Can anyone explain what exactly ASL does and the difference betweent the different settings?

 

considering you've posted this before and didn't get an answer, I suggest explaining more details...Personally, I have no clue what you're talking about.... give us more detail and perhaps we can help you out!!!

 

asl is automatic sound leveling. it's a pioneer eq tool. i have mine set to mid high cuz it pumps up the music a bit. if you are pushing stock speakers off deck power expect to get distortion.

basically it's meant for cars with loud exhausts and convertibles. when the deck hears a quiet environment the stereo's level is lower than when the deck hears windnoise , exhaust notes all that jazz. it's a cool feature. like i said i normally have it set to mid high or mid low.

 

I think you have to hook a mircrophone to the back of your head unit for this to work which may be a little obtrusive for most.

 

hmmm.....interesting....never knew anything of this sort of feature!!! cool!!

 

no you dont. and I know it works cuz you turn on asl and depending on what settings ytou use for it determines how much it changes the volume depending upon how loud the surroundings are.

 

I have a Pioneer DEH-P8MP with ASL. The microphone is built in. The setting is based on how quickly you want the unit to react to noise. If you want it to react slowly and increase volume only for continuous noise like when you get up to speed on the highway, then low is the way to go. If you want it to react quickly for more short term noises, then go high. The problem I found with the higher settings is that it'll actually react to the music. So right in the middle of a good bass hit you can hear the volume drop.

I would say the feature is best used for shorter trips and surface streets where you stop and go often.

 

I have the 860mp and I dont use it. I think it was invented as a joke for the rest of the world to make fun of lazy americans.

 

from what i understand it actually hooks to the engine, not by microphone in the car. chevy has it on some of their stock radios, and as the car accelerates, the volume increases. blaupunkt has it on some of theirs and works the same way. im not sure where you run the wires to, but it does have to go to the engine so it can sense speed and rpms and adjust sound accordingly.

 

Chevy may be wired to the engine. They are just crazy enough to do that but aftermarket radios use microphones. The level of noise in every car is different at different speeds and RPMs. It wouldn't make sense to have the radio volume increase the same amount in an XB as it would a Mercedes, and connecting to any type of engine output such as speed or RPMs would do just that.

 

It does not react faster, it reacts more. The higher the setting, the more it increases the volume in response to the background noise. The idea is to keep it at a setting that will make the radio 'sound' like its the same volume when the background noise starts. Normally, when you get on the highway you have to turn the volume up. This feature does it for you. I keep it on mid on my deh7600mp. It works a lot better than I thought it would. I dont even hear the volume go up. It sounds the same volume all the time. Then when I stop the car, it takes a second for the deck to catch up and you can hear it turn the volume back down. I find that it doesnt work very well on the stock tC deck though. I'm not sure if its the deck or the better sound dampening compared to my 92 civic. I'll let you know after I get my 7600 in there.

 

Wait until you install yours and test it. I've tried mine and the higher the sensitivity setting the faster it reacts to noise.

 

[quote="chadfo"]Did you read my post? I've had it installed in my civic for months. Obviously you havnt read the owners manual for your deck. Plus, what you are saying doesn't make any sense. For what reason would you want it to react any slower than the absolute fastest speed it possibly can? If what you are saying were true, when you put it on a low level, by the time it adjusted to the road noise it may already be gone. Here is a description of ASL from my DEH-P7600MP owners manual:
There you have it. Exactly what I said. It atjusts the volume. The higher the setting the more it changes the volume in relation to the background noise.

 

Ok, first I was wrong. I apologize. It does adjust the volume. The times I played with it before led me to believe it adjusted how fast it reacted to noise. I played with it again on the way to work this morning and could hear a definite volume difference. Personally I'd want it to adjust how fast it reacted to noise. I don't want the volume jumping up and down with every bump, only with continuous noise.

As for instructions, the term sensitivity does not fit the context of the statement.

 

Mine never jumped up and down in the civic. It was unnoticable until I came to a stop light. At that point, you could hear it bring the volume back down and only then would you realize that it had gone up. Worked very well in my civic. Hopefully it'll work as well in the tC.