Automatic Volume Control

[Diver14]

Hello everyone, I got to put in a few hours on the water today testing the new multi pump ballast system and all seemed to work great. With this project behind me I am looking to add an automatic volume control to my boat for my next project. I find I constantly have to signal the driver to turn the radio up when riding. I have found two options each have their strengths and weakness'.

The first is the one that seems the simplest in its design. http://www.hsetrident.com/html/rvc_info.html. It is RPM based and I like that, the only downfall which is a big downfall is the fact that it only has one output and I have three amps and like to have control over each of them. This one is around $250

The second seems like a much more complicated design which I believe will be prone to being inconsistent due to its method of sensing speed. It seems to be based on the level of the boat and possibly some type of accelerometer. It has a better system in controlling the volume since it attaches just like a remote would connect and simply adjusts the master volume to the entire system. The link for it is here. http://www.boardstop.com/product_info.php?products_id=926 I have found this one for $189

My question is do any of you have any experience with these or any other similar devices and if so can you give me any feedback on your experience or opinion with them.

[sandm]

kind of a spendy way to go, but I have seen guys using the rpm based setup then feeding a wetsounds ws420 for the outputs to the amps. gives you quite a bit of control over the entire system, but pricey.

[jasonba1]

i good of mine has the ws420 and the boost box and it works great I am looking at doing this on my setup this winter

[EarmarkMarine]

Diver14,

We carry both. The HSE is definitely more sophisticated. BTW, you're about $100 high on the HSE. Perhaps that was a typo. Most systems will only require a single RCA output pair if they are using an equalizer or other zone control devices at the driver's dash.

For an inexpensive alternative, we also use a latching footswitch that keeps your hands on the wheel and throttle. But I sure like the automatic convenience of the HSE.

David
Earmark Marine

[Diver14]

i good of mine has the ws420 and the boost box and it works great I am looking at doing this on my setup this winter

The boost box is quite a bit cheaper at $189 but just not sure about the way it senses speed. Any one else have any experience with the Boost Box.


Earmark, I checked your online store out and when I added to cart it added Texas Sales Tax. Typically on out of state internet transactions there is no sales tax. Any comment. Also the EQ said for in store pickup only.

[viking]

I would think that you probably have the same driver (or 2 or 3) and that if trained properly they would know what volume level you like your tunes. After a few runs they should have it down and know exactly where to set it.
For the money I'd work on "pavlov's dog" system and feed a beer to your buddies every time they get it right!
On 2nd thought - it might be cheaper to get the AV equipment if they drink like my buddies :)
But you'd have your tunes.............

[EarmarkMarine]

Diver14,

As an authorized WetSounds dealer, Earmark supports the entire line and we try to make our selection easily accessable to our customers, particularly our local ones. WetSounds is the only one of our vendors that prefer to handle on-line sales in house. We try and respect their regional distribution policy. Its a shame because our technical support and installation know-how exceeds that of our suppliers as we've been in the trenches for 30 years in January and have performed several thousand marine installations.

Currently we have 800 marine audio and related items available on line which will soon be expanded to over 1000 SKUs.

To answer your automatic volume control question more specifically... The HSE is more sophisticated in the manner it tracks and interprets the boat's motion and speed.

The WaterSport Innovations product uses a tilt sensor while the HSE accesses engine RPM. Thats only a positive on behalf of HSE. We have numerous customers who are very pleased with the WaterSport Innovations product also. If you're adding an EQ the number of preouts isn't relavent anymore. Oh, and I don't have any first hand knowledge as to how effective Viking's suggestion would be but I like it!

BTW, while we try and honer the manufacturers minimum advertised price policy we do price match legimate and authorized dealer pricing.

If you correctly fill in all your information there is no tax on any out of state shipment. We just tried it and the store is working as intended.

Just email us with any concerns and we'll promptly resolve them.

David
Earmark Marine

[Diver14]

I would think that you probably have the same driver (or 2 or 3) and that if trained properly they would know what volume level you like your tunes. After a few runs they should have it down and know exactly where to set it.
For the money I'd work on "pavlov's dog" system and feed a beer to your buddies every time they get it right!
On 2nd thought - it might be cheaper to get the AV equipment if they drink like my buddies :)
But you'd have your tunes.............

Yeah, I have a volume level I use but frequently I find that the driver forgets to un-pause or un-mute the radio due to conversation or something. Plus I like new toys and this one would be a cool one :cool:.

[Diver14]

i good of mine has the ws420 and the boost box and it works great I am looking at doing this on my setup this winter

I decided to give the ws420 a try but I opted for the HSE instead of the boost box. I let everyone know how I like it.

[sailing217]

I have an HSE.

I got it for Christmas last year and installed it myself. Not hard to do and I made a writeup in the mods section on CenturionCrew.com with pictures. I didn't want to pop the RPM guage out of the dash so I spliced into the RPM wire of PerfectPass on the guage side of the shrink wrap. Once you get under the dash you'll know.

HSE works great and the wife loves it. You are correct that it's downfall other than price is only one set of 'outs'. We have 2 amps and I just have it connected to the tower speakers. I fade out to just use the tower speakers, then turn on the HSE. My problem is my base is going through the other amp so we still boom at idle. I'm lazy and haven't rerouted anything.

It's simple to use HSE, but if I don't use it regularly then I sometimes don't program it correctly. There's a video on YouTube about how easy it is to program.

MalibuCrew has a big writeup on it. HSE combined with Wetsounds WS 420 is the ideal way to go but pricy.

FYI, there was a thread on WW about an IPHONE App that does volume control based on the GPS speed. I didn't look into it much since I already have HSE and no iphone.

[cab13367]

FYI, there was a thread on WW about an IPHONE App that does volume control based on the GPS speed. I didn't look into it much since I already have HSE and no iphone.

Now that I'd be interested in! Any idea what the name of the app is? I guess I'll need to go to WW and do some searching.

[adsman]

It's called "adaptunes" and it's $.99 ... Just looked it up