raverx3m

i have been trying to figure out how to get a great sound and ease of use out of my future car pc setup.
from what i understand there are few ways to do this.

sound card>preamp>car amplifier
usb DAC>preamp>amplifier
usb soundcard>preamp>amplifier
sound card with optical output>optical amplifier

and then i need software to set the crossover and adjust eq from the PC

for example alpine MRA-F350 5 channel digital amp with optical input.
is that same type of optical input or is the standart for car audio optical different from normal PC optical.
can i just hook up that amp to an audio card with optical out or a DAC?

or does it only work with alpine units with optical out?
since it has crosover and EQ buit in.



from what i understand the less processing you have in line the better sound.
so then the best sound quality would be an optical output going directly to the amplifier and then second shoice would be a USB DAC >preamp > car amplifier.




the cheapest way to get great sound would be?

MP3Car.com

 

Extide

I am using a PC with onboard sound and optical SPDIF out (optical is nice for eliminating ground loops!) into the Alpine PXA-H701/RUX-C701 setup which has optical inputs and then ananlog outputs for each channel (it can do things like 2xStereo for rear speakers, or even DTS/Dolby is you can output it) then I take the analog outs to my amps (components on JL 300/4) and it seems to work pretty well.

The way I did it is like:
PC/Sound Card --(Optical)--> Alpine DSP --(RCA)--> Amps
I opted to use the DSP at all because i wanted some 'hard' volume control and as far as car-based stuff goes that alpine setup is pretty slick, it really does some cool stuff (but it is pretty damn expensive too!)

I guess you can really do it any way you want, you listed a few ways. See what kind of budget you are on and then you can probably start figuring out the road to take.

As far as your question about the amp with optical input it will for sure support PCM (2-channel audio, prtty standard), and MAYBE support DTS/Dolby (Multi channel), you will need to check specs!

Also remember that an amp with digital inputs just has a DAC inside of it and STILL does the AMP stage in analog just like any other amp.

__________________
Car: 2004 GTI VR6 24v Turbo 2.8L, GT35R, 630cc, Unitronic, Bosch 044, etc, etc..
Main PC: Q9550@4Ghz, 8GB DDR2, Asus P5Q-E, Win 7 x64 RTM, Scythe Mugen2, 128GB G.Skill Falcon, 2x ATI4850 512MB Crossfire, Auzentech X-Fi Forte, Grado Labs SR-80

MP3Car.com