11 replies to this topic

[hugsdrugs]

i'm working on a car pc. I've owned a lot of head units. including many alpines. was planning to get a pionner p99rs which runs about 115dB SNR with .0008 THD the price was about 2g's but would still be weak compared to a pc.

pc's are update able, and have more processing power then a head unit could. Also can watch cinema movies

i'm thinking of running a

*mini itx mother board these a small and if put into a case can be a small 7X7inch square

*mi-atx power supply can run from 6-24 volts and senses battery discharge will shut down if power hits 11volts.

* and any random double din touch screen

things i'm working on are...

* A possible power pack which stores power like a laptops ability to be portable, if i can't i'll scrap the thought in the mean time.

* a switch for a turn on lead.
i'll be taking a 12v power supply from the mini pc, and maybe putting on a resistor to lower the current to a cd player level. The pc will turn on first then i use the switch to turn on the amps

And lastly a important thing is crossovers. i'm not sure how i'm gonna these yet. i'll be using a 7.1 asus sound car so 6 channels for front stage and plus sub

the sound card will have rca outputs left and right like a normal head unit. i just hope to get everything ready and research prepared so i don't damage or overload the amps with the signal coming from the sound card.

for crossovers. i could maybe find a program knowing tweeters i need to be abit careful with programs. or i could build some kind of crossover/filter to connect to the rca before it reaches the amp. other options are a electronic crossover which might give the option of volume controll

[Pulse-R]

If you can get an external processor (like H701 or BitOne) that works well as a crossover/eq/etc., and the controller for it does the volume.

as for processing, the CarPC options are many, but the performance is not SQ-oriented, nor very user-friendly.

as a transport, the PC is a good idea, and Carnetix make good power supplies.

[hugsdrugs]

how would this sound card do for a start?

http://www.asus.com....sEKBPr6ko9pFF2D

8 RCA outputs
low distortion
low noise
decent preout power

[Pulse-R]

looks ok, then you need drivers to enable teh 3-way front+sub... that's the tricky bit.

if you can set the amplifier crossover for 1kHz HP, that will go a long way to protecting your tweeters, and not have too much interference of the actual crossover frequency (4kHz or so).

[Pulse-R]

Burr-Brown PCM1796 *4 - nice, same as HXD2
ASIO 2.0 Driver Support - need this for crossover filters such as VST, etc.

audio specs look good too.

only problem will be with the volume control, as it's done inside the PC, you lose SQ as the volume is decreased due to the digital information being lost... may not be too noticable, or it may be terrible depending on the rest of your system.

[mr_jay_318i]

it would be much better as trasport. decent board will have optical out for an outboard processor too.
but then i spose you still have to get a $1000+ processor. still realtime on somethin like a bitone would be awesome control.

Edited by mr_jay_318i, 15 December 2009 - 11:04 PM.

[Carnut]

If you can get an external processor (like H701 or BitOne) that works well as a crossover/eq/etc., and the controller for it does the volume.
it would be much better as trasport. decent board will have optical out for an outboard processor too.
but then i spose you still have to get a $1000+ processor. still realtime on somethin like a bitone would be awesome control.

[Z2TT]

Hi All.

I'm considering going the Car PC Route, since I have a double din. I mean since most Double din H/U's cost $2000+, why not get a car PC?

So I too am building a SQ Orientated System. I was wondering whether any Car PC's have decent inbuilt sound cards with good DAC's. Anybody aware of any?

Also i was wondering if there is a Car PC I can buy that has a PCI slot so i can just put a Xonar card in.

Third option like mentioned here to use an Outboard processor, Other than Alpine, what other processors is there that I can use that will be decent for an SQ System?

Interested in this Car PC Concept.

[eron]

I've no experience in car PC and little in car audio. However, I do know that there are portable DACs that give good SQ.
For example: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f61/headamp-...o-price-413230/
This one connects via usb, but you lose the PC volume control.
There are others like the cheaper Govibe DAC that still allows volume control.

[mr_jay_318i]

audison bitone. Optical in and more than enough control for any sq purpose. Awesome processor.

[smithjaguar]

I looked at the Alpine PXA-H701 with a sound card that allows a digital output. Other is Mini-ITX SPII12000 and it has Sound Blaster Audigy PCMCIA with optical out, 512MB memory, 8" Xenarc VGA Touch screen and 200 GB Seagate Baracuda drive.

[hellypetro]

The sound card has RCA left and right like a normal head unit. I just hope that everything is ready and prepared for research, so that will not damage or overload the signal amplifier with the sound card. For the crosses. I maybe could find a program knowing that tweeters should be a little careful with the programs. or it could build a kind of cross / filter connect to the RCA before reaching the amplifier. Other options include an electronic filter that can give you the option to adjust the volume.