BCD536HP Treble/Bass Control

[K4EET]

I searched and could not find this discussed for this model scanner (BCD536HP).

It would be nice if a software control could be added for treble and bass adjustments of the scanner's audio.

Thanks Uniden for your consideration!

Dave K4EET

 

[MStep]

I searched and could not find this discussed for this model scanner (BCD536HP).

It would be nice if a software control could be added for treble and bass adjustments of the scanner's audio.

Thanks Uniden for your consideration!

Dave K4EET

That is an excellent suggestion Dave. For my old ears, there seems to be too much bass and not enough treble. I do believe there are some external speakers available, although I am not really familiar with them; I have seen them mentioned here in other threads.

I'm just hoping that Uniden can complete development all the features they advertised for the 436/536 units. They need to finish the Analyze function. You can't appreciate what you are missing unless you have even seen it working on the HP-1 or HP-2. The Siren project is stalled out for now, and there is no apparent solution to the already acknowledged RTC (Real Time Clock) issue and the yet to be acknowledged "dimming displays" situation.

I hope you are enjoying your 536 as much as I am enjoying mine. It is really an incredible piece of work, all things considered. In fact, I'm going back do a little monitoring right now!

 

[K4EET]

That is an excellent suggestion Dave.

Thank you MStep! I just hope that Uniden thinks so too. If they are using digital audio and DSP, then technically that would be an easy addition. (I am an Electrical Engineer and have worked with Motorola on DSP...)

I hope you are enjoying your 536 as much as I am enjoying mine. It is really an incredible piece of work, all things considered. In fact, I'm going back do a little monitoring right now!

Yes, the Uniden BCD536HP is a phenomenal scanner that I have yet to master the existing functions! I'm a newb to this scanner having only had it for a few weeks. As for scanning, mine stays on 24/7; volume level 12 during the daytime and volume level 5 all during the night. I monitor my friends at the County's Police and Fire dispatch centers as well as those on the streets. During slow times, I explore all of the scanner's current functions, scan the bands looking for new trunked and conventional systems (among other things too)...

73 (best wishes), Dave K4EET

 

[MStep]

Thank you MStep! I just hope that Uniden thinks so too. If they are using digital audio and DSP, then technically that would be an easy addition. (I am an Electrical Engineer and have worked with Motorola on DSP...)



Yes, the Uniden BCD536HP is a phenomenal scanner that I have yet to master the existing functions! I'm a newb to this scanner having only had it for a few weeks. As for scanning, mine stays on 24/7; volume level 12 during the daytime and volume level 5 all during the night. I monitor my friends at the County's Police and Fire dispatch centers as well as those on the streets. During slow times, I explore all of the scanner's current functions, scan the bands looking for new trunked and conventional systems (among other things too)...

73 (best wishes), Dave K4EET

Yep Dave--- hands-on is the best way to find many of the scanner's more nuanced features. As you probably realize by now, the manual only provides cursory information, and there are some features that are barely touched upon, if mentioned at all, within the manual.

One happy surprise I found (although it took me a week to rediscover it) was the ability to block certain PL tones on conventional frequencies--- for more info on that, I think I added that to the Tips & Tricks thread.

Time to get some monitoring in---- I'm sure we'll cross paths here again

 

[durangoGreg]

Dave,

I made a request with Upman for a digital equalizer module added to the firmware or to sentinel over a year ago. So far, I haven't heard a peep about this. This would be an easy add to the software but Uniden is so busy trying to get promised features working that they are completely ignoring obvious easy improvements.

 

[Voyager]

You can always add an external speaker and graphic equalizer to your scanner.

 

[durangoGreg]

You can always add an external speaker and graphic equalizer to your scanner.

That is exactly what I did. However it is not as nice as having a digital filter built right in to the radio software. Especially when I want to go mobile. The funny thing is almost every radio I have ever seen has some sort of equalizer setting or tone control. Yet a lot of scanners seem to be missing this feature.

I can't tell you how many posts I read on scanner forums about poor sound quality. Everyone has a different idea as to what constitutes good sound and everyone's ears are different and work better or worse in certain frequency bands.

Uniden could remedy a lot of complaints about sound quality if they just let you adjust the frequency response with an equalizer or a tone control for treble and base.

 

[Boatanchor]

Theoretically it may be possible to provide rudimentary processing for the digital audio characteristics but the analogue audio isn't routed through any kind of DSP stage in any of the Uniden scanners, so it won't happen with the current generation of scanners.

I wouldn't be surprised if the P25 audio is produced by an OTS software package provided by a third party like Etherstack or similar too. In which case, Uniden wouldn't have the ability to manipulate the demodulated digital audio either.

We really are at a crossroads for Uniden and Whistler. The next generation scanners (if they even eventuate) can either be 'more of the same', or they will have to be based on an IQ/Software defined architecture. Sadly, the second option requires a significant investment in new IP and technology and I can't see that happening unless the product can be marketed Globally and isn't restricted to only North American sales.

 

[Voyager]

The funny thing is almost every radio I have ever seen has some sort of equalizer setting or tone control. Yet a lot of scanners seem to be missing this feature.

I have maybe seen one scanner that had a tone control back in the 80s.

When (for analog audio) the frequencies outside 300 Hz to 3000 Hz are stripped, is there really much use for a tone control? And for P25, it's fairly reliable reproduction of the original, so and tone control will only skew the audio. Not saying it wouldn't be a nice addition, but not sure it's all that necessary.

 

[K4EET]

<snip> And for P25, it's fairly reliable reproduction of the original, so and tone control will only skew the audio. Not saying it wouldn't be a nice addition, but not sure it's all that necessary.

My reason for asking for tone control was this. Aside from an external amplifier/equalizer speaker configuration, the "plain Jane" speaker obviously varies in sound quality because of cone size and shape, housing acoustics, etc. So while the reproduction of P25 audio may be a reliable recreation of the original audio from the scanner's circuitry, the speaker used will inherently change the audio (for better or for worse).

I personally have a severe high frequency hearing loss due to nerve damage that even the best hearing aid cannot totally resolve. I prefer a low "bassy" tonal sound out of the external speaker. And while I could purchase an external speaker with tone control, I prefer to use my existing assortment of Motorola mobile speakers (without amplification). If the scanner had some form of treble/bass control, I could adjust the reproduced audio tonal qualities to my personal liking and needs. I feel confident that many other scanner enthusiasts would also prefer this feature to match their preferences as well.

73 (best wishes), Dave K4EET

 

[cpetraglia]

My reason for asking for tone control was this. Aside from an external amplifier/equalizer speaker configuration, the "plain Jane" speaker obviously varies in sound quality because of cone size and shape, housing acoustics, etc. So while the reproduction of P25 audio may be a reliable recreation of the original audio from the scanner's circuitry, the speaker used will inherently change the audio (for better or for worse).

I personally have a severe high frequency hearing loss due to nerve damage that even the best hearing aid cannot totally resolve. I prefer a low "bassy" tonal sound out of the external speaker. And while I could purchase an external speaker with tone control, I prefer to use my existing assortment of Motorola mobile speakers (without amplification). If the scanner had some form of treble/bass control, I could adjust the reproduced audio tonal qualities to my personal liking and needs. I feel confident that many other scanner enthusiasts would also prefer this feature to match their preferences as well.

73 (best wishes), Dave K4EET

I have a 996XT and see the same problem with P25 audio. Way too much bass and no treble. My setup is a little advanced with a 7-band eq and external amp feeding two high end bookshelf speakers. I also have three other scanners two-600s and one 1095 feeding a 4 channel mixer. With a clean P25 signal it sounds a good as an FM receiver.
As I said a little extreme but well worth it.

Chuck

 

[Voyager]

I have a 996XT and see the same problem with P25 audio. Way too much bass and no treble.

Actually, that's the exact opposite problem. He wants more bass.

 

[durangoGreg]

I have maybe seen one scanner that had a tone control back in the 80s.

When (for analog audio) the frequencies outside 300 Hz to 3000 Hz are stripped, is there really much use for a tone control? And for P25, it's fairly reliable reproduction of the original, so and tone control will only skew the audio. Not saying it wouldn't be a nice addition, but not sure it's all that necessary.

When I said radio, I really meant transceiver or standard AM/FM radio.

Every one of those radios has a tone control or equalizer. I did mentioned that most scanners do not.

I do know that when I am working SSB and my bandwidth is only 2.8K, I can still vastly improve the sound quality by bringing up 1K and notching 600hz. 1K is usually where the voice has clarity and 500-700 hz is usually where you get droning.

 

[MStep]

The point has been well made I think that some type of digital bass/treble control would be a welcome on-board feature, particularly in the higher-end scanners. Aside from our individual hearing differences and preferences, in mobile applications, because of road and engine noise, sometimes tweaking the base or treble up or down a notch or two (as evidenced on our AM/FM car radios) can help make listening more comfortable, pleasurable and/or understandable.

It's certainly a great "back-burner" project, as I share Dave's concerns with the 536; I would not expect to see any quick implementation until some of the other issues, particularly further development of the on-board "Analyze" features, are implemented. And of course base/treble control would be of little value unless these adjustments could be made on a per-channel or per-frequency basis.

Just as I would like to see (and I know this has been mentioned before) the "RECord" function be implemented on a per-channel, per-frequency or per-talkgroup basis. But all of this kind of stuff is pie-in-the-sky. Uniden has their hands full right now playing catch-up with some of the previous 436/536 issues.