# DSP with best autotune?



## justicepool (Feb 5, 2011)

Just looking for feedback on experience with DSP's and their auto tuning capabilities?


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## SoundJunkie (Dec 3, 2008)

JBL MS8....the rest are pretty much junk.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Yup. For as much as I like the H800, its auto-tune is garbage.


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## bassfromspace (Jun 28, 2016)

The MS-8 is junk, as well.

Back to square 1.


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## therapture (Jan 31, 2013)

SoundJunkie said:


> JBL MS8....the rest are pretty much junk.
> 
> Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


Maybe I misunderstand. You are saying all other DSP's are junk? Or that the auto tune feature is junk on other DSP's? If they don't have an autotune at all...that makes it junk?

One could say the MS8 is junk, since it can be a pain in the ass to setup correctly, and that the autotune feature can often suck.

Blanket statements make people look stupid. And that statement has a biiiiiiig blanket on it...


*gets flame suit on*


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## msmith (Nov 27, 2007)

I have yet to find an autotune system that accounts for my preconceived notion of correct sound.


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Heard lots of autotune systems getting T/A right but never EQ. No experience with MS8 though.

Alpine's imprint system was especially good with T/A imo.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy 3 via Tapatalk.


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## Ryanu (Dec 1, 2012)

I believe each dsp has its own pros and cons. I personnally use ms8. TA, staging, level matching is quite accurate I would say. EQ depends on the environment when u perform the sweep test. I think one needs to be in a quiet environment when performing the calibration. just my 2 cents


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## GlassWolf (May 8, 2010)

I've used Alpine's F#1status and Pioneer's P9 combo, and P99RS, and liked all of them, myself.. but my system isn't super complex to start with.


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## Shinju (Jul 11, 2008)

The MS8, the Logic 7 does an amazing job with autotune. The MS8 outside of that is subpar with very little user ability to change much.

I am an alpine fan all the way as far as processors go but the MS8 takes the win for a drop in and autotune.

I have a friend up here who uses the MS8 for IASCA comps and does really well with it and all he does is Autotune with a little EQ adjustment.

Me personally would rather ear shot and tune my own with an RTA


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## oilman (Feb 21, 2012)

The MS8 did a damn good job with auto tune. Glad they did or you would be SOL.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

For my personal taste, the JBL MS8 wins hands down for set it forget it mindset.


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## DragonMouse (Jun 6, 2013)

Tried the auto-tune option with the MS-8 this weekend - in a 3-way front and sub-woofer;

the sound-stage was pretty much where it should be, we could hear everything in one "place".

Like a friend of mine said - the MS-8 is the best option for someone, who does not possess the needed knowledge and know-how to manually tune a 4-way setup. 

Anyway, heard also an auto-tuned DEX99rs, but I liked the sound-stage better with the MS though..


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## dobslob (Sep 19, 2011)

Try the bitOne, bitTenD, or bitTen and tune them with a bitTune. The bitTune allows you to set your desired curve and does the work for you. Once you get a house curve that you like tuning time is greatly reduced.


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## robert_wrath (Apr 24, 2011)

msmith said:


> I have yet to find an autotune system that accounts for my preconceived notion of correct sound.


Agreed. Utilizing autotune defeats the entire purpose of user preference tuning ( from an Advance User's point of view ).


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## sbaumbaugh (May 21, 2013)

To the original OP...

Please don't judge a DSP by its auto tune features.

As you can see its very subjective and IMO, I went down this road not long ago thinking everything would be done for me at the touch of a button.

This isn't true by any means...

Still much work had to be done, and without the understanding of how to tune using more manual methods... Auto Tune will leave you wondering what went wrong.

Much more can be learned and achieved choosing a DSP for other things like,
Very flexible powerful EQ, Parametric, fine TA adjustments etc...

Many companies make great products, and I highly doubt JBL makes the only GREAT DSP...

Take it with a grain of salt.... Do your research...


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## sbaumbaugh (May 21, 2013)

therapture said:


> Maybe I misunderstand. You are saying all other DSP's are junk? Or that the auto tune feature is junk on other DSP's? If they don't have an autotune at all...that makes it junk?
> 
> One could say the MS8 is junk, since it can be a pain in the ass to setup correctly, and that the autotune feature can often suck.
> 
> ...



As always , you hit the nail on the head....


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## sbaumbaugh (May 21, 2013)

msmith said:


> I have yet to find an autotune system that accounts for my preconceived notion of correct sound.



This is truth.... 

But if someone got it right, that would leave us with very little left to discuss...


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## msmith (Nov 27, 2007)

sbaumbaugh said:


> This is truth....
> 
> But if someone got it right, that would leave us with very little left to discuss...


Au contraire, then we could argue about whose preconceived notions are more 'correct', which brings us right back to square one.


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## sbaumbaugh (May 21, 2013)

msmith said:


> Au contraire, then we could argue about whose preconceived notions are more 'correct', which brings us right back to square one.



You are very right Sir,

Maybe my next DSP will come with a set of Government ear drums and all will be right in the world....


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## Ryanu (Dec 1, 2012)

Agreed jbl-ms8 will defeat the purpose/flexibility to tune to users' liking. But, one still need to experiment with the crossover points, slopes and eq to get the kind of sound that you like. Honestly, the autotune function on ms8 saves a lot of time to get the right staging and balance (provided that u do it right). Just my 2 cents worth of opinion.


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## 14642 (May 19, 2008)

Ryanu said:


> Agreed jbl-ms8 will defeat the purpose/flexibility to tune to users' liking. But, one still need to experiment with the crossover points, slopes and eq to get the kind of sound that you like. Honestly, the autotune function on ms8 saves a lot of time to get the right staging and balance (provided that u do it right). Just my 2 cents worth of opinion.


MS-8 limits your ability to "play around with crossover and EQ" because it's designed to make your car sound good. That was part of the design. 99% of enthusiasts have NO IDEA how to tune an EQ, so we tried to make that part easy and left a 31-band EQ that you can use to adjust the sound. All the MS-8 autotune does is match the channels to a defined target (like having a separate EQ for every channel that has to be tuned manually). Once the channels are matched, using a single EQ just changes the target.

If you want a good sounding car and are willing to read and follow instructions and can be satisfied with a standard system design, MS-8 works 95% of the time. If you want a science project that allows you to experiment with every possible combination of filters and adjustments, then MS-8 is not for you. 

The difference between MS-8s autotune is that it was designed to tune cars by people who know how to tune cars according to sound acoustic principles and who are seriously sophisticated algorithm designers and acousticians. Most of the other ones are designed to simply flatten frequency response curves and their ability to do that depends on the kinds of filters they use and the decisions that the algorithm makes about how best to use them. 

Often the quality of the job is determined more by the operator than the tool. If you don't know how to drive a backhoe, chances are that the hole you dig will be a bad one and a shovel might be a better tool.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

^^^. Honestly that is the best definition by far to me as to how an MS-8 is supposed to operate. Thank you for that clarification that hopefully will put to rest all of the negative comments concerning the job that the MS-8 does. Bravo sir, simply bravo.


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## oilman (Feb 21, 2012)

Coppertone said:


> ^^^. Honestly that is the best definition by far to me as to how an MS-8 is supposed to operate. Thank you for that clarification that hopefully will put to rest all of the negative comments concerning the job that the MS-8 does. Bravo sir, simply bravo.


Not a better person to take up for the ms8 than the person who designed it. The MS8 has diffidently been a stepping stone to creating monsters across the car audio world.


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## Ryanu (Dec 1, 2012)

Andy Wehmeyer said:


> MS-8 limits your ability to "play around with crossover and EQ" because it's designed to make your car sound good. That was part of the design. 99% of enthusiasts have NO IDEA how to tune an EQ, so we tried to make that part easy and left a 31-band EQ that you can use to adjust the sound. All the MS-8 autotune does is match the channels to a defined target (like having a separate EQ for every channel that has to be tuned manually). Once the channels are matched, using a single EQ just changes the target.
> 
> If you want a good sounding car and are willing to read and follow instructions and can be satisfied with a standard system design, MS-8 works 95% of the time. If you want a science project that allows you to experiment with every possible combination of filters and adjustments, then MS-8 is not for you.
> 
> ...


Well said and explained by the man who knows inside out of the ms8. I'm one proud owner of the ms8.


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