Thread: not having a head unit

Originally Posted by daewoomofo

I hope this isnt the typical newbie question but...
Im planning on putting a computer in my car. I have the amp situaton set, and i want to go with no head unit and just use the PC as my audio/video sourse. I saw a while ago (while i was searching the forums) where some one commented on a piece of equiptment that you put between the pc and the amps the make it a preamp signal. The problem is that ive been searching for that, and i can't remember what it was called. As i remember you connected it to you audio cards out and then you connected your RCA cables to the other side of it (if i have it wrong im sorry). Please help, thanks in advance for any help.

you are thinking about the alpin pxa-h701 but you can hook up any soundcard or dac to an amp.
read here:
HOW TO: Get sound from PC to Car Stereo / Amp


don't forget:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/the-faq-emporium/

ok first of all the signal coming out of your computer is line level or pre amp level. you can plug this into an amp using the computer volume as your master or use outboard processing to be your volume control. i am using an alpine surround processor as my main volume control.

Originally Posted by albysure

ok first of all the signal coming out of your computer is line level or pre amp level. you can plug this into an amp using the computer volume as your master or use outboard processing to be your volume control. i am using an alpine surround processor as my main volume control.

You could do it that way at your own risk. I only say that because of the fact that the output of the motherboard are under-powered. It is a means to an end but I'd highly recommend the alpine

what do you mean under powered? thats why amps have gain controls-to adjust so you have a clean signal. now if you saying that you need higher voltage to get a beter signal to noise ratio, then i totally agree. my alpine amps are from the late 80's and they only can accept a 2v input.

and there are also line drivers which are included with all audio control eq's.

The voltage out of the mobo is usually .5v at best.

You really need around 2v going to the amps, 4 would be better.

If your signal level is too low, you will have a very low noise floor, meaning you will have quite a bit of induced noise. Yes, amps do have a gain that is used to match the input voltage, but they can't do it all.

If you start out with a stronger signal, you'll have less of a chance for induced noise.

sure.