in-car Computer/stereo Help

Jacbs2007 · Post by **Jacbs2007** » November 1st, 2005, 9:39 pm

I'm currently making a Fiberglass sub enclosure for 2 12" eclipse subs and a 1400watt sony amp. I also thought up the idea to put a computer in my car...I would like to place the tower behind the center consol and ebrake and then have the DVD tray pop out just under my '92 GS's top lid. but my main problem is...How do I get the sound from my computer when playing dvd's...to my speakers? I'm gonna have to go into my head unit but how...and is the quality of the sound going to be crap? I was hoping I would be able to save all my cd's to this super powerful computer so I would'nt need to carry my billions of cd's with me and be constantly changing them. also I can run alot of programs for my car on it...

Thanks for the help guys.

Typhoonk · Post by **Typhoonk** » November 2nd, 2005, 2:08 pm

get a cd deck with aux. in. Then get some sort of ipod.

only get a computer in your car if it's gonna 1. Play movies, 2. do GPS, 3.have a tv tuner, 4. so you can play games

enjoy

Post by **Custommx3** » November 2nd, 2005, 3:16 pm

Goto mp3car.com

I as well as one or 2 other people here have carPCs in your MX-3s.

YOU can use the soundcard out directly to an amp, or you can wait until they release the USB controlled FM tuner with line in and RCA output to an amp.

Or you could go ghetto and use AUX in on your radio if it has it.

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » November 3rd, 2005, 9:38 am

Myself, I have a Pionneer deck that has an IP-Bus imput, the same jack you use for multi-disc changers. For that jack, you can get a box that inputs Stereo-RCA audio to the desk, and plays back using the AUX on the deck. IMO, music sounds noticably better though the CarPC than playing them on the CD players since the soundcard obviously has a better DAC than the one in the deck...even using the basic onboard soundcards too (I'm using a Harcules Digifire 7.1, soon to be replaced my a Game Theater XP) and the deck it just passes the signal over to all the speakers/subs connected to the deck.

In terms of audio quality, from my experience:
FM Transmitter < Tape Deck Adapter < Mp3 Player Though AUX < CD Player < CarPC Through AUX

Pioneer also makes a box that accepts optical input and does 5.1...that one of my figure plans

Don't forget as well, more functions to a CarpC
-Internet (Open wireless access points

)
-Burning/Copying CD's, or even ripping CD's to Mp3 (Hey, I like the music CD. I can I borrow your CD for 5min?)

IMO, if you have a CarPC, you'll bever be bored sitting in your car again

MX-SLICK · Post by **MX-SLICK** » November 3rd, 2005, 11:48 pm

auxillary input...many decks have them these days. sound quality as good as CD's

Post by **Custommx3** » November 4th, 2005, 11:12 am

Not mreally. but close, AUX is basically an analog input, CD's are digital. the only true way to get CD sound is through an digital output/input, such as optical. But Its so close, noone would really notice unless you heard the two.

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » November 4th, 2005, 1:50 pm

But CD's are jsut digital storage, they have to be converted into analog, that's why they had DAC's (Ie: Digital to Analog Converter). Using the AUX just inputs the analog sound directly though with no conversion done from withing using the the deck's DAC.

So instead of"
CD Player DAC -> Deck AMP -> Speakers
You have"
External DAC -> Deck AMP -> Speakers

The only variable is the transport system, the DAC being in the CD player, you don't need to worry about interferences degrading the signal quality like you would have if you were using the AUX. It being external, the signal will drgrade with lower quality cable and/or external interferences. The benefix to an optical cable would be to eliminate any possibility of that type of interference.

From my experience:
Sound Card DAC though AUX with good cable > CD Deck DAC

Post by **Custommx3** » November 4th, 2005, 3:45 pm

CD audio is still digital format, thats why theres a digital out on the back of your CD drive

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » November 6th, 2005, 12:50 pm

Of course, but it needs to converted to analog one way or another. Refering to say a computer CD-ROM, It could either pass though the DAC of the CD-ROM, or be sent in RAW digital through the Digital_out on the CD-ROM, but then it's going to get converted using the DAC on the soundcard instead.

MX-SLICK · Post by **MX-SLICK** » November 6th, 2005, 6:45 pm

Unless your listening to cassettes then the format is digital, so is an MP3 file on a computer. But in order to be heard it is converted to an analog signal and amplified. The only true digital formats are Fiber optic and coaxial, This is how home amplifiers can identify 5, 6 or 7 channels seperatly because it has a decoder that translates the raw data. But by the time you hear it, it will always be analog. Sound itself is analog.

em-ex-3 · Post by **em-ex-3** » November 7th, 2005, 4:53 pm

Okay im new to this carpc thing... say if yu just have a car pc nd no uh deck i guess... can you hook it up to your speakers nd subs w/o hurting anything on the pc... and also will you still get good audio sound??