10
P H O E N I X G O L D I N T E R N A T I O N A L
Driver
Passenger
A
B
Driver
Passenger
B
A
T I M E D E L A Y E X P L A N A T I O N
In Figure 1 below, speaker A is located closer to the Driver than speaker B. Naturally information from speaker A will reach the Driver before speaker
B. This unequal pathlength, which is quite common in the car environment, leads to poor sound quality. Time Delay will correct this problem by
allowing the musical information to reach the listener at the proper time without having to relocate the speakers within the vehicle.
By delaying only speaker A we can realign the musical information. For example, delaying speaker A will allow musical information from Speaker A
and B to reach the driver at the same time as it was intended on the original recording. Figure 2 below illustrates this concept.
P A T H L E N G T H D I F F E R E N C E W I T H O U T T I M E D E L A Y . F I G U R E 1 .
P E R C E I V E D P A T H L E N G T H D I F F E R E N C E W I T H T I M E D E L A Y . F I G U R E 2 .
U S I N G T I M E D E L A Y W I T H T H E T I D E Q S O F T W A R E
Figure 1 above illustrates a 24 inch or 2 feet difference between speaker A and B.
1. Select the “Left” bullet on the Choose Delay Channel.
2. Since we have 2 feet of pathlength difference. Select “Feet” in the unit bullets.
3. Enter “2” into the delay field and transmit your changes.
After the Time Delay changes have taken effect the car will respond similar to what is shown above in Figure 2. Due to unpredictable in car
acoustics minor tweaking with the time delay value is highly recommend to achieve optimal results.
In this example, the driver’s listening position is optimized for sound quality, however, the passenger’s listening position results are unpredictable.
Its nearly impossible to time align both seats at the same time for optimal sound quality. This is important to note because in most competitions
judges will occupy both seats at the same time for sound quality judging.
Pathlength B =
4 4 ”
Pathlength A =
-20”
Total delay needed
for Pathlength A =
24”
Perceived Speaker
Location
Actual Speaker
Location
44”
44”
44”
20”
