[ProAudio] Car audio systems

[steve mastercraftrecordings.com]

Hello Esteemed Pro Audio Mavens!

Hoping all is well with everyone and that you are enjoying this time of year. 

I’m digging into car audio systems and why many are so *enjoyable* to listen to. I’m not saying they are accurate. Far from it. But somehow, if you can turn off your critical listening skills, it can be fun to listen in the car. And I’m simply curious about why. I’m sure some of this is psychological, (reduction of expectations) but there is likely more to it than that. 

I have another reasons for this question. I’m thinking of tricking out a kind of car stereo emulation for my mix environment that hopefully gives me a rough preview of how my mixes might translate to car systems. Probably just two speakers, but potentially useful nonetheless. 

I’ve done quite a bit of Google-ing, including finding some white papers, etc. But they only seem to mention the bare essentials like EQ and timing. I see that there have been “loudness” adjustments in some cars over the years, just not in any of my cars. Anyway, I’m far from convinced that I have unearthed the real skinny on what DSP is currently being used and why. 

In particular, I find it hard to believe there is no dynamic processing being done. It sure *feels* like it although it’s not blatant - no *obvious* compression artifacts — at least in my car. 

Also, seems like there must be some matrixing employed as well. About all I’ve discovered so far is that there is DSP EQ on each speaker and DSP to time the arrival of sound from each speaker (although I have found nothing on how that is worked out for driver vs passenger front vs passenger rear, etc.) There must be more than that.

Can anyone point me to resources or fill me in?

Thanks,

— Steve

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Steve Puntolillo
https://www.MastercraftRecordings.com
Steve at MastercraftRecordings.com

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