Doxmia Posted January 20, 2016 Report Posted January 20, 2016 Hello all. I've been a long time lurker of SMD forums and I know there's a lot of smart people who chat things up here, so I figured I'd finally actually post with the issue that I am having with my current setup. My first post will be a bit long and I'll try to include as much detail as I can. I have a 2014 F150 with the Sony 8" MyTouch setup (meaning the alpine x003-fd2 unfortunately is not an option as it is not compatible with the 8" setups). I went from a pretty high end custom setup in my Passat to wanting to go a little more "stock" in my F150 while still getting decent sound. Here's my equipment: Processor: Mosconi 6to8 V8 Components: Focal SP 165FX (running active on the FPD 600.4) Sub: JL Stealthbox (SB-F-150-SPRCRW/13TW5v2/BK) Amps: Focal FPD 600.4 and Focal FPD 900.1 Nothing too terribly crazy but not the worst setup in the world, either. That being said - off to a rocky start to where I am now I've just never been fully happy with it. The system itself is capable of being louder but I'm running into limitations of integrating into the factory stereo. Essentially there's no way to bypass the factory sony amp, so it has to go from the sony amp into the mosconi. We've determined at what volume the system distorts (using the SMD DD-1 as to ensure not to go louder than that point). The problem is, I want to be able to go a bit louder than that. Additional issues are certain songs may cause popping in the mids at what we found to be the "safe" volume, so I tend to keep things a bit lower. That may just be a x-over issue, though. There is also white noise at low volumes while fairly negligible but still bothers me and would like to eliminate that if possible. The first shop I had working on it was great for the most part, I believe this was their first factory sony integration with this exact setup ('14 F150) and we worked through a few issues and got it to a point where it's significantly better than stock. I've since moved, however, and upon talking to a couple of local shops - their lack of expertise makes me hesitant to give them a try so I'm contemplating waiting till it warms up and just tackling it myself in my garage. I'm not an expert when it comes to tuning systems. My previous system I ran the Pioneer dex-p99rs and I got pretty decent with time at adjusting it on the fly. With the new Mosconi 6to8 i haven't spent a ton of time since I have to bust out a laptop every time I want to make an adjustment. Mostly just make adjustments by ear to what I feel sounds good - I am not looking to compete, just want a stereo that I can enjoy listening to my music on. So basically I am wondering: what my options are for possibly being able to increase the output level of my stereo? My gains are set about half on both amps, the bass is fine where it's at (though I'd have to adjust it a bit if I were to increase my front stage). Someone suggested putting something like an AudioControl LcQ-1 in front of the Mosconi, but from what I understand that would be somewhat redundant (and might even have negative consequences). Can the AudioControl take more distortion? I'm not too sure what the reasoning behind that would be. When it comes to my factory sony head unit, obviously I have all EQ disabled and flat with no volume adjustment while driving. The obvious answer is to bypass the head unit all together and control the volume from the Mosconi using the remote, but I'd prefer to retain all stock controls if possible. Looking forward to any thoughts that you guys might have, really appreciate you taking the time to read my post.
yurvalentine Posted January 20, 2016 Report Posted January 20, 2016 Could be that the factory amp is causing the distortion, can you possibly tap into the signal before the amp?
Doxmia Posted January 20, 2016 Author Report Posted January 20, 2016 Could be that the factory amp is causing the distortion, can you possibly tap into the signal before the amp? As I mentioned above - I really wish I could - but unfortunately it is not an option. It's a digital signal from the HU to the amp and the stock HU has no output options. I know that the factory amp would be causing the distortion - I've tested it myself with the SMD DD-1. Trying to figure out a way to clean it up as much as humanly possible so I can get a bit more volume to my speakers without distortion. At the end of the day audio can only be as good as the source it comes from, and I get that, but just looking for any ideas or opinions that I may not be aware of at this time.
shogen Posted January 20, 2016 Report Posted January 20, 2016 Could be that the factory amp is causing the distortion, can you possibly tap into the signal before the amp? As I mentioned above - I really wish I could - but unfortunately it is not an option. It's a digital signal from the HU to the amp and the stock HU has no output options. I know that the factory amp would be causing the distortion - I've tested it myself with the SMD DD-1. Trying to figure out a way to clean it up as much as humanly possible so I can get a bit more volume to my speakers without distortion. At the end of the day audio can only be as good as the source it comes from, and I get that, but just looking for any ideas or opinions that I may not be aware of at this time. https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidspkits/2-x-in-4-x-out .... minidsp products ... you would then be bypassing the stock equipment all together Pioneer Premier P880PRS ll Front Stage: US Acoustics 4060 - Random speakers currently ll Sub Stage: Crescendo BC3500D - 15" Xcon sealed @ 3.28 cubes ll Electrical: - Kinetik HC1800(front) NEW***DieHard P-2(rear) beaker- I know this sounds like a lot of anime bullshit, but it is true.
Doxmia Posted January 20, 2016 Author Report Posted January 20, 2016 Could be that the factory amp is causing the distortion, can you possibly tap into the signal before the amp? As I mentioned above - I really wish I could - but unfortunately it is not an option. It's a digital signal from the HU to the amp and the stock HU has no output options. I know that the factory amp would be causing the distortion - I've tested it myself with the SMD DD-1. Trying to figure out a way to clean it up as much as humanly possible so I can get a bit more volume to my speakers without distortion. At the end of the day audio can only be as good as the source it comes from, and I get that, but just looking for any ideas or opinions that I may not be aware of at this time. https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidspkits/2-x-in-4-x-out .... minidsp products ... you would then be bypassing the stock equipment all together I don't see how this would bypass the stock equipment since the source would still have to be the factory sony amp? The factory headunit sends a digital signal to the sony amplifier, there isn't a way to for me to tap into that. Unless you're suggesting that I just don't use the factory headunit for sound at all and instead just plug in an iPod or something of that nature (And in that case I would just be better off using the Mosconi that I already have, no?), but that also isn't an option. I want to retain all stock controls and features (such as volume control, bluetooth/sync functionality, etc).
shogen Posted January 20, 2016 Report Posted January 20, 2016 Could be that the factory amp is causing the distortion, can you possibly tap into the signal before the amp? As I mentioned above - I really wish I could - but unfortunately it is not an option. It's a digital signal from the HU to the amp and the stock HU has no output options. I know that the factory amp would be causing the distortion - I've tested it myself with the SMD DD-1. Trying to figure out a way to clean it up as much as humanly possible so I can get a bit more volume to my speakers without distortion. At the end of the day audio can only be as good as the source it comes from, and I get that, but just looking for any ideas or opinions that I may not be aware of at this time. https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidspkits/2-x-in-4-x-out .... minidsp products ... you would then be bypassing the stock equipment all together I don't see how this would bypass the stock equipment since the source would still have to be the factory sony amp? The factory headunit sends a digital signal to the sony amplifier, there isn't a way to for me to tap into that. Unless you're suggesting that I just don't use the factory headunit for sound at all and instead just plug in an iPod or something of that nature (And in that case I would just be better off using the Mosconi that I already have, no?), but that also isn't an option. I want to retain all stock controls and features (such as volume control, bluetooth/sync functionality, etc). true I dont know that mosconi so if thats the case then yea you'd be better off that way.... mosconi have a bluetooth option? you really like your FordSync setup that much? I'm having withdrawal after getting a new car since it has something similar .... not willing to do much but add sub at this point and deal w/ stock sound in my situation .. :/ Pioneer Premier P880PRS ll Front Stage: US Acoustics 4060 - Random speakers currently ll Sub Stage: Crescendo BC3500D - 15" Xcon sealed @ 3.28 cubes ll Electrical: - Kinetik HC1800(front) NEW***DieHard P-2(rear) beaker- I know this sounds like a lot of anime bullshit, but it is true.
MotorCityFats13 Posted January 20, 2016 Report Posted January 20, 2016 somebody has to make a LOC like device that will convert the digital signal to analog.... worst case I think you could do a processor that has digital inputs.... in reality if you really like that HU and its options you would spend between 500-1000 so puting that down on a bit-one for instance might be acceptable
yurvalentine Posted January 20, 2016 Report Posted January 20, 2016 What kind of digital signal are we talking? I don't know how that whole system works but unless you can tap into that low level you're stuck with the factory amp distortion.
Doxmia Posted January 20, 2016 Author Report Posted January 20, 2016 somebody has to make a LOC like device that will convert the digital signal to analog.... worst case I think you could do a processor that has digital inputs.... in reality if you really like that HU and its options you would spend between 500-1000 so puting that down on a bit-one for instance might be acceptable Yeah I've been waiting for someone to come out with something. I was waiting for Helix to make something for their DSP but nothing yet. Money isn't really an issue or obstacle but I already have a Mosconi 6 to 8 which I would prefer to use over a bit one anyway. I wish it was just a matter of buying something, but it doesn't look like that's happening any time soon. Maybe someone out there has experience with this particular system and has a potential solution to clean up the signal from the amp. I have read that the sub output from the factory amp has significantly more distortion than the high level outputs but in my experiences it's been similar.
Doxmia Posted January 20, 2016 Author Report Posted January 20, 2016 What kind of digital signal are we talking? I don't know how that whole system works but unless you can tap into that low level you're stuck with the factory amp distortion. The harness goes from the HU to the Sony amp. You can't tap into any of those wires though, only post amp. (Very well known "problem" with these sony systems).
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