Best input for amplifier? Converted low level or speaker?
- Thread starter Brindle
- Start date
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- amplifier discover media
Depends on the head unit I guess. To me, those options sound equal, most likely amp high level input is good quality if the amp itself is of good quality so would not bother with separate converters. I’m not a specialist though, just a guy with some hobbyist recording, mixing and live sound background.
I recently found out my discover media could be changed to line level outputs by coding. Using this I was able to tap the speaker wires directly but still go to low level inputs of the amp and even raise the amp gain (focal impulse).
Ideally you would want most of the gain in external amp if using one as it’s likely much better quality than stock head unit. This is why getting line level output straight off the head unit is great - it bypasses the power amp section of the hu.
As for the coding, in my unit its long coding 5F (multimedia) -> byte 11 (sound system) -> 05 (sound system external booster). Afair I had to clear some fault after changing but it has not come back after that. And totally not sure if it works in the same way in all stock head units.
Edit: just checked obd11 history and the fault was caused by me coding wrong value (sound system external most) first
I recently found out my discover media could be changed to line level outputs by coding. Using this I was able to tap the speaker wires directly but still go to low level inputs of the amp and even raise the amp gain (focal impulse).
Ideally you would want most of the gain in external amp if using one as it’s likely much better quality than stock head unit. This is why getting line level output straight off the head unit is great - it bypasses the power amp section of the hu.
As for the coding, in my unit its long coding 5F (multimedia) -> byte 11 (sound system) -> 05 (sound system external booster). Afair I had to clear some fault after changing but it has not come back after that. And totally not sure if it works in the same way in all stock head units.
Edit: just checked obd11 history and the fault was caused by me coding wrong value (sound system external most) first
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I just have to add: sound deadening, speaker upgrade and external amp are firmly in the objective department - there’s no denying each of these improve the sound clarity and quality.
However I classify line level outputs from head unit as the subjective category. Change to the sound is audible for sure and imho to less colored direction. However the change is subtle enough to be debatable and subject to individual taste.
Audio is funny business, there’s no one right solution and technical purity is not necessarily the most enjoyable experience for everyone.
However I classify line level outputs from head unit as the subjective category. Change to the sound is audible for sure and imho to less colored direction. However the change is subtle enough to be debatable and subject to individual taste.
Audio is funny business, there’s no one right solution and technical purity is not necessarily the most enjoyable experience for everyone.
Well I didn't know that. That's very handy information. Cheers.
Likewise, can you share the coding ?
I though these were quite a low impedance high power output, and couldn't be used for line level. On previous vehicles I've had poor sound quality from speaker level outputs into an amp. Even with baluns to isolate the DC level, it's sounded clipped. Would love to get line level output from the stock head unit.
TBF I didn’t find any documentation stating the outputs would be line level with this setting nor did I measure. But the amp seems happy and I was able to increase amp gain to about 1/3 while having a usable range of min/max volume knob steps. I don’t strive for max power.
I really only dug into this as the volume knob step was too large, even with amp gain at zero, when using amp speaker inputs. Now perfect
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Interesting. I would have assumed amp high level inputs would be high impedance as well so that the source amp really doesn’t need to drive the input too much.
That would definitely make sense and work to help maintain signal integrity as most coloration surely comes from source amps deficiencies in maintaining linear gain through a low impedance load (such as a speaker). I gather this is an essential part of why an external amp makes even bog standard head units sound better - they’re just more linear when the load is light
I've fitted aftermarket speakers and an amp in my T6, and I'm about to add a sub. At some point I may replace the head unit, but will by stock OEM Discover Media for the foreseeable. Ideally I would like the OEM head unit to run a flatter output, without a high pass etc.
I’ve just created a thread similar to this, see
www.t6forum.com
I’ve just created a thread similar to this, see
Modifying (coding) the OEM Discover Media sound profile to make the output flat
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www.audiosciencereview.com
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