7 replies to this topic

[IamtheSteg]

Some of you may have seen my VE ute build...

For those that haven't, I have done a basic audio upgrade - decent amp, massively improved splits and a tasty little sub mounted behind the drivers seat.
All in all it has been money very well spent. Then again once you start down this road, it tends to be a journey of many steps (at least for me)...

...from day dot the plan has always been to add a DSP as the system is really held back without time alignment and poor EQ options and just lately I have been noticing some whine introduced at highish listening levels when using the aux in.

So this has got me thinking. When i do add a DSP it will obviously benefit from the cleanest signal possible. The factory sound is mediocre at best so it would seem to make sense to add an aftermarket HU.

Easier said than done in the VE - and I'm not interested in the God Awful $600 facia kit that gives me the finest looking buttons from the late 1970's to control HVAC! So I'm thinking of adding a single Din HU either at the bottom of the console, in front of the shifter - if it will fit properly, or stashed away in the glove box - if i can control it remotely.

So who has done this? To make it viable for me I would need to retain the factory steering wheel controls, so may need a suitable CANBUS module - any recommendations?

Also I have always liked Eclipse gear and the price of the 5030 is tempting at the moment. Would i be better served ponying up for a P80? Am I overlooking any other options? (anything from Alpine etc..?)

Thanks for reading guys, any and all opinions are appreciated!

[IamtheSteg]

So has no one done this?

Looks like I'll forge ahead with the 5030 and hope I can patch in a PAC module to retain the OEM control... (or more accurately, my installer can!)

Will update the build thread with pix etc..

[Big_Valven]

From my experience unless you want to get a really good headunit (ie Pioneer P99) you won't be worse off adding a good DSP to the factory headunit, especially when you consider the effort involved.

[IamtheSteg]

Cheers for the reply Callum

My problem with retaining the factory HU, apart from it being generally poo! Is (& I probably shouldn't tell you this as the novice judge) that it picks up heaps of noise thru the aux in.

The sad fact of modern life for me is that I'm an iPod junkie! The majority of my music is ripped lossless and it sounds great streaming at home.

I still buy CDs but they all get ripped to iTunes and for me at least I see this as my playback mechanism going forward.

It seems a little backward to me to take an analogue out from a digital device, introduce noise, re-digitize the compromised signal, convert it back to analogue, send it to a DSP, where it will undergo further A/D, be processed, D/A converted and then amplified.

Surely digital out from pod, processed in a decent HU (all my car gear is what I class decent as opposed to high end) and then D/A and amplified makes more sense?

Retaining the option of going thru an external DSP down the road if it's worthwhile?

If I just (or primarily) listened to CDs I would think that factory unit to DSP would be the go but with the 5030 at sub $200 it seems to be worth having a crack...

[Magnum9]

Do you have the IQ or is your VE earlier than that?

[Big_Valven]

It's a series one, so no.

You have a point with regards to AUX in. I really only think about the CD player when thinking SQ since even if I do put lossless tracks on an Ipod in my opinion it's a step backward, but that's a combination of tangible and intangible.

I really would spend a couple hundred bucks above the Eclipse as a minimum, it's a tempting deal if you look at the bottom line but it has some pretty serious shortcomings which aren't mentioned on paper. I don't want to rubbish them for the sake of it but they're quite unrefined.

[Magnum9]

I saw a thread about someone successfully putting the IQ in a series one. You would then have the digital USB ipod link and ability to play mp3 directly. You would still need DSP as the IQ has its own EQ curve you need to flatten out.EDIT: Found it http://www.ls1.com.a...ad.php?t=159276

Edited by Magnum9, 24 July 2012 - 01:23 PM.

[broadz]

There is a space in the glovebox where the DVD player for the GPS is installed. You can fit an aftermarket headunit there. What i've seen done before and does seem to work well is to use a single din DVD headunit in the glovebox and have the video output to the factory 6 inch screen, use a steering wheel adaptor so your controls are all via the steering wheel and have speakers/amps run from your headunit.

As you adjust your HVAC controls, the screen should automatically interupt the signal to show the HVAC controls and revert back to the headunit display.

This is essentially how nidekcus (Andrew) did his VE1 SSV show system