Sound quality using headunit and PC

**tom_z** · 06-15-2007, 11:06 AM

Hiya

New here so first off, hey and thanks for the wealth of info that' available on these forums!

I'm currently in the process of planning an in-car PC for my 350z. I've read up on here and i've found that many people eliminate the need for a standard headunit for use with an in-car PC, however I would really like to retain my Alpine headunit in my car. Mainly due to the space issue, i'm having a 7" touchscreen up in the (currently) empty cubby hole at the top of the dash and doing away with the standard headunit and putting in my Alpine 9855R.

I understand that the Alpine will beconnected to the PC via the aux-in on the HU, however what are peoples experiences with sound quality like when using this as an option? I'm quite a big car audio nut so i'll be having a couple of 12" subs and also be changing the other speakers in the car so sound quality is a must.

Am I right in thinking that sound quality will be notably different by connecting all my audio components from Alpine -> amp -> speakers than playing music through the PC -> Alpine -> amp -> Speakers?

Thanks in advance for any help on clearing this matter up.

Tom

**v8 scimitar** · 06-15-2007, 11:55 AM

Personally I think it sounds better going through the HU first. I run my pc through a head unit and it sounds great. You also get the extra processing that the head unit can provide that otherwise you wouldn't get with a direct pc to amp. I wanted to keep the HU for radio reasons but I have never regretted doing so and will be doing the same next install.

**turbocad6** · 06-15-2007, 12:24 PM

yeah, I never had any problems going thru my alpine head either, it's better even still if you can add the 700/701 processor to the mix, for real sq the 31 band eq's are a necesity as far as I'm concerened & the added benifit of being able to go optical from the pc to the alpine is worth a lot too...

**TimmyM** · 06-15-2007, 12:42 PM

I can't attribute to sound quality but I sure like having the computer going through the HU. The computer is always being upgraded, config'd, etc. Nice to always have music available. I also don't have a tuner for the computer so I guess that might make a diffence.

**gibroni** · 06-15-2007, 12:58 PM

I'll toss in another point of view. In a sound quality set-up, the fewer devices in the circuit, the better. A HU is redundant unless you don't want to buy amplifiers. As far as signal processing goes, that can be handled with software.