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Thread: Question about Subs being used Outside

  1. #1
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    Question about Subs being used Outside

    Hello,

    I currently have a Behringer Eurolive B1200D-PRO 500W 12" Powered Subwoofer and it is AMAZING for when I am playing music inside. obviously, I know when it comes to using it outside it performs very differently. In matter of fact, when I play music outside and I use my sub I CANNOT notice a difference at all even when I am 2 feet away. My question is: How much "bass" do I need. In other words, what equipment do I need to really experience a good bass from at least 100 feet away. I know this is all relative to what someone defines as a "good" amount of bass. I was just wondering if it is even possible to get a good bass outdoors from 100 feet away that won't cost me thousands of dollars (more than $2000), and if so what subs would you recommend?

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    BanHammer™⚒️ Manu's Avatar
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    Please post in the correct section next time

    Speaker thread is moved to

    speakers

  3. #3
    The short answer is that whatever you use for subs inside must be at least doubled in count to get the same result outside, due to the lack of boundary reinforcement outdoors.
    Bill Fitzmaurice
    Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
    www.billfitzmaurice.info/forum

  4. #4
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    So you are listening to your sub indoors from 100ft away?

    That is a rhetorical question because I seriously doubt that is the case, more likely you are within 10ft. That means there are 2 things working against you outdoors... no boundaries and much bigger distances. The reason boundaries matter to subs is because the output is omni directional so indoors the floor/walls/ceilings bounce the energy back towards the listener, but outdoors you don't get that. And sound from an omni source decays at a rate of 6db for every doubling of distance so a sub that produces 120db at 1ft only manages about 100db at 100ft.
    So there are 2 things you can to do to get the same performance outdoors as you get indoors, increase the directionality of your existing sub(put a horn on it) so more of the energy goes in the direction you want to hear it or just increase the sub output by 20dB. Here is the hard math on that, for every 6dB increase in output you have to double the number of drivers and the power they receive, so for a 20dB gain you would need 8 subs and 8 times the amplification. If you improve the subs directionality with horn loading you can mitigate some of the extra drivers/amps requirements but then the physical size of the system will be much larger.
    Paul O'Brien
    Old Tech Guy
    www.Techott.com

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Fitzmaurice View Post
    The short answer is that whatever you use for subs inside must be at least doubled in count to get the same result outside, due to the lack of boundary reinforcement outdoors.
    Not to mention any wind noise, noise from cars etc...Outdoors systems generally have to be quite a lot more powerful to sound good.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Fitzmaurice View Post
    The short answer is that whatever you use for subs inside must be at least doubled in count to get the same result outside, due to the lack of boundary reinforcement outdoors.
    as usual i'm late to the party but this is absolutely correct, did an outdoor graduation about the time this post was made 6 months ago and normally for indoor parties i get away with a single powered yorkville sub, now running outdoors i was running with one of the sets of 18s which in the small parking lot sounded about the same as a single 10 in a firehall. much larger and i would have had to use the 3kw double 18 stacks. outside remember that the low end is absorbed by the ground, trees and everything else. you need massive power to overcome that

  7. #7
    The low end isn't absorbed outdoors. The difference is that outdoors the subs are working into half-space. https://trueaudio.com/st_spcs1.htm Note that when you're looking at the picture for half-space what's shown there as a wall is actually the ground, so rotate it 90 degrees in your head.
    If you add one boundary of sufficient dimension the subs are working into quarter-space. The result is the same as doubling the sub count. Add a second boundary and the subs are working into eighth-space, the equivalent of quadrupling the sub count compared to with no boundaries. Make the space an enclosed room and you introduce cabin gain, which can be the equivalent of another quadrupling of the sub count.
    Last edited by Bill Fitzmaurice; 12-04-2020 at 09:18 AM.
    Bill Fitzmaurice
    Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
    www.billfitzmaurice.info/forum

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