# Loudness On or Off?



## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

I had a sub with lower sensitivity and now breaking in the new one, I turned 
the loudness off and plan to leave it off. Not saying it is better and I have not compared it with the new sub yet since I changed one minor EQ setting.

On the EQ I lowered the last eq band on the right, widen it, only one step down one step wide, and set it to 15Khz instead of 10Khz, (I only have 3 bands) it made a huge difference, clearer vocals better mid Freq, more detailed mid bass, and the stage seems much better also and without the loudness.

Question is. Do any of you use the loudness or compared the differences and think it is better? and after switching it. Is is normal to reduce some EQ instead of increase it?

Logic tells me it should be increased with the loudness off not decreased.


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Loudness usually boosts both lows and highs (or attenuate everything in between). It's a form of EQ, sern lots of lousness functions which boosts 6dB or more, this demands 4x more power. Not enough power = clip = distortion. If you got power it might be good to have to shape the response if your EQ is limited...

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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Seen lots of loudness*** damn tapatalk, won't let me edit ;(

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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

I use it. I like having a bit more low end when the volume knob is low. For me the key is setting the gains properly so that the loudness fades out at the right spot on the volume knob. The stereo doesn't know what kind of power the amps have and how loud the music is at a particular spot on the volume indicator. If you don't get it set right it can continue to add too much boost even at volume levels where you don't want it.


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

I set my power with a DDM with EQ flat, loudness off and all filters off. I liked the sound at L1, it made a huge difference, but now with a new ported sub, I turned it off to break it in and maybe I am getting used it without the loudness, we will see soon after I can turn it up louder.

I have 3 levels of loudness on my HU. It is ridiculous. Only used the first level before.
With Loudness and old sealed box sub my volume turned at 12-14 (50 being the max) will cause a little clipping or sub's distortion, or my ears could not take higher volume. I remember a 3 or 4 number difference and still quite not match the SQ just the volume level without the loudness before, using the old sub.

I guess is it a process to go through adjustments with the new sub and I hope to be able to play it louder once it breaks in.


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## fast4door (Aug 2, 2012)

I leave it off when tuning the system and do not use it that much


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## ATOMICTECH62 (Jan 24, 2009)

I never use it.Its usually to wide and centered too high.I just use one of the EQ bands for boost.


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

I think I can agree with just being louder and sounding better with almost no stage or separation from what I can remember. The thing is that all I needed to do so far is lower and widen the band one step, rather than increase it, once I break the sub in, I can start boosting and playing with the bass bands to hear what I may think I may be missing from the loudness setting.


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Ah forgot... if the loudness function is advanced and boosts differently based on volume it's pretty neat imo 

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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

Hanatsu said:


> Ah forgot... if the loudness function is advanced and boosts differently based on volume it's pretty neat imo
> 
> Sent from my Samsung Galaxy 3 via Tapatalk.


That was where I was trying to go, some manufacturers simply increase volume, for example, I'm not sure if it applies but with iPods all it does is plays louder and no SQ improvent. The loudness in my receiver at home sounds so much better with the loudness on that I can't listen to it without it, even having a 7 band EQ to play with, maybe its just in my head or a convenient magic switch, a similar case is for my HU in the car but maybe for being a smaller enclosed area the EQ and volume can generate a similar effect on the SQ.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

have never found a loudness feature that I liked. I always leave it off.


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

Loudness = off.

About the only time it may be useful would be if you are listening to sports or talk radio/news at moderate volume levels - especially on Sirius/XM, since the frequency response sucks on satellite radio.


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

It's not a matter of opinion. In some cases it's useful, in some other cases it's not. See it as a form of filter, one that affect a wide range of frequencies. As with any tuning, it differs...

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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

My HU has a loudness curve built in, it becomes flatter as the volume is turned up, the highs and lows boosted a little at low volume. I always thought it was to protect the stock speakers but I amped the stock speakers with 75w/ch and they held up fine..... with a 120hz highpass. I wish it wasn't there, when I crank it up to the point it starts flattening out, that's the point when I want to feel the bass, not cut it. I wish it were defeatable.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

my stocky does something similar, but not till the last 1/3-1/4 of the volume knob. (around 22/30) so I just set up my gain structure so I never need to turn the volume past 20


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## ceri23 (Aug 10, 2012)

I avoid loudness by tuning for flat at lower volume levels. As the volume increases the bass/treble tend to increase (the opposite of the loudness function) which makes the music more lively at high volumes. When I'm listening for accuracy it's at reasonable listening levels. 

If I tune flat at higher volumes (say 25/40 on my deck), and then listen at lower volumes (say 13/40) the staging collapses and tonality is wrecked. The loudness function helps tonality, but image suffers as L/R equalization are applied equally, when my L/R EQ isn't.


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## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

never use it- i tune the sound for moderate / high volume and admittedly it does sound a little thin at very low volume. switching on loudness to compensate sounds artificial- even at low volume- which is no big deal because for some strange reason the volume always gets turned up anyway!


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

Great info, I think that having a good sub with good power that blends good with a good set of components providing good mid bass and a PEQ can and will defeat the loudness purpose as long as gains and all the adjusments are done properly. It may avoid clipping and harsh sound. I did notice my stage is so much better without the loudness, thanks for mentioning and confirming that. In other words a good loudness is great to have and use perhaps when we have limited or no HP or LP, not so great speakers, and even not having a sub like in a home environment.


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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

The loudness feature is only intended to effect the FR at low volume settings. As you increase the volume the effects should become less and less. What I'm curious about is how well this actually works and at what point in the volume control the effects disappear. Assuming the feature on my 80prs works as intended, having it on will give a fuller sound at low volumes. Without the feature on the sound will likely sound a bit thin in the upper and lower range, when the volume is low. For those who say that you don't use it and you just fix the problem with EQ, do you agree that at low volume your system lacks bass? If it doesn't lack bass at low volume then I suspect the bass becomes very heavy at high volume. I personally think it's a useful feature and it works well for my listening habits.


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## ductaper108 (Nov 16, 2013)

Off. Bros don't let bros use loudness.


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## Angrywhopper (Jan 20, 2010)

ductaper108 said:


> Off. Bros don't let bros use loudness.


:lol:

I do agree


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## Kriszilla (Jul 1, 2013)

Angrywhopper said:


> :lol:
> 
> I do agree


Seconded.


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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

I understand that the loudness feature isn't something that everyone will find beneficial, but it seems that most people think of it the same as bass boost. The cool thing about the loudness feature is that it does nothing at higher volumes. The boost that it makes in low and high frequencies goes away as the volume is increased. I'd like to get more details about how quickly it decreases and at what volume level it is no longer contributing to the sound, but Pioneer's support page isn't taking messages right now. Maybe my car is noisier than others and that's why I like it. It compensates by boosting the low and high end when the volume is low to give me a much more consistent sound across the entire volume range.


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Sigh. Telling others not to use loudness is the same things as telling them; "never use EQ between ** --> *** Hz". Just because most people doesn't seem to use the loudness it doesn't make it worthless or undesirable for others. I don't use it myself in my car, I don't need to. I have 8x31b PEQ + 2x31b GEQ available. If I didn't have a powerful DSP, the loudness function could serve to be useful to shape the low end response (for example). As pointed out, not all loudness functions work the same way and if it's non-defeatable and volume dependent, it could screw things up... ^^


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## ATOMICTECH62 (Jan 24, 2009)

Even though I never use loudness on my system I know a lot of systems Ive heard do benefit from it.

Every loudness control Ive seen boosts low and high frequencies up to about 70% volume,and taper down the effect as it gets to 70%.
But most of the newer decks dont have loudness.They have things like Medea Expanders with different levels.My Alpine has this and its horrible.They dont give much info on what it does.The description of each level claims its for expanding compression and boosting frequencies that are lost when recording MP3's.But,by how much?Does it really have an expander circuit?I doubt it,it just seems to boost sizzle and boom by different amplitudes.
Since the Alpines have a volume limiter,the Media Expander causes my volume to stop increasing at around 20 out of 35.It doesnt decrease in intensity as the volume gets closer to the 70% mark.The DXZ785 I had before had something similar but I dont remember how bad it was compared to the Alpine since I never used it ether.
And,If I want to turn it off I have to go into the Imprint menu,toggle thru options,enter,turn it off,then hold in the escape button for 2 seconds.I cant control the volume when in the imprint menu because its used for selecting options in the menu.
I never use it.


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

I also have curiosity about knowing more details on what it does as far as ca HU units with 6 channels, maybe my manual describes it in detail but I have not taken the time to read it. In home stereo receivers, there is not HP, LP and most don't even use a sub.


Besides the limiter or the loudness not being effective at certain volume. Does is affect only the front channels, front and rears or all channels including the sub? It can be a bit more complicated to deal with if all channels are affected with 6 ch mid to hi end HU's


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## Rs roms (Jul 12, 2012)

It affects all the channels including sub. And with even low loudness, the sound seems colored and unnatural. 

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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

That explains why, I had to turn up the sub's volume on the HU. Changed the phase also although the location of the box changed also I am finding that CD's that did not sound good, sound much better, It seems that to have it back on, I would have to change EQ and sub settings since just turning it on. CD's with the Hyper compression for sure sound better


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## sqnut (Dec 24, 2009)

Loudness and all the other pre programmed settings are basically different equilizer settings. If you tune, you'll know you can do better. If not or if dsp is limited, just find the combination that works best for you.


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