im2fresh

Just installed my mac mini in my car using the P1900. Everything is working fine but the audio. The mac mini is connected to an 4 channel amp going to the car's stock speaker system but the audio sounds muffled. Any suggestions on what may be the problem?

onepuff

Did you have the amp hooked up in your car before to your cd player or radio? How do you have the amp hooked up to the mini? Dumb question but you do have the system volume turned up on the mini right? I know the volume goes down sometimes when you plug in an audio jack.

im2fresh

Before everything was stock, the amp was just added when the mac mini was. The amp is hook to the in/out port on the back of the mac mini and channeled to the rear and front door speakers. Yes I checked the volumes controls on mac mini as well. I just seems like something isn't hooked up right. Its sounds like a walkman is hooked up. No clearity at all.

pepsibobby

are you using an 1/8th out the back of the mini split up to the four channels on your amp?

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im2fresh

No, I dont think so. What is that?

natedawgg

one thing you need to check is if your amp has an eq built in, then you need to make sure that every eq in the mini is turned off. if you are using itunes, make sure the eq is off and that in preferences under playback that crossfade, soundcheck, and sound enhancer are not checked. if any of those are checked then it can really hinder the sound when pumped through another amp. it would also help if you got an external sound interface such as this one: http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic

im2fresh

I unchecked all the EQ setting in iTunes and that helped a little. This is the amp that i have:
http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/prod...&lang=en&tab=F
I will have to try using some type of usb audio interface and hopefully that will make a major difference.

natedawgg

yeah the usb audio interface will make the sound signal stronger and clearer, however on second thought, im not sure that is th smartest thing to try yet. with external amps, they take a line in input. typically this comes from the back of a head unit of some sort, that puts out the correct signal strength. external amps dont want a lot of power coming into them. in fact they want the exact opposite. they want a low level stable signal, that they can then amplify correctly. i think some people here have found a "middle man" solution with a head unit that takes the signal from your mini corrects it and then outputs it to your amp. One way of doing this is to get an aftermarket head unit that takes an Auxiliary input put also has pre amp outputs (outputs with the correct signal for your amp). this gives you the benfit of someone else doing all the hard work figuring out the correct signal, but then you have to find a place to mount the extra hardware. also i know there is a specific head unit out there just for this sort of thing. search the forums its in here somewhere i know (just not exactly sure of the exact location). good luck!

im2fresh

Thanks for all the info!

mr2mac

Hello,

I'd thought i'd give you my solution for sound on my install.

I use a grifin firewave soundcard:

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/firewave

It has the ability of 5.1 surround, it uses 1/8" or 3.5mm stereo mini jacks, so it can easily be hooked up to your amp by using these:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...31700&doy=28m4

The sound quality is good and I have no noise issues.

But the sound card does not remember its settings after a shut down. But I leave it in its default settiing which is good enough for me.

Hopes this helps.

nick

im2fresh

I already have one of these for a home studio, not sure how well this would work with the amp in my car

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...kPro-main.html