering these distances and it will calculate the necessary delays for all speakers except the furthest away. I know it worked because the sound from the drivers seat is very centered around my head. But the passenger side stinks, and I would like to set a reasonable compromise setting for when I have a passenger if I can't come up with a method I'll just defeat all time processing and run the center channel.

Just align front to back but not left to right, basically measure to a point between the front seats so that the fronts are delayed some compared to the rear or subs.....but honestly you wont be accomplishing much.... Use the center, and you will need to will need to set a completely different EQ, it will be ok but nothing like the optimized driver settings.