Adjusting Loudness and HPF settings so my new Pioneer stereo doesn’t sound crappy.

After installing a new Pioneer DMH-1770 touch screen head unit into my 2008 Honda Pilot, the audio quality suffered. It was distorted and tinny, with no rich bass. After calling Crutchfield, we walked through some solutions and it turns out the main culprit was the Loudness setting, which can be adjusted manually in Settings. The HPF (high pass filter) was also causing a tinny sound, so adjusting that fixed the problem as well.

[@ceejaycjmusic]

my single din pioneer HU, Subwoofer LPF, 50, 63, 80, 100, 125 hz, doesn't have OFF function, do i need put on the lower freq 50 or just pass through 125

[@Luminous.Dynamics]

I mean even with LPF at 50hz you should have been getting bass. Most door speakers require the HPF at 80hz @ 12-24db slope. 50hz is way too low for 99% of door speakers, it can damage them if they dont have a filter
Set the EQ on flat, Bass EQ settings create more distortion

[@stevehayes8867]

I have my hpf at 100 or sometimes 125. I’m running a pioneer sph - dab160 with 2 x front jbl coaxial speakers, and I do find that when I turn the volume up it will distort ? I have the setting eq at powerful bsss boost is set to off and loudness is set to low. Do these settings sound right ?

[@Luminous.Dynamics]

@@stevehayes8867 I figure its because of the EQ preset that you have (powerful bass boost) you said its set to on, or to off? Make sure thats off, and loudness also has to be off. Some Pioneer have an SLA setting. If using bluetooth, USB or CD, you can turn that SLA to 0.
Also, some pioneers have an S.Rtrv setting, make sure thats also off. It should help a ton. Just know you shouldnt be able to turn the volume all the way up without running into distortion, usually max volume before distortion is around 85%-90% on Pioneers. I assume the coaxials are hooked up to the stereo directly with no amp in which case Id say dont turn the vol knob more than 85%-90% of the way up

[@zaidrasheed7738]

​@@Luminous.DynamicsI use the sound retriever mode 1 and tune my amp with it being on. No bass boost or loudness and pre set my equalizer and sub level before I turned up the gain on the amp. The problem is people try to turn on bass boost and loudness after the gains are set and they clip that way and create distortion.

[@Technotranceism]

I've owned many pioneer radios, and the majority excel with the same settings I use. However, recommended to replace the stock trash speakers as well, and steer clear of preset eq settings.

[@lukeqstafford]

yeah you're probably right about the speakers. what brand speakers do you lean toward?

[@Technotranceism]

@@lukeqstafford Currently running 6.5 pioneer 4 way coaxials in the doors, pioneer 6.75 drivers in the rear deck, and 2 12 inch subs in a bandpass in the trunk. I always use a pioneer head unit that has a built in DSP. External DSP is better, but I'm all about budget builds. 3 amps power the system. Total spent was under $3,000.

[@Technotranceism]

​​@@lukeqstaffordYour head unit is a nice model, and you're becoming more familiar with its capabilities. Don't forget you also have a speaker position control, that allows for speaker phasing. Not just balance and fading alone. Best not to use the crossovers on a stock speaker system, unless you enjoy some adjustment to sound location specifically. I always run a custom EQ setting, usually consisting of 50hz @ usually -1 to -2. 80hz @ 0. 100 or 125hz is usually +1. Everything above 125hz is usually set to +3 or +4 until I get to 1khz. 5khz is set to +5 and the 12khz range is usually +6. Loudness I do use on most speakers wired and powered by the head unit, but not when running external amplifier. Check to see if your unit has auto volume adjustment, as this can be problematic at times, as it tries to compensate for road noise, by adjusting the volume up and down automatically. Can be pretty annoying.

[@lukeqstafford]

@@Technotranceism thanks for the thorough details on your setup. you're way ahead of me on this stuff! funnily enough, this Pioneer head unit is starting to crap out -- it will frequently freeze up and the display goes white with vertical rainbow stripes. i called Pioneer and they admitted it's a known problem, so they advised me to send it to them for a free repair.

[@Technotranceism]

@@lukeqstafford Some of the touchscreen Nex models experience issues with the SSD card installed from the factory. There are some workarounds for this, but each consists of installation of a better quality SSD card, that's been flashed with factory operating parameters. Some do experience screen issues, but that's the nature of those types of screens. Something Samsung suffers from on many of their devices.

[@UKBanking101]

This is exactly what I needed, thank you

[@sparksgarage1114]

Thank you you are the man

[@GJ-is6sv]

I have a Pioneer 4500, and it’s 5 years old. Recently, when I am streaming music it plays the music, but I can’t turn the music up or down from the stereo or on the steering wheel. How can I fix this problem?

[@americandude3825]

Just put this in my 2008 sequoia yesterday.
Just can’t figure out why everything works except radio locks channels.

[@boricuabass3883]

I need the link for this lol

[@tainchains]

Does this setting allow you to change where the bluetooth comes through? My calls only go through the tweeter. Does this help bypas that?

[@lukeqstafford]

Only thru the tweeters - huh, that’s an interesting one. It’s been a while since I changed this setting, but I feel like my calls were coming thru all speakers even before. However, I almost always have my phone hardwired to CarPlay, not thru Bluetooth. Maybe try hardwiring and see if that solves it?

[@paulfontaine-lr9nk]

How do I turn. Off the radio

[@lukeqstafford]

Hold down on the power button for a few seconds.

[@tristenoberlender9685]

Does it still work?

[@lukeqstafford]

Yup it’s been several months still sounds good.

[@nathanmcelyea9547]

Hpf=high pass filter