I finally got my CarpPC hooked up to the Factory Pioneer system through the factory
Headunit plug using two rca splitters and some creating wiring and soldering,
and I don't hear any whine at all.

The problem is, that I don't hear much of anything. It's REALLY QUIET.

I mean, I have every volume slider dialed to 10, and you have to strain to hear it.

With the engine off.

With the engine running, it is inaudible.

Does the factory Pioneer Amp ( I have a 05 SS/SC) have a gain potentiometer?

Or should I try using the speaker output on the PC instead (output voltage on front connector (pre-out) too low)?

Does anyone here think I may need a line driver?

The signal is clean (no hissing, pops, crackles)

but the volume is ridiculously low.

 

NO gain for the amp... And did you use a Hi-lo or just splice some rcas to speaker wire?

 

just spliced some RCA'a to the Metra Harness.

The audio is clear, there just isn't much of it. (volume is really low)

 

through the computer or cd player?

 

through the computer or cd player?

 

try using the speaker output and see what happens. The output on the pc is probably just really low. Depending on the result of the speaker outputs you may need to just add a line driver

 

Sorry about not being availabler the last two days, I took
my wife to the Dropkick Murphy's/Aerosmith show at the
Comcast in MA Tuesday, and was completely useless Wednesday.
(Drove home to ME directly after show, got home at 4:30AM)

I tried both the preamp outputs (RCA's on front of case that use front panel
motherboard header) as well as the rear speaker outputs (where you normally
would hook up PC speakers).

I did some research and found out that onboard audio typically
only puts out .5-.7v line level.

I think that the other member was using a Audigy card that puts out at a higher voltage, and that's why it didn't bother him.

 

you need to invest and try an overdrive from audiocontrol

 

Invest?

That sounds expensive, LOL

I'm looking to handle as much of the signal management through software
as possible, since we're not talking about HD quality to begin with.

But, I might need to go with that route if the 25 dollar line driver proves insufficient.

I'm buying the cheap one because I don't need 8v (and doubt it would be good for the factory amp, anyways)

 

ya just get a normal line driver or try the speaker outputs

 

I think I'm committed to giving the line driver a shot.

The speaker outputs were just as quiet.

I could hear them with everything cranked, just not with the engine running, LOL

 

Chances are your sound card is not pushing the voltage the Pioneer amp needs for optimum sound. Was one of the possibilities I had pointed out previous to this thread to somebody else.

Don't be concerned so much with how new a sound card is or anything. They've made some mainstream good voltage sound cards over the last 10 years. In fact, my current sound card is a turtle beach santa cruz, which is almost 10 years old at this point and it's pushing around 3v.

Personally I'd get a known good voltage sound card, and try that.

 

I would love to, but the current case I'm using (Zoom2) doesn't have any expansion slots. The motherboard has a PCI slot, but the case gives me no way to get at it.

So I'm stuck using the onboard audio, which is clean enough, but like you said, it only pushes around .5-.7 volts, so I need to get a line driver that boosts the voltage of the preouts enough so that the amp can "hear" it properly.

I also think that the signals are a little uneven left to right, and the line driver that I am looking at gives the option to adjust the left and right channels, kinda like a built in gain.

I actually want to keep the onboard audio because it has a feature that I need, the 2+2 audio channels.

I can (once it's setup) have 2 channels for the car audio, and hook another seperate audio feed (from a dvd, or game, etc) routed to another set of leads to which I can connect a set of headphones for the rear, so that my son can play games or watch movies with the same machine that I am listening to tunes throught he car.

I know that other cards most likely have this feature as well, but.... this one is paid for already, LOL