my530i

I have no L7 , so I crank up my amp low freq gain abit and i-Drive bass a bit. A bit adds a bit make a bunch

dv8ed

ok guys when i pulled out my wire... there was only a small piece of computer chip with the 2 wires connected to it. is this right? it's only in once place right? not in 2 different places? i didn't see any cap or resistors... only a short computer chip like piece.

needforspeed

There are 3 individually insulated wires in the aux cable, on mine they were tightly wrapped in a black webbed fabric that I had to strip back carefully to expose the 3 wires.

The capacitors and resistor are in a very slightly 'thicker' 3inch long section of the cable which on mine was right at the end of the cable very close to the aux in jack itself.

Potatoaddict described it brilliantly as a bulge 'like a snake that just swalled a mouse'. The bulge is only VERY slight though, but you can 'feel' that there is more than just the cables in that short section.

I can't remember seeing anything that looked like a computer chip. Daft question - do you have a power outlet next to the aux in - mine has 2 cables and a 'chip like' connector piece which i guess houses a fuse - is it possible you have got this confused with the aux in?

Just start looking for the bulge in the cable - working away from the aux in jack and you should find it within a couple of inches.

Once you've worked out the bit to cut out the rest is plain sailing. I just twisted the cable ends and wrapped the lot in electricans tape cause I don't have a soldering iron.

Oh and it IS very much worth doing

needforspeed

I'm been trying to find out what 'clipping' means in terms of mp3's. I've just applied an 89dBa level to all my mp3's using mp3gain, which should mean that I have reduced the likelihood that the ipods preamp can be overloaded when using the eq. According to Mp3gain many of the files were already clipping (although very few in such a way that it could be detected by ear). In reducing the volume I have stopped this (apparently).

Most tracks sound good with a flat eq, but others are definitely better with bass boost, given that I have reduced the volume on all tracks, I presume this bass boost will probably not exceed the mp3's original volume level and so hopefully there is no chance of me blowing my speakers.

Does this make sense ?

Don Juan

I dont understand..the sound in my car seems more than ok with the settings I have... perhaps you are not getting the right sound because you are using the phone jack of your Ipod instead of the connector in the bottom? i was a huge difference in sound when i bought the moster cable with the connector in the bottom..just my 2 cents

my530i

With cap and resitor removed and 89dB on your MP3 files, there won't be any clipping at all. What you have is perfect setup - 89dB + cap/resistor removed. You can use iPod preset equalizer "Dance" to achieve the best sound. In my case, I did not normalize my MP3s to 89dB, so some song will have some clipping if I use "Dance" EQ, but it's ok with "Flat" EQ.

Don't worry about blowing up your speakers unless you hear clipping very often. Once in a while is OK, but not recommend. Clipping is not good for both amp and speakers.

Busta

I don't use the ipods eq and it sounds great.

my530i

Good suggestion!

subterFUSE

If you use the headphone jack on the iPod, it means you are running the audio through the iPod's internal headphone amplifier. This will boost or cut the signal strength depending on the iPod's preamp volume control.

If he is using the line output on the bottom (the preferred solution), then the difference is most likely that you are both listening to different music, recorded at different levels, and mastered differently.

The settings that work for one person will not necessarily work the same for another.


Clipping is only one aspect. You can have a sound file which is limited just below clipping level, yet it can still not be loud. Loudness is measured by the RMS output, not peak. The human ear perceives loudness by RMS levels. So just because 2 sound files are limited at a certain point, it doesn't guarantee they will have the same loudness to the human ear.

needforspeed

For clarity - I have followed my530i's excellent advice and snipped out the in-line resistors from the aux input cable.

I only connect using my line out - which is important cause I want to be sure that I will not damage my speakers / amp (since that was what the resistors were there to prevent).

The entire sound is MUCH better without the resistors, but on some tracks, I still want to apply a little bass boost usingmy ipod's eq.

I have reduced the 'volume' of ALL of my MP3's to 89 dba using MP3gain, which has eliminated clipping and gives me a safe margin to increase the volume of bass frequencies (by using the bass boost) without clipping, overloading of the ipod's preamp or risk to my system.

All is working well and sound is great - as I say some tracks (U2) sound best on bass boost) others (Gorrilaz) start to get a bit TOO bass heavy.

It's all good - I just adjust the EQ.