The Competition Formats

Had a few people ask me why I'm doing this and how the competitions work so I thought I would do a post about the 4 main formats I will be competing in.

• dB Drag - Measures out and out volume at systems peak frequency
  
• Bassrace - Measures music playing ability and system controllability
  
• Propper Droppers - Measures volume at low frequencies
• Ground Pounders - Measures music playing ability at volume

dB Drag Racing

dB Drag is run in the UK by Darren 'Loudboy' Millard as part of the worldwide db Drag Racing competition format and is designed to measure how loud a car is at a single frequency. Some people design and build cars just to excel in this competition (these cars cannot play music but just play one tone as loud as possible) the format is split into a number of categories that are designed to group similar systems in the same group - check out the dB Drag Rules for more information on these classes. I am unsure which category I will be competing in as this is determined by the install configuration. Project Big Black will not be built to fit into a specific db drag category but will compete in which ever category it fits into. My Personal best was 157db at the UK Finals 2008


Bassrace

Bassrace allows people to go head to head with other competitors with a system of similar volume. They termlab sensor measures the average volume of the system as it plays music for 30 seconds and displays this in realtime for the competitor to see. The idea is to get as close to the maximum score for your bracket as possible without 'busting out' e.g. I will be competing in the 149.9 class so over the 30 seconds I will need to hit 149.9 and make sure i do not go over this score. below you can see a video filmed at the World db Drag finals in Bar Le Duc of me competing against Geoff 'Firestarter' Kerss - My Personal best was 149.9 and 4th place in Europe - My target for this year is to return to the World Finals and bring back a World Title to the UK





Propper Droppers

Run by Marcus 'MegaHeavyBass' Barnes from www.streetbassers.co.uk the Propper Droppers format tests a system at 20hz, 25hz, 33hz and 40hz and then averages the scores to produce a final score. This format was introduced to allow systems that has a low tuned peak to compete against each other (db drag favours systems with a higher tuning)

My personal best was

Total Average (((Propper Droppers))) Score = 152.6dB

Peak= 155.6dB @ 33hz &40Hz
40hz= 155.6dB
33hz= 155.6dB
25hz= 150.8dB
20hz= 145.7dB


Ground Pounders

Ground Pounders is a brand new format from the same guys that run Propper Droppers and is designed to measure how loud your system is 'Showing off' 3 reading are taken

1st: Doors and windows open etc
2nd: Doors and windows sealed
3rd: The sensor is placed at the foot of your door with the door and windows open

Ground Pounders is all about showing off how loud your system is - I have only competed in one event using my last company car system and got a very disappointing score

Total Average= 137.2dB
Sealed= 138.8dB
Open = 141.1dB
From outside = 131.9dB