Is an amplifier what I need?

[CurseTheSky]

This is in regards to car audio rather than home / computer audio, but I think it fits anyway.

I have a 2008 Ford Fusion with the "premium" sound package. It has two tweeters located on the A-pillars, and a (two-way?) speaker in each door. No subs, but I may be adding some later on. No Sync either. Anyway, everything is stock, and the sound quality is decent aside from the lack of bass. The head unit is the stock 6-disc changer with no equalization options.

I usually either play an MP3 disc (256 or 320 kbps), or hook my Sansa Clip+ up to the 3.5mm auxiliary jack. The problem is, the Clip+ on the aux input has noticeably worse sound quality (primarily even less bass) and is much quieter than playing a CD at the same head unit sound level, even with the MP3 player turned all the way up. The Clip+ does have some built-in software equalization, but it doesn't do much for the problem. At first I thought the bargain price of the Clip+ just meant that it had lesser sound quality, but after reading a few reviews, audiophiles seem to generally love it. The same songs are on both the MP3 CD and the Clip+, and with IEMs hooked up to the MP3 player, it sounds great.

On most of the audiophile / audio enthusiast sites I've seen, many people rave about adding a small amplifier between their MP3 player and their headphones. Usually they're either bought online for ~$70-150 or so, or self-built in an Altoids tin. Would something like this help my problem, primarily to get better sound quality and overall presence out of the aux input in my car, or should I be looking elsewhere?

Finally, does anyone know of a way to control the MP3 player remotely? My car has volume / next track / input controls built into the steering wheel, and while I realize I won't be able to use those with the aux input, I would love to hook a remote up to the Clip+, if such a thing exists.

Cliffs:
- Ford Fusion, stock 6 speakers / head unit
- MP3 CDs sound fine, but Sandisk Sansa Clip+ on aux input is much quieter and has less presence (especially bass)
- same 256 and 320 kbps MP3s used on both the CDs and Clip+
- Can I add a small "Altoids tin" amplifier to get better sound through the aux input in my car?

Thanks.

 

[vshah]

yes, it seems that a small amp would help with the problems you are having.

with regards to remote control, i doubt there are any options unless the clip supports headphones with a wired remote on them. if that's the case there may be a way to wire it up so it responds to your built in wheel controls or a 3rd party remote, but other than that I doubt it.

 

[NutBucket]

Or just get a new headunit. Why bother with amps and such?

 

[vshah]

Or just get a new headunit. Why bother with amps and such?

a new head unit may not help if the problem is insufficient output power. it also may help if the input is easier to drive.

OP, you could try looking into AUX input kits for your car. these wire to the back of the radio, if it has a connection for a cd changer or an xm radio unit, and can sometimes provide better quality.

I ended up getting an ipod adapter and an old 20g ipod which just sits in my car. total cost around $150 and it sounds great. but these days i listen to pandora on my phone, through the aux input.

 

[NutBucket]

I meant a new hu that will read MP3s directly on disc or even from a thumb drive.

Come to think of it, it may be the factory hu that's the problem. It may be designed to kill bass on the aux input to protect the speakers. Just a thought.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I meant a new hu that will read MP3s directly on disc or even from a thumb drive.

Come to think of it, it may be the factory hu that's the problem. It may be designed to kill bass on the aux input to protect the speakers. Just a thought.

The stock head unit already reads MP3s on disc. I wish it had a USB port to read from a thumb drive, but alas, that's what the Sync package was for.

The primary reason (aside from cost) why I haven't bought a new head unit is because I don't want to lose the steering wheel controls. I know there are some wiring harnesses that will still work, but from what I've read it's somewhat of a crap shoot.

If the head unit does limit bass or overall volume in general (since it's significantly quieter) on the aux input, an amp would be perfect for the situation, right? I've been doing electronics work for a several years, so I figured I could build a small amp pretty cheap.

 

[s44]

I've been doing electronics work for a several years, so I figured I could build a small amp pretty cheap.

CMoy tutorial

Of course, you can buy it cheap on ebay too. Though building it will probably let you stick in a +12V car adapter more easily...

edit: whoops

The negative DC power input of the cMoy is not connected to its audio ground. Instead, the cMoy's audio ground is electrically biased halfway between the battery/DC input voltage. Let's call the cMoy's positive and negative voltage supply connections "Vp" and "Vn", respectively. In other words, a cMoy power circuit creates its own "virtual ground" equal to 0.5*Vp.

When you wire a vehicle’s +12V supply to a cMoy, you are connecting the vehicle's V+ supply to the cMoy's Vp, and V- to Vn. This immediately presents no problems. Plug in a set of headphones and an iPod and your music will sound great. However, as soon as you plug the cMoy into your vehicle's auxiliary radio input, you are effectively shorting “Vn“ to the “virtual ground”. This instantly fries the cMoy’s power circuitry (the cMoyBB v2.02's optional "D2" diode can sometimes prevent this damage).

Thus, if you wish to use a cMoy with a car/truck/motorcycle’s auxiliary radio input, you must use a 9V battery to avoid shorting out the “virtual ground.” The other option is to power the cMoy from the motorcycle’s battery and only use headphones and an external audio player, such as an iPod.

 

[Muadib]

Before you go nuts with a new amp, did you try another mp3 player?

 

[Modelworks]

Have you tried an fm transmitter adapter ? There are a lot of cheap ones that are crap for quality but then there are some really good ones too. Try to buy one locally because sometimes cars are funny in that one transmitter works great with some model cars and sucks with others.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well, the amplifiers that you see audiophiles raving about when using headphones are because on the super quality headphones, many have a high resistance/low output volume per watt. This means they need more power, and thus the headphone amplifiers were born.

Your problem, on the other hand, is at a line level amplification, not a headphone level amplification. The input wattage/voltage of a line level input is much much lower than a headphone. You risk damage to your system if you plug in a headphone level out into a line-level input, especially if you add an amplifier designed for headphones. You need to use a line level amplifier, not a headphone level.

See wikipedia for what I mean about line level: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_level

 

[Rio Rebel]

Well, the amplifiers that you see audiophiles raving about when using headphones are because on the super quality headphones, many have a high resistance/low output volume per watt. This means they need more power, and thus the headphone amplifiers were born.

Your problem, on the other hand, is at a line level amplification, not a headphone level amplification. The input wattage/voltage of a line level input is much much lower than a headphone. You risk damage to your system if you plug in a headphone level out into a line-level input, especially if you add an amplifier designed for headphones. You need to use a line level amplifier, not a headphone level.

See wikipedia for what I mean about line level: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_level

Dead on. This is your answer.

You don't want to send an amplified signal into another amp. Headphone amps are designed to amplify the signal to your headphones, and that signal goes above line level. This is not what you want.

You want to send a line level output to your car stereo. This is the same reason why I bought a special cable to go from my docking output of my ipod to the aux input of my stereo. Many people use the headphone jack not knowing any better (or not caring), but you get the cleanest and best signal using the line out to your stereo.