Boosting signal from head unit to amp

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

Ok well in my particular case, my head unit is a sound card, but that really doesn't matter. (carpc) The problem is, I have the soundcard wired to the amps, and for some reason the signal coming out of the front and rear channels is way louder then that coming out of the bass channel. This is not a guess, many people have the same problem, the signal is actually different for the bass channel.

Anyway, I've never experienced a problem like this, and I just need to know the name of the part I need to boost that signal, so I can get some volume on my bass. Can this even be done? I've heard of something called a line driver preamp or something, this sounds like what I need.

Let me explain the problem specifically one last time so I'm sure you know what I'm talking about : I have a Cadence ZRS-9 Monoblock amp for my subwoofer. This is plenty of power for almost any sub, underpowering the sub is definately not the problem. I've hooked RCA cables coming out of an Ipod, and also from different channels of the soundcard into the amp, and the bass is very loud how it should be. However the signal from the actual bass channel of the soundcard is weak and even with the amp cranked to max power the bass is barely louder than the regular speakers.

Please provide details and be specific with names, and if possible provide links, this is my first time dealing with this aspect of car audio and I'm kind of in the dark here. Any help is appreciated.

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[lincolnls 10+ year member]

dont know about home audio but in car audio i would be putting in a line driver, since you are using car audio in home audio just use a line driver to up the voltage, problem solved //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

I'm pretty sure he's working a carputer, not using that car amp in his house (no good way to power it). Line driver is what you need. Get on that will cover all your channels and you can get them all balanced out. AudioControl makes exactly what you need.

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1268

That one will cover your front, rear and subs.

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1270

That will cover just your sub channels.

I've got a feeling that the sub output on your soundcard is muted somewhere in the software, causing your problem, BTW.

 

[acold7dusta 10+ year member]

yea it is for the car^^, i kind of had the same problem, i was just going to double the RMS, since my sub will take it, but in your case that AC should do the trick

 

[vipervin 10+ year member]

which sound card do you have? there may be some setting to adjust the sub channel. i also run a carputer and originally used a philips aurilium usb sound card to my amp which worked fine. although now i changed my setup to aux-in thru head unit for more control.

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

It's a Creative Audigy SE PCI sound card.

There is a slider for the subwoofer channel, I've never put it below 100%.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

There is a slider for the subwoofer channel, I've never put it below 100%.

I've found through experience that there is sometime more than one control for volumes and you have to really search to find the one that you need. It's also possible that there is something buried in the software somewhere that has the sub output muted. Based on what you've said, that is the most probable cause.

 

[kicker06 10+ year member]

Does boosting your Headunit Voltage out distort signal? This would be a lot cheater than buying a new HU.

What is the downside to using a line driver?

Could you mount it right next to your amp in the trunk, or would it have to be placed right near the HU so no signal is lost?

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

From what I understand it's best if line drivers are installed near the head unit. In my case my headunit is a computer, which is already in the trunk less than 3 feet from the amp so it doesn't really matter.

It doesn't distort your signal, in fact if done right it should reduce noise.

I'm gonna go play with the computer right now and see if I can find out for sure if I need one or not, I'm quite sure I do...

 

[vipervin 10+ year member]

have you tested the sound card with regular computer speakers and a sub, like a 2.1 system? ... just to make sure you get the sub channel properly with regular computer speakers and that the card isnt defective.

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

the card isn't defective, I'm not making this problem up, I'm not the first to have this problem.... I thought we established this.

I was just looking for a way to fix it, line driver seems to be the way to go, anybody know where I can get one for $50 or less, $100 seems a bit much just for the ability to set the crossover point of the bass from the pc

 

[vipervin 10+ year member]

well if you are going to pay up to $50 for a line driver, why not just get a new soundcard. you can find the philips aurilium (usb) for less than 50 and it worked fine. you can find pci cards for even cheaper

 

[creyc 10+ year member]

Or do it free with software. :/

Not very elegant of a solution though.