# Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT and Stock Scion TC OEM Headunit Testing



## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Did some frequency response and headunit clipping testing today on both my Pioneer z110bt and Austin's G/F's Scion Tc OEM Pioneer Headunit. 

Setup used was the laptop, truerta, some home made wires, and the oscope. 

*Note:*
The z110bt's volume goes from 0-40.
Scion Pioneer's volume goes from 0-62.



*First off, the Pioneer Z110BT Clipping Test:*
I used both a 22kohm load (rating for the bitone input impedance) and a 560ohm load via Chad's suggestion. 
In this test, TrueRTA was used as the tone generator playing 1000hz, running into the headunit via AUX input. The RCAs from the headunit were ran into the oscope.



*560ohm load at volume 20:*











*
560ohm load at volume 40:*












*22kohm load at volume 40:*








​

From the above testing, it is clear to see that the Pioneer z110bt does not clip at full volume under standard settings (ie: no loud, bass boost, eq, etc).


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

*Pioneer z110bt Frequency Response Testing:*
The fun stuff. 

The test below used TrueRTA to run pink noise through the deck. Out of the deck, I used a home brew RCA to pin adapter, per VP Electricity's advice into an XLR cable where the response was recorded. 

*The pioneer has 3 'loud' settings in addition to the standard 'off' setting. So, 4 total variances in FR if you wish: "Off", "Low", "Mid", and "High".*

The picture below lists the corresponding Test Number for each situation in BLUE. The red writing is for the scion headunit testing so IGNORE the RED writing for the z110bt testing.
For example, if you look below you can see that for Test Number 1 is with the volume at '5', and the Loud setting set to 'Off'. 
Furthermore, Test Number 10 is a test with the volume set to '20', and the Loud setting set to 'Mid'. 
You can see that testing was done at 3 different volumes, on all 4 'Loud' settings.












Combine the legend above, with the example below and you should see just how to link the Test Number to the appropriate results:











Now that you've got that as a legend, the test results are as follows...




Loudness OFF:











Loudness LOW:











Loudness MID:











Loudness HIGH:











*
Now, comparing all the various Loud settings at each incremental volume:
*
Volume = 5












Volume = 20












Volume = 40










So, you can clearly see just how the loudness curve effects the FR. Pretty interesting to see that the closest to flat you get is at full output volume with the loudness setting at any point. Definitely interesting to see just how much the FR varies with volume. 
Also, note the trendline for the mid volume setting comparing the various loudness curves. Pretty substantial increase starting at 2khz, with a rise of about 5db on the 'High' Loud setting vs the others. 
Also, I find it interesting how the 'off' & 'low' settings are so close to each other as are both 'mid' and 'high'. But, the 2 pair are different from the other pair by about 5db. In other words, off and low both, are about 5dB away from 'mid' and 'high'. 



I'm going to do some more testing maybe tomorrow with more intervals to see the change at about every 5 stops. I'd like to see how these curves all compare at a finer resolution.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

*Scion OEM Pioneer Headunit:*

First off, let me say that we tapped into this headunit's REAR speaker level outputs to do this testing. No RCA outputs on the deck. Also, note that the headunit volume goes from 0-62. 

This headunit has 3 different 'loud' settings: "Natural" (which is essentially the 'off' setting), "Hear", and "Feel". 

Here's a stock picture:










This testing was done on AVernier's girlfriend's OEM headunit. 

*Clipping:*
No pictures, sorry. We did, however, verifyt that while playing a 1khz tone, tapped into the 'rear' speaker level inputs, the headunit's maximum unclipped signal was about 60 on the volume knob.
I used both a 560ohm load, and also a 22khohm load in line with the speaker level outputs and it was clean both ways up until about 59. So, given that, we just used 58 as the highest clean signal point to be a bit safe.
So, overall, pretty clean. 





*Frequency response:*

Follwing along the same test methods as with my pioneer z110bt headunit, here is the 'legend' in RED, NOT BLUE. Use RED to match up the results below with the type test.
We did testing at volumes 5, 20, 40, and 60.












*Volume at 5:*













*Volume at 20:*













*Volume at 40:*













*Volume at 60:*










​

Look at how much the stock deck attenuates the subwoofer frequencies. 



So, some more testing with each loudness contour pitted against each other:


*"Neutral":*












*"Hear":*













*"Feel":*









​

I think we figured out why he didn't have any sub-bass. 



Even with this level of attenuation, we still managed to get the RTA results half decent. And hearing the setup, you wouldn't have known there was sub attenuation as bad as it was off the deck. Thank you, cabin gain! 
Here is the before and after. Before is with all gains set to minimum. After is with the subwoofer gained up a bit and the crossover set to ~80hz, iirc.


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for this review. I just had my z110bt installed and this really helps in understanding what's going on in my car. I'd love to see what the results of the finer resolution tests you did were. It would be nice to know what the sweet spot of the volume control is so I don't have to max it out at 40 to get a somewhat flat response.

Thanks!


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

honestly, I really like the way the volume is shaped with the loudness curves off. It works really well. If I set it to 'low' I get resonance in the 200hz range. 

Overall, I'm really happy with this. Although it's not flat, I think it has definately worked out in my favor. The music stays pretty linear with changes in volume, even though the response of the headunit doesn't. In the car environment, this curve works very well, imo.

- Erin


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