Calling all Audiophiles - Hi Res Source Files

[Cincy2]

Hi Folks,

Car audio newbie here. I am a 2 channel home audiophile. I bought a new daily driver because my commute is about to grow to an hour each way and I can't imagine doing that without decent sounding music (and decent gas mileage). While I consider myself well informed on home audio, I need a little help with my car system.

I chose to replace speakers (JL Audio C5 series) and head unit (Alpine INE-W957HD), install an amplifier (JL Audio XD600/6V2) and also add a processor (Alpine PXA-H800). I'm using an optical connection for digits out of the head unit to the processor and using the better DAC's inside it to send an analog signal to the amps. All of that was installed last week.

I have not done any equalization yet at the processor because I'm dissatisfied with the input sources of audio. I have multi-gigabytes of hi res FLAC files from my home system that I would love to play somehow through an input to my head unit (at the analog level because I know the processor will not convert hi res formats (DSD or 96KHz/24bit sampled). XM radio is horrible. I can't listen to it. The MP3 files on my iPod are barely adequate. I can play some of my better Redbook CD's but carrying those in the car and changing them is a step backward.

Has anyone managed to find a way to send a hi res analog feed into a standard head unit? Something like a Sony or Pono player that will interface through USB into my car system.

Thanks

Cincy

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[basswiigee2fix]

c5 are a big disappointment...

you cant play flac as far as i know on any hu...

 

[basswiigee2fix]

a round about is to dl flac music on phone and play via bluetooth.. but its not the same... lol

 

[Cincy2]

a round about is to dl flac music on phone and play via bluetooth.. but its not the same... lol

iPhone will not play FLAC. I have to use a third party software (Audirvana) on my home system to get it to play on a Mac. Of all the car audio sources I am currently using, HD Radio sounds the best. Might try a trial on Tidal to see how it sounds streamed / Bluetoothed to the HU.

Cincy

 

[WhiteYota]

Pioneers newer HU's support FLAC

Mine does on USB stick

edit - Owners manual does not way what FLAC format

 

[basswiigee2fix]

Pioneers newer HU's support FLACMine does on USB stick

how new? i got a prs80 and it dont...

 

---------- Post added at 03:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:48 PM ----------

 

iPhone will not play FLAC. I have to use a third party software (Audirvana) on my home system to get it to play on a Mac. Of all the car audio sources I am currently using, HD Radio sounds the best. Might try a trial on Tidal to see how it sounds streamed / Bluetoothed to the HU.
Cincy

cant comment on apple i been android ever since i touched a samsung and seen what they offer compared to apple...

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Have you discussed this with your audio installer? You may likely have to convert your hi-res collection to a lower sampling rate for playback in the car.

 

[WhiteYota]

how new? i got a prs80 and it dont... 

---------- Post added at 03:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:48 PM ----------

 

cant comment on apple i been android ever since i touched a samsung and seen what they offer compared to apple...

I am not sure as far as how new but it is more on if it supports digital file playback - NEX models, my AppRadio4

iPhone and iPods does not support anything except what is in iTunes (it converts them to apples codec), but mine are not jailbroke so I dont know if they will support other audio formats

 

[Cincy2]

Have you discussed this with your audio installer? You may likely have to convert your hi-res collection to a lower sampling rate for playback in the car.

Ugh! That is the last thing I want to do. I would rather listen to road noise.

Cincy

 

[basswiigee2fix]

Ugh! That is the last thing I want to do. I would rather listen to road noise.
Cincy

which is what you might end up doing.... lol

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Ugh! That is the last thing I want to do. I would rather listen to road noise.
Cincy

If your DSP can't directly handle your hi-res files then something has to give before that part of the signal chain.

 

[Igo]

Greetings Cincy, I have been installing aftermarket audio in my vehicles since Craig Powerplay in the mid 70s but have just now started pursuing the same questions you are asking. I'm not sure I have an answer yet but will share where I'm at.

Most of us older guys know that easy file transfer and download speeds are why the MP3 came to be. They are a reasonable facsimile of lossless audio file formats when played on modest equipment but they toss roughly 90% of the subtle nuances that give well recorded music depth and character when listened to in a proper listening environment; which for the purpose of this conversation could be anything but a car, lol.

There are 2 things that happened in the late 90s that have had a great influence on the norms of car audio even today. 1) Internet speeds reached a point that you could download a 3.5MB MP3 file in just under 15 minutes and hard drives became large enough to start being easy to amass large media library's. 2) With the former being said, everybody jumped on the aftermarket audio bandwagon.

But I believe the next great auto audio evolution is on the horizon. This evolution has to have 2 things happen but only one is truly being addressed with any real vigor. I'll explain my thoughts.

Car building technology is advancing at such an incredible rate. Extremely high performance cars are becoming very quite inside in cars where the purchaser chooses to buy a car at this performance/luxury/quite interior level. Also, people who really want to listen to the music on long drives are using sound deadening, deflecting and absorption applications in less expensively made automobiles to vastly improve the listening environment of their vehicles. At the same time, processing power and speeds of modern electronics (car stereos) and the prices of these advancements are improving are a blindingly fast rate and the cost and physical size of media storage is tanking at an even faster rate while its storage capacity is going up even faster. I believe we are at a crossroads where the MP3 or wma file will soon be challenged for there supremacy in the audio world. I believe we are about to take a huge step backwards to the lowly WAV file format. Remember the wav format? Specifically speaking, the un-compressed LPCM audio sampled 44,100 times per second at 16 bits each sampling. With cars becoming quitter, processors becoming more powerful and storage becoming much more compact, I believe that in other than maybe a smartphone, mp3 will be going the way of the Dodo bird. The simple stereo in my car right now is such that I can detect the difference in playback quality in an MP3 and a CD very easily. What a waste modern audio equipment is when having an MP3 played through it.

Though I am happy with my 7 year old Kenwood Excelon, I am looking at new head units that will play back .wav files from a thumb drive in a USB slot. Though I do not know how the Sony MEX receivers stack up against Kenwood Excelon, I am looking at both the Kenwood KDC-X998 and the Sony MEX-GS810BH. I am told they both play wav file though a USB thumb drive though I still have question about the way I need to rip the files from CD and the interface required from the HU to keep things simple and organized.

I don't think automobile interiors are going to become quite enough in the next 50 years to worry about DSD but I certainly agree that it is very discernable the difference between MP3 and wav files as heard in a newer car and I have to agree that Satellite radio is absolutely grating on my ears and I won't have it.

I will be watching here to find out if there is more to know than I have been able to dig up in the last few weeks.

Hi Folks,
Car audio newbie here. I am a 2 channel home audiophile. I bought a new daily driver because my commute is about to grow to an hour each way and I can't imagine doing that without decent sounding music (and decent gas mileage). While I consider myself well informed on home audio, I need a little help with my car system.

I chose to replace speakers (JL Audio C5 series) and head unit (Alpine INE-W957HD), install an amplifier (JL Audio XD600/6V2) and also add a processor (Alpine PXA-H800). I'm using an optical connection for digits out of the head unit to the processor and using the better DAC's inside it to send an analog signal to the amps. All of that was installed last week.

I have not done any equalization yet at the processor because I'm dissatisfied with the input sources of audio. I have multi-gigabytes of hi res FLAC files from my home system that I would love to play somehow through an input to my head unit (at the analog level because I know the processor will not convert hi res formats (DSD or 96KHz/24bit sampled). XM radio is horrible. I can't listen to it. The MP3 files on my iPod are barely adequate. I can play some of my better Redbook CD's but carrying those in the car and changing them is a step backward.

Has anyone managed to find a way to send a hi res analog feed into a standard head unit? Something like a Sony or Pono player that will interface through USB into my car system.

Thanks

Cincy

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Ugh! That is the last thing I want to do. I would rather listen to road noise.
Cincy

320 kbps is not that bad especially when you have a DSP. I'd be more worried about tuning the rest of your setup properly getting time aligned and getting a proper soundstage along with proper EQ. Chances are, if you arent happy with 320kbps, something in your system is already lacking.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I have a great idea.

Use that very good DSP you have. Then judge it

 

[Igo]

Although road noise makes things that you are only going to get a certain degree of satisfaction from a car audio system, I still wrestle with the idea of settling with computing power to force a lesser audio signal into submission. I agree they are pretty fantastic today but I'd still like to start with as high quality an audio signal as is practical in a car then use DPS to do a little tuning against the road noise.