Fountek NeoCD 2.0 Ribbon Tweeter Test and Review
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- In this video I analyze the measured performance of the Fountek NeoCD 2.0 ribbon tweeter. I get very technical in this video, but I think there's something in here for everyone. Even just to see what process I go through to test drivers before using them in a speaker design.
You can download driver files here to use in crossover simulation software such as XSim (my personal favorite): www.dropbox.co...
Please comment with any questions or suggestions. Thanks.
Note: I see the response above 15kHz rolls off. I recently had my computer repaired and will check the sound card calibration is actually working. I can see the mic cal is and I have experience with this driver to be confident below 15kHz, which is where crossover design matters. Sorry about that and I'll update the downloadable files once I get that figured out.
I promise I'll get to something entertaining soon. These dry test videos help get to that point where a cool project can begin.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to create the video. Ribbons are interesting creatures, your testing helps with figuring out a decent design--thanks!
whaoohew whahew! awesome channel find. have been looking for a channel like this. cant wait to catch up on all subscriptions currently. this is gona rock, everything wanted seeming,
Very useful video!
Awesome. Can't wait to follow your speaker build projects from A to Z.
Very good review, but I think woofer doesn't matched to CD2.0, because has no enough sensitivity. 98 dB is a huge presure and you able to set up some strong woofer to Fountek. I like ribbons so much and being used it for any audio projects
If you check out my review of the mid you'll see that's a complaint I made about it. There are some ways to work around this which I will be sharing in the future. I'm not really promoting that these two drivers be matched. The mid could easily be switched out for another mid with higher sensitivity. Hopefully I'll get to review more 3 or 4" mids in the future and post the files for people to use.
oh I see. My English is so simple, pardon me. You can use array of these 4" for 1 pcs CD2.0 :)
No problem at all. I appreciate the comment. It's useful for other people to note the sensitivity mismatch. Thanks for pointing it out!
I think you've missed a very important part as far as ribbon testing goes. There's a chamber resonance a bit below 2k. In a way it's like Seas Excel Magnesium break up. It gets excited by to high Fxver or not steep enough of a slope and give the tweeter tizzy sound. Pretty much all ribbon have it but the magnitude and F are different. Dependents on how ribbon designer approached it.
Distortion sweeps shine the lite on it as well as waterfall if you increase window width.
It's a good tweeter for line array. Vertical response is really like laser beam.
Impulse response You are correct that CSD or HD measurements do reveal a little more information about these drivers, but I generally dont share them as they can be easily misunderstood. If I see something bad about a driver in those measurements I'll try to comment or hint about it, like "never cross this tweeter below Fx" or something. The resonance you mentioned applies to dome tweeters too. If you excite Fs they can sound tizzy and gross. Thanks for pointing this out :)
Thank you for great job!
That Fountek is cut to a minimum of 2.5kHz with an 18dB filter.
Second, this 1uF is not connected in parallel to resistor R1 but in parallel to input C1 and output R1, because it does not reverse the phase as it does in your filter. I did that and it's more linear.
This is just my little suggestion.
Really love to listen to these actually being used no videos anywhere at least that I can find.😂
Head The Ball, this video has a sound demo of the sibling ribbon that is nearly spec for spec. czcams.com/video/GG2RqnFWvGI/video.html
There's a big problem with sound demos on youtube though... they don't work :P
Did it come with an explanation of the matching process? I found an australian shop that sells matched pairs but it does not say any more than that. What do you think about buying non matched pairs? even worse?
I doubt it would be worse for this case. A shop that is pulling drivers from the line and matching them should be able to do much better. There was no information about how they were matched. I’m guessing they just do an impedance test and if it’s within a certain range they call it matched. Was pretty poor in my opinion.
@@ImpulseAudioSpeakers That makes sense! Thank you for reply!
Ribbon tweeters have no voice coil so they present a dead short to the amplifier. All ribbon tweeters include a high wattage ceramic resistor in the tweeter so the amp sees a load (usually 8 ohms). Even the best quality resistors have a tolerance of +/- 5% so this is probably where the inconsistent output is coming from. I'm guessing that fountek probably thought that 1db difference was acceptable.
No they don't. The ribbon IS the voice coil so with a 15cm length and in a 1.2 tesla field that amounts to 0.18 TM BL factor. The transformer at the back transforms that upward so you end up with a usual BL factor and impedance.
I don't know where to go with that 'resistor in every ribbon' statement.. Let's just say that that's an 'incorrect assumption based on an incorrect assumption'.
Thank you for doing this! Would you share some information regarding the CNC? Greetings
Ch.Beats it's just an Inventables Xcarve. I've modified it a little bit because they're not very good in stock condition. I hope to do a shop tour and explain my measurements setup, tools, and cnc that I use for speaker building but have at least 3 other videos ahead of that. Stick around and I'll explain more about it. Thanks.
Ryan, what software have you used for microphone measurements?
I use SoundEasy in my videos, but I don’t recommend it. I would use REW or HolmImpulse personally. I use it because I paid for it and have it all nicely setup.
@@ImpulseAudioSpeakers Thank you. I'll check them out.
Loving the channel!
123Toid thanks toid. Im working on a good quick xsim tutorial right now and will create a playlist with your PCD tutorials and mention you in the vid. hopefully people can try both programs and pick which they like.
Impulse Audio That's a great idea! let me know when they are up, I'll make sure to link them in my videos. I'll even create a new video to help promote your channel.
the sort of comb filter you get when measured the vertical dispersion. might be the fact you use it horizontal and now you have good dispersion vertically (in you room) so might be ceiling and floor reflections. the drop at the top would be normal , the comb filtering not so much :)
joppe peelen the top roll off is just that I changed the scale in sound easy and that software really sucks at handling changes so it killed my mic calibration. Not normal. I don't understand what you're saying about comb filtering and the room. The room is not a part of these measurements as I have applied time windowing to the FFT. These are anechoic measurements above 200hz. I don't show any measurements with room influence unless I specifically say they are room measurements. Does that answer your concern or did I not quite understand your meaning. I wasn't sure.
joppe peelen by the way I will update the measurement files soon. I just haven't had a chance yet. The top roll off should be corrected in those files once I'm done that.
Hey thanks for this instructif video.
I want to ask please did you try it with frequency up 40khz ? If yes can you tell us if it's accurate. What's the practical frequency limit.
Thanks in advance
Sorry I did not. I don’t find data above 20khz very useful.
Nice work!!!!!
Do you know where I can find replacement ribbons for these? And, please, a video on how to properly replace the ribbons?
I assume contacting Fountek directly would be your best option.
Long time subscriber here. For the life of me, I cannot find ZMA or FRD files on the Fountek Neo X 3.0 Ribbon Tweeter. Do you happen to have them or know where I can download them for simulation? Any help on the matter is greatly appreciated.
Stuart Wood follow the drop box link in the description. They should be in there. If not I’ll upload them again but pretty sure they’re there.
Thank you dearly for your response. I found the Fountek Neo X 2.0 on your drop box, but not the 3.0. I've spent about 2 hours searching for FRD and ZMA for the 3.0 to no avail.
Hi. Please recommend me what capacitor I can use get out of full potential highs of my aurum cantus g1 ribbon tweeter. I use jantzen standard z-cap 6.7 microfarad but the highs is still missing. Many thanks regards Peter from New Zealand
Probably not the capacitor that’s the problem. Possibly it’s not sensitive enough or the highs fall off. Depends what the rest of the cross over looks like. I don’t believe capacitor brands make much difference. Sorry.
@@ImpulseAudioSpeakers thanks so much for getting back to me. Ok I understand. Regards Peter
Mundorf Supreme SiverGold will be ok.
I make some really awesome speaker cables that can compensate for the difference in the drivers. They continually monitor the sound coming from the speakers and adjust on the fly. I call this feature "Smart PAD".
Also, off axis listening is greatly improved. The cables monitor your listening position at a 100 times per second rate and continually adjust phase, not only between the speakers themselves, but between the individual drivers.
I call them the Apple Pie a la Modes. Just $2,000 per cable, per foot.
Theball Player I can't tell if you're for real. I can't imagine how a device like that could possibly work but you also sound a bit serious. Hehe.
Impulse Audio My cables come with a guarantee.
I guarantee if you can't hear the difference they make, you shouldn't be listening to music at all.
That's written right on the box, just above "MATCHED PAIR!"
I'm just taking jabs at the speaker cable sorcerers.
Your content is great. I hope you're able to keep up with it.
Cheers!
Theball Player haha ok I love it. I just wasn't 100% sure and didn't want to sound disrespectful. I really like your guarantee though!
Pretty penny for cables
what is the difference between neo cd 3.0 i have this model and i want to know for the neo cd 2.0, thanks!!
Yasin G basically size. The neoCD 3.0 isn’t as big, which means it will have better vertical dispersion, but it won’t have as much sensitivity or be able to cross as low. I have a test video of the NeoX2.0 witch is very similar to the NeoCD3.0. I get all the models mixed up so hope that is right.
@@ImpulseAudioSpeakers Hello!! Thanks for your answear. I want to know the difference between neo cd 2.0 and neox 3.0 is it similar ?
Yasin G I don’t know for sure. I believe it’s the same just different enough so that different resellers don’t appear to compete.
Too bad the frequency axis is hidden so that you cant see where the curve drops off......
Jonas Karud ya sorry about that. My screen always cuts it off. If you’re use to ready log graphs it’s easy to figure out though. Since this video I’ve made my axis limits a little better.
Unmatched pair. Lol. 😊