can a carputer compete with a head unit for sound quality?

emdzey01 · 01-17-2005, 12:53 AM

i'm asking if a carputer would also have excellent audio quality vs. a head unit setup... the car's going to compete in a best sq event and i'm wondering if i'd get good sound quality with a carputer (no headunit)... i'm going to be using a creative sound blaster digital music for rca output into the amps.. would it be good?

oh and by the way, there's no audigy 2nx here in thephilippines that's why i'm stuck on a sb external usb sound card.

0l33l · 01-17-2005, 01:04 AM

Well if you think about it, if you bypass a headunit, you have less cables. The sound quality depends on the sound card. Skip the onboard sound. Creative labs products have a good reputation in the carpc group, but there are better sounding cards out there.

RedGTiVR6 · 01-17-2005, 07:56 AM

welcome, glad to see another potential competitor!

I'm building my second carpc set-up to compete in SQ events. Who is the sanctioning body that you compete (or will be competing) with?

My answer is absolutely yes! Think about it....a deck will never have the processing power that a computer will.....at least not for a while and not anytime in the near future. It does all boil down to your source unit, this is the case no matter if you use a computer or a conventional deck. It's all up to the sound card you use. yes, there are others that are greater than sound blaster, but I have yet to see any that have the wide range of products that creative has.....which can be helpful if you don't know which companies make good cards and which don't

BUT....with that said....it doesn't matter how good your sound card is, if the install, and/ or the quality of your wires and components isn't up to par it doesn't matter

what are you looking at running? what class? what amps? what speakers? ect....

edscholl · 01-17-2005, 09:33 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Red GTi VR6

My answer is absolutely yes! Think about it....a deck will never have the processing power that a computer will.....

and exactly how much processing power do you think you need to get quality sound?

RedGTiVR6 · 01-17-2005, 09:41 AM

for decoding...for imaging.....for setting up a sound stage, etc....

Caitlin · 01-17-2005, 10:21 AM

Think how the music is made in the first place... inside a PC (or mac)
computers are capable of producing sound many times better and more accurately than any cd you can stick into your head unit.
spend a few K on a pc and it'll rock harder than a normal head unit.

RedGTiVR6 · 01-17-2005, 10:29 AM

glad someone else knows what I am talking about

lol

and someone who is really INTO music at that

=]

edscholl · 01-17-2005, 11:12 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Red GTi VR6

for decoding...for imaging.....for setting up a sound stage, etc....

as i said, exactly how much processing do you think you need? it ain't a whole lot if you want to reproduce accurate sound, versus process the sound to make it sound different than the original source. this is because the information (imaging, sound stage, etc) you're using needs limited processing to begin with- it's simply included in the source.

IntellaWorks · 01-17-2005, 11:15 AM

I'd have to agree here a PC can produce better than CD quality sound, that is of course if your able to get that type of music.

If your competeing in sound competetions and you have a car pc, this might be a no brainer but make sure the sound your playing is at least CD quality. (128 K) With a pc in the car it's real easy to take your existing audio downloaded from the internet which can be ripped at less than CD-Quality and played over your car speakers...

It all starts with the Song file, if thats crap then it doesnt matter how good your audio system is...

edscholl · 01-17-2005, 11:15 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Caitlin

Think how the music is made in the first place... inside a PC (or mac)
computers are capable of producing sound many times better and more accurately than any cd you can stick into your head unit.

sure, more processing power can *produce* better sound, but not *reproduce* (i.e. play back) better sound. how do you suggest that a computer can produce better sound than the quality of your source (the cd)?

Quote: Originally Posted by Caitlin

spend a few K on a pc and it'll rock harder than a normal head unit.

i suspect that you aren't talking about accurate sound reproduction when you talk about it "rocking harder".

IntellaWorks · 01-17-2005, 11:22 AM

An afterthought to those who compete:

Let's say your competing for best car audio, do they have "test" media that they play in your audio system that must hit certian criteria from a measurring device ??

If they do does it from from a CD ?? If not it would almost be an unfair advantage to PC users, because you could easily get media that is like 512K bit rate (some real high quality sound) that a CD just couldnt hold or the HU doesn't support...

fantomas · 01-17-2005, 11:32 AM

SACD? DVD-a? DTS?

RedGTiVR6 · 01-17-2005, 11:33 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by IntellaWorks

I'd have to agree here a PC can produce better than CD quality sound, that is of course if your able to get that type of music.

If your competeing in sound competetions and you have a car pc, this might be a no brainer but make sure the sound your playing is at least CD quality. (128 K) With a pc in the car it's real easy to take your existing audio downloaded from the internet which can be ripped at less than CD-Quality and played over your car speakers...

It all starts with the Song file, if thats crap then it doesnt matter how good your audio system is...

the CDs that are used in USACi are recorded in 24 bit, most cds are recorded in 16 bit. Also, there is a HUGE difference in 128 k and the actual CD. I know you may not believe me, I didn't even believe it till I sat in the car and listened to the real CD and then listened to the 320K ripped copy....you lose a lot of the background music and small nuiances that make or break a good sounding system.

In true competition you have to use the CD that they provide for you. You can change the stage and everything else to account for that cd ahead of time, especially since those cds are readily avaliable....thus the reason that a computer would be VERY handy, have a setting for competing, and a setting for every day use....easy as a touch on the screen

kingtut · 01-17-2005, 11:51 AM

I haven't competed in SQ yet, but based on what gathered over the net, the organizers "supply" an official CD for you to play, you can't just take any music/source to the competition. So, now we know that all competing cars will play same source, CD. Again, I could be wrong, as usual.

So, the question now boils down to: Would the PC, through the CD drive reader reproduce SQ at the same level or better than a stand alone, HU based CD player ?

I strongly recommend that you hang around a Home Theater forum like thisThere are a lot of info regarding the subject. but keep in mind that they compare PC Vs. rack equipments.

One more thing, and I get lost here, based on my reading, cards like SB tend to up/down sample the source, that is why there are drivers that by pass the SB SW and go straight through the OS kernel, also, M-Audio is mentioned a lot in high-end audio since it "claims" that no re-sample involved, I know they have a USB card. So, hang around that forum and read & ask first.

Good luck.

edit: Red GTi VR6 beat me to it, I was right then

RedGTiVR6 · 01-17-2005, 11:55 AM

when I first competed with my CarPC, the first response from all of the judges was "DAMN!" when they got out of the car. They said that with a few little tweeks and tunes as far as mid range goes I would have a winning car.....that was last year, and I didn't have the time to continue, this year and this set-up are completely different....

going off of what the judges said and how they responded....I'm sticking with a carPC

EDIT: and kingtut - you are absolutely right about the media being provided by the sanctioning body

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