Amps With Optical/toslink Spdif Input

[J_Red33]

Hi everyone,

As per the question on the topic, does anybody know if a manufacturer makes an amp with an optical input?

I have a JVC head unit I bought quite some time ago & have now installed to replace my dead Pioneer unit & found out after I purchased it that it has optical out.

It seems strange to have this feature on the head unit but no manufacturer that makes an amp to take it including JVC themselves!

Would make a lot of sense to get rid of all the bulky RCA leads & replace them with one smaller one that also happens to eliminate some sources of interferance & the possibility of ground loops.

Cheers

Jared

Edited January 16, 2010 by J_Red33

[BstewyR33]

Hi everyone,

As per the question on the topic, does anybody know if a manufacturer makes an amp with an optical input?

I have a JVC head unit I bought quite some time ago & have now installed to replace my dead Pioneer unit & found out after I purchased it that it has optical out.

It seems strange to have this feature on the head unit but no manufacturer that makes an amp to take it including JVC themselves!

Would make a lot of sense to get rid of all the bulky RCA leads & replace them with one smaller one that also happens to eliminate some sources of interferance & the possibility of ground loops.

Cheers

Jared

you could prob get one from overseas - look up car amp with optical input in google

[nicr4wks]

Or possibly look in to a signal processor (audison/alpine), you'll still probably end up using analogue from that to your amp(s) but you get a lot more tunability.

[Carbon 34]

Alpine, 5 channel amp, MRA F350 , 550 also

Kenwood had a few

Coustic did as well

Audison processor

most are to simplify a multimedia setup

pretty random and most arent made anymore

most people stuff the link when they install it , so why bother unless you drive a silent car that you can hear the difference in the noise floor and dynamic range ????

[Chris Rogers]

troy,

because its cool to have - everyone knows that..

that market died a LONG time ago. also unless the have a totally DEAD room you are not going to hear any difference. a car is FAR from that.

every thing in a car is a trade off. want more speed - lighten it and it becomes louder. deaden it and its quieter but you notice the speed difference.

[J_Red33]

you could prob get one from overseas - look up car amp with optical input in google

Have been here already, and didn't find much. Nothing in Australia anyway.

Or possibly look in to a signal processor (audison/alpine), you'll still probably end up using analogue from that to your amp(s) but you get a lot more tunability.

Defeats the purpose of having the lead in the first place unfortunantly.

I did omit to mention that one of the reasons I was looking into this was due to excessive noise in my system & thought if I upgrade to an optical setup I could eliminate one source of electrical noise.

Having said that I have been doing a bit of research & with what testing I've done previously, I now suspect I may have a ground loop either to my antenna or my left rear speaker. After disconnecting the RCA leads to the Amp I still have noise on this speaker. Changing amps also does not cure the issue

Alpine, 5 channel amp, MRA F350 , 550 also

Kenwood had a few

Coustic did as well

Audison processor

most are to simplify a multimedia setup

pretty random and most arent made anymore

most people stuff the link when they install it , so why bother unless you drive a silent car that you can hear the difference in the noise floor and dynamic range ????

Thanks for the info may I ask what you mean by 'the link'? I was figuring I could just plug the Toslink lead straight from my head unit to the amp so I'm guessing I'm missing something here...

troy,

because its cool to have - everyone knows that..

that market died a LONG time ago. also unless the have a totally DEAD room you are not going to hear any difference. a car is FAR from that.

every thing in a car is a trade off. want more speed - lighten it and it becomes louder. deaden it and its quieter but you notice the speed difference.

This does somewhat surprise me considering most new home systems are going to digital one way or another, whether it be Toslink, Coaxial or HDMI & unsually all three on premium systems. Not to mention the parts in circuit for going full digital are no more expensive & sometimes work out cheaper.

For what info I've been given. Will have to look into things further.

Edited January 20, 2010 by J_Red33

[Carbon 34]

if you need toslink to remove noise you have a bad install of equipment failing. did you ask the question here for the noise ? I live in adelaide south if you want to meet up sometime, so I can listen to it and advise ? or post up the recorded noise and a small list of affected items, models as well

I'm sure the noise can be resolved without toslink.

dont forget home systems can use digital signal paths much easier then a vibrating, noisy, harsh environment car can. ditch the toslink idea

more then likely its not going to fix the noise on a bad install

[funkymonkey]

http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products/2006...2912142973.html

[J_Red33]

if you need toslink to remove noise you have a bad install of equipment failing. did you ask the question here for the noise ? I live in adelaide south if you want to meet up sometime, so I can listen to it and advise ? or post up the recorded noise and a small list of affected items, models as well

I'm sure the noise can be resolved without toslink.

dont forget home systems can use digital signal paths much easier then a vibrating, noisy, harsh environment car can. ditch the toslink idea

more then likely its not going to fix the noise on a bad install

This was one reason yes, & I was considering upgrading my amp from the crappy Cadence unit that rushed into the purchase of when I bought the car due to a hunger for some good audio.

It was not a good install, I have almost completely re-routed and replaced all the cabling appart from the RCA leads (also candence brand) and the ignition feed to the head unit.

The source of the noise is from the alternator as there was no noise with it disconnected when the engine is running.

I did end up replacing the alternator as I did discover it was giving the occasional 3V spike (measured with a oscilloscope). Replacing it did improve the problem but didn't eliminate it.

Other than the noise though admittedly the sound has actually improved with the new head unit so if I could cure this I'll blow my dough on an Intercooler kit instead .

I do head down the southern suburbs a bit as I have family down there, so would appreciate a specialists opinion. I should also try pluging another speaker into the left rear connection just to see if that makes a difference as it doesn't matter what output is connected to the amp.

Sorry if this seems a bit strange the way I am recalling all this stuff out of the blue. My ride was off the road for quite a while & only now am I getting back to the issues I was originally trying to fix.

http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products/2006...2912142973.html

Thanks will keep it in mind if I decide to go down this path

Edited January 21, 2010 by J_Red33

[Carbon 34]

This was one reason yes, & I was considering upgrading my amp from the crappy Cadence unit that rushed into the purchase of when I bought the car due to a hunger for some good audio.

It was not a good install, I have almost completely re-routed and replaced all the cabling appart from the RCA leads (also candence brand) and the ignition feed to the head unit.

The source of the noise is from the alternator as there was no noise with it disconnected when the engine is running.

I did end up replacing the alternator as I did discover it was giving the occasional 3V spike (measured with a oscilloscope). Replacing it did improve the problem but didn't eliminate it.

Other than the noise though admittedly the sound has actually improved with the new head unit so if I could cure this I'll blow my dough on an Intercooler kit instead .

I do head down the southern suburbs a bit as I have family down there, so would appreciate a specialists opinion. I should also try pluging another speaker into the left rear connection just to see if that makes a difference as it doesn't matter what output is connected to the amp.

Sorry if this seems a bit strange the way I am recalling all this stuff out of the blue. My ride was off the road for quite a while & only now am I getting back to the issues I was originally trying to fix.

Thanks will keep it in mind if I decide to go down this path

shoot me a pm sometime if you want me to listen to it, and that clarion stuff is from 2006

if you go that route contact Chris Rodgers on here, he sells that brand

cheers