Time Alignment
Every speaker sits at a different distance from the listener. Without correction, the soundstage collapses against the closest glass. With time-alignment, the image returns to the centre of the stage.
Article 04
DSP Tuning
The last layer before the ear. The one where an installation becomes a system.
The Role of DSP
The cabin is the true final acoustic filter.
However well a speaker measures in chamber, its response in the car will be different. Inclined glass, leather seats, plastics, mats, asymmetric geometry: everything combines into a filter no designer can fully anticipate.
DSP is the tool that brings the system back into alignment with the specific cabin's reality. It is not cosmetic correction: it is the necessary condition for the listener to hear what the design intended.
Voice coil in action
Alternating current through the coil pushes it back and forth in the magnet gap. That motion becomes acoustic pressure.
Design Pillars
What this article is built on
Narrow-Band Equalisation
We correct cabin resonance modes with high-Q parametric filters. Targeted cuts, not cosmetic curves. Good EQ adds less than it takes away.
Target Curve
The tuning aims at a target curve defined per vehicle type. It is not personal taste: it is the Milano Sound experience applied consistently across the network.
The Tuning Process
We start with measurement. Microphone at listener level, logarithmic sweep, correctly applied time windows. We analyse response, impulse, group delay, and phase. Only then do we act.
The certified installer works from base presets developed in our lab for each platform. The preset is the starting point, not the destination: final tuning is always on the specific vehicle, with the customer in the driver's seat.
Measured Datum
<5ms
Inter-channel latency after alignment
Measured on a 6-channel system with MS-DSP8 in standard sedan configuration.
“An audio system is finished only when it stops drawing attention to itself.”
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More readings from the Lab
01
Cone Geometry
Why a cone weighing a few grams decides the difference between sound that is sharp and sound that is dull.
02
Motor Thermal Design
A speaker does not die when it breaks. It dies when it stays too hot for too long.
03
Crossover Architecture
A crossover is not a component. It is a conversation between speakers.
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