When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Unfortunately the 8.9 still eludes a solution. I sent you a PM Moni. I think the line voltage is still just too low for it.
Top volume is definitely a little louder, but not by a huge amount. Volume drops on a steep curve as you lower it - at level 15, halfway, you can barely hear it. OEM chimes still sound low and backup chimes cut/attenuate the music but the chimes themselves don't play. Or they do and I can't hear them.
I'm running analog, F L/R and R L/R, all dip switches set to "off". I went in to the Audison configuration and all channels are set at the max they can go and there's no clipping.
Still a worthwhile update, I just think I need to either use a line driver or ship my Audison to have the latest chip update so it plays nicer with lower voltage. Really don't want to do the latter as I have no viable backup system without backing out my wiring, etc. from the stock.
Unfortunately the 8.9 still eludes a solution. I sent you a PM Moni. I think the line voltage is still just too low for it.
Top volume is definitely a little louder, but not by a huge amount. Volume drops on a steep curve as you lower it - at level 15, halfway, you can barely hear it. OEM chimes still sound low and backup chimes cut/attenuate the music but the chimes themselves don't play. Or they do and I can't hear them.
I'm running analog, F L/R and R L/R, all dip switches set to "off". I went in to the Audison configuration and all channels are set at the max they can go and there's no clipping.
Still a worthwhile update, I just think I need to either use a line driver or ship my Audison to have the latest chip update so it plays nicer with lower voltage. Really don't want to do the latter as I have no viable backup system without backing out my wiring, etc. from the stock.
Don't get discouraged. I will ship you the unit I modified today. it's not a chip, it's 8 resistors replaced ( opamp feedback gain resistors ). Make my life easier please and send me an email or PM with your shipping address.
no, I mean all the way up on your factory Bass, Mid, Treble I know you and a few others would never do it, but some ( uneducated ) end users may. it's our way to ensure no clipping on our end under any circumstances.
to be more technical: if you play a 0dBFS track on your head unit, at full volume:
1. with dip #2 up (Off) , and all tone controls at zero, there would be no clipping. once you increase any of the tone controls, the unit will clip.
2. with dip #2 down (On) , and all tone controls at ANY LEVEL, there would be no clipping. the 6dB attenuation allowed for headroom for tone adjutments.
now that being said, remember that studio recordings are never reaching 0dBFS, the ceiling is determined by the mastering engineer and normally it's from -0.5dBFS to a few dB below. Furthermore, hopefully you will never need to go all the way to max volume on your headunit with a very loud track. Therefore, For all normal and practical listening environments, leaving dip switch #2 at full scale will allow you to reduce the analog noise floor of your system ( if using the analog outputs ) by lowering the gain of your amps.
a little tech tip: if you observe the LED on the Zen A2B, a blinking red LED indicates digital peaking ( and clipping ). feel free to observe the difference between a 0dBFS test track and a normal music recording. you can do this with the outputs disconnected to avoid speaker damage. NEVER PLAY A 0dBFS into expensive speakers with the volume all the way up, or at frequencies above 15k - you won't hear the tweeters melting away...... you would just smell them use pink noise and an RTA for the tuning, or a highly attenuated sweep.
Don't get discouraged. I will ship you the unit I modified today. it's not a chip, it's 8 resistors replaced ( opamp feedback gain resistors ). Make my life easier please and send me an email or PM with your shipping address.
Don't get discouraged. I will ship you the unit I modified today. it's not a chip, it's 8 resistors replaced ( opamp feedback gain resistors ). Make my life easier please and send me an email or PM with your shipping address.
Here is the note I posted earlier to a group of industry professionals familiar with various DSP's and the issue with the 8.9bit, including a workaround I made today. the industry will receive the update tomorrow, but you guys can test drive it tonight:
"Follow up on the Audison 8.9Bit: Thank you Doug Dobson for shipping the AP8.9 Bit. the unit I received is a rev R05. Elettromedia italy confirmed R05 will go down to 2V input, R06 will go down to 1V. I decided to perform a mod to increase the input gain of units up to R05. After disassembly, I have located the opamps and the feedback resistors responsible for the input gains. Replaced the original 18k resistors with 68k resistors ( size is 0603 if you want to do this yourselves ), effectively increasing the input gains by a factor of X 3.77, so the input range right now will go down to 0.55V instead of the stock 2V. works great on the bench with line level / RCA inputs. I have attached here a photo of the resistors that need to be replaced in case you want to do the mod yourselves. it's not hard. Something to share with the community. on a separate note, we also discovered that a Ford B&O (F150) HU does not output 0dBFS but rather about -6dBFS at full volume. a ZEN-A2B update will be released tomorrow to address this issue."
AP 8.9 Bit gain modification, increase gain x3.777. replace highlighted resistors to 68k.
Last edited by Moni Melman; 06-27-2018 at 12:47 PM.
So Moni is shipping me the Audison 8.9 he modded via 2 day air. Not even Nav Techs product. And he won't let me pay for shipping, either.
This is hands down some of the best customer service I have ever seen. Even if it doesn't work - and I am confident we're going to get it to work - I'm going to recommend everyone buy stuff from them from this point on. This kind of service is worth the price of the unit and then some. And to think I initially groused about it being expensive.
So Moni is shipping me the Audison 8.9 he modded via 2 day air. Not even Nav Techs product. And he won't let me pay for shipping, either.
This is hands down some of the best customer service I have ever seen. Even if it doesn't work - and I am confident we're going to get it to work - I'm going to recommend everyone buy stuff from them from this point on. This kind of service is worth the price of the unit and then some. And to think I initially groused about it being expensive.
I am blown away by the customer service. Just wow.
Alright everyone, I have confirmed the correct Molex connectors to make the Zen-A2B completely plug and play eliminating any soldering/splicing into the factory harness. Enjoy.
06-26-2018, 10:17 PM
I know you and a few others would never do it, but some ( uneducated ) end users may. it's our way to ensure no clipping on our end under any circumstances. 
