Going from 2v pre out HU to 4v pre out HU

[Jessica]

"anyway, higher voltage doesnt always mean less noise, i mean, its not 4v at 10/60 volume right? "

Correct.

However, it is twice the voltage that you would get from a 2 volt head unit.

This is probably redundant but I used to get bad engine noise and some white noise on my 4 channel amp. I got some Monster XLN RCA's pretty cheap at a local audio store and the extra shielding cut out all of the noise! Anyways, good luck fixing your problem!

Yes, but if you have noise, and you double the voltage, you have twice the noise. Hu voltage has nothing to do with how much "noise", just floor noise and then that depends on the quality of the headunit. All it really can help with is dynamic range, and again, depends on the quality of the headunit.

[Taylor Campbell]

That is only true when the noise comes from within the hu. Most of the I have seen noise comes from outside sources in through the patch cables where it is inn effected by hu voltage. What is effected by hu voltage is signal purity. A stronger signal is easier heard over a weak noise signal then a weaker signal.

[kirill007]

4V or 2V output or even 10V output doesn't mean a thing for sound quality. A 5V HU can sound a lot worse then a 2V HU.

It's all about how the internals are made, quite a lot of reference CD players at home only put out 0.2V. (including the one in my profile pic)

And trust me they sound better then any car HU.

The gain on a amp isn't there just for fun..

I shouldn't have assumed the same for him, but in my case, a 4 volt preout was one just one of several benefits of better head unit. I recently went from a basic Kenwood KDC 252 to a Kenwood Excelon. Regardless, a signal at 4 volts is less likely to pick up noise then an identical signal at 2 volts.

Wrong.

"anyway, higher voltage doesnt always mean less noise, i mean, its not 4v at 10/60 volume right? "

Correct.

However, it is twice the voltage that you would get from a 2 volt head unit.

This is probably redundant but I used to get bad engine noise and some white noise on my 4 channel amp. I got some Monster XLN RCA's pretty cheap at a local audio store and the extra shielding cut out all of the noise! Anyways, good luck fixing your problem!

Wrong, it's not twice the voltage all the time. It's only twice the voltage when you are at 4V if you even get to a actual 4V.

The signal is only stronger above 2V and guess how many dB's difference there is between 2V and 4V. (and how it relates to our ears)

[Smoove]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q48LQou_VhE#t=0

http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/175677-free-education/page-18

[Taylor Campbell]

4V or 2V output or even 10V output doesn't mean a thing for sound quality. A 5V HU can sound a lot worse then a 2V HU.

It's all about how the internals are made, quite a lot of reference CD players at home only put out 0.2V. (including the one in my profile pic)

And trust me they sound better then any car HU.

The gain on a amp isn't there just for fun..

I shouldn't have assumed the same for him, but in my case, a 4 volt preout was one just one of several benefits of better head unit. I recently went from a basic Kenwood KDC 252 to a Kenwood Excelon. Regardless, a signal at 4 volts is less likely to pick up noise then an identical signal at 2 volts.

Wrong.

"anyway, higher voltage doesnt always mean less noise, i mean, its not 4v at 10/60 volume right? "

Correct.

However, it is twice the voltage that you would get from a 2 volt head unit.

This is probably redundant but I used to get bad engine noise and some white noise on my 4 channel amp. I got some Monster XLN RCA's pretty cheap at a local audio store and the extra shielding cut out all of the noise! Anyways, good luck fixing your problem!

Wrong, it's not twice the voltage all the time. It's only twice the voltage when you are at 4V if you even get to a actual 4V.

The signal is only stronger above 2V and guess how many dB's difference there is between 2V and 4V. (and how it relates to our ears)

Lets do some simple math here, Let's say I am listening to my 2 volt HU at 50 percent volume. %50 of 2 volts is 1 volt. Now lets listen to the same volume on my Excelon. %50 of 4 volts is 2 volts. 2 volts is twice as much as 1 volt. Is it any louder? No. Why? because this neat thing called gains.

How does this help noise? Less noise is detected because with a powerful HU or line driver, you can turn down your gain. There is less amplification for the noise signal. Try and set the gain on your mids and highs to maximum and see if you are completely noise free. (you probably aren't) Why is this noise now audible? It was always there, its just now amplified by your high gains to a point at which you can here.

[notorious97200]

If you have a noise problem, just fix it correctly. Don't use a new head unit with higher voltage as a bandaid !

Ground your rca, change the pico fuse, do anything,...but a new h u is not the best solution.

To the OP : you'll be happy with it. You must know not to play with the rca while playing music.

2v, 4v : it doesn't matter. I don't even know how much volt my Pioneer 9300 SD puts out ! I was happy with all my Pioneer h u !

[kirill007]

If you have a noise problem, just fix it correctly. Don't use a new head unit with higher voltage as a bandaid !

Ground your rca, change the pico fuse, do anything,...but a new h u is not the best solution.

To the OP : you'll be happy with it. You must know not to play with the rca while playing music.

2v, 4v : it doesn't matter. I don't even know how much volt my Pioneer 9300 SD puts out ! I was happy with all my Pioneer h u !

Exactly.

Wrong, it's not twice the voltage all the time. It's only twice the voltage when you are at 4V if you even get to a actual 4V.

The signal is only stronger above 2V and guess how many dB's difference there is between 2V and 4V. (and how it relates to our ears)

Taylor Campbell said:

"Lets do some simple math here, Let's say I am listening to my 2 volt HU at 50 percent volume. %50 of 2 volts is 1 volt. Now lets listen to the same volume on my Excelon. %50 of 4 volts is 2 volts. 2 volts is twice as much as 1 volt. Is it any louder? No. Why? because this neat thing called gains.

How does this help noise? Less noise is detected because with a powerful HU or line driver, you can turn down your gain. There is less amplification for the noise signal. Try and set the gain on your mids and highs to maximum and see if you are completely noise free. (you probably aren't) Why is this noise now audible? It was always there, its just now amplified by your high gains to a point at which you can here."

Do you even know where noise comes from? You seemed to have looked over the dB question, now highlighted in red.

Do you think a 4V HU automatically has a better SNR then a 2V HU?

[Jessica]

That's what I have been saying. Lol but all things being equal more voltage can help cover noise introduced after the head unit. But more voltage isn't the be all end all to SQ. If it was people would use the amplified outputs for the RCA's cause they are way more voltage.

It comes down to processing in the hu and source quality of the recording. Then the install quality plays a factor.

Also, has the OP even been back in this thread? On mobile here don't feel like checking but I don't think I have seen him here in a while

Edit.

[Taylor Campbell]

If you have a noise problem, just fix it correctly. Don't use a new head unit with higher voltage as a bandaid !

Ground your rca, change the pico fuse, do anything,...but a new h u is not the best solution.

To the OP : you'll be happy with it. You must know not to play with the rca while playing music.

2v, 4v : it doesn't matter. I don't even know how much volt my Pioneer 9300 SD puts out ! I was happy with all my Pioneer h u !

Exactly.

Wrong, it's not twice the voltage all the time. It's only twice the voltage when you are at 4V if you even get to a actual 4V.

The signal is only stronger above 2V and guess how many dB's difference there is between 2V and 4V. (and how it relates to our ears)

Taylor Campbell said:

"Lets do some simple math here, Let's say I am listening to my 2 volt HU at 50 percent volume. %50 of 2 volts is 1 volt. Now lets listen to the same volume on my Excelon. %50 of 4 volts is 2 volts. 2 volts is twice as much as 1 volt. Is it any louder? No. Why? because this neat thing called gains.

How does this help noise? Less noise is detected because with a powerful HU or line driver, you can turn down your gain. There is less amplification for the noise signal. Try and set the gain on your mids and highs to maximum and see if you are completely noise free. (you probably aren't) Why is this noise now audible? It was always there, its just now amplified by your high gains to a point at which you can here."

Do you even know where noise comes from? You seemed to have looked over the dB question, now highlighted in red.

Do you think a 4V HU automatically has a better SNR then a 2V HU?

I never said that. In all caps to possibly aid your comprehension, REMEMBER AT THE START OF THE THREAD WHEN I SAID IN MY CASE (and the OP's) WE UPGRADED OUR HU'S. I SAID HIGHER VOLTAGE CAN REDUCE PICKED UP NOISE. My problem was never internal noise. Upgrading to a nicer excelon, that just happened to have a 4 volt preout reduced external noise as I was able to lower my gains as a result of the higher out put voltage.

As for your random ass db question, in this case about 3-6.

[Taylor Campbell]

That's what I have been saying. Lol but all things being equal more voltage can help cover noise introduced after the head unit. But more voltage isn't the be all end all to SQ. If it was people would use the amplified outputs for the RCA's cause they are way more voltage.

It comes down to processing in the hu and source quality of the recording. Then the install quality plays a factor.

Also, has the OP even been back in this thread? On mobile here don't feel like checking but I don't think I have seen him here in a while

Edit.

I don't think he has. Also, it really pisses me off when I hear music from big producers that has lots of noise! Some of U2's music is awful about clarity. I listened to an Eminem song once that had a tone that sounded almost like Alt whine. I thought it was my system for a while until listening to the song on an iPod and hearing it there too!