# PPI DSP-88R



## stereo_luver (Oct 30, 2007)

Has anyone other than myself spent some time with this processor? Thoughts?

Chuck


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

stereo_luver said:


> Has anyone other than myself spent some time with this processor? Thoughts?
> 
> Chuck


Just got mine installed but was waiting to do a full review until I actually get my fronts in. So far it started up flawlessly and I hear no noise. I will say the system plug and the controller plug seem a little loose but should stay in. Also the back plate rattled like crazy, but was an easy fix.

I will post up my thoughts and some pics once I have everything really up and running. I would love to hear what you think about it.


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

I suppose this is as good a place as any to post up some stuff. It will all be in my build log as well.

A few pics if yall want them of my unboxing of the PPI DSP-88r. I of course did not upload the pics of the actual unit, but we all know what it looks like.














































The controller, with a pack of smokes to reference size



















The controller cable










The wiring harness. There is also a wiring diagram sticker on the bottom of the unit...pic has yet to be found










The usb cable


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

Bump for the OP because I too would like to know what others have experienced.


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## etroze (Dec 24, 2013)

Working on the idea of putting my stock hu in or run this off my 80prs. Then the tinkering begins lol.


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## Tacoma Dynamics (Mar 21, 2014)

I've been playing around with the 88R for a few weeks now and I like it. I have no other dsp experience though. zero noise and the all in one screen is simple and easy. the remote is very small and only controls input, volume and preset number. easy to hide I guess. not sure if other processor do it but it would be nice if the eq affected L/R at the same time other than muting drivers to hear the effects. only issue I've had was not being able to save and readjust any new presets which left my tweeters screaming at me for a few weeks. I tried two other computers and the problem went away so I don't blame the unit. for $200 I think it does everything a dsp newcomer would want or for someone who doesn't need to control every little thing and likes clean and simple. the crossover control and slope is great. can set it anywhere between 20-20khz you please. didn't know in 3way mode two outputs only get 11 bands of eq but prob enough for a driver covering fewer octaves. I'm happy, and keepin it until it breaks. or I get rich.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

Good review.


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## Bayboy (Dec 29, 2010)

The limited bands on on the sub & tweeter I believe, seems justified. They simply don't need it unless one is going to use the unit in another way other than designed. 

OAN... this great news! No noise with little to no issues for that price is a steal! What about actual output voltage?


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## sirbOOm (Jan 24, 2013)

I couldn't do this just because of the screen printed "hey I'm right here" controller. Looks like a mini-CB. But then again my RF 360's blue lights are like boat beacons...


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## Bayboy (Dec 29, 2010)

Is it my phone acting up or are the pics not showing?


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

Pics are there for me. I too am not liking the look of the controller but its a minor thing. I mean I would rather have the mosconi controller... But you know


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## Bayboy (Dec 29, 2010)

Ahhh... must be tapatalk. Switched to web view and is visible.


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## Tacoma Dynamics (Mar 21, 2014)

The limited eq isn't limited for any particular driver except the sub. you can hook up drivers to any other of the six channels. I havnt actually measured the output voltage but my deck spec is up to 2v and now with the dsp I can have my gains at zero when they were about half way before. and some bad news, since I last posted I've encountered the preset issue again. seems like a software issue cause it will save when I mute a channel but my tweeter levels keep going back to a previous setting, which is too high. tech support told me to check a wire and i'll do that next chance I get. it's strange I can make saves and switch between them just fine but after cycling the ignition they go back to the way they were. once again I'm not condemning the until I figure out if it's the wiring or something else. I installed this and it's past 30 days so I hope ocs will take care of this if it is indeed the dsp. I really like this thing but I'm starting to get bummed out. it will derail my system for the remainder of the summer if I don't figure this out. once you go dsp, there's no going back.


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

So! how many eq bands for the sub section then?


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## Ultimateherts (Nov 13, 2006)

Tacoma Dynamics said:


> it's strange I can make saves and switch between them just fine but after cycling the ignition they go back to the way they were. once again I'm not condemning the until I figure out if it's the wiring or something else.


yeah that is definitely a wiring issue. To me it sounds like you have the 12volt constant wired backwards


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## ZeblodS (Nov 4, 2009)

If I may add, this DSP is commercialized under a lot a different brands, such as Acustika DSP-1, Soudstream Harmony, PPI DSP-88R, BLAM LS28, and lot more not really known is Europe or America.
It's in fact a chinese product built only for rebranding, and mostly used in Asia and Africa in big setup for contests.


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## PUREAUDIO (Jun 16, 2008)

ZeblodS said:


> If I may add, this DSP is commercialized under a lot a different brands, such as Acustika DSP-1, Soudstream Harmony, PPI DSP-88R, BLAM LS28, and lot more not really known is Europe or America.
> 
> 
> Would you know if the Acustika or the BLAM could be bought in the states?


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## ZeblodS (Nov 4, 2009)

PUREAUDIO said:


> Would you know if the Acustika or the BLAM could be bought in the states?


Acustika is a Thai brand (https://th-th.facebook.com/AcustikaDSP1) and seems to be sold only in Thailand.
BLAM is a brand made from a French guy, but whoses primary market is Asia and Arabia (sold in only one online seller in France afaik). For exemple: 
-https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.479420902158718.1073741843.251464598287684&type=1 
-https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=693430800721480&set=pcb.693430810721479&type=1&theater

If you search on the web in Asia, I'm pretty sur you'll find other brand which sell the exact same product.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)




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## Bayboy (Dec 29, 2010)

I know they're all the same, but those foreign processors make the others look like poo aesthetically. Brushed cases look great!


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## ZeblodS (Nov 4, 2009)

[email protected] said:


>


Nice!

Cirrus Logic CS47048C-DQZ, a chip with ADC/DAC/DSP all-in-one.
-98dB THD for both ADC and DAC isn't really great though, and the DSP part seems a bit limited. But as long as it do the trick, it can be a good cheap sound processor.


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## Tacoma Dynamics (Mar 21, 2014)

Figured I would report back about my preset saving issue. definitely wasn't a wiring problem. must be software or an internal issue. I was going to send it back but I decided to swap channels between the tweeters and mids cause I don't need to adjust the levels on the mids but maybe .5-1.0 db's on the LH mid. everything is great now! I'm so relieved. living in Alaska it's expensive to sends things back and forth not to mention the time it takes as well. I know the unit isnt 100% but it does what I need it to do. customer service was great. I talked to the same guy both times and he walked me through everything with equipment infront of both of us. no other issues with the unit and I am really happy with it. anyone know what the Q adjustment does below each channel?


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Bayboy (Dec 29, 2010)

Tacoma Dynamics said:


> anyone know what the Q adjustment does below each channel?


Width of frequencies affected.


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## BlueGhost (Jul 28, 2014)

I don't have one, yet, but I have played with the software. When you adjust Q you can see its affect on frequency width in the graph in the center of the screen.


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## BlueGhost (Jul 28, 2014)

I found this review. It's not too detailed, but seems to be the Russian branded equivalent of the DSP-88R.


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## Tacoma Dynamics (Mar 21, 2014)

Thanks guys. still trying to get the hang of tuning and now I have another button to play with? great. I can finally just hop in the truck without having to unplug or plug something in or deal with fatiguing highs. I can really listen and critique from song to song and get this thing dialed in. got to give a shout out to the ML 1600's, couldn't have stumbled on a better deal than I got on these.


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## Bobyota (Jun 7, 2009)

Tacoma, can you tell me where you got this DSP for $200? This toy looks too good to pass up


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## Jepalan (Jun 27, 2013)

All - I've been researching the Harmony and DSP-88R, including running the software applications in offline mode and can't find an answer to this:

How are the four "CD" speaker level inputs (FL, FR, RL, RR) connected into the eight output channels (A thru H)? Are they summed as equal inputs to all the processing channels?


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## Tacoma Dynamics (Mar 21, 2014)

I got mine from online car stereo. I always forget to check my old threads.


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## stereo_luver (Oct 30, 2007)

This is still for sale.

Chuck


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## instalher (May 13, 2009)

can I run this unit without that outboard volume box.?


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## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

instalher said:


> can I run this unit without that outboard volume box.?



Let me answer for you, since we were talking about the Harmony unit.

You must have it connected, it appears. It claims to be optional but also appears to be an important connected item, when it comes to how this unit works with storing and recalling files.

You won't need to access it very often though. You could make it semi-buried, like in the glove box or something if you want.


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## cggorman (Aug 4, 2015)

This looks like the perfect fit for my build...
So, the consensus is that this is a worthwhile entry level DSP?
No difference between Harmony and PPI other than the case?


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## Lycancatt (Apr 11, 2010)

I must say, I've worked with a client who bought one of these, and it was endless problem after problem. The interface is needlessly complex and saving is not automatic, meaning you must remember this important step or lose all your work.

the low level output of the rca jacks is a serious problem, it seems to create noise, and even adding a line driver after this unit just amplified the noise. The controller is a nice addition and actually makes this unit pretty cool, but the lack of support from ppi as well as the build quality and flexibility makes this a hard pass for me.

The unit we installed had wiring harness issues, to the point that half the time the amplifiers didn't turn on hooked into the remote output, and we soon replaced this unit with a rf 360.3.

all in all I'd call this one a pass, which sucks because I had high hopes for it.


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## 1996blackmax (Aug 29, 2007)

At one point I was considering this unit. I ended up going with the DEQ.8. I had read about the issues people had with this unit. The DEQ.8 has been easy to use & no issues with it. I just picked up a controller for it....plan on installing that soon.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Bought the harmony but had problems so returned it. Got the 88R and things have been fine. No noise, no saving issues. Works as it should and only hiccup I've had is the application crashing when I keep it open between tuning sessions, like if you keep the app open and take your laptop inside, take it out to the car again the next day and plug in the 88r, the application will crash so you have to restart the pc software each day or each session you plug it in.


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## cggorman (Aug 4, 2015)

OK. Sounds pretty risky. MiniDSP it is. Thanks!


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