F500 Audio

[adrusa]

Can anybody kindly help me explain how to

1. Increase the volume of the music on my f500

2. What to do to eliminate the noise

Thanks

[1loudls]

the volume should turn up when you turn the rotory knob clockwise

 

what is this noise that you speak of?

[adrusa]

thanks for replying. even at maximum volume of 20 the sound is barely audible. I have tried several amplifiers with no major improvement. As par the noise when I connect the F500 to power and then to amplifier, there is some background hiss as loud as the music. if i disconnect the car charger, the sound disappears.

[1loudls]

are you using the ndg500 amp that is made for the f500?

[mike-man]

I have the same volume issue, but I have determined it is at the F500BT unit, not the ND-G500 amp. I know this because if i plug my ipod directly into the amp via male/male headphone connector it will go quite loud if i crank it. Also, if i plug headphones into the F500BT unit and put the volume up to 20, it is not very loud at all.

 

I don't know if this is normal or if i got a lemon... The volume really is quite low so I can't see this being normal - I am going to phone Pioneer support and/or stop by a service center to get a second opinion. Will let you know.

[msuc5vette]

Did you guys figure out a fix for this? Mine is stupid quiet too.

[EEGeek]

I had this problem too, here's what I did:

 

1. increase the media player volume all the way

2. increase the system volume all the way. I didn't realize that there was another volume, but there is. To get this one, go to settings, navi settings, then sound settings. Raise "master" all the way. Mine was at 50% by default.

3. To get rid of the noise, fix the ground loop. Easiest way, radioshack's ground loop isolator. You might need a couple adapters. Get it here: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062214. Adapters will depend on how you're connecting it.

4. If that isn't loud enough, I built an op amp that increases the gain even more. Google cmoy headphone amp for one. If you do build and use this, you may have to play with the gain adjustments and source voltage level to prevent clipping (ugly harsh sound at loud points in music).

 

This has worked wonders on my Mazdaspeed 6. I tapped my unused Sirius Sat input lines. I only need the cmoy amp when I connect via the "preout" line off of the mounting plate cable. If I plug into the headphone jack the first 3 steps above were all I needed. Took me a couple days to figure this all out. Hope it helps!

 

Ping me if you have specific issues with this.

[KEK]

EEgeek

Thanks for your guidance on how to eliminate the noise issues... If I may I have follow-up questions. I have the F500BT and am currently using the headphone output to connect to the Aux input on my stereo head (on a 2008 Altima). I get a lot of variable-pitch whining and hissing noise:

1) Can a ground-loop isolator used between the headphone output and the Aux inupt on my car stereo?

2) If I hard-wire using the supplied harness, will that eliminate the noises (whining and hissing) or would an isolator stil be needed?

Thank you for any advise

KEK

[sallysky]

I have the F500BT hard wired and I still have the noise but mostly at start up before the ipod music begins to play. I am using the AUX on my factory head unit. I have the upgraded Monsoon system so could not use the amp. I have a ground loop isolation between the AVIC cable and the AUX in an it does eliminate the hiss. I purchased a headphone amp and have tried it to increase the volume but it distorts the sound so much that it provides no improvement. I have adjusted the bass, mid & treble up all the way on the HU and that has been the best solution. I would be interested if anyone comes up with something better.

[KEK]

Sallysky

What is the monsoon system?

Is the amp required with a stock hu, to tie it effectively into the car head end?

Thanks

KEK

[sallysky]

The monsoon system is GM's high end (or at least they think so) option for their cars. They system includes an AMP and sub so it would not have been possible to tie the AVIC amp to the monsoon amp or at least w/o cutting into wires.

The AVIC amp is not required but does provide 50 watts to a the HU if you don't already have an amp.

[KEK]

Thank you, Sallysky... appreciate the info. I wonder, if the volume is sufficient for my liking do I really then NEED the amp?!? anyones thoughts?

[bluesincenew]

I get a lot of variable-pitch whining and hissing noise:

 

Placing a coil and capacitor in the power line to your amp should help. Alternator is usually the source of the variable noise. (Not sure about the hiss.) The coil (or choke) will go in series on the positive line to the amp and helps smooth any micro voltage variants that cause noise. The capacitor will go in parallel with the amp and knocks down any RF in the line. As I recall I bought a kit with the coil and capacitor that was specifically for this purpose. Sorry I don't have/remember the values for the components. Should be easy enough to find and take care of the noise for very low cost. (5-15US)

[EEGeek]

Sorry I never responded to anyone. I didn't have this topic in my subscriptions for some reason.

 

As stated by others, you can in fact use the ground loop isolator between the headphone out and the aux in on any unit. The only place you CAN'T use the GLI is on a line with a lot of power, like the ones that actually drive your speakers. They are only for use on signal lines (low power lines).

 

Hard wiring almost never helps get rid of the noises you hear. The radio shack GLI is the easiest solution in my opinion as I've never had it NOT work for noises on any of my AV equipment and doesn't require any cutting, splicing, soldering, or dealing with discrete components if you're afraid of any of that. There's a chance that you may need two of them if you decide to use a pre-amp (headphone amp) to boost the volume before it hits the main amp. One GLI would go before the pre-amp, one after. I had a case where that was necessary.

 

On the headphone amp making it sound like crap, was it clipping? You should be able to hear some examples of clipping online somewhere and let me know if that's what it is. Was it at least louder? I had to run my cmoy amp on a 5V power supply (NOT 12V) to not have clipping. The idea being that the amp has a specific gain associated with it, if that gain is too high, you'll get clipping. Good amps will minimize the noise you'd hear from clipping, but if you provide it a 12V supply voltage, it'll think it can output signals up to 12V and not clip. The input lines on many audio systems (aux in type connections) are expecting a 5V max signal in. You headphone amp may then have a) too high of gain 12V supply instead of 5V c) both.

 

Let me know if you still have issues!

[nastyplasty]

Hi,

 

I am sure you did already know but the volume level in the F500bt is in the options of the GPS. If you increase the volume for GPS instructions, all the music is amplified.

 

Please check this because it drove me crazy.