Hello, I'm guessing this is the right place to post this, does anyone know of something thats like the audison bit one, but for a lot cheaper? Because the bit one has an optical input, and I heard that if you hook up your ipod thru optical it will sound great. and was trying to find a cheaper solution.
And as a side note, how is the Alpine Imprint system? Is it any good?
Im not up on this type of stuff as far as whats out there to choose from but i can tell you i heard a system with optical inputs and it sounded very good....good luck with your search
Ok, thanks. Do you know about audio processors in general, I'm also looking for one, for if I don't do what I posted above. Like the audiocontrol stuff, I was reading above them. And they were talking about how their stuff boosts the RCA voltage from like 2volts to around above 10. Is that something that would increase sound quality alone, or would you need other stuff aswell. And with the Alpine Imprint unit, for the 9887, does that boost the RCA voltage, or would it be best to get both an imprint and an Audiocontrol unit.
Any active signal processor is going to function in a way as a line driver, which is what you're describing.
The thing about line drivers is this: They will increase your line voltage, but they won't increase the signal resolution, so their helpfulness is limited. Think of it like this:
If you have a head unit that puts out 4V from the RCA pre-outs, you have up to 4 volts of amplitude in the signal, which means you have a higher source signal resolution than a 2 volt pre-out. Smaller nuances in the music can be defined with more detail. It's like comparing an image that's 10 megapixels to an image that's 2 megapixels, when you blow them up, or zoom in. The 10MP image has more detail, and is sharper when it's looked at closely, or blown up to poster size (think, turning up the radio volume for comparison.)
Now, if you output a 2V signal from the radio, then use the signal processor to amplify that signal to 4+ volts, all you're doing is taking that 2MP JPG and blowing it up to a poster. It's still a low resolution signal, but now it's amplified. The benefit just isn't there.
In short, you're better off using an Alpine head unit, and the Alpine Imprint together, since they are designed to function together. Also, the longer you keep the signal in the digital realm prior to amplification @ the speakers, the cleaner it'll be, and the less coloration that will be introduced to the signal from outside sources, like capacitors, coils, phase shift, etc.
A line driver can give the appearance of cleaning up a signal and giving a stronger voltage input signal to the amplifier, which, when the amp's gain is set properly will give a better output result, but the best way is to have a strong, clean signal from the source.. the head unit's pre-outs. Also be aware that most amplifiers are not designed to accept input signal voltages above 4 volts. I've seen a rare few that will handle 6, 8, and even 110-16 volt inputs, but they are few and far between. 4 volts is an industry standard.
Ok, cool thanks for Glasswolf, thats exactly the kind of thing that I was looking for about all this. Do you know much about the Imprint system, like how it compares to other processors in the price range? And there another way to get better audio quality with a different set up, besides the Alpine?
Pioneer has the P99RS head unit with the signal processing built-in, but that's still a $1300 head unit. The Alpine is very good. I used their F#1status signal processor and CDA-7990 head unit for quite a while before I went to the above mentioned Pioneer.