Thread: can a carputer compete with a head unit for sound quality?

Originally Posted by xfsrg

yea that makes sense, I forgot she was using the h700 to process the audio.

wow cant believe i didnt think of that. the newbie-ishness shows when i post without thinking about it first...

i do plan on using the analog out because i dont have the funds for 500$ processor - maybe in the future.

I only said newbie-ish cuz I got the same type of reply when i asked that question not long ago (and plus it says "newbie" under your name)...I wonder if it still says that under mine...hmmm...

I was in the same boat...I only recently finished installing my carputer, but I still consider myself a newB because theres a lot that i dont know, but eventually trial and error presides. I went with analog for these past few weeks and wasn't happy. I also said the same thing initiall...i didnt want to cough up the $500 bucks for a processor...eventually the price went up on ebay and it ended up being $600 when i realized that I couldn't settle for inferior sound quality knowing that there is a better alternative. I'm sure that I could have gotten my analog system to sound decent, but eventually all the digital posts overwhelmed me...

search.... ebay...... "alpine h510"..... cheap....... optical in.......... better than nothing.....used around $200 or less I would expect..... has alot including surround but no 31 band 1/3 octave....parametric which is GOOD ENOUGH for a decent install. if you don't really know how to really tune a system anyway, this is a decent piece to start with... & on a budget...

Originally Posted by turbocad6

search.... ebay...... "alpine h510"..... cheap....... optical in.......... better than nothing.....used around $200 or less I would expect..... has alot including surround but no 31 band 1/3 octave....parametric which is GOOD ENOUGH for a decent install. if you don't really know how to really tune a system anyway, this is a decent piece to start with... & on a budget...

...and where were you two days ago when I was clicking on "Buy It Now" for the H701 and the C701????.... .....jk....oh well, now I'm really convinced that I wasted my money. Can somebody make me feel better?.... ....no, somebody else...can somebody tell me that the H701 wasn't a waste of money? What advantages does it have over the H510?

EDIT: These are what I found so far...better looking controller, 4V out instead of 3V, including what Turbo mentioned about the 1/3 octave...

Originally Posted by 3onDubs

...and where were you two days ago when I was clicking on "Buy It Now" for the H701 and the C701????....

check post 142!!!!!!!!!!


the 700 is worth every penny... but only if you know how to tune it will you realize the benifits of it..... it is the ultimate tunning tool, but to someone that don't know how to use it it's not going to seem that way.....

some claim to be able to tune it just by ear without an rta.... while I do think I could do this & ultimately do wind up tuning it by ear anyway... I think an rta makes getting a bassis to go off is a HUGE help..... it's turning sound into a graphical interface, & is invaluable to me in system tunning.... but again, you have to know how to use it & you have to have one.... which is usually beyond where most casual enthusiasts will go....

Originally Posted by turbocad6

check post 142!!!!!!!!!!


the 700 is worth every penny... but only if you know how to tune it will you realize the benifits of it..... it is the ultimate tunning tool, but to someone that don't know how to use it it's not going to seem that way.....

some claim to be able to tune it just by ear without an rta.... while I do think I could do this & ultimately do wind up tuning it by ear anyway... I think an rta makes getting a bassis to go off is a HUGE help..... it's turning sound into a graphical interface, & is invaluable to me in system tunning.... but again, you have to know how to use it & you have to have one.... which is usually beyond where most casual enthusiasts will go....

I am an idiot...seriously...but in a strange way it feels better to have a higher end product with more features even though I won't know how to use them. I'll look for some SoCal installers who have tuned these types of systems before once I get everything installed and tuned to the best of my ability....

xfsrg, I'm not sure making a 4.1 setup for the car is such a good idea. It may be more trouble than it's worth. Red, as well as most of us use regular 2 channel stereo setups. You could probably make a 4.1 setup, but don't ask me how. I'm guessing you want it only for DVD's right? Most music is still 2 channel. You can take a basic 2 channel and split it into front, rear and sub.

3onDubs, there are a lot of knowledgable installers in Cali. Check out some of the car stereo competition websites and find some installers in your area that have done well in competition. Narrow that down to the ones that have experience using the Alpine 700/701. The tuning process doesn't start with the EQ, it ends with the EQ. The best systems will use minimal EQ to correct because the speaker locations, aiming, amp levels and x-over points, etc... need to be adjusted first to create the most realistic sound. Then the EQ comes in and makes a few small adjustments here and there to polish it off. A good installer will adjust all that stuff first before breaking out the RTA. The RTA will mainly just be looking at the rough overall curve as well as point out high and low spots in the curve. The system can be tweaked to get the desired curve. A good installer should know what the curve should look like depending on the 3rd octave pink noise used. Then final tuning is done by ear.

(Please no one point out that I'm wrong, I'm just trying to give a very basic rundown of how it's usually done to 3onDubs so he has a better idea of everything)

Some installers may help you tune your system on the weekend if business is slow, but sometimes they will charge you for their services.

From what I've read about the 700/701 you will have all the tools you need. An experienced installer can tune it all. Is the rest of your sound system up to snuff?

stupid question, what is it that you guys are calling 4.1? is this saying a 5.1, but using a phantom center?, I don't think I've seen the term 4.1 before..., I'm guessing thats what you mean?

This is the Logitech 4.1 system I have on my home computer:
http://www.maximum3d.com/reviews/z560.htm
It's not any kind of home audio standard, but more of a computer setup. Who knows, it may have been made up by speaker companies to sell their products.

It is as you guessed, the 2 front speakers double as the center channel. I'm assuming this is what xfsrg was refering to.