Needing to Turn Up Volume on Aux Input

[Umbra]

I've got one straightforward question. Here's the scenario:

Let's say I've got the same quality song (320 kbps) on both a CD and my phone. If I play it via the CD player in my head unit it's comfortably loud and doesn't push anything too hard at volume level 25. A lot of stuff I've read about setting gains and not taxing speakers/subs tie into volume level on the head unit, so it concerns me that to get to the same volume and bass level for the same song, but played from the phone via the aux input, I need to turn it up 10+ notches to get the same loudness of music and bass.

I don't fully grasp how all this works yet, but if the head unit is 10+ notches higher, is that more taxing on the equipment, or is it roughly the same since it puts out the same "power"?

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[Side Show 10+ year member]

what brand headunit and model? most aftermarket decks have sla (SOUND LEVEL ADJUSTMENT) I think it stands for, your can adjust, cd/ipod/aux/tuner volumes to match input voltages ect

 

[Umbra]

what brand headunit and model? most aftermarket decks have sla (SOUND LEVEL ADJUSTMENT) I think it stands for, your can adjust, cd/ipod/aux/tuner volumes to match input voltages ect

It's nothing special, it's a Dual brand single DIN.

I've never heard of this. I'm going to go grab the manual and look into it. So it is something to be concerned about?

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

nah all it is, is that some devices have stronger output than others. no biggy... but keep in mind if you have tuned your stereo with a cd and the aux is louder you may want to retune it using the aux so you don't get clipping ect

 

---------- Post added at 01:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 AM ----------

 

duel brand... not aware of them. have a read I no all the pioneer decks I have seen have got it

 

[Reactions 10+ year member]

If you have an android device root it and install volume+ it helps out on devices that are set too low. Just be careful using it as it can cause clipping if you turn it up too much.

 

[bradl79 10+ year member]

no if u r rooted download this Viper4Android

AUX is going to be lower than CD always, does not matter the source, check to see if ur head until will allow you to change the vol on ur AUX port, mine is the same way, but i was able to set to High, but using Viper4Android you can get incredible sound, if you need help with it PM me

 

[Reactions 10+ year member]

Not sure if it is only my device, but viper4android was distorting before it was as loud as volume+. And it drained my battery, you can get volume+ for free on 4shared.com and its a lot better IMO.

 

[Umbra]

nah all it is, is that some devices have stronger output than others. no biggy... but keep in mind if you have tuned your stereo with a cd and the aux is louder you may want to retune it using the aux so you don't get clipping ect 

---------- Post added at 01:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 AM ----------

 

duel brand... not aware of them. have a read I no all the pioneer decks I have seen have got it

Dual makes some low - mid tier car audio stuff. I bought it new for like $50 or something a few years ago and hadn't used it til recently.

Unfortunately there's no such setting on this head unit.

I don't have an Android phone; it's an iPhone, but it's jailbroken and it looks like there are some similar programs available. I can do that on my own device, but I often have other people hook up their devices to it and almost none of them have jailbroken or rooted devices.

I'm just concerned that by needing to raise the volume it's upping the voltage going to everything or something like that. Again, I don't comprehend the science behind it. I just want to know it the volume number is an arbitrary value if the sound the system puts out is the same.

 

[bradl79 10+ year member]

do u have an Oscope, u can set ur gains to the highest without clipping

i set my HU 30 of 40 volume, b/c my HU did not clip and i set my gains from there

Used the Oscope until i clipped then turned down until no clipping while using -5dB Test tones 1kHz and 50Hz

 

[Alrojoca 10+ year member]

Try to avoid using the headset plug jack to listen to the music if you can, use the dock cable to 1/8" male stereo for aux. sounds like this is the case combined with the HU port capabilities. Always use USB port that is even louder than CDs in most cases

 

[Umbra]

The head unit has a USB port, but it's only for charging, so that's not an option either.

I definitely don't have an oscilloscope lying around, but that's be awesome.

If the numerical increase in volume does correlate to an increase in voltage, despite it not being any louder, it would seem that the next step would be to do as mentioned earlier and redo the gains.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

If your aux isn't roughly any louder than your CD and it still sounds fine I wouldn't worry about clipping. The only real stage you may be clipping turning the HU up 10 notches higher is your preamp. A little preamp clipping isn't audible in most case and it sounds like your still getting clean volume. If you redo it you'll have to turn your gains UP so that the AUX gets loud at a volume you know your preamp isn't clipping and your CD volume will be played on a lower volume knob on the scale. This may introduce some noise into the system, depending on how much the gains end up going up.. TBH, if your getting adequate volumes from both source and they both sound clean, I'd probably leave it alone.

 

[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

Quality of the device you're playing it off of has a huge role here, my iPhone 5 playing a MP3 sounds way better than my friend's generic kindasmartphone thing.