If I get an audigy 2 sound card, will the RCA plugs sound good? - Page 3

bungee91 · 10-05-2006, 11:54 AM

Scott FX look here

I am in the same area of CarPC here and have pretty much decided on the EB01 (Unless I hear something special about the "Douglas" DAC)
I am wondering though, I have heard talk of powering the DAC with external power from say a DC-DC convertor. As this sounds like it would have a much cleaner signal with no routing through the motherboard. Has anyone tried this as of yet?. (I searched and found no one)
Would it be pretty much as simple as taking the +5V and GND line from the USB cable and splicing into your power supply?.. I have a DSATX and would certainly try this route out as it sounds to be a cleaner supply of power, so anyone as of yet?.. If so I will certainly guinea pig if the wiring is pretty much that straight forward. I have no problem with having to maybe make the output of the power time delayed or anything of that matter.

Also I have seriously been considering getting a line driver for added signal voltage to the amps. I was thinking of one of the models that have the 2 channel in and 6 to 8 channel out. I really only need Front and subs but will require "some" rear fill when I have passengers in the backseat, if they aren't there well then they will not be in use! Without having a line driver or something to split the signal how would I get a lowlevel out to another amp, or hack something into the factory bose amp for the rears (that would be ideal!) It looks like I will be running a Nine.1 and a Nine.2 and could utilize the pass through feature of the amp but that only gets me to 2.1 and not 4.1.

scott_fx · 10-05-2006, 02:29 PM

just as a disclaimer, all of these theories and ideas may not be ideal, but they are what i have worked out to either work for me or make sense to me. if anyone cares to chime in and correct me, please do.

Quote: Originally Posted by FyreDaug

heyyy what about this: Check out the 2.8V rms output, is this right??

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...4079&CatId=107

EDIT:

The last line means what? +8 -8 V to what exactly? Up the pre-amp to that?

What about a line "cleaner" or anything, where I can take that rca output, clean it up and then send it to the amps. TO still get rid of that hiss

it does appear that 2.8v is what you'll be getting. I'm not sure how the -8, +8 translates to improved audio, i'm still learning too.

what 'hiss' are you talking about? could you please explain this? is it coming from your amps (gain turned up too much) or is it coming from soundcard (what you hear with headphones connected to it?)

Quote: Originally Posted by Ruffy

How about laptop solutions

I'm torn between using a spare laptop or building a real carpc. The laptop would be much cheaper for me. I dont want to use the silverstone as it's only stereo output. I'd like at least dedicated 2.1 output.

Thinking about the NX and ZX pcmia cards and a soundstream Crossover/EQ(Does line boosting I believe)

I'm trying not to spend over $200 total on just getting sound from my computer to my amps.

if you want 2.1 for under $200 i'd look for a used audiocontrol 24xs (i think i sold mine for $80) and the silverstone dac for the best sound.

Quote: Originally Posted by Ruffy

you wouldnt happen to still have the alpine pxa-h701? I've also been considering going all out and buying that

nope, sold it to jcdillin

Quote: Originally Posted by bungee91

Scott FX look here

I am in the same area of CarPC here and have pretty much decided on the EB01 (Unless I hear something special about the "Douglas" DAC)
I am wondering though, I have heard talk of powering the DAC with external power from say a DC-DC convertor. As this sounds like it would have a much cleaner signal with no routing through the motherboard. Has anyone tried this as of yet?. (I searched and found no one)
Would it be pretty much as simple as taking the +5V and GND line from the USB cable and splicing into your power supply?.. I have a DSATX and would certainly try this route out as it sounds to be a cleaner supply of power, so anyone as of yet?.. If so I will certainly guinea pig if the wiring is pretty much that straight forward. I have no problem with having to maybe make the output of the power time delayed or anything of that matter.

Also I have seriously been considering getting a line driver for added signal voltage to the amps. I was thinking of one of the models that have the 2 channel in and 6 to 8 channel out. I really only need Front and subs but will require "some" rear fill when I have passengers in the backseat, if they aren't there well then they will not be in use! Without having a line driver or something to split the signal how would I get a lowlevel out to another amp, or hack something into the factory bose amp for the rears (that would be ideal!) It looks like I will be running a Nine.1 and a Nine.2 and could utilize the pass through feature of the amp but that only gets me to 2.1 and not 4.1.

The silverstone is a good solution on the cheap. The douglas dac that i have is pretty much custom built so you can improve the components that you want. I am very pleased with it (i'm curently listening to it right now). The machine i use at work has the worst audio i've ever heard from a computer, there was so much noise i could 'hear' my mouse moving. I hooked up the douglas dac and every bit of the noise was gone when i had the volume pot set to about 1/2-3/4.

I thought about using a dedicated power supply as well, but i dont see any need for it right now. the dac seems to do a great job of giving me clear audio.

you could always get two nine.2's. and one nine.1 you can either use the pass through feature and internal eq's to get 4.1 or you could get an active x-over. (did that answer your question)

bungee91 · 10-05-2006, 09:15 PM

Well not exactly on answering my question, but it does make sense what you are saying. The thing is I wouldn't use another nine.2 just for rear fill and if was in need of a 4 channel amp, then I would just get a higherpowered one and call it a day. I really don't get into rear speakers, but it does take away from passengers when there is nothing. Lets say this as it would relate, if I did do a 4 channel amp how would I get the 4 inputs?. I would think the use of a line driver/crossover would do the trick.
Also would you feel that boosting the signal from 3 volts up to about 7 (limit of nine.X) would improve the output? This would be with very short leads between compnents.

I think I will e-mail Douglas and see what he thinks, and see if we can work something out. For the most part since his DAC is configurable it more or less confuses me more than anything. Hopefully he would be helpful in this situation as it would only be used for Carpc installation. From your experience do you think the soldering of the components could be done with time allotted by an average solderer? I have done PS2 modchip installs many of times, and that is pretty intracate work, I am just not sure how hard it is to solder the IC's or various components of the DAC.

FyreDaug · 10-05-2006, 09:42 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by scott_fx

it does appear that 2.8v is what you'll be getting. I'm not sure how the -8, +8 translates to improved audio, i'm still learning too.

what 'hiss' are you talking about? could you please explain this? is it coming from your amps (gain turned up too much) or is it coming from soundcard (what you hear with headphones connected to it?)

The hiss im talking about is there on regular HU's too. When you turn it up to like max volume you get that faint "loud volume" hiss in the background.

RedGTiVR6 · 10-06-2006, 07:23 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by FyreDaug

Im gonna be running quite the system. 4 speakers for the front with 2 amps. 2 rear speakers with an amp, and a 12" 1000w good sub. How im going to wire it up is simple. Front out from the card will go to 1 amp, which will power 2 front speakers. Then the RCA out from there will go to the other front amp for the other front speakers.
Then the rear out will go RCA's to the sub amp, which has RCA outputs aswell, to the rear amp for the 6x9's I bought.

Im just wondering how good those are going to be coming off the computer with those headphone to RCA converters. Anything else I can look into? I definately dont want this to cause problems with quality.

sound is subjective.

running in this manner, I wouldn't personally waste my time.

However, your ears may not be as sensitive as mine, or they may be even more sensitive if you've trained them as such.

don't expect absolute excelent sound going this route. There's simply not enough voltage out of these cards to provide an amplifier with a high enough noise floor to prevent induced noise.

FyreDaug · 10-06-2006, 10:58 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by RedGTiVR6

sound is subjective.

running in this manner, I wouldn't personally waste my time.

However, your ears may not be as sensitive as mine, or they may be even more sensitive if you've trained them as such.

don't expect absolute excelent sound going this route. There's simply not enough voltage out of these cards to provide an amplifier with a high enough noise floor to prevent induced noise.

Dont mean to be rude but have you read the thread? Seen the other card?

RedGTiVR6 · 10-06-2006, 11:07 AM

yes, I'm answering the question as well for people other than yourself who would be in this forum reading and researching.....

btw I didn't we have a thread going a while back scott about this exact same thing?

bungee91 · 10-06-2006, 11:29 AM

I am confused a bit here too, considering the card he is referring too supposedly has 2.8v rms output on the outputs (didn't look just going by what was said). I would certainly think 2.8 volts would be acceptable for each input to an amp but I am just going off of thought here and not actual facts. I am nearly certain I personally am going the DAC route, but I would just like to know about this.

scott_fx · 10-06-2006, 01:22 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by RedGTiVR6

btw I didn't we have a thread going a while back scott about this exact same thing?

i think so, but i'm not sure. this thread kind of grew out of control

FyreDaug · 10-07-2006, 02:05 PM

yeah it sure did, im gonna try out that card.

Wilsman00 · 10-08-2006, 06:07 AM

Hey I am a little behind on the knowledge and have never used a dac before. But I am planning a carputer right now and was also planning on using a Audigy 2 ZS as an audio card. I understand through all the links where the silverstone dac is better due to the quality and power, but I am confused on 1 thing. Does the dac take the place of the sb soundcard?

So the setup would be computer - dac- amps etc...

Or does the setup need a sound card still. I know its a noob question but I am getting lost and I need to know this stuff lol.

bungee91 · 10-08-2006, 10:32 AM

Yes the DAC would take the place of the soundcard. In fact it seems like most of them also don't require drivers and will just use the default windows drivers and see it as a USb speaker or something of the sort (don't quote that, didn't wanna look it up)
The silverstone I believe has RCA outputs so yes PC/DAC/Amp
Now the silverstone has a pretty decent voltage output so you would be good to go. If need more than 2 channels as Scott fx has said you can utilize the passthrough in your amp if applicable, or use a line driver/crossover to establish more outputs.

I have been speaking with Douglas lately on the use of his DAC and hope to have some info on it soon. As I do I will post in this thread and if I get it up and running I will post a thread regarding my experiences.
Scott fx if you happen to read this how do you like the sound of the Opa2132 op-amp in that DAC? I am thinking of building mine around the Ad8620 which is very comparable in terms of DC offset. I am hoping to power mine by means of the Dc-Dc convertor and am talking with Douglas about the situation. If not it isn't a big deal, I was just hoping with more current available on the input I may be able to get a higher voltage on the output.

Ruffy · 10-08-2006, 11:46 AM

I'm considering the Silverstone. But wouldnt a dedicated 2.1/5.1 otuput be better than using amp passthroughs or linedriver/crossover/eq setup for the subwoofer channel?

scott_fx · 10-08-2006, 12:51 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by bungee91

Yes the DAC would take the place of the soundcard. In fact it seems like most of them also don't require drivers and will just use the default windows drivers and see it as a USb speaker or something of the sort (don't quote that, didn't wanna look it up)
The silverstone I believe has RCA outputs so yes PC/DAC/Amp
Now the silverstone has a pretty decent voltage output so you would be good to go. If need more than 2 channels as Scott fx has said you can utilize the passthrough in your amp if applicable, or use a line driver/crossover to establish more outputs.

I have been speaking with Douglas lately on the use of his DAC and hope to have some info on it soon. As I do I will post in this thread and if I get it up and running I will post a thread regarding my experiences.
Scott fx if you happen to read this how do you like the sound of the Opa2132 op-amp in that DAC? I am thinking of building mine around the Ad8620 which is very comparable in terms of DC offset. I am hoping to power mine by means of the Dc-Dc convertor and am talking with Douglas about the situation. If not it isn't a big deal, I was just hoping with more current available on the
input I may be able to get a higher voltage on the output.

i'm really enjoying the sound. while listening to it through my headphones, though i have no hands on car audio experience with the dac yet. i hope to get my car wired up in the next two weeks since i finally have some time off from work to hammer the install out. The sound is very warm and lively of the apa2132 and i'd highly suggest it.

on a side note, my computer doesn't recognize it as a set of usb speakers, it actually recognizes it as an 'usb dac'

Quote: Originally Posted by Ruffy

I'm considering the Silverstone. But wouldnt a dedicated 2.1/5.1 otuput be better than using amp passthroughs or linedriver/crossover/eq setup for the subwoofer channel?

it's hard to say. if you want true 5.1 surround then the silverstone isn't for you. another thing to consider is the output voltages of most soundcards. compared to 2.1, i think that using the passthrough and internal eq's with a dac would be better then most soundcards in the same pricerange as the dac... but i could be proved wrong. All i know is that the douglas dac that i'm using is at least 'on par' with the echo gina card so far. i'll find out real results when i test them in the car.