# Building a car PC, need help



## Airforceyooper

ok, so I'm building a car PC. I wanted something that would/could reproduce sound well and would give me the configuration I needed. Tweeters, midranges, midbasses, center mid and tweet, and sub woovers. 10 channels total. So I bought this, M-AUDIO - Delta 1010LT - 10-In/10-Out PCI Virtual Studio, off e-bay and it's on its way. 

For software, I found this, Bodzio Software. I haven't bought it yet, but I'm leaning toward it. 

Would this mobo be overkill for a car pc? and would it work ok with the sound card and any other devices that would be part of a car PC? JetWay JNL10-I525 Intel Atom D525 1.80GHz Intel NM10 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo - Newegg.com

I need to figure out a good power supply for this project, volume control, back-up camera, navigation, etc. My first inclination is to go to MP3car and grab the suggested gear from there. But since I spend a lot more time here, and there's a car PC section, I thought I'd reach out here first. 

Any suggestions? Hardware or software? 

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but with this sound card and the software, I should be able to upmix to AC3 and have an actual center channel, right? 

Thanks all.


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## diy.phil

The Atom D525 is over 4 years old. Which probably will still work just fine, but maybe look for something newer tech? (Bay Trail Atom processor family)


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## porscheman

how are you planing on plugging a pciX into a mini pci? and an atom will have issues with using most pc based possessing


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## Airforceyooper

porscheman said:


> how are you planing on plugging a pciX into a mini pci? and an atom will have issues with using most pc based possessing


The board I linked to has a full PCI slot, right? Isn't that what the audio card needs? 

Here's the four boards from newegg that have one full PCI slot and one mini for bluetooth. Does one of these look better than the others? 
Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Motherboards, Embedded Solutions, 1, 1 x Mini PCIe


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## porscheman

i may be wrong, but i think the m-audio card is a pci-x, some m/b will support it in a regular pci slot with a reduction of bandwidth, some wont. i've got a dual core atom in my car, i'm really thinking about trading it out for one of the new intel nuc or a cousin of one. the atoms are just to slow


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## Airforceyooper

So for my sound card, I need to find a mobo that supports PCI-X? Any suggestions there? Is PCI-X the same as PCI Express x1?


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## Airforceyooper

ok, so I know PCI-X is it's own socket. Not to be confused with PCI-e. However, I haven't been able to find a motherboard to support it, other than server boards. Not what I'm looking for. So I'm on the hunt for an adapter maybe or if someone knows of a motherboard that will support this sound card, that would be awesome!


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## Ultimateherts

You would want to eliminate the possibility of noise which is why I always stayed away from internal sound cards. USB or Firewire audio interfaces are the way to go because they have many many more outputs. Studio recording setups are designed for stereo reproduction more or less which consumer sound cards are more meant for surround sound. Always to make things even easier you would want something that has standard RCA in/outputs instead of the smaller 1/4" headphone size jacks. 

You also want something that supports VST's and ASIO so to further streamline the simplicity. It really sucks when you have everything wired up and find out the software is not compatible!


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## Orion525iT

Why not just use 2x8 mindsp with digital add on card. Optical signal from integrated chip, mini dsp to do the rest. 

Unless there is a reason you want to muck around with plugins and VST. 

Some will also claim jitter with optical, but...


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## Airforceyooper

yeah, I think I'm going to have to chalk this up to an error. My attention to detail missed something important and I goofed. I was trying to do all the processing through software in the computer and just have ouputs straight to the amps. I thought it would simplify the system. But we see where that got me. 

Another reason for doing the route I was, was that I thought I'd be able to upmix to AC-3 for my center channel. After sitting in on Floyd Toole's lecture, if you don't use a center channel, you're basically tarded.

I was going to move away from a center channel, but have since changed my mind. And there aren't many processors out there that can give a true center channel. So I may have to keep using MS-8s. Not the end of the world. Set up and tuning is easy.


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## Ultimateherts

Orion525iT said:


> Why not just use 2x8 mindsp with digital add on card. Optical signal from integrated chip, mini dsp to do the rest.
> 
> Unless there is a reason you want to muck around with plugins and VST.
> 
> Some will also claim jitter with optical, but...


VST's have more options and flexibility not that the MINIDSP isn't flexible. Also the PC processing power dwarfs the MINIDSP. Once you get it setup to your liking then you might not want to change it. Also future proof as the MINIDSP might become outdated at some point? Look at all the processors that have come and gone VS the cost of just a new audio interface. I am not trying to reinvent the wheel I am just trying to make the wheel spin easier!


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## Airforceyooper

Ultimateherts said:


> VST's have more options and flexibility not that the MINIDSP isn't flexible. Also the PC processing power dwarfs the MINIDSP. Once you get it setup to your liking then you might not want to change it. Also future proof as the MINIDSP might become outdated at some point? Look at all the processors that have come and gone VS the cost of just a new audio interface. I am not trying to reinvent the wheel I am just trying to make the wheel spin easier!


I need to research VSTs so I can understand exactly what they are and how they work, but I get that they're plugins. So what VSTs are you using? Or would you like to be using? Any suggestions on sound cards? I'd like to be able to achieve a real center channel. Any VSTs for that? And, I believe I need 10 channels of control. two tweets, two midranges and two midbass speakers for front right and left, a midbass and tweeter for center and two subwoofers. 

I'd love to work this out. Just for the novelty of it if nothing else.


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## RayBob

I have that board in my junk box. It gives driver grief an is slow under windows 7 and 8. I used the Jetway NF9G-QM77 with a 35watt i7-3612QM mobile processor. Not overkill for a carpc, just about right cause its got decent onboard graphics, and idles at low temp.

It also has a full size PCI slot to accommodate your audio card.

I went the easy route and just used that hifimediy sabre DAC and the ms-8. I'm more carpc guy than audiophile, but want great sound too.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk


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## Airforceyooper

MS-8 seems to be the most logical way to achieve a true center channel. And that being the case, there's no need for any sound card. It should be possible to take the spdif header off the motherboard and run that to a small DAC, to the MS-8. No sound card need, right? Or is there a reason to still use a sound card?


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## RayBob

I only use the onboard sound for mic in and HD radio line in. No external sound card other than USB DAC. 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk


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## Ultimateherts

Start here:

DSP Crossover for PC. Frequency Allocator.

*"
Loudspeaker Frequency Allocator 

The Loudspeaker Frequency Allocator is a 4-way, stereo DSP loudspeaker crossover that works with ASIO compatible multichannel sound cards on a Windows XP computer. Macintosh version is coming as well. Layout of each crossover leg is consistent with the way professional loudspeaker design software packages work. User is not limited to pre-canned filter algorithms such as B3 or LR4 that are so prevalent in the available hardware and software crossovers on the market today. Instead, we provide a series of flexible processing blocks that can be individually optimized to deliver the best match for the loudspeaker drivers used. Textbook filter settings are of course possible (either through direct input or by recalling factory patches), as are a vast range of other settings.
A brief list of features:
1.fully integrated Phase Arbitrator section for transient-perfect reproduction.
2.each DSP crossover leg adjustable from 6dB/oct to 42dB/oct on Low Pass and High Pass side.
3.4- band fully parametric equalizer in each leg.
4.low and high shelving filters in each leg- both switchable between 6dB/oct and 12dB/oct (with q adjustment).
5.up to 50msec delay in each leg- adjustable in 0.01msec steps (3.4mm resolution).
6.output polarity switch in each leg.
7.filter response display.
8.frequency response data (.frd text file) for each loudspeaker driver can be imported and merged with filter's response.
9.three zoom levels for viewing of the graphs.
10.fully skinnable- GUI clearly laid out in an xml-like file.
11. comes with two premade skins.
12.64bit processing throughout. SSE2 instructions utilized."
*


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## Airforceyooper

What about this for creating a center channel? Seems like it might work, Audio mid-side encoder-decoder plugin (AU, VST, VST3) - Voxengo MSED - Voxengo.


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## Ultimateherts

Why do you need a center channel? To me most music is recorded in stereo so there is no real need in my estimation.


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## Ultimateherts

Airforceyooper said:


> http://www.bodziosoftware.com.au/


The cost of that program is $150. The cost of the I linked is $40... I would hate to spend $150 and something not totally compatible with it.


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## UsedCarFleet

porscheman said:


> how are you planing on plugging a pciX into a mini pci? and an atom will have issues with using most pc based possessing


Most of the Mini-ITX motherboards are capable of using PCI-E cards. So dont worry about it. While buying the motherboard buy the soundcard from the same shop and check the slot and card there itself. the rest of the items order online.

Based on my experience you only need the DOuble din monitor and PSU from online. the rest can be procured from the local shops


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## Ultimateherts

UsedCarFleet said:


> Most of the Mini-ITX motherboards are capable of using PCI-E cards. So dont worry about it. While buying the motherboard buy the soundcard from the same shop and check the slot and card there itself. the rest of the items order online.
> 
> Based on my experience you only need the DOuble din monitor and PSU from online. the rest can be procured from the local shops


At a higher cost!!!


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