Hey everyone I was searching for a o-scope on the forum and could not find anyone talking about them. I am interested in tuning my car system and other peoples with an o-scope becuz i know its more realiable than the other two methods... listening and DMM. But I can not find where to buy one at. If anyone has one can you please tell me which one you have and where you got it and roughly the price range. Thanks everyone I greatlly appreciate it.

 

I would suggest learning more about them before buying one. There are quite a few different models of scopes out there depending on what you need it for. Buying a cheap scope will not generally give you great results. Honestly unless you are tuning it for serious competition you will not gain much.

http://www.wikifaq.com/Car_Audio_Ins...n_my_system.3F

 

forgive my ignorince, but how do you use an oscope for tunning your system

 

no worries dude :D. an oscilliscope displays the certain frequencies that are played throughout the system. with that being said you play white, pink noise, or certain frequencies (i.e. 80Hz for low end tests, etc.) through the sound system and adjust the equalizer accordingly to your own preference. well at least thats how i would tune my system using one.

as for geting an oscilliscope. while it may not be the most accurate on the earth, you could download some programs that have one built in, i think Adobe Audition has one but im sure if you look on google you can get one, and using the built in mic you can test it, or use an external mic if you have a line-in. it may not be the cleanest way to get the freq. curves but it does work.

i live in california, so im not too shure if you have a Fry's in florida, but they would have it. A local hardware or electronic store might have one (radio shack?) but if all else fails i guess online (parts express has one but iono if that is what your looking for), but they do not come cheap .

well i hope this helps good luck! :D

 

I agree with that statement, and also feel it's easier and more accurate. Use it to set the gain structure of the entire system, and to ensure the amp outputs aren't clipping either.

Not sure what your budget is, as they cover a HUGE range of prices (just over $100 for decent used, to several thousand for TotL new), but considering your intended use, it'd sure be nice to have a small portable unit.

Check out this unit to see if it meets your requirements, as it's very portable and priced nice.

 

Never heard that before, and don't see how that would work the way you described. For setting EQ frequency bands, an RTA is the preferred method.

In car audio, an oscilloscope's primary purpose is to view the output signal of a component, to ensure it's not clipping. This way you can set the gain structure of an elaborate system (say HU, active xover, EQ, and any other processors in the signal path) to ensure none of the components are being overloaded, and that you're getting the maximum possible clean voltage signal through the system. Additionally, once the gains are set on the amps, it can be used to ensure they don't produce clipped signals (if so, lower the gain).

 

i was looking at the same one nodsetse. lol. :D

 

You're not going to get a system to never clip in real life, but you can set the system so everything clips at the same time. No one would be happy with the output of an unclipped system. You can use an O scope to set the gains with enough overlap to allow for moderate clipping (when things play "loud") and avoid severe clipping (when things melt) .

Much of todays music is so compressed that the recording itself is clipped. Nothing you can do is going to change that.

Using a DMM and a test CD is a lot easier, a lot cheaper and gives consistant results.

 

oops your totally right nod. i was totally thinking of an RTA . sorry!

but you are also right JLTD, using a test cd would be alot easier and cheaper.. or at least using a tone generator too :D

 

It really sucks too. None of the modern music sounds very good on an amplified system. You can play with the EQ but you will end up messing with it for almost every cd you put in.

 

I haven't seen a Fry's on the east coast, but their online store is good. http://shop3.outpost.com/catreq/4564
Looks like Parts Express might have better prices though.

 

ive never ordered anything from frysonline. but through parts express, their shipping is a bit high imo but they are still really good :D

 

I’ve never seen anyone use an O-scope to adjust a system, but I suppose it could be done.

An O-scope won’t do any good with white noise, since you’ll be measuring every single frequency and won’t be able to distinguish the particular range you’re trying to adjust.

As for adjusting an entire system, not very practical. It may show you the amplitude limits for certain components at certain frequencies, but it won’t help with the overall acoustics.

If you want to buy a basic scope brand new, you can find one for around $190 at jameco.com. But if you are just looking for one for audio purposes, find a used one for the cheapest price possible. I bought a scope from my school for $15. It was made back in the 70s, is the size of a large PC tower (although the screen is only the size of a postcard), and weighs about 30 lbs. It works just as well with audio frequencies as the $3000 scope I use at work.

 

^^^ Serious car audio competitors have been setting the gain structure of their systems using o-scopes for many years.

 

Personally, I still think it’s more practical to fine-tune a system by ear. What looks good on a scope for individual components doesn’t always sound the best when you put all the sounds together. But then again, I like to be able to tolerate the volume levels while still sitting in the vehicle.

But as was stated for serious audio competitors, I suppose it would be beneficial to get the most possible power with the least amount of distortion. If you spend thousands on a system, a cheap scope is a drop in the bucket.

 

It really isn't practical to set gains by ear for 99% of people who don't know what clipping sounds like. It's an excellent way to destroy some audio equipment though

O-scope...play a sine wave through HU, clip leads onto RCA output, turn up until wave deforms, back off until wave is round again.

Insert RCA's into next piece of equipment, hook O-scope up to the +/- terminals on that equipment and adjust gain until the wave becomes clipped, turn back down until unclipped.

For most people, that'll be on the amp. And then they're done. Of course with other components inline, you'd need to set the gain accordingly on each, but it's pretty simple.

You certainly can get your system to not clip on straight tones...of course throwing in clipped music, no, you really can't unclip it.

And using this way, you find the max unclipped level of your system. Budsmoke, you can always turn the gains down from where they end up being set at...just don't turn them past that point

 

Thanks, Chris! I've been trying to get that accross to people here in a few threads, but they tend to more readily believe it coming from you.

 

It's how I've always set my gains...dad worked at a power company, borrowed oscilloscopes when needed.

I like to know my safest unclipped max. From there I can always turn things down, but I never turn them up past it