turbocad's Cadillac DTS dual pc setup with high end audio - Page 2

BarryWoods · 12-26-2006, 01:23 AM

Would be cool to set it up like a MPCD in a fighter or in the newer jumbo's. Have a row of keys down the sides that select menu items down the side of the screen.

Kinda like this.

http://www.astronautics.co.il/downlo...tures/map1.jpg

turbocad6 · 12-26-2006, 01:28 AM

no touchscreen is not an option... I hate it when someone pokes at the screen & nothing happens... it needs to be there just for the sake of it not being "missing"... I always run another mouse control anyway, & buttons could be done even with the touchscreen ...

I should be picking up the car tommorow... can't wait... I feel like a kid with a new toy

RedGTiVR6 · 12-26-2006, 08:31 AM

I'll second the touchscreen thing.

Sure, you can use a touch pad, but I just can't imagine trying to do most of the things on these CarPCs without a TS....especially while driving.

With a TS, you just have to touch what you want to do. With a touch pad, you have to maneuver the cursor to where you want and click it.

Much quicker with the TS.

While I understand that some cars dashes might not be easy to reach, in most cases I can see a TS being the most useful.

SnowDrift · 12-27-2006, 10:45 PM

I'm trying to persuade anyone out of a ts. I got one and ain't giving it up any time soon. It's by far the simplest and easiest way to go. But I don't think it's the only option especially if you're looking at or thinking about using a non touch screen and not afraid of adding some buttons and stuff.

Plus I was hoping Turbocad6 might go this route so I can get some ideas for what I want to do with my project.

Don't you just love that new car feeling?

turbocad6 · 12-28-2006, 11:43 PM

I got the car... what a car.... it's really quick & really comfortable... I love the heated massaging seats & the triple zone climate control & the 300hp northstar... the car rides beutiful.... I think I got a pretty good car at a pretty good deal... best $7,600 I ever spent on a car

I haven't had a chance to take the dash apart yet, or test fit my horns, maybe tomorrow if I get a chance...

this thing has the Bose setup... it even has a center speaker... it actually sounds pretty good... now nothing like a real system, I mean it still sounds like cardboard, but as far as stock systems go, it sounds great.... not that it matters that much, I mean it'll get trashed anyway.... but I'm not looking forward to all the work involved & I'm enjoying driving it to much to think about laying it up in pieces just yet...

I'm also a little leery still about having the PC as my only headunit... & I'm also pretty leery about having to rely on iguidance as my only navigation.... I'm seriously considering the alpine mod I spoke about... if I did that I'd have the whole alpine audio/video thing & the alpine navigation, & still have the carpc...

this is how I have it set up in my minivan, but on seperate screens, best of both worlds, but there is no way I'm going to consider multiple screens in this car up front, so the only way I'd do the alpine is if I can also hack into it & get my 800X480 native display on it too... I'd then use a touchscreen overlay for PC use, & in alpine mode it wouldn't respond to the touchscreen though... & I'd still be stuck with a 7" screen

I also haven't considered much yet about how I'll do the rear pc.... I'm thinking an overhead dropdown is going to be the best way to go... if I went with the alpine then I could live with just one pc shared front & rear, but if the front is all pc/ no head, then the rear may be a seperate pc I think....

I guess I haven't come up with a definate plan yet

turbocad6 · 12-29-2006, 11:57 PM

ok, partial disassembly & measuring... first off, the horns fit!!! I mean, I do have to relocate a computer box in the right side of the dash, & the emergency brake pedal on the left has to go, but nothing teribly difficult really...

for those that don't know what I mean by "the horns", I'm talking about a set of illusion audio ch-1's, which are arguably the best HLCD's (horn loaded compression drivers) ever produced, & edged out even the image dynamics pro series hlcd's in pretty much every comparison review back in the day.... these are more commonly known as "wave guides"

these horns are pretty amazing to listen too, & have been a favorite of mine for quite a while... I've had them in every car I've driven for a long time, & I don't know if I'll ever be as satisfied with a conventional tweeter...

these horns were built by a smaller manufacturer called illusion audio, a start up company who made high end exotic equiptment at the time... they built some increadable speakers, but were so expensive to produce, & the market for ultra high end just wasn't enough to sustain a continuos profit... end results were the company went out of business, & only about 1,000 pairs of these horns were ever built... I've collected 3 pairs, & if another crossed my path I'd probably pick them up too, within reason...

these horns retailed for like $1,200 when introduced & are really heavy, even though the horn throat is a magnesium alloy... the compression drivers themselves are huge & heavy... I got 2 of my sets off ebay & I paid an average of $300 a pair.... these are the ONLY 2 pair I've seen on ebay in the past 3 years too & I do a standing search for anytime anything illusion audio hits ebay

these horns will only fit large cars with enough room under the dash... I look for this room as a deciding factor on a car to buy really, that & the doors... everything else is workable, but these are the 2 important things to me building a heavy duty system... I knew this car would take them, & I haven't taken a door panel off yet, but I'm also like 95% sure I'll get a pair of illusion audio nd-8's in the doors at this point too...

the nd-8's are also pretty unique... they use a carbon fiber weaved cone, a rally shallow aluminum basket & they use a front mounted magnet assy, which is neodymium... the end result is, the driver is extremely shallow... I'm talking like 1.5" thick maybe total, & can fit where a normal 8" would never fit... these speakers are so thin that I have a set of nd-10's in my minivan with completely flush doorpanels, that's a 10" woofer flush in the door... on top of that they happen to be great speakers, & the sound quality is really top notch...

these horns & 8's pretty much garentee me an awsome system... the horns are foolproof in providing a nice acurate front stage, with excellent imaging & depth... it'll be up to my tuning to get the tonal acuracy & realizim

I think I may do one illusion audio nd-15 in the deck, but I haven't stripped out the rear yet enough to know what the best approach there will be for subs yet.... the 15" sub should fit I think, but there are a bunch of electronics back there & it may not be practical to do the 15" in the deck...

turbocad6 · 01-04-2007, 12:12 AM

not ready to take this car down & apart yet, still planning out the system...

I've got the screen down to 3 choices,

1 is the alpine d900 modified to show 800X480... I need to get my hands on one to disect it & see if what I want to do is possible...

2 is an 8.4" where the factory radio is...

3 is relocating the climate control & seperating the display from the controls....

the 8.4 would be real tight were the radio is, & has to be kicked back on an angle to fit, but should fit well... it would also be the easiest way to go here...

turbocad6 · 01-04-2007, 12:18 AM

the 10.4 would be a little more work, I took the climate control head apart & it is very doable... I kinda hate to loose the lower compartment... but might be willing to to have a 10.4....

meddler · 01-04-2007, 03:14 AM

the top pic with the 8.4" (post #22) looks like it was meant to be there. IMHO that's what I would do.

jnorion · 01-04-2007, 02:36 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6

that would be a very ambishous project... not sure if I want to get that nuts... then again..... maybe it wouldn't be that bad...

Somehow I didn't expect to see YOU shying away from an ambitious project.

Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6

best $7,600 I ever spent on a car

Did you seriously spend only $7600 on this? How the hell did you find a deal like that?

Quote: Originally Posted by meddler

the top pic with the 8.4" (post #22) looks like it was meant to be there. IMHO that's what I would do.

I agree with this. Moving the HVAC controls just looked a little weird, although it's hard to tell when it's just photoshop.

Booger · 01-05-2007, 04:36 PM

8.4"? Weak sauce. 10.4"? Eh.

12.1" boe hydis is the only real solution here. After careful consideration, I'm sure you will agree. It looks like you can even mount it in landscape view. I've seen your work before and I expect nothing less.

turbocad6 · 01-05-2007, 05:30 PM

yeah bro', my first thoughts were the same really.... I almost feel like I'm wimping out here, but I don't want to make it look ridiculous either.... I'm pretty surprised at how bad it fits together in portrait mode in this dash.... I just look at it with screens in place though & it just don't look right.... I really want bigger than a 7 or 8, but it just don't look right in person really... this car is kinda classy & I want to keep it that way

I'm really pushing for going with the alpine modded head at this point as first choice... I mean, in the end, I don't know if I could be really happy with a PC only solution in this car... the alpine multimedia heads do a great job & are superior to the carpc in certain respects, especially navigation & xm & terrestrial radio too... there are other benefits with a full alpine multimedia setup, but of course I still must have a PC.....

in the end, if I HAD to choose EITHER an alpine OR a PC, I'd choose the PC, but if I have my way, I'd really prefer both

.... gonna see if I can make that happen here..... I'd never settle for a composite pc display, but I have a scheme that may allow me to get a full 800X480 on the same display as my alpine, which would actually be the best set up possible & best of both worlds....

no one has ever been able to do this, many have tried to merge multimedia heads with PC's & the results always suck.... one guy came close by modifying a jvc on the rgb nav input, but it still wasn't great.... unless your achieving true 1:1 pixel ratio it'll suck..... I want to attempt this true 1:1 pixel display with the alpine head I have in mind..... if I pull that off it'll be the first one ever done...

one of my friends has an Iva d900 that I've been trying to convince him to just let me take it apart for exploritory.... it's amazing how paranoid some people can get when you start asking to take there stuff apart like this though..... I think I convinced him that it'll be fine, if he doesn't come through then the only choice I'd have is to buy one to try it....

if I can do the alpine, then that & one PC will be fine... if I can't do the alpine, & all front mains are PC only, then I'm going to probably want to do 2 PC's, so the back seat can use theres independantly....

this may be an issue of smaller & more sophisticated VS. huge.... we'll see

RedGTiVR6 · 01-05-2007, 05:55 PM

boooo combined audio system

hooray beer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5T02o6DCf4

BarryWoods · 01-05-2007, 09:49 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by RedGTiVR6

boooo combined audio system

hooray beer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5T02o6DCf4

See, that's just funny!

turbocad6 · 01-06-2007, 01:42 AM

yeah, I know YOU want it all pc

I may have no choice & have to go that route... I'm watching what you do with processing too, but I really think I'm going to stay away from that in this install.... I'm leaning more towards a really low powered setup that can survive always on, which is the oposite of what I'd really need to do all processing on board.... if the alpine makes it in here then it'll be another 700/701 deal maybe.... if not, then I may look at some of those stand alone pc programmed interfaces that have popped up recently...

I guess I'm just spoiled with the alpine....the navigation just blows away iguidance & pretty much everything else I've tried... igudance 3.0 w/ roadrunner looks real promising though... haven't tried it in the car yet... if I have to go pc only I'm going to really be cursing the first time I have to drive with nothing cause of an "issue" with the pc... I just don't like headaches & I don't like all systems down.... the alpine is always 100%, 100% of the time, no matter what....

we'll see....