# All digital to amp - using nanoDIGI



## chad1376

Hi all - my first post here. I'm contiplating building a Windows PC based carputer and have lots of research to do. Looking through this forum, it looks like a great resource for information and advice.

One aspect of my current plan is to keep the audio signal in the digital realm all the way to the amplifiers. Currently I'm thinking of a bi-amped mid/tweet+subwoofer using a nanoDIGI for crossover and EQ. An abbreviated system layout would consist of:

PC digital out from a MSI E350IA-E45 motherboard
v
v
NanoDIGI (2x8) - nanoDIGI 2x8K | miniDSP
v
v
DAC just upstream of each amplifier - FiiO D03K Digital / Analog Audio Decoder 230-120

I'm looking for any usefull critisism of the concept. I know I've seen some discussion that PC digital out may have some issues, and that a dedicated soundcard would be beneficial (but I'm not really sure why). Also, I know the DAC's I've chosen are cheap, but I'm trying to keep overall cost down.


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## chad1376

..Thank you mod for letting me include links on my first post


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## quietfly

Do you have any plans for your display? also why the older Motherboard? This one is a bit newer and seems to cost about the same.
the DAC's look OK, however i'd still want to test them in a Car to make sure they don't have any bad habits while on alternator power. 

what about storage and OS? 
how much have you planned out?
what type of car and what other equipment? Inquiring minds want to know....


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## chad1376

quietfly said:


> Do you have any plans for your display? also why the older Motherboard? This one is a bit newer and seems to cost about the same.
> the DAC's look OK, however i'd still want to test them in a Car to make sure they don't have any bad habits while on alternator power.
> 
> what about storage and OS?
> how much have you planned out?
> what type of car and what other equipment? Inquiring minds want to know....


Quietfly:

I actually have the whole system planned out in fair detail, but since I'm just getting my feet wet, I wanted to kind of "ease into" the discussion. Most of the components I have planned are provisional and will likely be swapped in/out as I do my homework. There's a number of components I already have, including amps and the PC motherboard. Before getting into too much discussion on the PC specs, speakers etc. I want to be sure my initial plan for incoprorating the nanoDigi and digital signal wiring is sound, since this is the backbone of the whole setup.

I'm planning the system for my new 2013 VW GTI. I'm hoping to keep the installation as stealth as possible, using just the factory front door speaker locations and a hidden subwoofer below the rear trunk liner (next to the spare tire). The PC, amps, and misc hardware will need to fit below the front seats, or in whatever limited space is available next to the spare.


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## quietfly

chad1376 said:


> Quietfly:
> 
> I actually have the whole system planned out in fair detail, but since I'm just getting my feet wet, I wanted to kind of "ease into" the discussion. Most of the components I have planned are provisional and will likely be swapped in/out as I do my homework. There's a number of components I already have, including amps and the PC motherboard. Before getting into too much discussion on the PC specs, speakers etc. I want to be sure my initial plan for incoprorating the nanoDigi and digital signal wiring is sound, since this is the backbone of the whole setup.
> 
> I'm planning the system for my new 2013 VW GTI. I'm hoping to keep the installation as stealth as possible, using just the factory front door speaker locations and a hidden subwoofer below the rear trunk liner (next to the spare tire). The PC, amps, and misc hardware will need to fit below the front seats, or in whatever limited space is available next to the spare.


i'm guessing you are planning on using the S/PDIF Out to the digi to the DAC to the amps. It should be ok. i would just caution you to test everything while on alternator power. i've had friends run into issues they didn't encounter on the test bench that only happened in the car while it was running...


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## chad1376

quietfly said:


> i'm guessing you are planning on using the S/PDIF Out to the digi to the DAC to the amps. It should be ok. i would just caution you to test everything while on alternator power. i've had friends run into issues they didn't encounter on the test bench that only happened in the car while it was running...


Great advice, Thank You.

I hadn't thought much yet about alternator/power noise. Both the miniDIGI and DACs are USB powered. I had hoped to get a plan, install just wiring over a weekend, then do component installs after the interior is back together. I certainly need to rethink that if troubleshooting noise is a consideration.

I have my first cut for components and wiring on an Excel spreadsheet. I need to find an easy way to post it up here.


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## quietfly

screen shot? or paste in to window? either has been done


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## 24th-Alchemist

The abbreviated plan looks good to me.

If you use S/PDIF w/ transformer isolation or toslink optical there should be no issues with alternator power corrupting the digital signal -- but you may need to be careful powering the DAC. For example, I wouldn't be surprised to see problems powering the DAC with USB power from the carputer, because the potentials of the grounds of the amp and carputer could be "bouncing" relative to one another. On the other hand I wouldn't be surprised to see things work either.

I posted a DIY version of a signal processor that uses an IC from the family likely used by the nanoDSP (ADAU1442 / 1445 / 1446, see post here), where the DIY version has the benefit of affording access to the full potential of the chip with analog device's SigmaStudio software. It requires circuit soldering, however, which can be tedious -- and I think the DIY version would also require purchase of something like a EVAL-ADUSB2EBZ "USBi" to communicate with the IC, which costs about as much as the nano.

Also, if you're into mods, I'd suggest putting the DACs in the amps, thereby bypassing the amps' gains & cross-overs, etc, since you'll be using your own crossover ahead of the amp.

Lastly, what about nixing the nano altogether and doing the signal processing with the carputer? There's a thread related to that process (which uses a different miniDSP device to accommodate multiple digital channels) here.


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## quietfly

24th-Alchemist said:


> The abbreviated plan looks good to me.
> 
> 
> Lastly, what about nixing the nano altogether and doing the signal processing with the carputer? There's a thread related to that process (which uses a different miniDSP device to accommodate multiple digital channels) here.



this is a slippery slope to start down.... LOL

:laugh:


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## chad1376

How about 4 screen shots


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## chad1376

24th-Alchemist said:


> The abbreviated plan looks good to me.
> 
> If you use S/PDIF w/ transformer isolation or toslink optical there should be no issues with alternator power corrupting the digital signal -- but you may need to be careful powering the DAC. For example, I wouldn't be surprised to see problems powering the DAC with USB power from the carputer, because the potentials of the grounds of the amp and carputer could be "bouncing" relative to one another. On the other hand I wouldn't be surprised to see things work either.
> 
> I posted a DIY version of a signal processor that uses an IC from the family likely used by the nanoDSP (ADAU1442 / 1445 / 1446, see post here), where the DIY version has the benefit of affording access to the full potential of the chip with analog device's SigmaStudio software. It requires circuit soldering, however, which can be tedious -- and I think the DIY version would also require purchase of something like a EVAL-ADUSB2EBZ "USBi" to communicate with the IC, which costs about as much as the nano.
> 
> Also, if you're into mods, I'd suggest putting the DACs in the amps, thereby bypassing the amps' gains & cross-overs, etc, since you'll be using your own crossover ahead of the amp.
> 
> Lastly, what about nixing the nano altogether and doing the signal processing with the carputer? There's a thread related to that process (which uses a different miniDSP device to accommodate multiple digital channels) here.


I'm a "little" into mods, but soldering up a whole DSP board and getting heavy into the programing is a bit beyond what I'm willing to dive into. The nanoDIGI is pretty much plug and play. I have a miniDSP (2x4) and software for a bi-amped home stereo, and even a bonehead like myself can get it to do exactly what I want. With a car based PC connected to it, I know I can tweak anything I need to from the road (OK, not while actually driving). I just don't know if any standalone PC soulution provide the flexible crossover/8-channel parametric/signal delay/etc. as easily.

The idea of incorporating the DAC and bypassing the amps internal x-over and gain is something I'd consider though. It certainly would make for a cleaner installation and give me something to do while I'm saving and waiting to get all the components.


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## chad1376

FWIW - I've started my project in ernest. 

I bought a Samsung 840 SSD (120G) and got Windows 7 optimized to to take advantage of it. Boot, sleep and wake times are absolutely amazing. I'm getting some confidence that a car PC will be practical for day to day use.

After a lot of research and a few trial installations of front-end software, I ended up purchasing Cenrafuse. I'm still in the process of configuring it and deciding what plug-ins I want. I got the nav package with it, but without a GPS reciever, can't say much about it's functionality. My initial impressions on the nav are "meh". 

Right now I'm temporarily setting up data and media on a regular 3.5" HDD (1 TB). Once this is set up, I'll buy a 2.5" HDD and copy the data over. 

When I get some more time, I'll probably set up a seperate build thread. This project will likely take many months to plan, buy and install, but I'm starting to get excited now.


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## MarkZ

I use the Samsung 830 myself, and boot times were AMAZING. Unfortunately, peripherals slow the hell out of booting, but it's still ok. By peripherals, I mean wireless (which I've since disabled), and just about all of the USB devices including sound and volume knob, gps, etc.

I never liked Centrafuse, especially their GPS. I use iGuidance and like it a lot more.

For music storage, I actually use a high capacity USB stick. That way I can update the library in the house with an automated sync script.

As far as audio goes, I didn't read the whole thread, but why don't you use the computer for this? It seems a little silly to buy a device designed to do DSP without a computer, while you have a computer already installed.


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## chad1376

On music storage:
For better or worse, most of my digital music is on iTunes. I currently have 4 PCs as well as 3 ipads sharing the account. For transferring music to the car, I just plan on having itunes installed and let it grab whatever latest tunes were purchased over wifi while parked in the driveway. My plan is to keep a copy of the entire library on the HDD in the car. I would hate trying to decide beforehand what I might want to listen to, then running back/forth with a thumbdrive. I also I have a lot of old LP's recorded as uncompressed .wav files, so I'll need lots of storage for those.

On the DSP:
I'm planning a bi-amped (or _maybe_ even tri-amped) system + subwoofer. I haven't yet looked at a "PC only" solution but I'd need 4-stereo channels, each with it's own x-over and eq. I have experience with the 2x4 miniDSP and am really happy with the performance/cost. The 2x8 nanoDigi looks similarly easy to deal with.

I still have lots of planning and research to go before I buy everything, so I'm definately open to suggestions.


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## quietfly

looks like you have a good amount of detail planned out i'm excited to see how this works for you


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## MarkZ

chad1376 said:


> On music storage:
> For better or worse, most of my digital music is on iTunes. I currently have 4 PCs as well as 3 ipads sharing the account. For transferring music to the car, I just plan on having itunes installed and let it grab whatever latest tunes were purchased over wifi while parked in the driveway. My plan is to keep a copy of the entire library on the HDD in the car. I would hate trying to decide beforehand what I might want to listen to, then running back/forth with a thumbdrive. I also I have a lot of old LP's recorded as uncompressed .wav files, so I'll need lots of storage for those.


FWIW, I can fit my entire music collection on 64GB, _minus_ live bootlegs (I have a lot of those). I don't really remove anything. Just add to it when I get something new. 64GB are only around $40.

If you recode your wav's to flac's, you'll gain a lot of space. FLAC is of course a lossless format.



> On the DSP:
> I'm planning a bi-amped (or _maybe_ even tri-amped) system + subwoofer. I haven't yet looked at a "PC only" solution but I'd need 4-stereo channels, each with it's own x-over and eq. I have experience with the 2x4 miniDSP and am really happy with the performance/cost. The 2x8 nanoDigi looks similarly easy to deal with.
> 
> I still have lots of planning and research to go before I buy everything, so I'm definately open to suggestions.


Plug 'n play? MiniDSP is a good solution. It's going to be a lot easier to initially set up than onboard processing, because a lot of the work is already done for you. But if you don't need audio processing, you don't need much CPU on your machine either. You could probably even get away with an Atom (or something) without any performance hit.


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## Jfreak

Why not a jump to win8? I've had centrafuse and RR and didn't like either one. Iguidance hasn't had an update in nearly 2 years. I just put win8 on my carputer and love it, it's a LOT more fluid than any aftermarket touch interface, and when streets and trips releases a Win8 ready version I'll use that for nav. 

I like the full digital idea tho. I'll be running optical to my DSP and RCAs to the amps. Can't wait to see how this all turns out.


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## chad1376

DSP:
What i really like about the nanoDSP is that it keeps the parameters loaded after power off - It doesn't need to interface with the computer unless changing settings. 

Front End:
My biggest selling point for Centrafuse was the cool VAG-Com guage plug-in (dumb, I know). Some of the other front ends didn't seem like they've had alot of recent activity and development (many vender forum discussions were years old.) If anything, it will get me started on this nutty adventure, although I'm already regretting paying for the nav.

I looked a little at Win-8 demos and such, but didn't really see a seamless car-audio interface - but then again I've never actually used it. My biggest criteria is to be able to navigate typical audio functions, in traffic, without rear-ending someone. 

I guess I'll need actually use the system day-to-day to find out what really works for me. The nice part about PCs and software is that it can always be changed/upgraded.


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## chad1376

Jfreak said:


> Why not a jump to win8? I've had centrafuse and RR and didn't like either one. Iguidance hasn't had an update in nearly 2 years. I just put win8 on my carputer and love it, it's a LOT more fluid than any aftermarket touch interface, and when streets and trips releases a Win8 ready version I'll use that for nav.
> 
> I like the full digital idea tho. I'll be running optical to my DSP and RCAs to the amps. Can't wait to see how this all turns out.


After a week of fighting with Centrafuse, I'm really considering Win 8. 

Centrafuse really has a lot of potential at first blush, but there's just too many holes in getting it to work exactly the way I want. The biggest hole (for me) is lack of support for iTunes M4p format and bringing in album artwork. The only flawless solution seems to be: just use iTunes directly. At that point, there's not a whole lot CF is doing for me. I might just need to write-off my CF purchase and move on.


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## Jfreak

chad1376 said:


> After a week of fighting with Centrafuse, I'm really considering Win 8.
> 
> Centrafuse really has a lot of potential at first blush, but there's just too many holes in getting it to work exactly the way I want. The biggest hole (for me) is lack of support for iTunes M4p format and bringing in album artwork. The only flawless solution seems to be: just use iTunes directly. At that point, there's not a whole lot CF is doing for me. I might just need to write-off my CF purchase and move on.


I'd suggest going in to bestbuy or a Microsoft store and play with windows 8, see if you like the interface and play with features you know you'll be using a lot. 

I've been messing with my Win8 setup on a resistive touchscreen and its still more fluid than any aftermarket front end. 

I like it, but it may not work for everyone.

If you really want things like scan software, or software that isn't touch friendly yet, run an extra video cord and a USB touchpad to use a bigger screen from a laptop. I'm planning on having a 10" or larger screen mounted in the trunk.


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## MarkZ

Can some of you guys talk specifically about what Windows 8 does for these purposes? I have to say I'm pretty windows 8 ignorant. I know it's been "optimized" for touchscreen, but what does that mean? Any descriptions or screenshots?


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## chad1376

I don't have much detail, other that what I've seen on internet demos, but it does look promising. I probably would have already installed and tried it, but from what I've read, Win 8 does away with the "start" button and sort of does away with multiple "windows" on the screen. For me, this is a big change to the whole O/S interface. I'm sure Jfreak can talk more inteligently than myself on the specifics.

To try it out, I think I'll image my current win 7 setup onto another drive, then upgrade to Win 8 on my SSD. That way I can easily back out to Win 7 if I hate it.


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## Jfreak

MarkZ said:


> Can some of you guys talk specifically about what Windows 8 does for these purposes? I have to say I'm pretty windows 8 ignorant. I know it's been "optimized" for touchscreen, but what does that mean? Any descriptions or screenshots?


The whole main menu is touch tabs that directly access IE, windows media player or any other apps you may have installed. 

The best way to describe it really is like an iPad interface. But there's also a regular desktop view that is exactly like a windows 7 desktop.


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## chad1376

Well - I got Windows 8. After 15-seconds, it was apparent that the Modern UI (Metro) interface was completely useless for a front end.

However, the upgrade was 100% worth it. After a lot of tweaking to hide Metro (as much as Microsoft will let me) - Including a 3rd parth "Start" button, the underlying O/S is *awesome*! MS really did a great job of putting Windows on a diet. Boot times are massively improved, and sleep/wake is flawless. Paired with the SSD, the computer is FAST.

So, back to Centrafuse. After a fresh O/S and CF installation, it's working much smoother than my previous attempt. I think I found a usable solution to integrate iTunes. I have CF resolution at 800x480 and the screen resolution at 800x600. This allows for pretty easy switching between the two via the taskbar. iTunes controls are reasonably large, but I wish there was a way to make the sliders bigger. I'll need to get my touch screen to know for sure how this will work.


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## Jfreak

Very nice! Glad you got a setup you're happy with.


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## chad1376

I guess this is now my official build thread. Certainly, It's not on the order of Neil's build, but as a mere mortal, I'm having fun.

Here's a picture of my current interim mess. I bought the first of several cheap DAC's and hooked it up via the Toslink output on the MB. Works great. I also was hoping to use the digital in/out from the SoundBlaster USB soundcard to integrate a physical volume control, but had no luck. I think it'll do it, but the SoundBlaster settings and documentation have me baffled. I'll give it another try later.









Next is an appropriate case and PS. I'm hoping my GTI has enough depth in the radio hole to accommodate a double-din PC case, but I'm doubtful. I may pull the radio today to have a look-see.


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## chad1376

Waiting for my PC case and Power Supply to arrive. I decided to pull my factory deck to see how much room I have to work with. The VW style deck is a bit bigger than double din around the faceplate. I'm thinking I may have room to go bigger than the typical 7" touchscreen. The trick will be to make a fascia that looks good. Hmm, I have an acquaintance with a water jet. I may need to recruit him for some work.


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## quietfly

looking like you are off to a good start. centrafuse seems like the way to go


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## chad1376

I got my case and power supply. I bought a Morex 557B Mini-ITX Compact Computer Case and M3-ATX-HV Automotive PSU

I'm really happy with the case, it's solid, heavy, and well ventilated. I did quite a bit of work with the power supply harness to minimize the wire mess inside of the case. I hard soldered the hard drive and P4 mother board pigtails, as well as tapping both 5V and 12V for use in low power accessories. I used a coaxial plug for the main power/ground and a 9-pin sub-D connector for the other wires. I even slipped in an inline fuse. It's a pretty tight fit to get it all in the case, but it would have been nearly impossible if I used the stock power supply harness and all the miscellaneous adapters.

















The power supply is a very tight fit. It overlaps the second memory slot (luckily I'm only using the first). The ps capacitors are pushed up against the case on/off board. I had to remove and re-solder the on/off board's wire connections to get everything to fit.

















Here it is working on 12V power. I had a initial scare when at first it wouldn't fully boot. Luckily, my battery wasn't fully charged (11.4v). After a quick top-off (12.4v) it worked perfectly.









A quick test fit under the car seat - pretty snug. I wish I could push the case farther back, but there's a structural steel piece that limits where I can place it. I might nose around for some other locations too.

View attachment _1015229.jpg


..not sure why some of the pictures display full size (640x480) and others are just thumbnails.


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## chad1376

Rough mockup on some dash pods. One goal of the project is to be able to return the car to stock, without any cutting and hacking, so big fiberglass A-pillar pods are definitely not in consideration. I think this will look reasonably subtle. I plan on constructing these out of sheet metal, with welded seams, and possibly painting them with spray-on Plasti-Dip.

I plan on using Dayton Audio RS75-4 3" Reference Full-Range Driver 4 Ohm 295-380 (hey, I can't afford Focal) and maybe relocating the tweeters from the sails to the pods and using Dayton Audio ND16FA-6 5/8" Neodymium Dome Tweeter 275-025.


















Just to be sure the speakers would fit, I mocked up a magnet, based on the dimensions listed in the specs.











And just for kicks, I used a very scientific and technical method to accurately determine the box volume.


















My skills at welding thin sheet metal (with a wire-feed mig welder) are are so-so, so there's no guarantee yet these will turn out. I'll post back with the results; either beautiful sheet metal boxes, or booger welds and a big fail.:worried:


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## Hdale85

How is Centrafuse these days? I tried it last year and it had way too many issues for me to delve any deeper than the demo.


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## chad1376

So far, I've only used it on the kitchen counter, so I can't say for sure. I about gave up on it, but couldn't find anything significantly better. I'll have to finish my install and actually use it in the car to pass any further judgement.


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## Hdale85

Yea I'm looking at a new build now and leaning towards android with a customized interface and external processing. Centrafuse just isn't stable enough for me when we are planning an 1800+ mile road trip this summer lol.


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## MattB101

I've been lurking and following along. What interface for android would you use? Seen some interesting android boards in another forum that I might do the same thing with. 

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2


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## chad1376

Made some good progress on the dash pods. Yes, I have boogary welds, but nothing the grinder and sander won't clean up. I'll need to do a skim coat of filler before I paint. These will also need a liberal lining with Dyna-mat, since the thin metal "rings". The mass of the speaker, once mounted, will help too.


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## Hdale85

Hmm...steel pods. Any reason you went steel over fiberglass?


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## chad1376

Mostly because I have the tools for steel, and little more experience (although I'm no expert). The few times I tried fiberglass, I ended up with a stinky, gloppy mess.


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## Hdale85

Ok, that makes sense. I didn't find using fiberglass to be that hard my first time, although I did have help. They didn't come out perfect either lol but it worked out in the end.


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## pcpete

Following your build! Looking at doing the same regarding audio all digital to the amp...only difference would be android tablet(Toshiba Excite 7.7) as opposed to pc...here is my planned path for active 2 way front stage + sub

Tablet running Neutron Player --> HDMI multi dock out--> ViewHD HDMI to SPDIF --> nanodigi SPDIF in --> 3xFiio d03k dac's to Alpine PDXv9 5.1 amp
(also putting a jl-rlc in between one fiio and sub input for remote sub gain)


I've already got tablet , multi-dock , ViewHD and 1xFIIO setup into my amp...the amp is now doing simple crossover duties, now i just need to pickup the nanodigi and 2 more fiio's ($280..for all processing and 3 dacs , not bad)  ...btw , the FIIO dac sounds so much better than my tablet's built in dac 

Having the path and processing all digital to the dac allows for so much flexibility and dac experimentation...really looking forward to hearing your results...

Master volume apparently can be controlled from any programmable remote..I'm curious how I'm going to integrate that into the car...

A link to my setup follows if anyone is interested...Android is really making some in roads...dont even really need a front end ..the widgets , and usb hid controls take care of that...

Ford Flex Toshiba Excite 7.7 Android Tablet Install


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## cruzinbill

chad1376 said:


> Made some good progress on the dash pods. Yes, I have boogary welds, but nothing the grinder and sander won't clean up. I'll need to do a skim coat of filler before I paint. These will also need a liberal lining with Dyna-mat, since the thin metal "rings". The mass of the speaker, once mounted, will help too.
> 
> View attachment 42628


Those are the most epic-hardcore-chuck-norris-built pods I have ever seen. Seems its gonna be hard to screw in the speakers tho without gettin a lot of burrs, even with predrilled holes.


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## Hdale85

MattB101 said:


> I've been lurking and following along. What interface for android would you use? Seen some interesting android boards in another forum that I might do the same thing with.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2


I'll likely just use a custom launcher and tweak it so it's more car friendly. I've seen this done a bit and seen some great outcomes. My current plans are to use a tablet or some form of android dev board (arndale more than likely) going USB to I2S through an Xmos board, then into a SHARC DSP (MiniSharc) board (Xover, PEQ, Time alignment so on) then into a Buffalo III 8 channel dac, then into my amps and so on.


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## chad1376

pcpete said:


> ..
> Master volume apparently can be controlled from any programmable remote..I'm curious how I'm going to integrate that into the car...


I'm still thinking about this. I'm not sure if I want to totally rely on the PC/OS/Centrafuse for volume. I plan on locating the nanodigi in the rear hatch, so a remote won't work directly. I might just unsolder the IR reciever, run some wires, and relocate it to the dash, but I dunno - It sounds like a PITA. I'm not an electrical engineer, so I don't know if a long wire run from the IR reciever to the board will affect it's performance.



cruzinbill said:


> Those are the most epic-hardcore-chuck-norris-built pods I have ever seen. Seems its gonna be hard to screw in the speakers tho without gettin a lot of burrs, even with predrilled holes.


Once I have the 3" speakers in hand, I'll mark the hole locations, drill, and tack weld a nut behind the baffle. The tweeters are press fit, so I'll need to size the holes as closely as possible and maybe use a bit of silicone to secure them.

I have a plan partially executed to bolt the speakers to the dash. I'm securing a piece of steel that runs vertically from the side of the dash, in between the A-pillar cover and dashboard. I'll bolt the pods to the steel, so I won't have to drill into the dash. To make this work, I need to to fabricate a notch in the pods. Hard to descibe. l'll post pictures when complete.


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## Neil_J

Hdale85 said:


> I'll likely just use a custom launcher and tweak it so it's more car friendly. I've seen this done a bit and seen some great outcomes. My current plans are to use a tablet or some form of android dev board (arndale more than likely) going USB to I2S through an Xmos board, then into a SHARC DSP (MiniSharc) board (Xover, PEQ, Time alignment so on) then into a Buffalo III 8 channel dac, then into my amps and so on.


I was going to go with a Buffalo III, the ES9018 is a killer DAC. They weren't in stock at the time I started my DAC project, and it was too expensive to do my own 4-layer board and obtain the chips. Twisted Pair audio was supposed to come out with their own USB 2.0 to I2S converter, but IMO even when it gets here, the USBstreamer is the better deal. The only gripe I had with it was the 2mm header for the I2S signals, and the fact that there's not an easy way to bypass the USB power (my setup doesn't shut the USB power off in sleep mode). I did get the power bypassed on mine, but it required an SMT rework station and a stereo microscope. Sounds like a great project, good luck.


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## Hdale85

Yeah I'm going to use this Amanero Technologies It can do DSD and I2S up to 32bit 400khz. Obviously getting DSD from an android device is likely a joke, but I got it for the I2S features. 

TPA is very soon going to put out something similar based on the XMOS chip as well. The one that I'm getting is on a group buy at another forum and will be like 60 bucks shipped.


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## pcpete

chad1376 said:


> I'm still thinking about this. I'm not sure if I want to totally rely on the PC/OS/Centrafuse for volume. I plan on locating the nanodigi in the rear hatch, so a remote won't work directly. I might just unsolder the IR reciever, run some wires, and relocate it to the dash, but I dunno - It sounds like a PITA. I'm not an electrical engineer, so I don't know if a long wire run from the IR reciever to the board will affect it's performance.


I'm in the same boat! My tablet freezes the audio output to 100% when in HDMI mode, which is what I expected and wanted, so I don't have the option to control volume on the tablet. I too was looking at the minidigi pcb and considering relocating the ir sensor. My run however would be considerably shorter than yours as I'm planning to mount it under the front passenger seat.

Another option i was thinking about was buying a cheap small programmable remote and placing it pointing at the minidigi under the seat, and then running wires from the remote to switches integrated on my dash, perhaps even a rotary encoder for volume, as I prefer knobs 

I really wish it provided for an option for wired controls...


----------



## chad1376

I guess there's the option of IR repeaters too, but that's just more junk to buy and install ..and one more thing to fail.

Maybe I just need switch and big relay to kill the whole system when the computer randomly freezes and I get some ungodly digital noise at peak volume frying my speakers.


----------



## cruzinbill

chad1376 said:


> I'm still thinking about this. I'm not sure if I want to totally rely on the PC/OS/Centrafuse for volume. I plan on locating the nanodigi in the rear hatch, so a remote won't work directly. I might just unsolder the IR reciever, run some wires, and relocate it to the dash, but I dunno - It sounds like a PITA. I'm not an electrical engineer, so I don't know if a long wire run from the IR reciever to the board will affect it's performance.
> 
> 
> 
> Once I have the 3" speakers in hand, I'll mark the hole locations, drill, and tack weld a nut behind the baffle. The tweeters are press fit, so I'll need to size the holes as closely as possible and maybe use a bit of silicone to secure them.
> 
> I have a plan partially executed to bolt the speakers to the dash. I'm securing a piece of steel that runs vertically from the side of the dash, in between the A-pillar cover and dashboard. I'll bolt the pods to the steel, so I won't have to drill into the dash. To make this work, I need to to fabricate a notch in the pods. Hard to descibe. l'll post pictures when complete.


ah ok, good call on nut plates.


----------



## chad1376

Lots of planning and cadd work done:

Spent a bit of time planning wiring. Most of the work is done, except detailing the touch screen hookups. I'm placing the NanoDigi, DACs, power blocks and front stage amps on a board below the truck liner. VW was nice enough to use a piece of easily removable Styrofoam below the trunk, next to the spare tire. It's a tight space, but luckily most of the components are small.

























Also, I purchased a buyout Bravox EXS10D-2 Extreme Duty 10" DVC Subwoofer 2 Ohm Per Coi 269-529, and designed a pretty decent box for it. My friend at work has a CNC router, which will make the layered, curved construction possible. I want the sub box and sub amp to be easily removable, to accommodate luggage on road trips. I designed in some big grab handles, and the electrical will unplug easily.

















I'm pretty happy with the modeled response for the sub. I could have gotten a little flatter and deeper, but I didn't want to take up any more trunk space, and I had to limit the port length to avoid using an elbow. I'm sure that little round hump in the jucy part of the bass will sound just fine for regular music.









Also, I made a little progress on the steel dash pods, but nothing worth posting up yet.


----------



## pcpete

Hdale85 said:


> I'll likely just use a custom launcher and tweak it so it's more car friendly. I've seen this done a bit and seen some great outcomes. My current plans are to use a tablet or some form of android dev board (arndale more than likely) going USB to I2S through an Xmos board, then into a SHARC DSP (MiniSharc) board (Xover, PEQ, Time alignment so on) then into a Buffalo III 8 channel dac, then into my amps and so on.


Hmmm..this sounds like an awesome plan!

I've got my tablet (Toshiba excite 7.7) outputting spdif by going through Toshiba docking station hdmi out to to spdif converter. I'm hoping I'm getting bit perfect output...the android volume control doesn't work, which is what I was hoping and expecting.

Now, I've been reading on the minidsp site and the minisharc that you mentioned hdale, looks like a great option for processing...I particularly like the fact that it has 2 digital in (DIGI-FP) and a really like that it works with the VOL-FP! I wonder why the nanodigi doesnt...dont really like the ir option.

The problem now is finding some dacs that would work it!

The buffalo III you mention, hdale, is the ultimate dac...but with all the options and add-on's necessary...it's looking like close to $600-$700 ...ouch! Plus you can't get one anyway...not in stock..

What other options do we have? I'm looking at spending maybe 250 on the minisharc stuff and another 250 on the dac side , for an awesome all digital processor with volume control for around 500 bucks! 

Is there a single channel dac with i2s in -> analog out?

Can a usb/spdif input dac be hacked to accept i2s in?

Is there a simple cheap single or multiple i2s -> optical spdif converter? This would be ideal...

I'm really thinking the minisharc could be the ultimate car audio processor..

For Input:

Preferably a digital spdif source from head unit /car pc / tablet etc...

You can also pick your own ADC (stereo rca to spdif) for analog in connected to the second digital ins...if needed

You can pick your own output dac stage...ideally with an i2s to spdif converter, one could pick and choose different dac's for their tweets , mids etc..the flexibility is awesome!

For master volume and preset selection there is the VOL-FP...

I'm also planning to use a JL Audio CL-RLC to control volume for each output channel pair between the dacs and amp...tweet,mids and sub...


----------



## Hdale85

You need a DAC with 6 to 8 channels is the problem. Also I'm not sure how you got up to 600-700 for the buffalo 3? The kit that comes with most of what you'd need is under 500 and you can feed it I2S directly from the MiniSHARC. Also those DACs sell out almost instantly, just have to watch for new batch pure orders.


----------



## pcpete

One could theoretically use a separate spdif dac for each channel pair? Like a FIIO d03k ?

Would just need the i2s out of the sharc converted..can it be done?

As for the Buffallo, I'm just not sure what components one would need....power supplies/output stages etc...do the kits come with all the components soldered?

This is what I assume:

Buffalo-III 8-Channel DAC
(1) Buffalo-III 8-Channel DAC Module (Assembled and Tested)
(1) AVCC Dual Shunt Regulator Module (Assembled and Tested)
(2) Trident 3.3V Shunt Regulator Module (Assembled and Tested)
(1) Trident 1.2V Shunt Regulator Module (Assembled and Tested)
$379 USD	(Sold Out)

S/PDIF (WM8804) Receiver Module (Assembled and Tested)	$75.00 USD (may not be needed if going i2s from sharc)	

IVY-III Kit + One Placid HD BP Kit Combo (not sure how many of these)
[1] IVY-III Kit
[1] Placid HD BP Power Supply Kit
$169.00 USD

So thats about $625...is this right? How many IVY-III Kits needed? 

So many questions!


----------



## chad1376

More planning and ordering:

I just ordered a High Brightness Lilliput 869GL-80NP/C/T-HB 8" Touch Screen LCD Monitor DVI HDMI (8") touchscreen. 

Since the VW style radio has a little more real estate at the face than a typical double din, I'm relatively confident I can get it to work.










A quick drawing comparing the shape of the radio face (green) and the monitor case (red) shows this is going to be a challenge. I'll need to strip out the screen and guts and get a little creative with the fab work. More to come on this when I get the monitor..

I also found and ordered this nifty USB volume control:

Fusion Control USB Powered and Controlled Rotary Volume Knob

Plans for the weekend are to skim coat and finish the dash pods, and put final touches on the subwoofer box design before my friend fires up the CNC router.


----------



## chad1376

Finally, some pictures of an actual part Many many layers of skim coat. Heat from welding sheet metal warped it much more than I had anticipated. It's still not perfect. Interfaces between the A-pillar and top of dash are not spot on, but frankly, I'm tired of applying filler and sanding. Once it's painted, I think it will look OK. Threaded nuts for the mid are epoxied in behind the front baffle. The tweeter is a press fit. I have some ideas for a grill, but more garage time is needed.


----------



## Hdale85

pcpete said:


> One could theoretically use a separate spdif dac for each channel pair? Like a FIIO d03k ?
> 
> Would just need the i2s out of the sharc converted..can it be done?
> 
> As for the Buffallo, I'm just not sure what components one would need....power supplies/output stages etc...do the kits come with all the components soldered?
> 
> This is what I assume:
> 
> Buffalo-III 8-Channel DAC
> (1) Buffalo-III 8-Channel DAC Module (Assembled and Tested)
> (1) AVCC Dual Shunt Regulator Module (Assembled and Tested)
> (2) Trident 3.3V Shunt Regulator Module (Assembled and Tested)
> (1) Trident 1.2V Shunt Regulator Module (Assembled and Tested)
> $379 USD	(Sold Out)
> 
> S/PDIF (WM8804) Receiver Module (Assembled and Tested)	$75.00 USD (may not be needed if going i2s from sharc)
> 
> IVY-III Kit + One Placid HD BP Kit Combo (not sure how many of these)
> [1] IVY-III Kit
> [1] Placid HD BP Power Supply Kit
> $169.00 USD
> 
> So thats about $625...is this right? How many IVY-III Kits needed?
> 
> So many questions!


Yes you can use 3 DAC's or 4 if you need more than 6 channels. I don't htink the FIIO is quite up to par of the Buffalo III but...?

As for the Buffalo III that one kit basically has everything you'd need for 379, You CAN run an IVY to do the Balanced to S/E conversion but you don't have to. The outcome might be a bit better though? The power supply it comes with though is useless. You don't need the SPDIF board as you can just go I2S directly from the Sharc to the Buffalo III. Anyways enough thread jacking lol, if you want to continue this discussion you can PM me or something


----------



## Hdale85

chad1376 said:


> Finally, some pictures of an actual part Many many layers of skim coat. Heat from welding sheet metal warped it much more than I had anticipated. It's still not perfect. Interfaces between the A-pillar and top of dash are not spot on, but frankly, I'm tired of applying filler and sanding. Once it's painted, I think it will look OK. Threaded nuts for the mid are epoxied in behind the front baffle. The tweeter is a press fit. I have some ideas for a grill, but more garage time is needed.


Those are looking pretty nice! I like.


----------



## chad1376

More pod progress. Painted the pods with Plasti Dip. I'm happy with the finish, except the rubbery texture picks up every fingerprint and spec of dust. Hopefully it will get a little harder as it cures. (The camera flash really accentuates the dust too)


----------



## pcpete

Wow...great job! 


First there was Iron Man....watch out , here comes .......... Iron Pod Man!


----------



## pcpete

Hdale/Chad, just stumbled on this post from diyaudio from Feb 26! 

"If you want to do I2S OUT, it's much easier to use the miniSHARC in this case. It was designed to be I2S IN/OUT. So no need to worry about the interfacing with the Buffalo. An adaptor card for miniSHARC to Buffalo III is actually in the works. We'll announce that soon  

Devteam (minidsp)"

So it looks like minidsp is going to make their own adaptor card! Awesome!

Might want to hold out on this combo chad...that ess dac is a killer and the minisharc is compatible with the vol-fp which makes it much easier to integrate than the stupid ir remote only nanodigi 


edit....Oh darn hdale..I just noticed you were the one in that diyaudio thread :blush:


----------



## Hdale85

Yes he was talking to me  lol, I'm not sure what their "interface" board will do exactly? The I2S headers are pretty easily accessible already?


----------



## Neil_J

The miniSHARC also does FIR convolution, more IIR filter bands, and is floating point (iirc the nanoDIGI is fixed point). Going with a miniSHARC, Buffalo III, uMIK1 and Room Eq Wizard would be a killer combination. You also have the choice of adjusting the volume via the BIII or the miniSHARC (I have neither of these options on my current DAC setup), and the ability to change eq/DSP presets on the fly.


----------



## chad1376

The miniSHARC/Buffalo III combo and misc accessories does look intreging to me. Unfortunately, scope creep has already extended both my budget and build time far beyond my original goal (I'm sure that's not an unfamiliar story to anyone here). My nanoDigi + cheap DAC concept is one that I can budget and easily impliment - even if it does have some holes.

Maybe after I get my basic system installed and working, this would be a great upgrade path. I'm learning as I go, and am gaining an increasing interest and knowledge in what's available, thanks to everyone here. The thought of piecing togeather a "Super DSP/DAC" sounds like a lot of fun, but I've alread bitten off about as much as I can chew for now.

Also, costs of this upgrade could go a long way towards my dream single speed fat bike project, which is another subject for another forum altogeather.


----------



## Hdale85

Yea I'm guessing my DSP/DAC setup will be between 700 and a grand depending. But it will be about the best I can do and it will be extremely flexible meaning I can use it with just about any front end or PC. If you can tap I2S from the device then you can use it. I agree its a big cost though.


----------



## chad1376

Some CNC routing work for the sub (sorry, not everything here is PC related. I'm just trying to keep my build in one thread).

I went ahead a cut a few door speaker adapters while we were at it. I have a couple sets of door speakers as candidates. I haven't pulled my door panels off yet, and I'm not sure which of them will fit, so I cut a set for each.










Here's a quick assemblage of the parts cut from 1" mdf. I'll need to do a little fill/sand where the 1/4" round-overs stop along with alignment bolt pockets. Overall, I don't think it will need a ton of sanding after it's assembled. This is narrower than designed due to a snafu with cutting the 3/4" slices.










This will be the side against the back seat. You can see the nest where the amp will live. Again, it's missing some slices.










And here's the snafu, we set the tool path on the wrong side of the cut line on the 3/4" board, so the outsides are too small. We'll need to kill another board. My friend felt awfull, but I'm still stoked. Can you imagine even attempting this with a jigsaw?


----------



## chad1376

I recieved my 8" touchscreen last night and started playing with it. I'm going to need to spend some more time optimizing a configuration that will work best in the car.

iTunes is about 80% useable with the touch interface. The biggest issue is the scrollbar sliders are a bit difficult to manipulate. In a moving vehicle, the bouncing will make it worse. Cenrafuse's big buttons are fine.

Also, getting my fat fingers into the corners to hit the window minimize/maximize/close and other functions isn't working well. I might try to offset the touch calibration near the edges so it's offset from the actual display.

I'll likely need to incorporate a touchpad mouse (or similar) if I need fine control of functions. A stylus may work, but I know me, and It'll get lost in the car.

The biggest challenge will be gutting the touchscreen and building a near factory appearing facia. I found a great link at MP3car that gives me some ideas on how to do it.

how to: make a factory bezel


----------



## 14642

Try JRiver Media Center. They have a Theater View that may solve your fat finger problem. It's also completely controllable with key commands...


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## chad1376

Andy Wehmeyer said:


> Try JRiver Media Center. They have a Theater View that may solve your fat finger problem. It's also completely controllable with key commands...


Thanks for the lead. Based on a really quick search, it does look like it will play Apple M4P protected files (via Quicktime). This is the only reason I'm trying to run iTunes in the first place. I'll dig into it when I get home this evening.


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## chad1376

OK..I'm in love with J River Media Center. It does play m4p, brings in all album artwork, is very touch friendly in theater mode, and has a great look. I can even set it up to launch other applications, and customize menus to hone in on only functions I will use. The theater mode skins are pretty good as-is, but I might try my hand at modifying one to better match some of the aesthetics of my GTI. 

Also, I'm in the process of gluing up the sub box. I'm giving each "slice" an hour under the clamps. With 17 slices, this will take most of the weekend.

I think I'll be lucky if I get this build done sometime this summer. :juggle:


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## chad1376

Glue-clamp-repeat. The basic subwoofer construction is done. I have a lot of finish work to do over the next weekend (or two).

Here you can kinda see the reinforcing ribs incorporated into the design.









Just about every clamp I own on the last slice.









Amp pocket and handle.









This takes up about 2/5 of the trunk. At first I thought I over-engineeried the handles, but after picking it up with the amp and speaker installed, I'm glad they're beefy. This is pretty darn heavy. The speaker and port screws will be replaced by some nice SS hardware.


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## pcpete

Awesome work Chad! You truly are a master!

Now get on with the nanodigi stuff  I'm itching to see how you get it all integrated, and how it all sounds! Good luck!


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## Neil_J

Very cool, dude. I like it a lot. Two thumbs way up.


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## bbfoto

Awesome work on the dash pods and sub enclosure.


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## chad1376

Some screenshots of my J River Setup. I'm no programer, but was able to tweak the "obsidian" theater mode skin a little. I tried getting fancy with custom buttons, etc, but interface started looking disjointed, so I went back and kept the tweeks minimal.

I have the PC set to boot, and automatically load J River and start in theater mode. I have it set up as simple as possible, to avoid the need to scroll. I can start Centrafuse and some other apps straight from here.









Here's my iTunes music. Very simple to navigate. Note, I grabbed a bunch of cool GTI pictures from the internet for the background. I get a different picture every time J River loads.









Individual albums within each artist category:









Song list in each album:









"Playing Now" album art:









Yes, it's simple to the point of being boring - which is what I wanted.


----------



## bbfoto

^Looks awesome. KISS is definitely the way to go with a touchscreen interface in a vehicle.

Can you also do a "GENRE" button/icon on the main screen? For instance, I've tagged all of my SQ Test/Demo Tracks by using the Genre tag. So I've got the main Genre listed as "Audiophile - xxxx" so that they always show up at the top of my Genre list.

And then sub-genres, such as "Audiophile - Test Tones", "Audiophile - Drums", "Audiophile - Demo Mix", "Audiophile - Depth", "Audiophile - Acoustic & Unplugged", "Audiophile - Double Bass & Electric Bass", "Audiophile - Hard Rock/Metal", "Audiophile - Female Vocals", "Audiophile - Midbass Madness", "Audiophile - Blues", "Audiophile - Image Placement/Staging", "Audiophile - IASCA/MECA/EMMA", "Audiophile - Classical", "Audiophile - 80's", etc.

When you have thousands of SQ tracks, this makes it much easier to find a particular track for tuning or demos.


----------



## chad1376

bbfoto said:


> ...Can you also do a "GENRE" button/icon on the main screen? For instance, I've tagged all of my SQ Test/Demo Tracks by using the Genre tag. So I've got the main Genre listed as "Audiophile - xxxx" so that they always show up at the top of my Genre list...


It does have a means of setting up custom filters and and incorporating them in the menu, so it seems possible.

I think a big issue would be having too many menu items. The theater mode interface just rolls long menu lists off the screen, and there's no scroll bar. With a mouse or keyboard, you can easily "roll" the menu list to get to the bottom items. However, with a touch only interface, navigating to off screen items does not work well. It might be possible to set up a menu with several depths of nesting. 

Of course I only have a grand total of 1-weeks experience with the program, so I'm still learning what it can or can't do.


----------



## bbfoto

Cool. Yeah, as you can see my Genre list is loooooong, but it was the best solution I came up with.

What about using a Griffin Powermate USB Knob/Controller to do scrolling and selection, and maybe volume and mute, too? You can program IIRC about 5 different functions to whatever keystrokes or mouse clicks you want.

I know that you ready have the Fusion USB volume knob, but the Powermate might have more functions?

However, it will be another USB device in the chain and potentially slow down your boot and possibly cause glitches. Only way to know is to try it I guess.  But it might work out.

Amazon.com: Griffin Technology NA16029 PowerMate USB Multimedia Controller: Electronics


----------



## chad1376

I've seen it, and it looks pretty cool for a car application. I think for the ultimate flexibility in navigating J-river, a numeric keypad (with up/down - left/right) would work very well. Personally, though, I don't want an ugly keyboard floating around in my car. I may get one of these to stash in the glove box for "emergencies".

FRYS.com | Smk


----------



## goodstuff

Your sub box is a work of art. Amazing.


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## chad1376

Finish work on the sub is mostly done. I had to resort to good ol' Hammer Tone to cover up some goofs. I filled the pockets with bondo and sanded them flush, but there was some differential expansion/contraction, and they're still visible. I think for a perfect finish, I'd need to let everything stabilize for a week, coat it with 2k, and then sand. A paint booth would be nice too, since small bugs seem to be attracted to wet paint. I guess they just add "texture". I'm still pretty happy the results though.










Harbor Freight powder coat gun + old oven + cool "anodized" red for the handles came out well.










I had some unused guitar amp grill cloth for the grill. I like it, but interlagos plaid to match the seats would be much cooler if I could find some. I doubt factory seat cloth is very porous and probably wouldn't work well anyway.


----------



## chad1376

I just won my new deck on eBay for $5.










Seriously. I'm going to gut the innards, and use the case to hold my tuner and a few other gee-haws. I also plan on massively modifying the faceplate to hold the touchscreen. Hopefully, this will save a lot of work compared with starting from scratch.

I also installed my main circuit breaker and 4 gauge wire running to the trunk. This is notable only because it's actually the first thing I've permanently installed.










Tomorrow, I pull the door panels and install the midbass speakers. I really hate learning out how to tear apart a new car without damaging all the goofy fasteners.


----------



## chad1376

Disassembled the front doors and installed Dynamat inside the door skins. Man, what a pain in the arse! It'll be worth the effort, since the stock sheet metal was very poorly damped. I used just one layer for most of the door, and trippled-up the thickness in the center of the largest areas with leftover scrap. Tying the sheet metal to the cross brace proved to be the biggest benefit.










I also installed dynamat on the inner door liner. The part is heavily countoured with lots of nooks and crannies, so I had to use many small pieces for coverage. It will work, but the end result is too ugly to post a picture.

My intended midbass are too deep to install without modifying the door panel, so I'm back on the hunt for some good budget midbass. I guess I'll have to listen to just the rear door speakers for awhile.


----------



## chad1376

I just received my old radio guinea pig today. There's nothing more fun that taking something apart without the worry of having to put it back together again. The case will definitely be useful for some components.



The faceplate plastic is very oxidized, but there's no cracks. And, most importantly, it's the same shape as the factory radio.



I'm working up the nerve to take apart my new touchscreen. The screen case is a bit taller than the radio, but the raw screen inside should fit fine.



And as a bonus, I got a CDR with some unidentified garage band on it. The music isn't to bad, actually.


----------



## chad1376

The warranty on my 8" touchscreen has officially been voided.

The raw screen should fit nicely in the old radio fascia. I'm thinking I might be able to trim and graft the touchscreen frame onto the radio plastic, but I'll stew on it before I cut anything. Most of the wires to the board should be easy to extend (if needed) except for the ribbon cable. Any hardcore electronics geeks here know an easy way to do this (Neil et all)? I'm thinking I'll also need to get some momentary push buttons that fit in the fascia, and wire them to the original button board. I guess its time to browse digi-key and mouser.


----------



## chad1376

My project has slowed down, but it's still alive. Lately I have an abundance of components and half finished projects, and not enough time to dig in.

Using some tax refund money, I ordered a Punch PBR300x4 for the Dash Pod mids and tweets and PBR300x2 for the door mid-bass. I know these are probably not the ultimate in SQ, but they're small, simple and priced right. I also have my nanoDigi on the way from Hong Kong.

The short list of half finished projects include:
* Make rings and install midwoofers in door
* Finalize mounting for the dash pods
* Finalize a means to secure the subwoofer box
* Finish painting the touchscreen faceplate and install electronics in the radio case.
* The other 483 installation tasks I haven't even started

Yes, I'm waaay behind my anticipated schedule. Need to find some time.


----------



## bbfoto

Did you come up with a midbass that will fit in your doors yet?


----------



## chad1376

bbfoto said:


> Did you come up with a midbass that will fit in your doors yet?


Yes - I'm going to try some Aura NS6's (I probably ordered the last pair that PE had in stock). They don't look a whole lot better than stock speakers, and I almost backed away from them, but i've been assured that they are a fantastic little speaker. I'm going to have to cut my baffle rings absolutely perfect to be sure they fit without interferance.


----------



## chad1376

More progress. I finished the rear trunk amp board. I decided I had room to mount the PC in the back, along with the NanoDigi DSP, 4 DAC's, 1 Rockford Fosgate PBX300x2 (door mid bass) and 1 PBX300x4 (dash pod mids and tweets). Obviously I have a lot of wiring to do. I also plan on cutting a 1/4" piece of plexi to sit on top of the posts and help stiffen up the trunk liner.


----------



## bbfoto

Looks really clean, Chad.  I like the dowels or posts that you used to support the floor/liner, too. Maybe put some felt or foam self-adhesive furniture pads on the top of the posts to prevent rattles...on second thought, your liner is probably already carpeted. And wiring is always the fun part!


----------



## chad1376

Wiring is one of my favorite parts. Especially when I can do it at the kitchen table and I'm not twisted up like a pretzel under the dash board.


----------



## chad1376

I wired up the basics of the amp board. I can't believe this took the majority of the weekend. All the digital and low level signal is located in this one location and should be pretty easy to integrate into the car at this point. I still have the touchscreen HDMI and a number of USB cables to install, but these will run all the way up to the dash. The PC case is really easy to remove, and I think this will be handy, since I can just bring it in the house to do computer system maintenance and tweaks.









I also finished up the touchsreen/faceplate. It didn't come out perfect, but I'm happy with it. Next, I'll re-install it on the gutted radio case and wire up all the components within.


----------



## draziw

I see in one of your pics that you have a MB with 5.1 or 7.1 sound?? How are you going to hook your sound up to your amps. The reason I'm asking is I have a similar board and I want to hook it up to the OEM Infinity Amp in my 300M. Now the Amp drives 9 speakers, 2 rear deck, 2 rear doors, 2 in each frt doors and one in the middle of the dash. No subs as the rear decks suppose to serve as subs?? No one seems to know for sure if I could just make 3.5 jacks to amp connections. If any one has some thoughts on this please email me [email protected] thanks.


----------



## BowDown

Wow this is an awesome build. I love your attention to detail! Pretty crazy MDF work with the CNC. What do you think of those punch amps? Seems to be the weakest link in your install at the moment.


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## huggy54

How much did this all cost you (if you dont mind me asking)?


----------



## chad1376

Well, I'm not done with the build yet. I hit "project burnout" and still have a thousand small tasks to do before I get it all in. I'm trying to get re-motivated to wrap it up.

I haven't had a chance to fire up the punch amps yet. I know they are likely a bit of a compromize. The big selling point for me was their size and efficiency.

I'm afraid to total up everything for this build. It's not so much the cost of the major components, but all the incidentals that have really added up. I'd hazard a guess of about $2,500.

It'll get done. I have too much time/money invested to quit.


----------



## 2010hummerguy

Wow, so awesome! I have a few questions:

1.) So the NanoDigi retains volume control even though you use separate DACs?
2.) What kind of case is your carputer mounted in? It looks really cool (and good for heat dissipation!)
3.) Is your friend's CNC router for hire or does he have it for fun?


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## chad1376

Architect7 said:


> Wow, so awesome! I have a few questions:
> 
> 1.) So the NanoDigi retains volume control even though you use separate DACs?
> 2.) What kind of case is your carputer mounted in? It looks really cool (and good for heat dissipation!)
> 3.) Is your friend's CNC router for hire or does he have it for fun?


Sorry for the slow reply - my project's still on the backburner and I haven't checked in much.

1 - The NanoDigi has a capability to control volume on the digital end using an IR remote, but I'm not using it since it's in the trunk and out of sight. For volume, I'm using the PC's volume (again on the digital end) with this cool volume controller that just plugs into a USB port.

Fusion Control USB Powered and Controlled Rotary Volume Knob

There's no analog volume control in my setup, except for amp gain adjustment.

2 - Here's the case I used - it's very tight with two hard drives. I had to modify the button board a little, since it interfered with the DC power supply.

Morex 557B Mini-ITX Compact Computer Case

3 - His CNC is for personal use. I make sure I do him lots of favors, so he always "owes me one"


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## Deathjunior

Subscribe. I have been wanting to hear about how the PBR's sound for ages, I had planned on using them for my SQ setup in my next build I just love the idea of hiding them in the rear deck. Though now plans have changed to a false floor and linear powers


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## machinehead

Box came out great! Very solid. I'm building a removable box in my mazda3 hatch in the same place, but I am not going to install the amp on it because its easier to unplug 2 speaker wires to remove the box than unwire the entire amp.

Also I am curious as to why people in this thread have elected to go with the nano or sharc over the minidsp which already has a dac. I plan on going from a tablet/carputer to a dsp to the amps and am doing my homework til I get some money.


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## 2010hummerguy

machinehead said:


> Box came out great! Very solid. I'm building a removable box in my mazda3 hatch in the same place, but I am not going to install the amp on it because its easier to unplug 2 speaker wires to remove the box than unwire the entire amp.
> 
> Also I am curious as to why people in this thread have elected to go with the nano or sharc over the minidsp which already has a dac. I plan on going from a tablet/carputer to a dsp to the amps and am doing my homework til I get some money.


The minisharc has FIR filtering thanks to better processing power via the 32 bit chip. IMO the minidsp units sounds cold and clinical so the sharc lets you choose DAC/analog opamps for the preamp section. 32 bit chip allows digital volume control before dac without loss of content at lower volume. Those are my top reasons


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## machinehead

Architect7 said:


> The minisharc has FIR filtering thanks to better processing power via the 32 bit chip. IMO the minidsp units sounds cold and clinical so the sharc lets you choose DAC/analog opamps for the preamp section. 32 bit chip allows digital volume control before dac without loss of content at lower volume. Those are my top reasons


ty sir


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## Airforceyooper

Sorry for the slight thread hijacking, but those of you with knowledge on the minishark, I wish you would put your heads together and build a thread dedicated to it and how to implement it. I'm new to all the terms reltated to it and quite lost trying to fully understand it and how to integrate it. Thanks.

To the OP, awesome build and thread. I too look forward to seeing the end result. Keep up the great work.


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## 2010hummerguy

Airforceyooper said:


> Sorry for the slight thread hijacking, but those of you with knowledge on the minishark, I wish you would put your heads together and build a thread dedicated to it and how to implement it. I'm new to all the terms reltated to it and quite lost trying to fully understand it and how to integrate it. Thanks.
> 
> To the OP, awesome build and thread. I too look forward to seeing the end result. Keep up the great work.


Here are a couple places to do some reading on minisharc integration:

MiniDSP :: Topic: A 4 ways Car audio project using Minisharc (1/1)

MiniDSP :: Topics in OpenDRC projects (1/1)

miniDSP - diyAudio

FYI Minidsp support is very good. Feel free to contact them directly with questions you may have about minisharc and your own build. They are extremely nice and collect lots of application feedback to drive improvement with their products so who knows, maybe you'll help them form their next revision or release


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## Victor_inox

Sorry, I was too lazy to read all 5 pages.
Alternator noise might be a concern but easily curable with dc-dc converter,you`ll get clean as it can be power, small current once can be had for a few bucks. they only good to 3-5A of current but for head unit, DACs, processors that would be enough. 
Just make sure you get one with high switching frequency and you good to go.


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## chad1376

Sorry all - I don't check in much. FYI, my project fizzled & I gave up on it. It just got too complicated, and had too many details unresolved. Most of the stuff I bought made it's way into other (smaller) projects. I was probably 5-years too late on the whole "carputer" idea. My cell phone does 80% of what I wanted out of this project.


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## Airforceyooper

lol. Well, you have a fun experience anyway, right?


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## Victor_inox

chad1376 said:


> Sorry all - I don't check in much. FYI, my project fizzled & I gave up on it. It just got too complicated, and had too many details unresolved. Most of the stuff I bought made it's way into other (smaller) projects. I was probably 5-years too late on the whole "carputer" idea. My cell phone does 80% of what I wanted out of this project.


 carputers pretty much dead now. any modern tablet can be HU and everything carputer does.


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## chad1376

Airforceyooper said:


> lol. Well, you have a fun experience anyway, right?


I have no regrets since I had fun and learned a lot on the way. I think the biggest hindrance was that it was an all-or-nothing installation. There was no way to really install a small part of the project, then add upgrades as I went. I would have been faced with a ton of trouble shooting with no guarantee I'd have a noise free and trouble free setup at the end.


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## gstokes

chad1376 said:


> I hadn't thought much yet about alternator/power noise.


I'm assuming you'll be using a DC/DC (12V to 5V) converter for motherboard power, the Converter should already have a built-in DC/DC Isolator but if it doesn't AND you still have noise (AC Ripple) in the line use a dedicated DC/DC Isolator, that will completely block any noise in the line from reaching the motherboard..

Power Supply Units | CARPUTER WORLD | Carputer Products and Accessories


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## firebirdude

And yet, this thread is still featured on DIY's homepage.


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