LeoTheHamster

Some people might just want a headunit and carputer. The sound quality of a carputer is dubious what with many boards using the intergrated sound, coupled with mp3 (low quailty by ITS OWN DEFINITION), especially when compared to a good headunit. Coupling the two sounds like the best idea to me.

I for one want a setup that will tell me where I'm going, and will play a cd that I get from the Tesco on the way there, with the minimum of fuss

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Leo

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk

turbocad6

That's one of my points! burn a cd to mp3= degrade the sound, no ifs ands or buts about it, if you're a sound quality freak you will apreciate the subtle nuances of difference enough that you know the cd sounds better, & in the pursuit of perfection, better is always better. If you spend 5 times the money for an amp just because it is marginally better, & spend top dollar on the best speakers, the best rca's & processors, noise gates, high quality wiring,tune the system with an rta , work hard on getting a wide sound stage with pinpoint accuracy & "tingle your spine" vocals, why would you want to intentionally depend on a degraded compressed source, my original question refered to BETTER, not cheaper, IE; no fuss, & as good as possible PERIOD. cost is secondary in the pursuit of sonic excellence...

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MY NEWEST INSTALL:modded infiniti fx with big screen - "If my typing sucks it's probably because I'm driving....................."

first windows carpc install........my liquid cooled LVDS screen :D

LeoTheHamster

Bring back vinyl incar players!

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Leo

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk

VanMan69

Right on... Thanks a lot!

It's not so much that I have a lot of time on my hands (thankfully nothing has given me problems really since install), it's just that my van is like my pride and joy, and I love computers and music, so I'm just trying to fuse those areas as much as possible. I'd like to someday make a bad-*** gaming van with a beefy comp and a fat easy chair and a big-*** LCD. It would be more of a show car than my current van. Since I took out the TV and put in the LCD, I've got this compartment behind the LCD, and I've thought of putting in a wireless microphone/instrument receiver, or some other crazy equipment.

BTW, that Caddy is dope.

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95 Chevy G20 Vroom Boom Room
...with a whole bunch of nifty ****... go check it out: VanDomain Page

VanMan69

Yeah, I kept my HU. I listen to a lot of talk radio, both AM and FM, and it's nice to not have to turn on the comp if I don't really need it. It also gives me a volume knob right there, and the HU remote for volume, radio, and source switching.

As far as MP3 quality, if you get stuff ripped at 256k compression, it sounds pretty damn good. I notice an 'electronic' sound in the highs sometimes at 128k and a little bit at 192k. But I've also got stuff ripped at 320k+, and it's pretty clean.

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95 Chevy G20 Vroom Boom Room
...with a whole bunch of nifty ****... go check it out: VanDomain Page

turbocad6

That idea you have for a show van is what my astro will be basically, I am going to use a tiny xga projector on a huge drop down screen, like a 46"drop down widescreen panel. it will be extremely light with a honeycomb construction & reflective screen material, I did one already this way & wow, talk about sick...that one was only aroud 30" & it was totally insane, from the rear it looked like the whole back window was a huge screen.

as far as the caddy goes, that post is over two years old & since then I added a full alpine system to that one also.there is a 7" widescreen that pops up out of the top of the dash & 8's in the doors, illusion audio compression drivers under dash, all old school ppi art amps,eqt's, alpine dvd,I kinda went off on it, but it's been used for a few years so it's a little pounded now, I don't drive it anymore & i am trying to decide if I should just rip it all out & sell just the car for around 2g's or so, or try to find someone who would appreciate it enough to give me say 5-6 grand complete, it's worth that in parts alone...I may just throw it up on the bullitin board to see if there is any interest there...

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MY NEWEST INSTALL:modded infiniti fx with big screen - "If my typing sucks it's probably because I'm driving....................."

first windows carpc install........my liquid cooled LVDS screen :D

turbocad6

...also, even at 320+ k, mp3s don't have the same "dynamic range". I'll admit that it isn't very noticable to the average joe, but when you are obssesed your obssesed & back to" better is always better..."

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MY NEWEST INSTALL:modded infiniti fx with big screen - "If my typing sucks it's probably because I'm driving....................."

first windows carpc install........my liquid cooled LVDS screen :D

VanMan69

So long as the bass kicks clean, I'm happy.

__________________
95 Chevy G20 Vroom Boom Room
...with a whole bunch of nifty ****... go check it out: VanDomain Page

turbocad6

yeh, that's what I used to think...

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MY NEWEST INSTALL:modded infiniti fx with big screen - "If my typing sucks it's probably because I'm driving....................."

first windows carpc install........my liquid cooled LVDS screen :D

sdashiki

well moron, yer doing audio in a car.

You got 12V. Wow and HUGE amps.

Your house has 120v, hmmm more power more clean sound.

A car audio setup, competition or not (which is always just Db not testing the cleanliness of the sound) IS NOT FOR CRISP CLEAN STUDIO QUALITY SOUND.

And MY ******* GOD dont start on the 320k+ Mp3 encodings still not being CD quality, of course they arent its a lossy codec as we all know. BUT FOR GODS SAKE NO HUMAN BEING CAN HEAR THE DIFFERENCE FROM 160K and up, yer fooling yerself if you can hear the difference.

Now hearing a difference from a 320k mp3 and an audio CD, yes u can hear the difference, but like I said the system in yer car is not supposed to give you 600 channel EQ and perfect audio. Car audio is for nice sound not QUALITY (in that quality is say from a movie theatre sound system) sound.

Just dont come back saying YOU CAN hear the difference from 160k encoding and up, YOU CANT. THATS WHY MP3S WORK THE WAY THEY DO! The human ear's impercepibility.

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(----) 0.0%
No more loot for the carpute.
Trying to fit my 20" iMac into the dash... RF 600.5 amp, two 10" JLW0, 8 Infinity Components

turbocad6

Your statements here are sure to enlighten all here who REALLY know car audio as to whom the moron is, it can be me in your eyes, no problem...

"ignorance is bliss"

peace

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MY NEWEST INSTALL:modded infiniti fx with big screen - "If my typing sucks it's probably because I'm driving....................."

first windows carpc install........my liquid cooled LVDS screen :D

turbocad6

p.s. I never said I could here a difference between any different bit rates, but I'm a moron, so I probably could have said that anyway. maybe... what....dunoh?.. OH!...what?...help me...... ouch....I'm O.K., thank you...

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MY NEWEST INSTALL:modded infiniti fx with big screen - "If my typing sucks it's probably because I'm driving....................."

first windows carpc install........my liquid cooled LVDS screen :D

VanMan69

Don't they have volume/SPL (sound pressure level) competitions and quality/SQL (sound quality level) competitions?

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95 Chevy G20 Vroom Boom Room
...with a whole bunch of nifty ****... go check it out: VanDomain Page

turbocad6

sq competition is actually what founded car audio competitions, from back in the day when dave navone & richard clark pioneered this with speakerworks inc., I'm talking early to mid 80's,but db was introduced in the later 80's & grew much more appealing to the spectators & the general masses & by the early 90's & has a huge following so much so, that today there are actually SOME people out there that think that's all there is to car audio competition.

sq in a competition vehicle can be a truly amazing thing, if you ever have the oportunity to sit in a class winning sq competition car for any length of time I promise you that it would change your whole perception of car audio, big bad loud & heavy bass is only a fraction of what car audio competition is all about, fair warning though, if you had the oportunity to have a competition car you will be spoiled for life, as the average system that most think is great will sound like garbage to you, trust me

when you sit in a true competition quality sq car & close your eye's you will actually feel like you kicked your windshield out & have donna summer performing live in front of the car, acurate in all respects, from imaging to tonal acuracy, You will actually be able to, with your eyes closed, point your finger at exactly where the drummer was positioned in that recording, the system can be so transparent that you can't possibly locate the speakers audibaly, but you can tell that the saxaphone player was standing about 3 feet behind & to the left of the singer, it is intoxicating to have a system that good, better than sex man, mainly because it lasts a heck of a lot longer....

I think that's why I got some of the responses here that I got, because this isn't a car audio bb, but a pc in the car bb., & the majority here are not totally into sonic excellence, not that theres anything wrong with that, each person will judge car audio against the best that they have heard & the majority have never had the priviledge of experiencing audio bliss...it is as addictive as crack...without the ill effects, youv'e been warned...

an amature will tell you that they want the car to sound the way they like it, but a pro will tell you that it has to sound the way it's supposed to.... anything less than accurate is nfg.

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MY NEWEST INSTALL:modded infiniti fx with big screen - "If my typing sucks it's probably because I'm driving....................."

first windows carpc install........my liquid cooled LVDS screen :D

sdashiki

Supposed to? Yer ******* kidding me, no such thing.

Every sound system, home, concert etc, are all different NOTHING is ever the same as it was recorded.

WHy do you think u got peeople who rattle yer windows and those who actually PLAY MUSIC LOUD. Cuz they think it sounds the way its supposed to, DEEEP BOOMING BASS, and other want all around loudness.

A pro? Gimme a break no such thing. We arent talking studio producers and engineers who have a better ear than most, we talking car audio. Car audio pro is an installer, not a tweaker, its always up to the driver/owner.

Supposed to sound? WTF is that.

__________________
(----) 0.0%
No more loot for the carpute.
Trying to fit my 20" iMac into the dash... RF 600.5 amp, two 10" JLW0, 8 Infinity Components