# How do I set up DTA?



## ledvedder (Oct 24, 2012)

My Clarion has a DTA setting for all 6 speakers. The settings are in centimeters. Do I just set each one to the distance that particular speaker is from my listening position?


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## pat_smith1969 (Feb 17, 2010)

I keep this in my email for reference.

Use the following instructions to set the delay parameter for each speaker. The
table printed below is provided for your use in facilitating the delay setup.
1. Set the delay of the farthest speaker from the desired listening position to
zero.
2. Measure, in inches, and record the distance from the desired listening
position to the farthest speaker. This is your baseline measurement.
3. Measure, in inches, and record the distance from the listening position to
each of the remaining speakers. Each speaker should correspond to a
channel of the output from the DCX-730.
4. Subtract the distance of the baseline speaker from each of the other
speakers (for a given channel of the DCX-730) and record that value (these
will all be negative values).
5. Divide each of these differences by 13.52 (value at 68°F) to set the required
delay settings in msec for each of the remaining speakers. The exact
speaker path length differences will appear for each channel as you enter
the msec delay value.
NOTE: The value of 13.52 varies with temperature, a chart is given at the
end of this discussion listing values to be used with different
temperatures. The error in the this value is at the most 5% between
temperatures of 50°F to 100°F.
For example: The baseline speaker (farthest away) measures 60 inches. The LT
(left tweeter) measures 20 inches. The difference is 20-60=-40 inches. The delay
time correction is -40/13.52 which equals a delay setting of -2.96 mS (a setting of
2.96 will be entered into the DCX-730 channel for the LT speaker.


Temperature Correction Factor
50°F 13.29
60°F 13.42
70°F 13.55
80°F 13.67
90°F 13.80
100°F 13.92
110°F 14.05


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## pat_smith1969 (Feb 17, 2010)

sorry... my post was for TA in MilleSeconds.. Not much help I am afraid.


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## ledvedder (Oct 24, 2012)

Thanks for the response. My head unit has TA in centimeters.


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

pat_smith1969 said:


> I keep this in my email for reference.
> 
> Use the following instructions to set the delay parameter for each speaker. The
> table printed below is provided for your use in facilitating the delay setup.
> ...


This is the same technique but instead of inches OP needs to use centimeters and instead of dividing by the correction factor to get to milliseconds input the centimeter measurements.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...5069-better-technique-ear-time-alignment.html

or

Passive System Time Alignment | Tutorials | Team Audionutz
Full Active Time Alignment Method | Tutorials | Team Audionutz
Double Check and Fine-Tune Time Alignment | Tutorials | Team Audionutz


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## ledvedder (Oct 24, 2012)

Wow, I didn't realize how confusing this was. So, if my rear passenger speaker is 152 cm from my head, and my front drivers side speaker is 50 cm from my head, I should set the front drivers side TA to 102 cm?


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

ledvedder said:


> Wow, I didn't realize how confusing this was. So, if my rear passenger speaker is 152 cm from my head, and my front drivers side speaker is 50 cm from my head, I should set the front drivers side TA to 102 cm?


Yes; if the rear passenger speaker is the furthest from your head.


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## ledvedder (Oct 24, 2012)

I found this in another thread, which makes it sound so much easier.

"Here's the idiot's guide to time alignment [hope I don't sound like an idiot];

Insert a non-crap CD. If the music you're playing is off your phone or can be heard on MTV, ask your parents or older siblings for something more radio friendly. 

Start with the driver's front door speaker. Don't worry about the rears or subs at all. 

With the music playing at a moderate volume, start delaying it slowly. You'll hear the music sound like it's coming from your feet and it'll slowly start sounding more and more like it's coming from the center vent in your dashboard. Keep turning the delay up and you'll hear the music start shifting over almost in front of you. When you get to this point, you've gone too far...delay it less. 

If you delay it more or keep it so that the music sounds like it's coming from your instrument cluster; try another track. Sounds like crap right? All the left and right channel stuff sounds like its coming from the floor yet the vocals are screaming at you from your odometer. Yuk. 

Go to where the music sounds like its coming out of the center of your dash. Adjust 1 click higher, did the music sound like its a little higher or did it sound like it shifted over? If it shifted over, go back to where you were. If it's a little higher, keep adjusting until you find that 'shift'. 

Once you have it centered, leave it alone. Viola, done...

99.9% of people out there are entirely happy with this type of arrangement. The 00.1% are audio nutcases and have their front speakers bi-amped with dedicated channels for time correction. 

If you're in the 00.1%...book a solid weekend (maybe two) to get things right. Keep turning knobs, pushing buttons, and using your ears. Time correction is more of a black art than a science. Alpine used to give out tape measures with time steps so installers can measure from their right ear to the speakers. It never sounded right...

Fiddle around and let your ears guide you. If worst comes to worst; reset the radio. No biggie..."


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