School me on line drivers, please

[GaresTaylan 10+ year member]

Hey everyone. Setup is in signature. Over the course of the past 2 years or so I have tried everything under the sun to get rid of the alt whine in my car. Unfortunately, my vehicle is notorious for this issue.

So as I last resort, Ive decided to try eliminating connecting the RCAs to the headunit entirely. I had a few questions about doing this and avoiding losing as much quality as possible.

1. Will I need a line out converter, line out driver, or both? My HU has 5v preouts, so if there is a solution that helps me keep that voltage, that would be great.

2. Would I need a 4 ch or 5 ch setup? I would assume that I would only need to hook the amp for the mids/highs up to the converter/driver and the sub can still plug into the HU. I shouldnt catch alt whine through the mids/highs with this setup if there was still some interference on the sub-amp, right? Or is my logic completely wrong?

3. Recommend me some brands, please?

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[9515ROB 10+ year member]

if you already have an aftermarket stereo you dont need either especially if you got a aftermarket stereo with 5v preouts because that is the highest alot of amps will take. Line out converters are used with a factory stereo so you can have RCA outputs. Line drivers you mainly use if you got a cheap deck that has low preout voltage like 2v or when you use a line out converter they help boost the signal since its very weak coming from a line out converter

also i would get a 4ch for your highs and get a seperate amp for you sub

how much you looking to spend

 

[GaresTaylan 10+ year member]

if you already have an aftermarket stereo you dont need either especially if you got a aftermarket stereo with 5v preouts because that is the highest alot of amps will take. Line out converters are used with a factory stereo so you can have RCA outputs. Line drivers you mainly use if you got a cheap deck that has low preout voltage like 2v or when you use a line out converter they help boost the signal since its very weak coming from a line out converter
also i would get a 4ch for your highs and get a seperate amp for you sub

how much you looking to spend

Not sure you understand the situation - may want to go back and read.

I am looking for something that will eliminate my running the RCAs to the deck. I have horrid alt whine that I cannot get rid of and this is a last resort. I figured that eliminating the deck with the RCAs should eliminate the alt whine. Would the best method be to run the amp to the line driver and the line driver to a line converter? Overkill? Not possible?

 

[9515ROB 10+ year member]

if you want to get rid of your alt whine then ground your rcas to your deck and it will stop that...If you run a line out converter you will regret it because you wont get no where close to the quality or loudness you have running rcas from the headunit

 

[GaresTaylan 10+ year member]

if you want to get rid of your alt whine then ground your rcas to your deck and it will stop that...If you run a line out converter you will regret it because you wont get no where close to the quality or loudness you have running rcas from the headunit

I have grounded them - doesn't work. Trust me, its a known issue with my vehicle. Groounding the RCAs, running them down opposite sides of the vehicle, running them through the headliner, running new grounds, running ground and power to the battery, ground loop isolators, grounding the HU to the chassis of the vehicle, running several new pairs of RCAs, making sure all RCAs are shielded, replaced the amps, etc etc - Ive tried it all. If you go through old threads ive started, you'll find out how big of a pain in the *** it really has been.

Ive talked to several people on forums for chargers, 300's and magnums - its a known issue.

And yes, I am aware of what a line output converter will do to quality. So yet again, thats why I asked if it is possible and if there is any benefit to running both a converter and a driver.

 

[Bassin Buick]

^^ amplifier for the signal going to your amplifier. LOL. Nuff said.

 

[ZO6killinsbf 10+ year member]

I've got a converter if you want one. Just a cheap Metra. Was in my truck when I bought it. Pay shipping and its yours.

 

[GaresTaylan 10+ year member]

I've got a converter if you want one. Just a cheap Metra. Was in my truck when I bought it. Pay shipping and its yours.

Thanks for the offer - but no one has really answered my questions yet so Im still not sure what my options are.

^^ amplifier for the signal going to your amplifier. LOL. Nuff said.

Thanks for providing nothing relevant to the topic of discussion.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

Line drivers are good for getting rid of system hiss and things of that nature but alt whine not.

Noise Troubleshooting Guide - SSA Car Audio Forum

 

[Chipmunk2k3 10+ year member]

you should try to connect a small speaker directly to the head unit's speaker output to see if there is any whine coming directly from the head unit before moving forward. it sounds like your HU is picking up the whine and if that's the case you will still have the noise after installing a line converter. I installed a pioneer z2 in a charger and had no problems whatsoever. as for your original question you definitely don't need a line driver because the kenwood puts out 5v. you would need a converter. If you connect a speaker to the radio and get noise then forget about any of this because it wont help. but if you don't get noise then a simple line converter like the audiocontrol lc6 will do the job for you. You can probably even get away with using 2 of the cheap $20 ones with out any problem. you wont need any of the higher end converters with processing because your already sending a clean signal.

 

[Bassin Buick]

Thanks for providing nothing relevant to the topic of discussion.

The topic is Re: School me on line drivers, please. The simplest answer to that question was an amplifier for the signal going to your amplifier. LOL. Nuff said.

How is that answer off topic? Maybe you should have titled this thread "i fucked up somewhere along the line while connecting my system , now i have this terrible noise and want an easy fix instead of taking the time to figure out the real problem?? When noise arises you don't add components , you dig in and troubleshoot every last wire until you have exhausted every possible source of noise , then you start moving components and wires around to different areas. Being near power antenna and fuel pump motors can induce noise. There is so many places in a vehicle interference can originate from. Get off your lazy ass and figure it out instead of looking here for a easy fix.

 

[Bassin Buick]

I mean really , who even does the crap you are talking about. WHO BUYS HIGH END EQUIPMENT AND CONNECTS IT WITH SPEAKER WIRES AND A 5 DOLLAR CONVERTER WHEN THEY HAVE 5 VOLT RCA'S ON HAND??

Find noise , you must. (Yoda is a wise muh-fugga)

 

[GaresTaylan 10+ year member]

you should try to connect a small speaker directly to the head unit's speaker output to see if there is any whine coming directly from the head unit before moving forward. it sounds like your HU is picking up the whine and if that's the case you will still have the noise after installing a line converter. I installed a pioneer z2 in a charger and had no problems whatsoever. as for your original question you definitely don't need a line driver because the kenwood puts out 5v. you would need a converter. If you connect a speaker to the radio and get noise then forget about any of this because it wont help. but if you don't get noise then a simple line converter like the audiocontrol lc6 will do the job for you. You can probably even get away with using 2 of the cheap $20 ones with out any problem. you wont need any of the higher end converters with processing because your already sending a clean signal.

Thanks for the idea, ill give this a shot over the weekend and see if it helps

The topic is Re: School me on line drivers, please. The simplest answer to that question was an amplifier for the signal going to your amplifier. LOL. Nuff said.
How is that answer off topic? Maybe you should have titled this thread "i fucked up somewhere along the line while connecting my system , now i have this terrible noise and want an easy fix instead of taking the time to figure out the real problem?? When noise arises you don't add components , you dig in and troubleshoot every last wire until you have exhausted every possible source of noise , then you start moving components and wires around to different areas. Being near power antenna and fuel pump motors can induce noise. There is so many places in a vehicle interference can originate from. Get off your lazy ass and figure it out instead of looking here for a easy fix.

LOL - can't take anyone bashin' on you, eh? sounds like your ******* get in a bunch pretty easily.

I mean really , who even does the crap you are talking about. WHO BUYS HIGH END EQUIPMENT AND CONNECTS IT WITH SPEAKER WIRES AND A 5 DOLLAR CONVERTER WHEN THEY HAVE 5 VOLT RCA'S ON HAND??
Find noise , you must. (Yoda is a wise muh-fugga)

Your mom was great in bed last night. Anything else?

 

[audio_phill 10+ year member]

I have grounded them - doesn't work. Trust me, its a known issue with my vehicle. Groounding the RCAs, running them down opposite sides of the vehicle, running them through the headliner, running new grounds, running ground and power to the battery, ground loop isolators, grounding the HU to the chassis of the vehicle, running several new pairs of RCAs, making sure all RCAs are shielded, replaced the amps, etc etc - Ive tried it all. If you go through old threads ive started, you'll find out how big of a pain in the *** it really has been.
Ive talked to several people on forums for chargers, 300's and magnums - its a known issue.

And yes, I am aware of what a line output converter will do to quality. So yet again, thats why I asked if it is possible and if there is any benefit to running both a converter and a driver.

I concur, put a system in a magnum, battery in the back so I'm thinking hella convenient... hella nightmare. We ended up running the deck off a 12V .250mF capacitor and it fixed 85% of the noise if powered with wires directly from the battery, had to ground the rca's to the chassis too, like their made of trash metal or something... buy Japanese lol. Sounds nubish but it worked lol. Never have I found that issue since, nor will I work on another magnum (V6) lol.

 

[GaresTaylan 10+ year member]

I concur, put a system in a magnum, battery in the back so I'm thinking hella convenient... hella nightmare. We ended up running the deck off a 12V .250mF capacitor and it fixed 85% of the noise if powered with wires directly from the battery, had to ground the rca's to the chassis too, like their made of trash metal or something... buy Japanese lol. Sounds nubish but it worked lol. Never have I found that issue since, nor will I work on another magnum (V6) lol.

Yes sir, pain in the *** for sure. NGsm13 who is local to me even did most of the install - the man knows his stuff. The car is a wreck.