# Digital designs new 712 subwoofer



## ccapil (Jun 1, 2013)

Ok, so looking at the digital designs new redline subwoofers I'm looking at, a DD-712 12inch sub, rated at 600 watts rms and a 3inch voice coil.

Anyone have this sub?
After some reviews/opinions on one, how do they sound etc?
Ported/sealed, good for trunk car use..


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## ccapil (Jun 1, 2013)

Anyone?


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## GLN305 (Nov 2, 2007)

ccapil said:


> Anyone?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


They are very new and being that DD is seen as an SPL oriented brand, you aren't going to find many reviews on here in general much less with newer products. Might wanna check some of the other sites where SPL is more prominent.


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## cubdenno (Nov 10, 2007)

Most likely not going to outperform your JBL sub. 

Probably could be made to sound decent in the right enclosure. Have heard both the 5 series and the 15 series sound good.


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## ccapil (Jun 1, 2013)

Yeah, I am tossing up buying one 612 or 712. I am defiantly keeping my p1224 as they are discontinued, but want to try a dd. The 612 is rated at 4-600 watts rms and has a 2.5 inch voice coil, while the 712 is more expensive and has a 3 inch voice coil (same as my p1224) and is rated at 1200 watts rms. since dd are a more spl based sub, they will take more power I presume, and the 712 (1200 watt) probably wont be to its full potential on my alpine pdxm6? While the 612 would?
In saying that the jbl sub I have is more efficent, so doesn't need as much power. Just tossing up between the 2, the 612 is only $250 and the 712 is $450. I may just keep my jbl, but I wanted to know if the new dd subs are worth it? Compared to what i have now


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

Cool for SPL

Crap for SQ


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## UNFORGIVEN (Sep 25, 2010)

This is definitely the wrong site to ask about digital designs but I'll add that 99% of DD subs like ported enclosures tuned around 38. 

That's directly from the site

Depends on what you're looking for .... give it a try, you can always change later


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## Hoptologist (Sep 14, 2012)

edzyy said:


> Crap for SQ


Much mislead.


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## Thetintartist (Jan 30, 2014)

I love there subs, sq comes down to amp and enclosure set up and design, remember sq is subjective. It's a personnel experience.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Are the specs real now? Cause you couldn't believe the ones that used to be posted.


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## ccapil (Jun 1, 2013)

I go off the digital designs website. And the dd dealer here in New Zealand. There was some mis lead info a while ago though. All I can do is trial one I guess. Leaning towards a idmax 12 for my new setup though, lol.


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## sbeezy (Nov 22, 2008)

edzyy said:


> Crap for SQ


I take it you've never hear a 9912 in a proper enclosure made for it's environment?

My 9512g was by no means an sq sub but with it loaded in a Chambered T-line it was damn mean when it needed to be and very articulate when played with Diana Krall,Chris Botti and Norah Jones! I would suggest you listen to something before automatically damning it!

Hell a SQ nut in my area who heard the setup liked it more than his 13w7 if that means anything.


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

sbeezy said:


> I take it you've never hear a 9912 in a proper enclosure made for it's environment?
> 
> My 9512g was by no means an sq sub but with it loaded in a Chambered T-line it was damn mean when it needed to be and very articulate when played with Diana Krall,Chris Botti and Norah Jones! I would suggest you listen to something before automatically damning it!
> 
> Hell a SQ nut in my area who heard the setup liked it more than his 13w7 if that means anything.


You mean have I heard a 9912 in a PWK design? No I have not.


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## Thetintartist (Jan 30, 2014)

I'm not much for specs, the DD subs are awesome. I've heard a 9512 in a Tahoe on a DDm1 amp, watched The Transformer movie in it and was amazed. I cant wait to try there new audiophile components coming out soon, my whole system will be dd soon.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

I don't know how much subbass you are getting with 90% of the DD subs having a Fs in the 40s. Playing below resonance decreases power handling and increases distortion.

I loved my 9512b that I had back in 1999. Good all around sub.


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## ccapil (Jun 1, 2013)

I'm also looking at the new 612. Only $250!
2.5" voice coil, 500 watts rms.


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## cubdenno (Nov 10, 2007)

thehatedguy said:


> I don't know how much subbass you are getting with 90% of the DD subs having a Fs in the 40s. Playing below resonance decreases power handling and increases distortion.
> 
> I loved my 9512b that I had back in 1999. Good all around sub.


Yeah but we are not playing these subs free air. The fs will change when the speaker is placed into an enclosure where the air load will change the resonant frequency. fs is what suspension compliance and cone mass? I mean its a small signal parameter and not some magical thing (not being snarky here just interested in this direction of the thread.)

Have seen a 15" DD sub recycled out of car use and used in a HT playing sub 20hz content. I think it was a 15 series.maybe the 25 series. not sure cant remember


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Fs isn't going to drop that much.

You can play it below Fs, just power handling drops.

Then again, DD's specs aren't exactly on spec.


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## BigRed (Aug 12, 2007)

I won west coast Iasca championship with 2 9515's in a 10 cube ported enclosure. My score was a 20 out of 20 in the sub section. 

These woofers in the proper enclosure sound real friggin good.


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## Thetintartist (Jan 30, 2014)

I agree 9515 are incredible, who cares about f,s anyways, specs change as subs break in . Where do you get your info stating dd,s specs rant always spec.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Look around the net, several have been tested and none have been close to what is provided by DD. PWK measured a few, Jacob at Sundown has too.

Specs do change...some. Your FS isn't going to drop 10-15 hertz.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

I mean I like DD...I had a 9512b in 1999 and the last shop that I tinted at was a DD dealer. Good subs...but specs are a lie.


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## Thetintartist (Jan 30, 2014)

My customers by speakers based on performance not specs. Specs are for the birds


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## HiloDB1 (Feb 25, 2011)

Thetintartist said:


> My customers by speakers based on performance not specs. Specs are for the birds


And how do you measure performance? By feel or by actual measurable numbers? If you only rely on seat of the pants performance then yes specs are for the birds.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Sure they are for the birds if you don't understand them...but speakers start to roll off on the bottom end after Fs.


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## Thetintartist (Jan 30, 2014)

So just curious , what specific resonant frequency do you think makes a good sq sub, and what brand and model


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

The lower the better. Something in the 20s is good.

Some of my favorite SQ subs are the v2 IDQ12s and 15s, Dayton RS390HF, JBL WGTi 15, JL 12W6v2...etc.

But there is more to it than just a low Fs.


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## Thetintartist (Jan 30, 2014)

This is why I say sq is subjective to the individual , most humans have an audible range starting at 30-31hertz and up, aural, and fs will go down, up to 10 db depending on suspension stiffness . I believe with the right enclosure in the correct vehicle I can make just about any sub sound good, unless it's just junk. Men and women hear differently as well, my wife likes her system over mine and vise versa.


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## HiloDB1 (Feb 25, 2011)

Thetintartist said:


> This is why I say sq is subjective to the individual , most humans have an audible range starting at 30-31hertz and up, aural, and fs will go down, up to 10 db depending on suspension stiffness . I believe with the right enclosure in the correct vehicle I can make just about any sub sound good, unless it's just junk. Men and women hear differently as well, my wife likes her system over mine and vise versa.


These two statements go together. You could probably make most any sub sound good to you


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## hurrication (Dec 19, 2011)

thehatedguy said:


> Fs isn't going to drop that much.
> 
> You can play it below Fs, just power handling drops.
> 
> Then again, DD's specs aren't exactly on spec.


Fs will never drop unless there is weight added to the cone. Fs goes out the window completely once it's put into an enclosure, and your new resonance spec is Fsc which some people also call Fb. In most average sized car sealed boxes, this point can be up into the 50's. 

The free air resonance is simply the point of impedance peak when the sub is in free air, and Fsc is the point of impedance peak with the sub in a given enclosure.


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## squeak9798 (Apr 20, 2005)

hurrication said:


> Fs will never drop unless there is weight added to the cone. Fs goes out the window completely once it's put into an enclosure, and your new resonance spec is Fsc which some people also call Fb. In most average sized car sealed boxes, this point can be up into the 50's.
> 
> The free air resonance is simply the point of impedance peak when the sub is in free air, and Fsc is the point of impedance peak with the sub in a given enclosure.


I believe he was referring to "break in". As the suspension loosens with use it becomes slightly more compliant. Since Cms is the other half of determining Fs, as the Cms increases as the suspension loosens Fs will decrease slightly since mass stays the same. However since other relevant parameters that are also calculated using Cms will change in proportion to Fs, the net driver response in a given enclosure will remain virtually identical. So the pre- and post- break in responses won't be audibly different even though Fs (and other parameters) did change.

That said.....as large signal power is applied to the driver Cms will typically decrease (the suspension tightens) so Fs will increase again as excursion increases.


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## hurrication (Dec 19, 2011)

I was mainly addressing his part about power handling dropping if you play below Fs by stating that the resonance changes when you put it in a box and it's usually higher than most people realize.


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## captainscarlett (Mar 15, 2011)

I bought all three of the DD pre-fab subs when i first got (semi) serious about car audio. The DD-LE312 was one of the worst SQ subs I've owned. I love the LE310 and the LE308 did SQ well. However, it was the LE312 sub that put the biggest smile on my face

If I had to go back to pre-fabs, that DD-LE312 (or its new counterpart) would be first on my list, poor SQ or not!!

I believe there's more to audio than looking at graphs and/or concentrating on singular Helmholtz resonance figures.


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## Claviger (Jul 9, 2013)

All the drawn out discussiona bout FS.

DD Specs on their site are way away from the actual specs of the subs you get in the box. Since certain people here are stuck on looking at the FS listed on the website though, look at the 9500 series, the FS is not in the 40s... 9512i - 30hz.

I went from an SA-12 tuned @ 33 to a 9512i tuned @ 37. The DD extends lower (22hz rattles everying lol), higher (it actually plays high enough to be irritating if I don't cut using a LPF), and is less peaky doing so. There is a slight hump right around 44 hz (+/- 3hz), my vehicle resonance frequency where I cut using a DSP to flatten response. All in all, I'd say it's pretty flat, flatter than any other sub stage I have heard in the last 10 years. As far as those who think 37 hz is too high a tuning point, the sub doesnt unload until it's playing into the teens, extending much farther than any box building software says it should.

As far as "power handling drops way off below FS", well, maybe for your sub or other brands, but my 9512 D4 is on a M3A @ 2ohms at a stable 13.5 volts (around 1800ish watts). The actual power handling of the 95 series (and probably the 700 series) is so high its absurd. It gets that power level daily and has for the last 3 months with no apparent wear to the coils or suspension. It doesnt even get warm to the touch after an hour of kicking the crap outa my car.

Last score on the meter before moving was 141db on music playing "Whiteout" by Jarvis nice and clean with no audible distortion. Every genre sounds good, R&B, classic rock, metal, jazz, movies.. you name it.

"SPL SUB ONLY" lol, for those who buy prefabs tuned too high with too little volume and power a 2000+ RMS sub using a 500 watt amp hoping to get high volume maybe....


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

I ran a dd510 that I won at a g2g in 1.5 tuned to 32hz and it was a really nice sub for what it was. It wasn't an sq sub by any means but it was still acceptable.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

I actually saw a test on a 35 series woofer on PAS, they said their measured specs were pretty close to the published ones...which I thought was good.


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## sbeezy (Nov 22, 2008)

From what I understand the 3512 was the best all around performer from DD.

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