Audio Quality

**ayclens** · 07-16-2004, 01:16 AM

FLAC, APE, and Shorten "lossless" formats take up approx 50% of the original WAV file size.

**welthqa** · 07-22-2004, 05:24 PM

I've thought on this a lot recently. My altima came with stock speakers that produced a lot of bass and were very clear. People kept asking me what kind of sub I was running. When i switched to my pc, all that bass went away. the sound was slightly less clear, but that never bothered me. Boosting the bass thru software didn't seem to help at all. I think that because I'm using the onboard sound I'm not getting as much bass as I used to. I'm concidering purchasing one of the expensive sound cards with the little knob connecter things that I'll fab into the console.

Has anyone else experienced a drop in base with onboard sound processor? Did a better card fix this?

**brandon** · 07-22-2004, 05:35 PM

- I had a stock HU and used speaker level inputs to my amps, the sound was decent.
- I replaced my stock HU with a carPC using an M10000 mobo and the onboard sound card, there was a major improvement in the sound quality, sounded even better than some of my co workers with aftermarket setups.
- Then I purchased an Audigy2 soundcard and now have an audio orgasm every time I get into my car.
For alot of people, the stock soundcard on the mobo will probably do the trick.

**prerunnerv6** · 07-23-2004, 10:24 AM

The only installed car-pc's I've used just ran old MPXPLAY and a Soundblaster card. (I know, I'm ancient.

But for just mp3's, it never fails.) These setups always had good SQ. I then tried to use a laptop and it's headphone jack and it didn't sound good at all. Tried again with another pc with on-board sound. Sounded better than the laptop, but still not as good as the old Mpxplay and Soundblaster card.

So far, I've preferred using a dedicated sound card or external device as opposed to the on-board sound outputs.

**starfox** · 07-23-2004, 02:10 PM

Yeah, notebook / laptop soundcards are usually quite noisy. Due to space constraints on the PCBs, signal integrity doesn't take priority.. Same with onboard sound, the most important factor is to minimise cost.

welthqa: you're not using some sort of group loop isolator are you? do you have anything connected in between the PC and your head unit / amplifier?

**danon** · 07-23-2004, 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by Hexerei

What are your experience with going from a headunit to a carpc playing mp3s? Based on the quality of the sound I mean...

well my quick answer is it's great! i sold my headunit almost a year now as i didn't see the need for it anymore. the technique for a successful sound experience in a car is a proper crossover to distribute different frequencies to each drivers/speakers (high, mid, subs, etc.) a tweeter in a good position, actually all speakers should be in good position so before you do your setup, spend time theorizing how sound would bounce if you do this or that (too much bouncing is not good), how would the tweeter loose it's crisp if it's too far, if you have a sub make sure it's as airtight as possible. if you want to use your existing car speaker (like i did) try to see how you can compensate. don't expect that if your newly burned mp3 sounds good at home doesn't exactly mean similar experience in car, even a good set of home speakers who does wonders at home doesn't do the same. a car is a totally different environment and therefore needs a different approach to produce the same clarity. my audio setup is not expensive, but because of proper planning, and setup a lot of people think i do 'cause it's just sounds too good for a barebones. listen carefully to other cars that you think has a good audio, listen how different frequencies separate itself from each other and see how you can produce it one by one in your setup. listen to your car's needs and it will reward you in return. i also experienced that an original cd burned to mp3 at 128bit is far better that a 192bit mp3 downloaded on the net. having said that, if you can access a sound processor software and have a time to learn, you can convert high bit but lousy mp3 into a low bit high clarity mp3.

danon

**TommieG** · 07-23-2004, 03:54 PM

Playing MP3's on my carputer, through a Creative MP3+ external soundcard to the line-in of my HU sounds a lot better than playing the same MP3's burnt to MP3-CD's on the same Blaupunkt Los Angeles MP3-CD headunit. I guess the codec used in the headunit isn't up to standards.
In fact I'm quite amazed about the sound quality from the carputer. It exceeds my expectations.
The bitrate is however crucial. 128 kbps does not sound too good on my system, but with 224 kbps I have a hard time finding any difference from playing the original CD on the HU.

Tom

**WhiteRabbit** · 07-23-2004, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by prerunnerv6

I then tried to use a laptop and it's headphone jack and it didn't sound good at all. Tried again with another pc with on-board sound.

Originally Posted by starfox

Yeah, notebook / laptop soundcards are usually quite noisy. Due to space constraints on the PCBs, signal integrity doesn't take priority..

okay, heres the skinny on the laptop headphone jack thing as per my experience not 2 hours ago:

I first tried plugging in the headphone jack out directly to the inputs on my amplifiers. not too good! very grainy, the gain was terrible, the bass was overpowering, there was massive amounts of static, the quality was all in all very low.

about three hours ago I purchased a PAC (too cheap to do pioneer) IP-bus RCA converter. for those who dont know, pioneer does not run AUX inputs for the preouts on their radios. to achieve this, they made an external device that plugs into their CD changer controls, and has RCA inputs. They even make a model (pioneer, not PAC) that lets you keep yoru CD changer AND run AUX inputs!

anyways, its teh same deal. headphone out on the laptop, into the IP inputs on my pioneer. what a world of difference! smells like teen spirit gained the kickdrum clarity back, the grain was gone, the general hiss dissapeared, cymbals lost their mud, everything was crisper, clearer, cleaner.

so they definitely have plenty of potential! I just dont think it can be easily done with a phono RCA converter, an amp, and nothing else.

**welthqa** · 07-23-2004, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by starfox

welthqa: you're not using some sort of group loop isolator are you? do you have anything connected in between the PC and your head unit / amplifier?

no, nothing. Link me up if you think something could help. my biggest complaint is the lack of bass.

**WhiteRabbit** · 07-26-2004, 09:41 PM

how is your system set up right now? is it computer - phonoRCA converter - FM modulator - car radio - stock car system ?

how is it different than your car fully stock?