Carputer integration with HUGE car audio system, help please

**Nic** · 10-23-2004, 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by ColdPhreze

You should NOT simply use a splitter on the audio out from the sound card. It will cause several things, but most importantly it will decrease both the quality and volume of the audio. You will need to invest in several quality external crossovers.

I disagree with this, as long as you have a decent sound card that will cope with driving several amps and decent quality cables there shouldnt be a problem (and as long as you dont split the cables too many times)

**LeoTheHamster** · 10-24-2004, 12:47 AM

Originally Posted by Nic

(and as long as you dont split the cables too many times)

In which case you would be better off using a multi-channel line-driver, such as the Vibe Deltabox

**edrock200** · 10-24-2004, 01:40 AM

Originally Posted by Nic

I disagree with this, as long as you have a decent sound card that will cope with driving several amps and decent quality cables there shouldnt be a problem (and as long as you dont split the cables too many times)

Thats kinda the problem, he's running 8 channels into 4 amps...

**edrock200** · 10-24-2004, 01:49 AM

Originally Posted by no1knows

You should also consider the fact that by using dual monitor, or monitor/TV in your situation you can display different applications on different screens, i.e. media car on yr VGA screen, DVD on the headrests.

How do you do this? Dual monitor setup? Or do you mean actually have a seperate dvd player to drive the second video input?

**carputervirgin** · 10-27-2004, 02:06 PM

that is a big system alot of bass, I am trying to do the same thing in my car. but why a 5.1 sound card why not a regular 2 channel sound card do the mini plug to rca conversion then go into a line driver, then into a three way x-over. i only ask this because it dosnt sound like he has the setup for surround sound and he seems really intent on having lots of music. has anyone ever measured the preamp voltage on a set of rca's form a computer I would be willing to bet it is real low I think I will measure that this weekend.

**ColdPhreze** · 10-27-2004, 03:58 PM

acutally, the preamp out from a pc is better than most head units. I replaced my sony headunit and sound quality improved quite a bit. My brother replaced his Alpine head unit, and once again, quality improved quite a bit.

**ash** · 10-27-2004, 04:15 PM

How do you do this? Dual monitor setup?

(Corect me if i am wrong) The MII 10000 has onboard vga and composite/S-video out. You can run the Vga to your 7'' and the S-video/composite to a splitter and then to your screens. It's all onboard the motherboard

**turbocad6** · 10-28-2004, 01:46 PM

I have found that most pc soundcards, internal or external usually have an output voltage in the 2v range, whereas a high end head unit will be at least 4v & some are as high as 8v. this makes a real difference when you are running multiple amps. & I don't think pc hardware manufactures ever consider this as a probability, (there's a business oportunity for someone inclined to do that) you can add line drivers to help remedy this, I have done one with an external usb soudblaster extigy & it worked well., the side benifit of a setup like this is that that particular soud card will also funtion stand alone, without the pc if necissary, & you could play a different source through it with the pc off & still have volume control through it among other features.

at this point in time I still think that an all out competion system is still better of being based on a hybrid system as oposed to a full pc front end, maybe this is just my opinion, but I have had a lot of experence with both pc car installs & competition in car audio, for whatever that's worth. check out this thread for more input on this:

can a carputer replace a high end av dedicated system?

**DiB** · 10-31-2004, 11:13 AM

I have a loud system in one of my cars; 152db loud. I would think about using one of those usb flash drives as your system HD. It will be a bit slower then normal but all the vibrations from the bass wont affect it unless you build a custom HD harness to deaden the vibrations on a normal HD. I know this is one reason for me going to a carputer, my cd changer can't run without skipping.

For your connection woes you might need a better EQ, or a line driver, or if you still have a free pci slot there are a nice selections of sound cards that can output to almost any connection type. I run all zapco gear so I just run one of their inline amp cables from the av brain to the amps. With the right sound card and eq/signal processor it's not hard unless you want perfect sound which costs several thousand.

Look at some audiocontrol products if you aren't already familiar with them.

**rmjjensen** · 12-04-2004, 06:37 PM

Well, if you have such an extreme setup than don't mess with a sound card honestly. Just get something with a digital output and use a digital signal processor to split the signal the best. Why?

Pros
-You'll have a high preout voltage from the DSP
-You'll get the cleanest possible sound form the computer
-You're completely isolating the grounds from the computer and the audio system
-You won't get noise
-You have control of the volume
-You can plug a LOT of input devices into the DSP
-Signal Processing
-Dolby Digital/DTS Surround sound capabilities
-Built in crossovers/Equalizers in the DSP

Cons
-Expensive - but with all the money invested in the audio system you don't have a choice

I strongly recommend the PXA-H701 from alpine ...probably the best investment I made with my setup.

Good luck with everything. But I have strictly a computer in mine with no issues. Was able to reach 146dB with just the 2 subs I got. Don't worry - the computer hardware will still function, just make sure it's all SCREWED down!!