|
Car 5.1 Dsp Options Vs Pc 5.1 Dsp
There are only 2 useable mobile DSP’s that are compatible with PC’s the Audiobahn ADD51T & the Panasonic CY-AC300 EX or the older version the CY-AC300
First I will tell you why you need a mobile DSP versus a PC based DSP like the Extigy
Mobile DSP’s are engineered for harsh noisy 12 volt environments there power supplies
Are designed to block out the power surges and electrical noise from the alternator & ignition system
The RCA outputs are a minimum of 3 volts peak to peak because of this they block out 98% of the radiated noise and prevent & reduce the severity of ground loop noise that wine you hear from the ignition system & alternator in an automobile
PC based systems have a output of no more than 2 volts peak to peak & there power supplies have hardly any filtering they also use up computer resources & slow things down and often do not support Dolby Digital & DTS
Here are some terms that are often used incorrectly
Toslink is a connector used on some fiber optic cables but not all
SP/DIF is 1 a transmission protocol like USB & IEEE1394
2 it is also a transmission medium SP/DIF spec’s is a 50 ohm RCA cable also known as a digital audio cable
AC3 is an audio CODEC transmission protocol
Linear PCM also known as PCM is an Audio CODEC
Dolby Digital Dolby prologic I/II & DTS 5.1 are all audio CODEC’S
Here’s how it works
The computer gets the data form the DVD & sends it to a program like AC3 Filter witch extracts the codec you want say DTS then converts it to a AC3 stream and sends it to the sound card witch converts it to a SP/DIF data stream & sends it out the SP/DIF output or sends it out the fiber optic output as a SP/DIF data stream the SP/DIF signal sends the AC3 signal that is sending the DTS data to the processor where it is converted to separate analog signals kinda confusing I ain’t it
Here’s why other mobile DSP’s won’t work
The Audiobahn & Panasonic units are standalone units meaning they will work with any input that meets minimal requirements witch is a Toslink or Digital Audio cable sending a AC3 data stream they don’t require other equipment to work properly they also have built in volume controls other units require a stereo RCA signal to control the volume and it is not easy to run 2 sound cards on 1 PC and have both being used by the same program at the same time
The Pioneer DSP can be used if you use a pioneer head unit with it to control the volume
What you need to do is to cut the pioneer fiber optic cable & polish the cut end & then put it in a Toslink connector so you can plug it into a PC or SP/DIF to Toslink converter if needed
All other units Alpine Kenwood & so on can’t easily be implemented with a PC because of the volume control problem
|