Car Audio Recommendations

**jdamb89** · 06-19-2007, 03:14 PM

I'm relatively new to the car pc scene, and I was looking for some recommendations regarding a head unit and sound card.

My plan is to connect the PC to the auxilary input of a head unit. I'm planning on purchasing a new head unit and external sound card and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on equipment to get the best sound possible from this setup.

Also, if I'm not a complete audiophile, is an amplifier worth it?

**Siezmik** · 06-19-2007, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by jdamb89

I'm relatively new to the car pc scene, and I was looking for some recommendations regarding a head unit and sound card.

My plan is to connect the PC to the auxilary input of a head unit. I'm planning on purchasing a new head unit and external sound card and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on equipment to get the best sound possible from this setup.

Equipment choices can be extremely preferential, besides we don't know anything about your application other than what you've mentioned. Single DIN, Dual DIN, etc. Stick with a well known brand and you should do just fine.

On the sound card side of things, there are a number of recommendations, both internal and external. The FAQ can provide you with a lot of the answers on this.

Originally Posted by jdamb89

Also, if I'm not a complete audiophile, is an amplifier worth it?

Absolutely! Just about any modern day amplifier will out perform what comes in a head unit. More power, more flexibility, more options, etc. Of course, all of that comes at an added expense, but many find it to be very worthwhile.

**jdamb89** · 06-20-2007, 02:39 AM

A few questions then. Is it better to run the sound card to the amplifier or the head unit?

Also, I'm using a 400 mhz pentium 4 processor. It has come to my attention that this limits the options I have for external sound cards. What card then would be recommended that is able to output good sound from a 400 mhz processor?

**Dennis5587** · 06-20-2007, 10:08 AM

ummm, are you sure thats the processor you're running, I'm pretty sure that the slowest pentium 4 ever made was like 1.8ghz or so... If your'e sure that its a Pentium 4, then its faster. But if you're sure that its 400mhz then it may be like a P3 or P2.

and its better to run the sound card to the amplifier, if you do this you have no more need for the head unit. If you wish to keep the head unit for some odd reason, then you should run the sound card to the head unit and go through there.

**jdamb89** · 06-20-2007, 10:31 AM

Sorry let me clarify. It has a bus speed of 400 mhz. The clock is 1.9 ghz. That was pretty confusing. And I just realized my question was completely off. Please ignore that part. i wrote it at 2 a.m.