WickedRX7

Okay, let me begin by saying I have been reading this board for atleast 6 to 8 months, contemplating an idea of putting a carputer in my RX7. I have finally decided to do it. I built my own computer and did my entire car stereo install, so I am faily knowledgeable once install time comes. Now, my main goal is a pure dolby digital 5.1 surround sound sq setup, mostly for mp3's and maybe gps later. I plan on buying the Xenarc 7" screen and also plan on keeping my Alpine CDA-9853. So here's how I plan on running the system...
Computer -> Alpine h/u -> alpine pxa-h701 processor -> amps -
> Sea Lotus Reference comps. Ok here comes a ton of questions, since im running a h/u do I need a high quality sound card or even one at all, if I do need a souncard what would an efficient one be? Next, I want to run optic cables as well, do i run those from the computer to the h/u than an optic cable from the h/u to the processor, or do i use a special alpine cable from the h/u to the processor, which one would be better? Also I dont have a center channel for 5.1, how do i set that up, or should i just buy a center channel speaker as my stock bose system had one, and I could definetly add one, just not sure if its worth the extra time. I plan on using an Athlon moble xp-m processor 2400+, but I have no idea what board to run. I hear there are problems with the shuttle,biostar and msi boards. Money is really of no object here, I mean within reason, my component speakers were $800 alone, so I dont mind spending a little extra money for the carpc, I really want this to be one hell of a sq system, hence the optic cables and the processing. Leaning towards an opus 150w power supply, but now im starting to look other places, as I am always seeing posts on troubles with them, but i DEFINETLY dont want to use an inverter. Are the choice of cables MONSTER or what other cables would you guys reccomend. Thanks for any info you can provide me with, I am really appreciatve and can help you with any rotary questions BTW heres a quick pick of the install car. Im sure ill add questions to this thread as I come across them, I plan on ordering parts this weekend, again thanks for any productive input.

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Legarcondemerde

Nice car. My friend has one of those. After his fourth rotary, he did the LS6 conversion...it is scary fast. If you're serious about SQ, then yes, you will still need a soundcard. Even if your headunit is great, and you use an auxiliary input adapter, it will be useless if you computer output is crap. You could run optical from the soundcard to your processor, but it would probably save you a lot of headaches if you just used the Alpine cable from your headunit to your processor, but this may make true 5.1 impossible (unless you're going to use the processor for the master volume control, in which case, go for it). You'll want a soundcards with a S/N ratio of AT LEAST 100 db. The type of soundcard you should use really depends on your setup--you could either go PCI or USB. I have a Soundblaster audigy 2 PCI card that I've been pretty happy with in one of my vehicles. Your center channel speaker is basically a big tweeter. It's probably going to be difficult to find a good speaker that will fit in the opening without some serious modification, even a 3.5" is too big. Good choice on the AMD processor, I hear it has good specs and low power consumption, but alas, I have no personal experience with the AMD stuff. I would definitely consider the Opus 150 as an option (I have one and I love it), but I have also read good things about ZootJeff's power supply. Monster cable stuff is good, but there are a lot of other good companies around too. Many people use Stinger cables, some of the Rockford Fosgate stuff is decent, but there are many, many more. I would say as long as you install it correctly, and don't get cheap, crappy cables, you'll be fine. Good luck.

WickedRX7

Thanks for the response, I did some more searching and decided to go with an Asus A7N8X mobo with the amd m 2400+. I would probally go with a pci soundcard as well. You said to run an optical from the soundcard to the processor, so skip the entire h/u completely? Im going to store both the processor controller and h/u in the glovebox as I have no room anywhere else, so I would like to control the volume through the computer, or some type of wire i could run from the glove box to the center console. input welcome as always.

Legarcondemerde

I've had good luck with Asus stuff. You could by pass the H/U entirely for the sound, it really depends on the processor. If the processor has a volume control, which you will use for the entire system, then you can bypass the headunit. I am not familiar with the Alpine processors, so I'm not sure about their specifics. I just found this, it sounds like these guys are the in-car 5.1 experts. Good luck.
http://mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=24884

rotarypower101

Any update on this?

nice car by the way...

WickedRX7

sent you a pm, but for anyone else heres what im buying/ plan on ordering.
msi board BOUGHT
amd xp-m 2400+ NEED TO BUY
corsair 512mb pc2700 BOUGHT
opus 150w BOUGHT
seagate 120gb hd BOUGHT
e-mu 0404 sound card NEED TO BUY
xenarc 7" NEED TO BUY
alpine pxa-h701 NEED TO BUY
undecided on what comps i am going to use
all arc amps NEED TO BUY
focal utopia 13" in the back NEED TO BUY

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