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dubstep bass response

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:06 pm
by metaverse
hey folks,

I've never got a flat out answer for the average bass response level on songs in dubstep ...

I've always assumed that it drops to 30hz ... Is this accurate?

i'm looking to build a PA system and it seems that dropping below 40hz is going to up the cost considerably because it takes much more power to kick out such low, thick and heavy bass tones ...

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:13 pm
by distro
very few songs will goto 30hz

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:17 pm
by black lotus
on a lot of home theater / car audio / live PA systems i've seen, the crossovers tend to begin dealing with sub at around 80hz.. so i would say somewhere in the range of 50hz - 80hz..

whatever this is worth

Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:13 pm
by spire
that low low barely there sub note in RUF's "Want Some Crack?" is 35-36hz, just to give an example of how low that is.

but i do know a guy who has a system that puts out 130db?(maybe 140, cant remember) at 20HZ! 20!

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2008 6:45 pm
by mike honcho
40-80 is average i would say at least fo me

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:52 am
by anthonyfromtheuk
Spire wrote: but i do know a guy who has a system that puts out 130db?(maybe 140, cant remember) at 20HZ! 20!
Can we hear 20Hz :?:

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:20 am
by djake
Anthonyfromtheuk wrote:
Spire wrote: but i do know a guy who has a system that puts out 130db?(maybe 140, cant remember) at 20HZ! 20!
Can we hear 20Hz :?:
i fink so, cant remeber if its 25hz or 20hz that we can hear down to :?:

but i bet ur could feel it :!: :twisted:

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:23 am
by anthonyfromtheuk
cool il just looked it yup yeh 20Hz :o i have never had speakers that go that low, Im missing out...

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:28 am
by djake
to be able to hear u need alot of speakers, the bigger the rig the lower it goes usally, i fink...im no expert, so that could be wrong :lol:

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:39 am
by slothrop
Anthonyfromtheuk wrote:
Spire wrote: but i do know a guy who has a system that puts out 130db?(maybe 140, cant remember) at 20HZ! 20!
Can we hear 20Hz :?:
Can we hear 140db? I mean, without our brains coming out of our ears?

We're getting into jet engine territory there IIRC. :o

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:58 am
by james fox
no point in going super low, 95pc of club systems won't be able to flex it and your tune will just sound like it has no bassline.

IMO of course

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:00 pm
by setspeed
^^^

through my, er, empirical testing, i have found that most club systems don't go much below about 43Hz, or low F....

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:03 pm
by black lotus
setspeed wrote:^^^

through my, er, empirical testing, i have found that most club systems don't go much below about 43Hz, or low F....
yeah that seems right.. like i was saying earlier, in home theater for movies and whatnot most subs roll off at 40.. you can usually set the crossover point somewhere between 80-100hz.. it's pretty much universal across the board. some subs can knock @ 20hz but, it's still barely audible.

generally, you should roll off anyway otherwise it will just sound like mud.
Slothrop wrote: Can we hear 140db? I mean, without our brains coming out of our ears?
here is a chart for the "threshold of pain"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshold_of_pain

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:15 pm
by vendetta
setspeed wrote:^^^

through my, er, empirical testing, i have found that most club systems don't go much below about 43Hz, or low F....
second what ^this^ and the post before it said, i take it you want to know for making tunes, - check out the production bible first for different instrument's native pass-bands, but the're various points in 'sound chain'? which mean its hard to know what to aim for in your tunes:

20hz is barely audible, you need a serious soundsystem/ amount of power to produce these frequencies at high db's. []

most vinyl is high passed at 35hz to begin with,and most needles response curves tail off sharply in the sub 40hz [check the specs of your favorite stanton cart + stylus]. (So in theory this is which Serato style setups should have a wider bandwidth, if their sound cards are up to it).

But turntables (depending on their isolation) pick up sub harmonics giving them their signature analogue/saturated sound, which goes some way to filling out the bottom end anyway, you can emulate that digitally.

for general playing out i wouldn't go much below 40hz [and much above 70] for sub.

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:17 am
by anthonyfromtheuk
Anthonyfromtheuk wrote:i have never had speakers that go that low, Im missing out...
I brought a new sub yesterday and it goes down to about 20, did a lil simple sythesis in sound forge 20hz to 30hz sine wave over 10 seconds can acctually hear it! but i see what everyone above is saying that low really is a bit pointless

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:49 am
by spiro
vendetta wrote: most vinyl is high passed at 35hz to begin with,and most needles response curves tail off sharply in the sub 40hz [check the specs of your favorite stanton cart + stylus]. (So in theory this is which Serato style setups should have a wider bandwidth, if their sound cards are up to it).
ortofon needles is going 20-20.000Hz . . .
what specs can I use to understand their response curve from 20-40 Hz ?

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:39 am
by whineo
was thinking about this the other day whilst pitching up the samples in a tune to make the bass line a little higher in the Freq range

Was thinking back to the last time I saw Mala or loefah play on a function 1 system
Im sure that some Bass lines were definitely going lower than 40hz

So whipped out an analyser of a few reference tunes at home and I rekon as low as 35hz for some tunes?

tend to avoid going below 40hz out of fear --- whats the general consensus?

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:03 pm
by black lotus
Whineo wrote:was thinking about this the other day whilst pitching up the samples in a tune to make the bass line a little higher in the Freq range

Was thinking back to the last time I saw Mala or loefah play on a function 1 system
Im sure that some Bass lines were definitely going lower than 40hz

So whipped out an analyser of a few reference tunes at home and I rekon as low as 35hz for some tunes?

tend to avoid going below 40hz out of fear --- whats the general consensus?
you know, really i think you could roll off exactly @ 20hz and still have great bass. i know when i'm in FLS i am always cutting out the ultra subsonics that are inaudible, but i found sometimes it kills the body of the sub if i do it above 25-30, depending on the arc of the roll-off.

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:32 pm
by claw
i got a tune with a solid 20hz note in there.....cant really hear it unless its a monster subwoofer, and a nice crossover that isnt rolled off though

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:04 pm
by elbe
I think the general consensus is a health young human can hear down to about 20Hz and up to 20,000Hz.

This being said I often roll of sub at 30-40Hz, I don't know what is standard for the music you are listening to but imo the lower you can go, cost permitting, the better