Thread: What hardware and which PSU can I use with it ?

Thanks for the headsup!

Have the nettop in front of me right now, so I am going to do basic hardware and software install on it now, so guage the performance ! I will try and post some piccies as well!

Media HDD can be install via USB enclosure, and I am hapy with that semi-permanent solution, as that gives me loads of flexibility...

I am also looking for a reasonable Amp to fit with this kit... I am only going to use OEM Honda (probably BOSE) speakers for now... Current HU is 52W x 4 ...

Any suggestions on this front?

note: i wrote the below, and then remembered you never gave your car model/year, so all of this might not work... some cars have a factory amp that uses low voltage inputs-- this type of amp will connect directly to a carpc with minimal problems..

the other type of car uses either a headunit to power the speakers, or a amp that expects high voltage signals to power the speakers-- in this case, you need a aftermarket amp, and it is probably easier to bypass the factory amp..


anyways...

it depends on your budget..

there is the very small "motorcycle amps" on ebay that many members have reported to sound just as good as factory decks, that usually go for around $25-50..

there is also the car audio specific amps that go for $100+(the name brand stuff)...

i prefer the car audio specific amps, though i also use a carpc specifically for audio processing/manipulation, so i am slightly biased...

overall, either solution would get all the speakers working..

Hi,

Thanks for the comment. Hope you have had a good holiday. Mine was not so nice, as I broke my laptop on Xmas eve (a small strip cable connecting my HDD with m/b). Anyway, all is well now, since I managed to get a cable ...

Back to the carputer:
I have installed Windows 7, and XP on it, and it looks like a good system for Carputer. I need to work out the power for it now. The power adapter that came with the unit is for 19V, so by the looks of things I need a Carnetix P1900, which gives me 19V on primary and 12V on secondary power circuits, enough to drive my Zotac on 19V and Lilliput 7" monitor on 12V.

Would this be a good match?
Is there a better (or cost effective) solution out there for my circumstances?

Regarding the Audio Amp:
I drive a 2000 Honda Accord (European Spec). Its got 4 OEM Bose speakers driven by the headunit, currently an after-market Sony Xplod headunit (pumping 52W x 4). The car has also got an OEM Bose sub-woofer built-in, but because of some "funny" HONDA cabling, it can only be activated using the OEM Bose headunit, which I have removed long time ago! So I am not using the woofer at the moment.

Now, I have been told that I need a multi-channel Amp, to power the 4 speakers properly. Is this correct information or do I need a stereo Amp ?

Many thanks for reading...

The P1900 will definitely take care of your power needs. That's a popular power supply solution. If you are on a budget, you could use the DCDC-USB power supply for the PC, and then connect the Lilliput directly to a 12V source.

If you want to send audio to all four speakers you'll need either two 2-channel amps or one 4-channel amp. You can then use either a 5.1 sound card to send front and rear audio to the amp(s), or you can send just stereo and then split it using Y-cables. At first I used my 5.1 USB sound card, but I ended up just sending stereo output and splitting it at the amp.

You can also get a USB DAC instead of using a USB soundcard or onboard audio. DACs deliver some great sound, and there's a review of one in the car audio board. I'm waiting on mine to arrive, and I'm expecting a better audio experience (I hope anyway). Something else to consider, since you are still in the build stage.

I wanted to share some pictures for the ride and install location.

The first 2 pictures show the car from outside. The last picture shows the car interior. I want to remove the double DIN fillers in RED color box, and move the Climate Control from YELLOW box box down to the vacant RED box. This will leave me a nice and clean Double DIN space to install the 7" Lilliput display, which is already installed in a Blackbox Double DIN ABS casing.

Any comments to improve the install ?

Originally Posted by kegobeer

The P1900 will definitely take care of your power needs. That's a popular power supply solution. If you are on a budget, you could use the DCDC-USB power supply for the PC, and then connect the Lilliput directly to a 12V source.

I think I prefer the Carnetix P1200 option, as that offers an all-in-one-box option for me, without much issues (if there are any at all?)

Originally Posted by kegobeer

If you want to send audio to all four speakers you'll need either two 2-channel amps or one 4-channel amp. You can then use either a 5.1 sound card to send front and rear audio to the amp(s), or you can send just stereo and then split it using Y-cables. At first I used my 5.1 USB sound card, but I ended up just sending stereo output and splitting it at the amp.

You can also get a USB DAC instead of using a USB soundcard or onboard audio. DACs deliver some great sound, and there's a review of one in the car audio board. I'm waiting on mine to arrive, and I'm expecting a better audio experience (I hope anyway). Something else to consider, since you are still in the build stage.

I am looking at getting a 4 channel Amplifier, which will connect to all speakers. I am planning to use the onboard Sound Card for now. Would I be facing any issues with that ?

Cheers for taking the time to reply back!

Originally Posted by bym007

I am looking at getting a 4 channel Amplifier, which will connect to all speakers. I am planning to use the onboard Sound Card for now. Would I be facing any issues with that ?

Try it and see. I found that I was unhappy with the onboard audio quality and I was unable to do anything to the onboard sound quality (no software tweaks). By moving to a USB solution I had better quality and more config options available.

Just tried a silly little Dashboard mockup of before and after installation.. Basic Image editing skills at their best! lol

i agree with kegobeer..

for some ideas on really cheap amps, and so i don't repeat everything, check this thread i just posted some ideas in:
efficiency of head unit or eq?