Bose Head Unit Replacement in a 997S for under $150 and in 30 minutes or less....
03-23-2019, 04:56 PM
#166
Did you set the fader and balance to 0 on the PCM before installing?
I’ve noticed that rear/front balance really depends on the music. I think this is because the Bose DSP is applying surround sound and so it interprets some sounds as more ambient and moves them to the back and sounds that it interprets as primary it may send to the center channel.
To get the control you you want I would recommend ditching the Bose amp. I’m considering this, but am looking for a compact 6 channel amp to do it properly.
I was able to get the hiss down a bit by adding ferrite bead filters on the power wires. To get it to zero I think I’d have to turn down the gain on the most unit (it has a USB port I can plug in to do this). I’ll look into that axxess unit.
I’ve noticed that rear/front balance really depends on the music. I think this is because the Bose DSP is applying surround sound and so it interprets some sounds as more ambient and moves them to the back and sounds that it interprets as primary it may send to the center channel.
To get the control you you want I would recommend ditching the Bose amp. I’m considering this, but am looking for a compact 6 channel amp to do it properly.
I was able to get the hiss down a bit by adding ferrite bead filters on the power wires. To get it to zero I think I’d have to turn down the gain on the most unit (it has a USB port I can plug in to do this). I’ll look into that axxess unit.
03-23-2019, 08:12 PM
#168
Drifting
Did you set the fader and balance to 0 on the PCM before installing?
I’ve noticed that rear/front balance really depends on the music. I think this is because the Bose DSP is applying surround sound and so it interprets some sounds as more ambient and moves them to the back and sounds that it interprets as primary it may send to the center channel.
To get the control you you want I would recommend ditching the Bose amp. I’m considering this, but am looking for a compact 6 channel amp to do it properly.
I was able to get the hiss down a bit by adding ferrite bead filters on the power wires. To get it to zero I think I’d have to turn down the gain on the most unit (it has a USB port I can plug in to do this). I’ll look into that axxess unit.
I’ve noticed that rear/front balance really depends on the music. I think this is because the Bose DSP is applying surround sound and so it interprets some sounds as more ambient and moves them to the back and sounds that it interprets as primary it may send to the center channel.
To get the control you you want I would recommend ditching the Bose amp. I’m considering this, but am looking for a compact 6 channel amp to do it properly.
I was able to get the hiss down a bit by adding ferrite bead filters on the power wires. To get it to zero I think I’d have to turn down the gain on the most unit (it has a USB port I can plug in to do this). I’ll look into that axxess unit.
I dont think the new HU sends any signals to the back as its only 2 channel ie it sends all of channel 1 to the left side and 2 to the right. Not sure how the centre channel is effected. The problem i seem to be noticing is that it send a lot of the volume to the front panel ie the tweeters and centre - not what i was hoping for. My unit has gain adjustments for each speaker so maybe thats a place to experiment ie turn down the tweeters. Most of this is above my current knowledge on audio tuning (which is pretty much 0
). Ideally i would have replaced the amp as well and considered that. But then i would have had to for sure take it to a professional shop to do. And i have heard some not so great experiences with new amps as well. Also i am 4000 miles from home and am heading back soon and wanted a plug and play so i could do it myself relatively cheaply and easily. Maybe thats an option for the future if i cant get it the way i like it
Re radio reception, did you hook up the wire for the power the antenna?
Thanks
03-23-2019, 09:28 PM
#169
Yellow plug in middle was unattached
My local car toys actually did the install so I’m not 100% sure. But I did take it back in for an adjustment and when I was having the guy show me how it was all put together I did notice that there was one antenna style plug not connected to anything - it had a yellow color wire and connector. Is that the power antenna feed? I couldn’t see anything it connected to.
03-23-2019, 09:31 PM
#170
Also, I’m not an installer pro but I do know a lot about audio tuning. I might be able to help you out there.
My alpine unit had a fully customizable parametric eq. Using a spectrum analyzer I was able to balance out the Bose system and it now sounds fantastic.
My alpine unit had a fully customizable parametric eq. Using a spectrum analyzer I was able to balance out the Bose system and it now sounds fantastic.
03-23-2019, 09:54 PM
#171
Drifting
Yellow plug is for GPS i believe. Since my new HU is not a nav unit that plug is not used on my unit either. On my HU there was a blue wire that needed to be tapped in to the white accessory wire on the power harness (there were 3 wires, power, ground and accessory). Once i tapped in to that i could hear the antenna working.
I would be happy to get any advice on tuning. My Kenwood has a 13 band EQ and a bunch of other customizable setting for DSP, crossovers etc. No idea what a spectrum analyzer is...PM me if preferred
Thanks!
I would be happy to get any advice on tuning. My Kenwood has a 13 band EQ and a bunch of other customizable setting for DSP, crossovers etc. No idea what a spectrum analyzer is...PM me if preferred
Thanks!
03-25-2019, 02:38 AM
#172
Hmm.. my car didn't have nav. My head unit does - but as a dedicated wire to an antenna that is placed elsewhere in the car (under the plastic exterior cowling by the wipers) to augment the carplay maps.
Do you have a picture or diagram somewhere for that radio wiring connection? I don't quite follow your description.
----------
Anyway, for professional EQ tuning, you basically need 3 things:
1. A good "pink noise" test tone generator
2. A real-time analyzer with decent microphone (an iPhone or iPad with its built-in mic will suffice - you can go more extreme with a dedicated mic)
3. A parametric equalizer on your head unit
The good news is this used to be really hard, but with smartphones it's really easy! Here's a video that walks through the principles:
Step 1
Download free pink noise files (just do a google search) - you want a "wav" file if you can find it - and put it on your phone. (here's one: https://www.dynaudio.com/support/pink-noise)
You'll play this on your stereo on repeat at about 30-50% volume - loud enough that it's full volume but not so loud that it's rattling anything or hurting your ears
Step 2
Get a real time analyzer ("RTA") / spectrum analyzer app. You want this running on a DIFFERENT device than the one playing the sound - so use another phone or an iPad or a laptop. I use this one as it's calibrated to work with the built-in mics on iOS devices: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rta/id298839433?mt=8
Step 3
Make sure the head unit EQ is set to FLAT. Turn off any extra "bass boost" or effects. Start the pink noise playing over the car speakers and have it loop.
Step 4
Open the "RTA" app on your device and look at the shape over the graph. Your goal is to "shape" it to look like an idealized response curve. Look at the bars - are there obvious dips or peaks? Look at what frequency they are at. Then find the corresponding frequency in your head unit's EQ settings and adjust it accordingly. For example, if on the RTA graph you see a huge spike at 500hz, you'd want to dial that down 3 or 4 dB on the EQ. Or if there's a "hole" at 5khz, you might want to boost that frequency. (Generally it's better to dial down than up).
Despite what you might think, you're not trying to make the curve totally "flat" - that will make the sound very dull and weak. You want an idealized "room" response like this one: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...6&d=1481118741 (basically: boosted below 60hz, gentle roll-off above 3khz).
This can take a while and may seem a bit frustrating. I made the mistake of first trying to create a "flat" response and it sounded horrible - harsh and bright. Then I did the idealized curve and it sounds MUCH better. There are definitely some reverberant frequencies in my car that this got rid of, and some weakness in the sub-bass that this tightened up. My car has the Bose foot well subwoofer and with the proper EQ it really kicks!
I'll see if I can export my EQ settings to share...
Do you have a picture or diagram somewhere for that radio wiring connection? I don't quite follow your description.
----------
Anyway, for professional EQ tuning, you basically need 3 things:
1. A good "pink noise" test tone generator
2. A real-time analyzer with decent microphone (an iPhone or iPad with its built-in mic will suffice - you can go more extreme with a dedicated mic)
3. A parametric equalizer on your head unit
The good news is this used to be really hard, but with smartphones it's really easy! Here's a video that walks through the principles:
Step 1
Download free pink noise files (just do a google search) - you want a "wav" file if you can find it - and put it on your phone. (here's one: https://www.dynaudio.com/support/pink-noise)
You'll play this on your stereo on repeat at about 30-50% volume - loud enough that it's full volume but not so loud that it's rattling anything or hurting your ears
Step 2
Get a real time analyzer ("RTA") / spectrum analyzer app. You want this running on a DIFFERENT device than the one playing the sound - so use another phone or an iPad or a laptop. I use this one as it's calibrated to work with the built-in mics on iOS devices: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rta/id298839433?mt=8
Step 3
Make sure the head unit EQ is set to FLAT. Turn off any extra "bass boost" or effects. Start the pink noise playing over the car speakers and have it loop.
Step 4
Open the "RTA" app on your device and look at the shape over the graph. Your goal is to "shape" it to look like an idealized response curve. Look at the bars - are there obvious dips or peaks? Look at what frequency they are at. Then find the corresponding frequency in your head unit's EQ settings and adjust it accordingly. For example, if on the RTA graph you see a huge spike at 500hz, you'd want to dial that down 3 or 4 dB on the EQ. Or if there's a "hole" at 5khz, you might want to boost that frequency. (Generally it's better to dial down than up).
Despite what you might think, you're not trying to make the curve totally "flat" - that will make the sound very dull and weak. You want an idealized "room" response like this one: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...6&d=1481118741 (basically: boosted below 60hz, gentle roll-off above 3khz).
This can take a while and may seem a bit frustrating. I made the mistake of first trying to create a "flat" response and it sounded horrible - harsh and bright. Then I did the idealized curve and it sounds MUCH better. There are definitely some reverberant frequencies in my car that this got rid of, and some weakness in the sub-bass that this tightened up. My car has the Bose foot well subwoofer and with the proper EQ it really kicks!
I'll see if I can export my EQ settings to share...
03-27-2019, 12:08 AM
#173
Drifting
Hmm.. my car didn't have nav. My head unit does - but as a dedicated wire to an antenna that is placed elsewhere in the car (under the plastic exterior cowling by the wipers) to augment the carplay maps.
Do you have a picture or diagram somewhere for that radio wiring connection? I don't quite follow your description.
----------
Anyway, for professional EQ tuning, you basically need 3 things:
1. A good "pink noise" test tone generator
2. A real-time analyzer with decent microphone (an iPhone or iPad with its built-in mic will suffice - you can go more extreme with a dedicated mic)
3. A parametric equalizer on your head unit
The good news is this used to be really hard, but with smartphones it's really easy! Here's a video that walks through the principles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rs2ZghGXEc
Step 1
Download free pink noise files (just do a google search) - you want a "wav" file if you can find it - and put it on your phone. (here's one: https://www.dynaudio.com/support/pink-noise)
You'll play this on your stereo on repeat at about 30-50% volume - loud enough that it's full volume but not so loud that it's rattling anything or hurting your ears
Step 2
Get a real time analyzer ("RTA") / spectrum analyzer app. You want this running on a DIFFERENT device than the one playing the sound - so use another phone or an iPad or a laptop. I use this one as it's calibrated to work with the built-in mics on iOS devices: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rta/id298839433?mt=8
Step 3
Make sure the head unit EQ is set to FLAT. Turn off any extra "bass boost" or effects. Start the pink noise playing over the car speakers and have it loop.
Step 4
Open the "RTA" app on your device and look at the shape over the graph. Your goal is to "shape" it to look like an idealized response curve. Look at the bars - are there obvious dips or peaks? Look at what frequency they are at. Then find the corresponding frequency in your head unit's EQ settings and adjust it accordingly. For example, if on the RTA graph you see a huge spike at 500hz, you'd want to dial that down 3 or 4 dB on the EQ. Or if there's a "hole" at 5khz, you might want to boost that frequency. (Generally it's better to dial down than up).
Despite what you might think, you're not trying to make the curve totally "flat" - that will make the sound very dull and weak. You want an idealized "room" response like this one: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...6&d=1481118741 (basically: boosted below 60hz, gentle roll-off above 3khz).
This can take a while and may seem a bit frustrating. I made the mistake of first trying to create a "flat" response and it sounded horrible - harsh and bright. Then I did the idealized curve and it sounds MUCH better. There are definitely some reverberant frequencies in my car that this got rid of, and some weakness in the sub-bass that this tightened up. My car has the Bose foot well subwoofer and with the proper EQ it really kicks!
I'll see if I can export my EQ settings to share...
Do you have a picture or diagram somewhere for that radio wiring connection? I don't quite follow your description.
----------
Anyway, for professional EQ tuning, you basically need 3 things:
1. A good "pink noise" test tone generator
2. A real-time analyzer with decent microphone (an iPhone or iPad with its built-in mic will suffice - you can go more extreme with a dedicated mic)
3. A parametric equalizer on your head unit
The good news is this used to be really hard, but with smartphones it's really easy! Here's a video that walks through the principles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rs2ZghGXEc
Step 1
Download free pink noise files (just do a google search) - you want a "wav" file if you can find it - and put it on your phone. (here's one: https://www.dynaudio.com/support/pink-noise)
You'll play this on your stereo on repeat at about 30-50% volume - loud enough that it's full volume but not so loud that it's rattling anything or hurting your ears
Step 2
Get a real time analyzer ("RTA") / spectrum analyzer app. You want this running on a DIFFERENT device than the one playing the sound - so use another phone or an iPad or a laptop. I use this one as it's calibrated to work with the built-in mics on iOS devices: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rta/id298839433?mt=8
Step 3
Make sure the head unit EQ is set to FLAT. Turn off any extra "bass boost" or effects. Start the pink noise playing over the car speakers and have it loop.
Step 4
Open the "RTA" app on your device and look at the shape over the graph. Your goal is to "shape" it to look like an idealized response curve. Look at the bars - are there obvious dips or peaks? Look at what frequency they are at. Then find the corresponding frequency in your head unit's EQ settings and adjust it accordingly. For example, if on the RTA graph you see a huge spike at 500hz, you'd want to dial that down 3 or 4 dB on the EQ. Or if there's a "hole" at 5khz, you might want to boost that frequency. (Generally it's better to dial down than up).
Despite what you might think, you're not trying to make the curve totally "flat" - that will make the sound very dull and weak. You want an idealized "room" response like this one: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...6&d=1481118741 (basically: boosted below 60hz, gentle roll-off above 3khz).
This can take a while and may seem a bit frustrating. I made the mistake of first trying to create a "flat" response and it sounded horrible - harsh and bright. Then I did the idealized curve and it sounds MUCH better. There are definitely some reverberant frequencies in my car that this got rid of, and some weakness in the sub-bass that this tightened up. My car has the Bose foot well subwoofer and with the proper EQ it really kicks!
I'll see if I can export my EQ settings to share...
Just messing around with the settings on my way back i found a few things that helped a lot. Initially i found the volume and high end out of the front speakers way too much. I first tried to just lower those frequencies on the EQ but it all just sounded flat. So then i tried to lower the gain on the tweeters and this helped a lot. Lastly i set the HU tweeters to off and this was the best. There is still sound out of the front panel but it has a much better sound stage. I can hear more of the door speakers and the bass and mids. Not sure why all of this works but it seems to
Thanks
03-27-2019, 12:13 AM
#174
Drifting
Re the antenna wire. The only wire out of the new HU that wasnt part of the wire harness was a blue wire labelled antenna. I simply tapped this in to the white wire that was part of the cars power harness (the 3 wires i referenced above). Sorry no diagram but it was as described further up in the thread
Cheers
Cheers
03-27-2019, 12:39 AM
#175
Re the antenna wire. The only wire out of the new HU that wasnt part of the wire harness was a blue wire labelled antenna. I simply tapped this in to the white wire that was part of the cars power harness (the 3 wires i referenced above). Sorry no diagram but it was as described further up in the thread
Cheers
Cheers
07-10-2019, 08:51 PM
#178
Also, I had a shop install my Alpine head unit, annd after the install, I am getting ABS and PASM errors on the dash. Any ideas?? You didn't get any errors when you did yours?
07-10-2019, 09:00 PM
#179
My guess is your shop let the battery voltage go low which will cause all kinds of abs/stability control faults.
07-10-2019, 10:13 PM
#180
Are these faults that will clear up and reset after some driving?