smilinsteve

Drivers Sound Stage (DSS) significantly changes the sound of the system. It has been difficult for me to figure out exactly what it does, and any input on that would be interesting to me.

Most of what I have read on this forum seems to be positive comments about DSS. Initially, I also thought it was better to leave it turned on, but I have changed my mind.

To summarize my perception of the effect; turning on DSS makes the music sound brighter and clearer. I believe the reason for this is that less signal is going to the center channel speaker, so that the mids and tweeters in the door are amplified more.

Switching back and forth between DSS off/on, it is easy to get the impression that the clearer brighter, and bigger range at the top end is preferable.

However, after further experimentation, I find DSS 'on' emphasizes highs and mid range too much, and it de-emphasizes bass too much. The sound is fatiguing, especially at higher volumes.

More on bass: I don't know why it didn't occur to me sooner, but it makes sense that DSS takes sound from the rear and moves it to the front for the driver. But that also takes power away from your rear woofer (s). The stock woofer sound from the back is pretty weak anyway, so it might not be too noticeable for many people.

However, I, like lots of people, have added a subwoofer to the system, in the trunk. the signal for the sub amp comes off the rear speaker low level inputs into the Bose amp. I finally figured out the DSS was decreasing the signal to my sub amp!

I was pleased with the improvement from adding the sub, but I feel that with DSS off, it is even better, and more clear, even at low volumes.

So in summary, I think DSS makes music fatiguing by being too mid and high frequency heavy. With a subwoofer tied into the rear, it is even worse, as DSS robs power from the rear speakers. This is my theory anyway. And I'm sticking to it.

TVPostSound

iTrader: (9)

Your ears are Binaural, or stereophonic.
They use the information from both sides and process to the brain.
When speakers are panned center, your ears do not process as much leaving the picture incomplete. In a car the size of the G37 your right ear receives information 3 ms later than your left ear. Thats enough to cause phase addition and cancellation. It's also louder in the left ear than the right.

Listen to a home stereo, standing between the left and right speakers, then move to the left and right, the center is the "sweet spot". Thats how we (me) mix audio, for the sweet spot.


DSS basically sets the panning and fader,and audio timing to be equal at the drivers position. So you get ALL the information needed to complete the aural picture.

TVPostSound

iTrader: (9)

If it sounds tiring with the sub. Or detached form the "soundstage"
Flip the phase on your sub, it might sound better.

smilinsteve

A lot of good input, there.

Is my theory correct however, that less sound comes out of the center speaker, and more is coming from the door mid and tweet when DSS is on?

Or are you saying that the brighter sound is purely from less cancellation?

smilinsteve

I was planning on trying that, but after I turned off DSS I found I didn't need to.

But the sound that is fatiguing to the ears is at the higher frequencies. For systems with an equalizer, I normally have the mids decreased and bass and treble increased a bit. That seems to be a typical equalizer set up for a lot of people.
To me, DSS sounds like an equalizer curve that starts low at the bass and increases as frequency increases, or maybe with a peak somewhere in the upper mid-range. Not how I would ever set an equalizer.

These are just my impressions, and I may be totally off base on what is really going on with DSS. I'm still figuring it out, and as I mentioned before, my opinion on it has changed, and may change again.

KEG97

iTrader: (2)

I found DSS very artificial (go figure!!) and actually found that I like the sound much more after I removed the center channel speaker. I find it to be a fuller and more stereo like sound.

RA081224

+1
This is one of the most important functions of an aftermarket processor worth its salt.

RA081224

Ahhh yes, the disco smile waveform!



I'm really surprised that the upper mids and highs on the Bose system would be fatiguing since there not all that prominent. The tweeter is a soft dome and the upper mid is a paper cone 3.5" driver in the door. Neither driver has a particularly focused sound axis. Then again the mid is prone to a lot of distortion if you try to run a lot of power through it. Keep playing with it; Id be interested to hear your exploits as there's not really much exploration reported on the Bose system since its usually one of the first things removed from the car

smilinsteve

Yep, that's the curve

More experimenting. There are definitely good qualities about the sound in DSS mode. More clear and crisp, and a bit louder at the same volume than when it is off. I said it was fatiguing at higher volume, and that may not be because of the quality of the sound, but just because it is too biased toward the high end, like a sloped up eq curve instead of the smile curve.

My Sub is so much louder now with DSS off that I think I need to go through the gain setting procedure all over again. Not only is it louder, but I think its more crisp. I'm surprised that in all the threads I read about the bass and adding a sub, that I don't recall seeing anything discussion about the effect of DSS.

Not only does DSS take power away from the rear, and therefore from my sub, but it sounds to me that it turns down the bass in the front woofers as well.