c0rrupti0n

Was reading some good threads out there regarding sound card voltage and line drivers. Many thanks to "Red GTI VR6" as she seems to have a strong clue in on car audio...

I have a little engine whine, and am in the process of eliminating it... I plan for a 5.1 with DPS setup. I was wondering if I could just buy a 2 channel line driver and add it direct from the SPDIF out on my EPIA m10000. Then to the DPS? Or do I need a 6 channel line driver to power from the DPS to the AMPS?

If i can just get a few volts gain and save money by buying a few channel Line driver to increase SPDIF voltage, then im "golden"...

But Im not certain that would work? Any advice?

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ElKeeed

spdif is digital. it wont pick up whine and a line driver won't make any difference unless it is not working.

c0rrupti0n

Thanks Elkeeed... Was uncertain, i believe im going to have to purchase a line driver regardless if im going 5.1 because my volume output just doesnt cut it... So now i will shoot for a 6 channel line driver atleast 8v i suppose. I plan to implement it as follows:

From Epia(SPDIF) --->DPS (6 RCA out)--->Line Driver --->AMP --->Speakers

ElKeeed

From Epia(SPDIF) --->DPS (6 RCA out)--->Line Driver ------------->AMP --->Speakers

If you are doing this then why are you bothering with the digital output at all?

From Epia(SPDIF) ---------------------------->DPS (6 RCA out)--->AMP --->Speakers

What you should be doing is this. The amp should have adjustable gain and since you have 6 outputs rather than splitting stereo to 4 channels like some people do there should be absolutely no need for a line driver.

c0rrupti0n

I have two amps... both gains are maxed out, yes it sounds loud and thumps nice, however no where near in comparison to my previous analog setup. Theres no point in haveing two rockford amps if you can use them to there potential... :/

Also been reading around regarding maxing the gain at either amp or epia windows controls... Doing this distorts the quality, now if a line driver comes into play you can set all volume gains at mid range and still have it louder with maintained quality then I do now...

Correct me here, I spent many days now researching.

I just wasnt certain where the line driver goes in a digital setup, i now know thanks to you "EIKeeed"

ElKeeed

Ah I see. I think you may get the same distortion as maxing the gain at the epia.

c0rrupti0n

I hope not, but the idea is that physically it the amp and line driver will be mid range or a bit higher, and so there would be plenty of voltage left to carry a quality signal even with the epia volume at max. Atleast thats the idea, we will find out.

schreibers

First off... lower the gains on your amps. On most amps anything more than 1/2 or 3/4 is noise floor city plus you have to realize the output on the motherboard/soundcard itself isn't all that. If you were running an analog setup in this situation you're on the right track and i'd highly suggest a line driver using an internal/external sound card with RCA outputs to eliminate distortion and noise issues . From there for a 2 channel setup you can go right to the amps or an external DAC like the Apogee MiniDac or McIntosh MDA4K/5K if you're an SQ buff like me. But in answer to you're question.. no you can't use a line driver with a digital output.

The SPDIF out is a coax out which is good because it's digital! Since you want a 5.1 solution you're not going to get much more bang for the buck than the alpine H701/H700 which will take advange of the toslink input and has a 4V output. That way you're going to have a digital run to the trunk, then shorter analog rca runs from the processor to the amps which will also help eliminate any pesky noise issues you may have as well as give you quite a bit of processing ability. RedGTV6 has the same setup and i'd not hesitate to take her advice

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c0rrupti0n

Cheers schreibers I appreciate your insight.

I had no idea that gain has quite that much of an impact but i was under the impression that it causes lower quality output... So I will ensure i drop her quite a bit then. As far as a DPS, im currently testing out Midiland's ADS-3000 I'm a bit dissatisfied with it. As it doesnt play the rear speaker channel during non surround media. So im now in search for an alternative device, but400+ beans is a tad much right now. I hoping to find something 100-200 range. So far my options seem limited to alpine and well thats all ive found :/

Anyways yeah admire RedGTIVR6, shes seems to have a real grip on audio/electronics. Thanks again schreibers.

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