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Thread: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

  1. Back To Top    #71
    Noob naiku's Avatar
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    Re: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

    Tweaked the gains a little more and while there is still some noise, it's at this point reduced enough, coupled with the fact others have had some noise out of MiniDSP units, that I am fine with it. It could have been gains all along, but (and without hearing it in person, it's hard to describe exactly) there was more noise than I would have imagined going from 4V to 6V..... moving on.

    Next step is going to be trying to mount the remote somewhere in the car, I am hoping to be able to flush mount it beneath the armrest with only the buttons showing. This piece of felt covered plastic:



    Sits on top of another piece of plastic that is part of the center console. The hole you see is from when I had a bass knob from the PDX-V9 mounted there. I am hoping to be able to mount the board to this felt covered piece, trim the plastic piece that is beneath here and then just sort of drop this piece down into its home. It worked for the V9 bass knob, so other than having to remove some more plastic should work for this as well. The biggest thing being making sure it does not fall off, I think (and hope) that the nut that is beneath the volume knob will hold the board tightly to the felt piece.

    The remote is fairly bulky:



    Especially when looking at how big the guts of it are:



    Here is a picture of the back of the piece I need to cut the holes for the buttons on, the ridges are actually a pain in the butt for cutting it easily. I want to cut from the back ideally, but those ridges make life difficult. I am likely going to cut the 4 preset buttons as a single hole, I don't think I can cut out the individual squares neatly enough nor will the plastic strip between them be particularly sturdy.

    Another white wagon.
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  2. Back To Top    #72
    Noob naiku's Avatar
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    Re: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

    Made some progress on the remote today...





    The biggest issue I am having (which I suspected would happen) is that when you push a preset button the whole thing drops on that side. If you look at the picture of the board and case, there are 2 screws that prevents that happening in the case. I may try to attach something to the plastic piece that I can screw the board onto, while I will rarely use those preset buttons, I also don't want it to drop down when I do push one.
    Another white wagon.
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  3. Back To Top    #73
    Noob naiku's Avatar
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    Re: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

    A few pictures from REW after some tuning, rear speakers are work in progress...




















    Being able to import the PEQ is great, I sit in the car, take measurements with REW. Go back inside, work on the EQ and save the files. Import into the MiniDSP software, head back to the car, plug it in and hit synchronize and the EQ is done.

    At the moment, for some reason, I cannot seem to get the stage as wide as it was with the Helix. Not really sure why to be honest, I do have rear fill playing now, but if I turn off the rear speakers I don't actually notice any difference (hence work in progress on the rears). I may reset one of the presets, start again with re-measuring distances for time alignment and then go from there. Depth and height are good, about on a level with the Helix, but the width is what I miss.
    Another white wagon.
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  4. Back To Top    #74

    Re: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

    This is an awesome log.

  5. Back To Top    #75
    Noob naiku's Avatar
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    Re: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

    I need to reload all my pics, thanks Photobucket........

    So, had a disastrous day last Thursday. Had to drive to NY for a work meeting on Friday, so had arranged to meet with Nick / Skizer on Thursday evening to spend some time tuning the car. About 200 miles into the journey, my tablet cuts off, it comes back on about 30 minutes later then cuts off again. I popped open the glovebox and noticed the USB hub was also not powered, so figured something had happened to the power supply. Get to Nicks and we drop the glovebox, and it starts pouring with rain, literally bucketing down with rain. We determine that the power supply is dead, not sure if it was a combination of the heat and crappy roads banging it around, or something else, power goes in, nothing comes out.

    We then decide to try and hook up a 3.5mm to RCA from his laptop to the MiniDSP and at least spend some time tuning. Oh, and it is still pouring down, and humid. Get everything connected and for some reason the left side is playing really quietly, not really sure why, and I think the both of us at that point were pretty much fed up with it. Unplug everything, put the glovebox back and notice the damn MiniDSP is still powered, even with the key out of the ignition. Checked the switch on the side and it is in the correct position, no idea what is going on with it so I left it unplugged and headed to the hotel.

    Driving home sucked. No music, 6+ hours in the car. It also rained a good chunk of the way home, so I could not even just have the windows down and hear the road/wind noise.

    When I got home I checked the DSP, moved the switch from position 2 (remote on) to position 1 (constant power) and then back to position 2, reconnected the battery and that cured that problem. Took the case off the power supply, I get 12v both constant and switched coming in, it has a little 12V aux connected on the board that also was getting 12V. But, no matter what I do I cannot get any power on the output side of things. Ordered a cheap power supply to see how that works out. I do like the DCDC-USB, especially being able to program custom voltages, delays to it powering down etc. but if the cheap power supply works may just stick with that.
    Another white wagon.
    Instagram - eye_take_pix



  6. Back To Top    #76
    Noob naiku's Avatar
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    Re: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

    Adding a quick recap with pictures...

    Here is the car, it's a 2006 A4 Avant, has a couple dents in it currently (stupid deer) but still looks good:



    I run a Nexus 7 for a head unit, it's been pretty reliable for the few years it has been in the car, especially considering the extremes of temperature it has endured:




    I used a couple apps and photoshop to try and mimic the OEM RNS-E interface screen. It looks a little different now, but still overall it looks like this:



    Here is a picture of where I used to have my MS8, Alpine F345 and M605 mounted. Despite them being out of sight, I was never happy with how sloppy the install looked:



    And a picture of the old subwoofer and enclosure:



    So, onto how things currently are and some in progress / build pictures...

    Kick panel mounted mids, Dayton RS75's:



    Amp and power mounting pics:




    Another white wagon.
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  7. Back To Top    #77
    Noob naiku's Avatar
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    Re: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

    Suitcase enclosure and trunk floor build pics:



    Nothing exciting in there...








    Finished views, very happy with how this turned out. I can get plenty of groceries etc in the trunk and not worry about damaging the sub. Additionally with the cargo cover closed 99% of the time, its pretty stealthy:






    The amplifiers are mounted behind the left door and the distribution block behind the right, DSP is under the floor.


    Dismantled the MiniDSP remote and mounted it under the armrest:





    And that's about where things stand, at least that I have pictures of. I am trying to resist the upgrade bug on my speakers at least until they break! At that time I will grab some more pictures and likely improve upon the minimal deadening I have done in the doors.
    Another white wagon.
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  8. Back To Top    #78
    Noob JayinMI's Avatar
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    Re: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

    How did you have SiriusXM on a tablet? Or does that button just launch the app?

    Jay

  9. Back To Top    #79
    Noob naiku's Avatar
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    Re: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

    Quote Originally Posted by JayinMI View Post
    How did you have SiriusXM on a tablet? Or does that button just launch the app?
    It just launched the app, I actually don't even have it on there anymore. Cancelled my subscription a couple months ago, was paying $24 or something for 1 radio and streaming access. I have a slightly different screen on there currently, but actually, need to edit it again as there are a few different apps I use more frequently / some removed.
    Another white wagon.
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  10. Back To Top    #80
    Noob naiku's Avatar
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    Re: 2006 A4 Avant Build.

    While not really part of a build log, posting this here as a bone headed mistake type of thing.... so, yesterday I decided to try competing for the first time. Registered, showed the guy judging how to navigate the tablet and walked away. 2 minutes later he calls me back over, I get in and he plays the position type tracks. Plays the "Right" track first, literally nothing comes out of the speakers. Plays "Left" and it comes from towards the center. What. The. Hell. The only thing I had changed recently was swapping my midbass for a pair of TM65 MKII, so I was more than a little confused.

    Having the laptop with me and knowing I had music playing through all the speakers, I quickly check all the connections, open the DSP software, mute all the speakers and play pink noise individually through all the right side speakers. Reboot the tablet, no difference, plug the output into my laptop to bypass the tablet, no difference. Feeling dejected I speak to a couple guys and try to figure out what may be the problem. Heading home I keep playing L and R tracks and wondering what is going on.

    Later that evening I unplug my optical cable and run a 3.5mm to RCA, set up the routing in the DSP and get LEFT and RIGHT doing what they should be (actually they were reversed, but I had one playing from each side). At this point I suspect my optical cable to be a problem.

    With the left and right being flipped in my test using the 3.5mm to RCA, I question if I have my routing set correctly. On the MiniDSP software, the Inputs tab has 2 inputs for digital, Input 7 and 8. Since I was only using one (toslink) I had Input 8 muted, thinking it was for the SPDIF. I suspect many reading this already can tell where this is going.....

    Looking a little closer, I realize that Input 7 and 8 are for either toslink OR the SPDIF, you just select the one you are using from a drop down list. Well, like an idiot I had all of my speakers on the routing tab using Input 7. Swapped all my right speakers to Input 8, and sure enough Left and Right separation. The funny thing is I had my tune sounding pretty decent to me, but at the same time kept struggling to get the width I had with the Helix. Went for a little drive today and....... it's amazing what the right settings will do for you. Width is great, I think I have the rears dialed in pretty well, they are not noticeable unless you switch them off. I need to make some changes to the tune, but I am really kicking myself over that one.

    Disappointed at how my first time competing went, but all part of the learning process and I am looking forward to trying again.
    Another white wagon.
    Instagram - eye_take_pix



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