I've never built a CarPC before, so I'm spending at least a year rounding up some parts and testing some software and hardware hacks.

I'm a little concerned about hooking up the soundcard outputs directly to some component amps because of a lack of a "Master" volume control on these amps. Any worries here?

Also, is anyone using the 12V output of the PSU as a "remote" line for enabling the amps?

Lastly, how reliable is the 1/8" minijack to RCA Y cable? I was thinking about removing the jacks and soldering my own connections to an RCA breakout.

Thx!

 

personally i would run the RCAs to a AUX in on the headunit. let that filter stuff out before sending it to the amps and speakers.

i will be installing a full system and carputer later this month once all the parts come in and thats how i am doin it. i would rather not have to deal with the valume control on the computer. its much easier to turn down everything on a headunit than it is on a 7inch touch screen

 

Thanks... but I'm not going to be using the touchscreen much, but I really want to feed the audio directly to the component amps because I'll be using a modified Audigy 2 soundcard with Burr Brown op amps. The quality is top notch since I'm using it on my current PC.

I'm going to aim for an "iPod on Wheels" design. The concept is to use the OEM ***** and switches and wire them up to a keyboard controller. The cheapo keyboard I have has a rotary encoder for volume, so this gives a little bit of hope if I can match things up electrically. If I can get my hands on a NAV keypad for the next gen G, I'm going to wire it up and it'll conveniently control iTunes. (Thus, the project planning and design will take awhile.)

Do you have any ideas on "cloning" the main screen to 2 more screens for the headrests? The plan is to route a pair of USB ports and a trackpad to the rear center console. Passengers behind me can control my computer using the trackpad while I'm driving. Also, the USB ports are for a pair of controllers for some classic gaming action! (That's just a concept... low priority)

 

This site has a lot of info.

www.mp3car.com

 

Here is a diagram I made from my CarPC planning phase. Thought it might help...

 

Thanks Ken350Z for the link. I already know about it... but completely forgot about looking up the site!

Thanks very much for the help and diagram. I'm going to use MSPAINT :-P

BTW, any reasons regarding the selection of the Xenarc vs. Lilliput TS LCD?

[EDIT] It looks like there are users who have mult-channel setups by connecting their soundcards to the component amps. I was really worried about the strength of the card's output voltage. Hopefully I don't have to worry about noise.