[danny93]

I was thinking that too...its wonderful to see such great support, kudos to you sir! 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

It's just one thing I'm worried about with fullrange SmartVektor tech and that would be clipping as it modifies a big amount of the sound, it could lead into potential problems as both bass and treblerange gets modified.

 

[redguy]

Quote:

 
I quickly browsed through the Scion's audio system owners manual, and noticed there are built-in DSP settings (or what they call SSP settings). These can have a significant effect on the overall sound, and I honestly wish more manufacturers provided an option to bypass them altogether. Unfortunately, because of the way these DSPs process the signal, they often times remove all the good stuff ZO does to the sound! In fact, current digital processing does the exact opposite of what ZO does in its attempt to achieve the same result. But I'll save that explanation for another day.
 
Therefore, my suggestion is this:

• Repeat steps 1-5 above
• Set the iPod's volume to about 40-50%, or just under the halfway point
• Start with the stereo's volume at 0, and then slowly increase it until it's sufficient. I wouldn't recommend going over about 75%-80% in volume on the stereo. So if you reach that point, and find the volume level isn't loud enough, increase the iPod's volume SLIGHTLY (like in ~5% increments), and if you start hearing any distortion, you've increased it too much. I find in my car that you may have to mess around a little bit to find the perfect balance between the iPod and stereo's volume levels.
• (This step is the most important, as from your post, it seems the volume levels aren't the issue) Now that you have the volume level where it's loud enough and not distorting, set the ZO to about mid-contour level (orange). Start playing around with the EQ and SSP/DSP settings on the stereo. In my car, I have the bass about 3 steps up, and the treble about 5 steps up. But, if anything, I think that trying the various SSP modes will have the biggest impact on the sound, as that has been my experience.
• Also, if your car has it, make sure Dolby noise reduction is turned OFF.

 
Hopefully some of these suggestions will help. I assume you're no longer in Phoenix, and now back in Tucson, right? If you're still in town, or planning on making another trip to Phoenix sometime soon, I would be more than happy to meet up with you and see if we can't get your Scion sounding its best! 

 
Thank you for the suggestions. I really appreciate it.
 
This morning I tried to follow the steps. Step 4 is where I spent the most time. I tried upping the bass/treble settings, changing the "SSP" modes, and "ASL" mode. The "ASL" is what gradually increases the sound level as your speed increases. I was able to get a reasonably good sound by maxing out the bass settings, putting the treble at 3 of 5, putting the iPod at about 60%, and setting the stereo volume to around 55. 
 
55 is really loud for that stereo. I never put it that high. It get's crazy around 35 or so when I'm using the iPod connector, SSP/ASL going down the freeway. It still did not have have the power I'm used to. The deepest bass was almost missing entirely.
 
It's would be nice to have the ZO kick my car's ___ the same way it does with my headphones, but it's not what I got it for, so I'm not worried about it. I might play with it some more. If I get better results, I'll post here.

 

[shigzeo]

It does the same for expensive phones that sometimes need more oomph. Audio Technica CK10, Ortofon eQ5, ACS T15 - wonderful matches, almost like they were meant for each other.
Quote:

The way the ZO can transform cheapos into very enjoyable headphones/IEMs is remarkable. I have a pair of $8 Altec Lansing IEMs that sound AMAZING with my ZO.

 

[Focker]

Quote:

It does the same for expensive phones that sometimes need more oomph. Audio Technica CK10, Ortofon eQ5, ACS T15 - wonderful matches, almost like they were meant for each other.

 
Definitely agree. Last night I went from Roku box to the ZO via an RCA-to-analog cable, and then connected my BeyerD 1350s...talk about a fun experience watching Roku/Netflix movies

 

[shigzeo]

I also have the DT1350. Excellent phones. 

 

[Focker]

Quote:

I also have the DT1350. Excellent phones. 

 
They sure are...and honestly, I wasn't sure the ZO would drive them as well as I needed since there is no volume control on the Roku and I had to run the ZO in low gain...but sure enough, plenty of volume and killer bass  

 

[redguy]

I have one more frontier to cross in my use of the ZO2. I posed this question to digiZoid's info email box, but I haven't heard back in a few days. I thought I'd post it here and see what everyone thinks. 
 
I have a Total Bithead that I use for cleaning up the sound from my crappy work computer. I would like to be able to use my ZO to do it's magic, but still use the Total Bithead as a DAC.
 
MizMoxie stated that feeding the ZO a signal from an amp could cause damage to the ZO. Is there a way to do this safely?

 

[kenman345]

So, a few things here man. I'm gonna help you out with what I know about the ZO2.
 
Basically, people have tried bi-ZOing with two ZO's in series. This didnt have a negative effect, but rather the desired effect of super epic bass.
 
What this means is that their is a certain upper limit to how much power can be fed to the input. MizMoxie has posted before in this thread, and it may be on their website, what the tolerances of the input are (I think it was both output and input actually) for the ZO2.3. You may wish to try and find that to answer your question. Does the Total Bithead have a low gain mode? This may work to control the amount of power the Total Bithead puts out to the ZO2.
Quote:

I have one more frontier to cross in my use of the ZO2. I posed this question to digiZoid's info email box, but I haven't heard back in a few days. I thought I'd post it here and see what everyone thinks. 
 
I have a Total Bithead that I use for cleaning up the sound from my crappy work computer. I would like to be able to use my ZO to do it's magic, but still use the Total Bithead as a DAC.
 
MizMoxie stated that feeding the ZO a signal from an amp could cause damage to the ZO. Is there a way to do this safely?

 

[redguy]

Quote:

So, a few things here man. I'm gonna help you out with what I know about the ZO2.
 
Basically, people have tried bi-ZOing with two ZO's in series. This didnt have a negative effect, but rather the desired effect of super epic bass.
 
What this means is that their is a certain upper limit to how much power can be fed to the input. MizMoxie has posted before in this thread, and it may be on their website, what the tolerances of the input are (I think it was both output and input actually) for the ZO2.3. You may wish to try and find that to answer your question. Does the Total Bithead have a low gain mode? This may work to control the amount of power the Total Bithead puts out to the ZO2.

 
From the digiZoid specs page:
 
Input Impedance:15 kΩ
Input Voltage: 2.0 V (max)
Output Impedance: 0.2 Ω
Output Current: 190 mA @ 3.7V
 
As to the Total Bithead, it does have a low gain mode, but Headroom does not list any of the above stats for it, except: Input Impedance at 1kHz (ohms): 18k
 
I found this site where they did a battery of tests on it, but I'm a neophyte and I have no idea what data to look for. I'm guessing we'd need output voltage or current.

 

[MizMoxie]

Quote:

 
Thank you for the suggestions. I really appreciate it.
 
This morning I tried to follow the steps. Step 4 is where I spent the most time. I tried upping the bass/treble settings, changing the "SSP" modes, and "ASL" mode. The "ASL" is what gradually increases the sound level as your speed increases. I was able to get a reasonably good sound by maxing out the bass settings, putting the treble at 3 of 5, putting the iPod at about 60%, and setting the stereo volume to around 55. 
 
55 is really loud for that stereo. I never put it that high. It get's crazy around 35 or so when I'm using the iPod connector, SSP/ASL going down the freeway. It still did not have have the power I'm used to. The deepest bass was almost missing entirely.
 
It's would be nice to have the ZO kick my car's ___ the same way it does with my headphones, but it's not what I got it for, so I'm not worried about it. I might play with it some more. If I get better results, I'll post here.

 
I would really like to have the opportunity to meet up with you sometime to try and work through it together. I'm almost positive that once we find the right combo of settings, it will kick you know what bigtime. For the obvious reasons, we've found that cars with larger cabin sizes sound absolutely insane with ZO. Not too long ago we had it in a Mini Cooper. Although it's a compact car, the bass impact was unbelievably good due to the spacious interior.
 
So don't give up on ZO in your car yet... I still have faith! =) 

 

[kenman345]

Would love to know what type of settings I should have on my car for this. I blew out two speakers once using the ZO, been scared to use it in the car since.
Quote:

 
I would really like to have the opportunity to meet up with you sometime to try and work through it together. I'm almost positive that once we find the right combo of settings, it will kick you know what bigtime. For the obvious reasons, we've found that cars with larger cabin sizes sound absolutely insane with ZO. Not too long ago we had it in a Mini Cooper. Although it's a compact car, the bass impact was unbelievably good due to the spacious interior.
 
So don't give up on ZO in your car yet... I still have faith! =) 

 

[redguy]

Quote:

 
I would really like to have the opportunity to meet up with you sometime to try and work through it together. I'm almost positive that once we find the right combo of settings, it will kick you know what bigtime. For the obvious reasons, we've found that cars with larger cabin sizes sound absolutely insane with ZO. Not too long ago we had it in a Mini Cooper. Although it's a compact car, the bass impact was unbelievably good due to the spacious interior.
 
So don't give up on ZO in your car yet... I still have faith! =) 

I'll give it some more time this afternoon. If we make it Phoenix again in the near future I'll let you know!

 

[MizMoxie]

Quote:

Would love to know what type of settings I should have on my car for this. I blew out two speakers once using the ZO, been scared to use it in the car since.

 
To help you out best I can, the first thing I need to know is what make/model of car do you have (assuming it doesn't have an aftermarket stereo)?
 
I'm honestly really surprised you blew your speakers out. I've cranked the system up to nearly max in a number of cars with ZO connected and had no problem! 

 

[kenman345]

I have a 2009 Acura RDX. I believe it blew out from 1 of two things, either the cable wasnt in properly (as the two left speakers blew out and the fade was centered), or the bass levels to the speakers that are not my built in subwoofer were too high so they were being demanded to play lots of bass with everything else. I replaced my four main speakers with similarly rated Kenwood speakers so it's still integrated with my system in the stock way, with more of a replacement than an upgrade.
Quote:

 
To help you out best I can, the first thing I need to know is what make/model of car do you have (assuming it doesn't have an aftermarket stereo)?
 
I'm honestly really surprised you blew your speakers out. I've cranked the system up to nearly max in a number of cars with ZO connected and had no problem!