Building an MP3 Player Need help running cables

Okay guys here's the setup:

Cyrix 400 (Hey it was given to me)
Forget the motherboard type right now but it's not important
10 GB Hard Drive
Aureal Vortex 2 Sound card (I will opt for an SB Live when money is appropriate)
64 MB RAM
250 W PS
All shoved in the smallest case possible

I'm building an mp3 player in my car. Installed Win 95(quick startup) and winamp with some IR plugins. I've got a sh*tload of mp3s on the drive and everything works great in the house. I've bought a 300W Power inverter to be able to hook this thing up in my car. I've done all my case mods, the inverter is coming in next week, and I'm anxious to put this damn thing in. Here's where the problem comes in:

I have two Bouston Acoustics 10" subs in a band pass box run on a Boss 300 W amp.

A total of 4 - 6 1/2" which only two are necessary to hook up. I'd like the front two speakers (6 1/2") and the two subs to work. I have a splitter to take the rca jack from the amp into one stereo cable straight into my computer.

How do I get the other two speakers hooked up. I don't want to send them to the amp (plus the amp is only two channel) because they'll be way too distorted. Also, I really don't want to have to buy any more equipment to get this thing to work.

Any suggestions?

:mad:

Hook the two speakers up to your existing head unit, then run the computer into the head unit, either using a FM xmitter, hacked cd-changer controls or RCA input - whichever is the most valid option on your deck.

HOWEVER MP3 car is an expensive toy option and you would be wise to go find a cheap amp for the speakers. You can replace it at any time and then you can be plugged in more correctly.

Sounds good to me. Little skeptical on how it would work. I have an amp going to the subs. I don't have one going to the mids and that's where my problem comes in. How would I take the computer to the head unit. I have a cd player in there and I thought the RCA jacks are only for output and not input. Plus if I hooked the computer into the RCA jacks on the head I would not have any RCA jacks available to take to the amp.
Anybody know anything about crossovers? Is this the way I should think about going?

what kind of head unit are you using in your car... this is really the big question.

what you really need right now is to find a cd player for your car that has an input.. and no the rca jacks only do output..

the best thing i can think of is to buy a cheap 4 channel amp and hook your front speakers to that, and at the same time hook up to your sub amp.

I'm using a kenwood head. Sorry guys if this is kind of turning into a car audio discussion but I need to get this taken care of. I don't have any kind of input in the head and I don't care to have to buy another radio. I'm wondering if a crossover will work as I am not entirely sure how they work. Anyhow, I'm gonna go out to my shop this evening and start splicing wires and try to take one wire out of my computer - take an rca splitter from there into a box with the rca inputs, then run another rca input from the amp and speaker inputs from the mid and then splice it all into one set of RCA jacks. Hey atleast it will be fun trying. Anybody have any info on xovers?

Alright guys. Trying to design a passive crossover that may work for this. I don't really care to install an active crossover for the pure fact that I don't want that many lines run in my car. This way I can just put a couple of speaker lines into a little box and be cool. Let me know what you guys think - whether there is a possibility if this will work (pending I pay attention to all the positive and negative lines.)

http://www14.brinkster.com/godofuq/crossover.jpg

If this picture will work on not depends on what the two lines at the top go to - if you run directly to speakers, nope; but if you're running to an amp; that should work. I agree with the amp idea, get a small amp, they should run like 50 bucks or so for what you need. A crossover network is designed to run bass to the subwoofers, treble to the tweeters, etc; so that the speaker doesn't get frequencies that can better be reproduced on a different speaker. (an active crossover is powered and splits the signal before the amp, a passive crossover splits the signal after it's been amplified) the only place a crossover should be used here is with the subs; and you said the box has a bandpass built in which does the same thing as a crossover by only letting the low frequencies through.
here's my solution:
Coming out of the computer, split the signal enough to run to each of the amps you have, the one i suggested you get for the front speakers, the one for the subs, etc. This is where that picture would be used, to split the signal off to the amps. But you need amps, the power coming out of the computer is about .76 volts, not nearly enough to drive a speaker.

Sorry if I got technical or spoke down to anyone. No offense is intended either way. Also if you find anything wrong here, please let me know. I hate to give out bad advice, and maybe someone has more experience with this than I do. If you need any additional help email me and I'll do my best to help (I'm a sound tech so i've got a pretty good handle on that aspect of this).

Jeebus... a lot of info here... no kind of input on the deck? You're going to cause yourself more of a headache trying to do what you're proposing than if you just buy a new deck. It should only be around $150 or so for a decent unit with inputs. And there are fewer places for the system to break if you get the new deck. I know it's more money now, but I'm just looking at this from a TCO/TCA/TCI point of view...

I don't really care to take it to the head unit because I like the cd player in their and I'll be controlling everything with IR. I figure by taking it to a new head means more money and possibly more wires. I have had a computer hooked up to two speakers previously and it worked rather well. It's not an active crossover bringing the bandpass into it. All it is, is a passive crossover that allows me to splice some wires in a convenient spot. I would be running the computer line straight to the speakers and straight to the amp. The signal to the mids doesn't have to be very strong.

MY question is how are you going to run the pc what are you gona use as a monitor and a mouse and keyboard to select all these mps and which ones to play am i only only one here who is wondering that ?????X

I know someone who did build a car Mp3 player. He also posted it on his site at http://ryanspc.com/
Check it out, hopefully it'll help.

789 I don't need a monitor or a mouse. I hooked up a 10 key to the keyboard port just so Windows will think there is a keyboard there. I have a serial IR device with a remote to change between songs.

Quote:

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Originally posted by godofuq:
All it is, is a passive crossover that allows me to splice some wires in a convenient spot. I would be running the computer line straight to the speakers and straight to the amp. The signal to the mids doesn't have to be very strong.

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OK, I think no one here knows what they are talking about. That picture u have drawn up there is not even remotely close to a passive crossover. A passive crossover consist of a capacitor to block unwanted low frequencies and/or a coil (inductor) to block unwanted high frequencies. It is NOT just crossing and hooking together a bunch of wires.. LOL.

I have a mp3 machine in my car that i built. I have the speaker output of the computer going to a cd/tape adapter in my head unit (I have a seperate 12-disc changer in the glove department). I setup a similar system for my bro that used a 1/4inch input on the front of his Aiwa CD Head unit. You do not want to connect the computer directly to an amp, because u will not have all channels first of all, and second u will not have convienent control of the mp3 player from the head unit (ie. treble, bass, fader, balance). I would try to use the cd-changer plug if possible or get another head unit with an input or tape deck.

I custom-wrote my own mp3 player softare that uses a remote control. I use Text-to-Speech voice confirmations rather than a lcd display. the computer also has a network card and an rj45 port in my dash to transfer songs to it from my laptop. Have u thought about how u will upload songs to your device? Also once the songs are there, is the playlist automatically updated? My software does this for me. If also has a song search feature (ie. i hit "B" and all the artists that start with "B" are loaded into the playlist).

I have a JVC head unit, JVC 12-disc changer, 2ch 1800W power acoustik amp, 2 cerwin vega 15" 154's in a bandpass box, 2 5x7", 2 3 1/2", 1.5F digital cap, and 2 15" blue neon lightning tubes if anyone was interested.

O, I forgot to mention, I used a hacked macintosh case (2 1/2" high), a 500W inverter, nothin connected to the keyboard port (have halt on no KB disabled in bios), and use an interact web remote connected to the serial port to control it.

I don't mean to sound like an a**hole but Congratadamnlations for you. For everyone here, I thank you for your time, effort and suggestions. I finished my box today and it works wonderful... taken straight into the amp. And Sorry... I have a 10/100 card in the computer. If at any time I want to upload more songs, I can take the network cable I have running to the computer that activates my lights, garage door, sprinklers, alarm system and my music outside, which is conveniently located close to my car, straight into the computer. At that time I have to make a new playlist (hmmm, 13 seconds, maybe) and transfer it along with the mp3s. I don't want to run it into the head because I already have an equalizer to handle the controls. I don't know if I'm speaking out of place but I imagine you know what you can do with your voice activated POS. I never knew this forum was to say "Mine's bigger than yours"

Sorry man, but I wasn't trying to insult you or brag about my config. I just wanted to give you some pointers is all. I guess I mighta sounded a little crass, but that wasn't my intention at all. In fact, I would give you the software that I wrote... The only thing is that it is designed for a specific remote control, so I don't think it would work with your setup.

That was very evident when you said:

Quote:

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OK, I think no one here knows what they are talking about.

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Hi there, dont mean to sound dumb but how do you select what tracks to play, do you have a vdu in the car?

[quote]Originally posted by Lips2001Ad:
<strong>Hi there, dont mean to sound dumb but how do you select what tracks to play, do you have a vdu in the car?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Have you read the whole post? Read it then you wont have to ask questions like that.

The person apologizes and you keep beating him up. You asked for help, you take what you get. This juvenile crap never used to be on here. Civility, politeness and genuine appreciation for help is what this area should get back too. I've been reading Windrivers for a long time, and it amazes me what this area has degenerated into.

My first, and last post.

What I would recommend is getting a rca adapter box. It will hook right into your smaller speakers, and it will give you rca cables to plug into your amp.
Then you can use the other rca cables to hook up to your comp.
You can pick up these adapter boxes at abc warehouse or any place that sells stuff for a system.