Old new fart

[SoundDecision]

Hey all,

First quality stereo upgrade for me was back in the 80's. Left it to an after market shop and the end result was a wire harness fire. Amazingly back in those days the BMW dealer said nothing and replaced everything like new with no charge to me. I haven't done much with upgrades since then until most recent car. MINI F56S which has awful sound IMO. Will be posting a question shortly.

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

swap out the head unit first if possible. Would fix most things. Speakers and everything else is no where near as important as the head unit. Do the wiring job yourself use proper wiring harnesses.  Sounds like your previous experience was with a janky shop that ghetto rigged and cut the stock harness. definitely avoid garbage places like that.

 

[SoundDecision]

swap out the head unit first if possible. Would fix most things. Speakers and everything else is no where near as important as the head unit. Do the wiring job yourself use proper wiring harnesses.  Sounds like your previous experience was with a janky shop that ghetto rigged and cut the stock harness. definitely avoid garbage places like that.

Thanks, but in the MINI F56S, the h/u is an integral part of the car. It reads the oil level (no dipstick), shows the TPMS as well as many other diagnostics. None of the aftermarket h/u's will duplicate these features. I'd have to find a way to relocate this in a tiny car with limited room. Not sure how that would be possible for me to do.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Thanks, but in the MINI F56S, the h/u is an integral part of the car. It reads the oil level (no dipstick), shows the TPMS as well as many other diagnostics. None of the aftermarket h/u's will duplicate these features. I'd have to find a way to relocate this in a tiny car with limited room. Not sure how that would be possible for me to do.

then you'll want to skip the head unit completely and bypass the stock factory head unit for anything audio related. which needs a dsp, bluetooth dongle(180$)  and an amp for your speakers (130ish dollars) with wiring kit and speaker wires (another 40ish)   You can keep your stock speakers for now, they will sound completely different on a real amp with much better signal processing.  Then you can add a sub to fill out the lows and then do speaker change afterwards if you need more.  Which would be a good order to upgrade things trying to keep things under a budget.

 

[Talontsi90]

Thanks, but in the MINI F56S, the h/u is an integral part of the car. It reads the oil level (no dipstick), shows the TPMS as well as many other diagnostics. None of the aftermarket h/u's will duplicate these features. I'd have to find a way to relocate this in a tiny car with limited room. Not sure how that would be possible for me to do.

Looks like youre SOL on that, unless you do Line Output Converters and go aftermarket amp/speakers. This vid will help you understand how to map your audio system to see what type it is and to go from there.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

there's been more line out convertor issues threads on this site than I can ever count. Definitely dont go that route. You are still subjected to the sh*tty signal quality and resolution of the stock head unit and its garbage DAC. Bypass it completely.

 

[Talontsi90]

Bypass it completely.

Thats assuming you CAN, your way isnt the only or right way. You need to know what is connected and what isnt, the LOC is merely a possible part of that.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Thats assuming you CAN, your way isnt the only or right way. You need to know what is connected and what isnt, the LOC is merely a possible part of that.

its simple and the most effective way for the cleanest possible signal. Otherwise you are stuck with the stock head unit's high passed signal and complete sh*t factory EQ curve and low resolution audio output.

Its not a wheter you can or cannot, Its 100% can on every car or even home audio or outdoors. The dayton dsp doesnt need any connections to any head unit with the dongle.

 

[Talontsi90]

its simple and the most effective way for the cleanest possible signal. Otherwise you are stuck with the stock head unit's high passed signal and complete sh*t factory EQ curve and low resolution audio output.

No doubt, but you sound like you dont know/realize that in some systems (ahem, Phord), the amp HAS to remain because it actually performs some BCM functions and has to remain in the signal path for door or headlight chimes for one example. So, by telling the person to "cut it out and go DSP totez" you could be causing more issues than his wiring fire did.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

No doubt, but you sound like you dont know/realize that in some systems (ahem, Phord), the amp HAS to remain because it actually performs some BCM functions and has to remain in the signal path for door or headlight chimes for one example. So, by telling the person to "cut it out and go DSP totez" you could be causing more issues than his wiring fire did.

am i telling him to rip out his head unit? NO you are literally just hooking up the dsp and amps and running everything off that. You leave the stock head unit connected alone and it does nothing other than basic vehicle functions. You are the one that doesn't  know what the hell i'm actually talking about. 

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

setup doesnt even require you to touch the head unit at all, run a remote wire, power and ground to the amps and dsp, RCAs from dsp to amps, Run speaker wire to amps to the door and viola the setup is done. Theres nothing you do with the head unit.

 

[Talontsi90]

am i telling him to rip out his head unit? NO you are literally just hooking up the dsp and amps and running everything off that. You leave the stock head unit connected alone and it does nothing other than basic vehicle functions. You are the one that doesn't  know what the hell i'm actually talking about. 

I never said HU, you said amp, i said amp.

 

[Talontsi90]

Unless youre trying to say to use the DSP and a phone as your source, which is limiting and pointless for many.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Unless youre trying to say to use the DSP and a phone as your source, which is limiting and pointless for many.

its what i've been saying this whole f*****g time. You literally are absolutely clueless and you have no experience with new gear at all.  Its going to be 1000000000000000000x better than whatever LOC bullshit solution you are thinking of.  Its not limiting at all with APTX technology which you have no grasp for understanding of or any experience with.   FLAC files on a stock head unit with an LOC sound like absolute dog shit compared to even a crappy youtube stream on a properly done setup on the dayton dsp + bluetooth dongle. by MILES its not even funny. Everything is direct signal to the dsp which has quality dacs that outputs a really high quality signal. Everything will just sound better right out the bat.  You can even stream lossless music just fine with zero loss because thats what aptx is nowadays. no different than a usb or CD. 

 

[Talontsi90]

its what i've been saying this whole f*****g time. You literally are absolutely clueless and you have no experience with new gear at all.  Its going to be 1000000000000000000x better than whatever LOC bullshit solution you are thinking of.  Its not limiting at all with APTX technology which you have no grasp for understanding of or any experience with.   FLAC files on a stock head unit with an LOC sound like absolute dog shit compared to even a crappy youtube stream on a properly done setup on the dayton dsp + bluetooth dongle. by MILES its not even funny. Everything is direct signal to the dsp which has quality dacs that outputs a really high quality signal. Everything will just sound better right out the bat.  You can even stream lossless music just fine with zero loss because thats what aptx is nowadays. no different than a usb or CD. 

So i misread it, whoopdeedoo. Youre STILL assuming that everyone has access or even wants to use digital files for their main source of music. I merely suggested LOC as a possibility becaue no one makes a specific adapter (meaning its probably not worth their time with how much its integrated into the car), not a constant like youre trying to do with the DSP. OPTIONS DUDE, thats what he wants. Id like to hear what dog shit smells like...