There has always been hiss coming from my F700, even when the volume is at zero. At first I thought it might be the factory Monsoon amp. But I just replaced it with an aftermarket Eclipse amp, and it's even more noticeable now. (I assume it's the higher quality amp and speakers reproducing the AVIC's hiss that much better.) After a bit of searching here, I see it is a rather common problem.

With both the Monsoon and Eclipse, I have been using the Pioneer's speaker outputs into the main harness. (In the Monsoon's case, it is designed to take high-level signal. In the Eclipe's case, I'm using an LOC.) But, I was wondering if this hiss is coming from the Pioneer's relatively cheap amp section. And, if so, can I eliminate or reduce it by using the low-level pre-amp outputs instead? I've been trying to avoid running a line level cable from the HU to the amp in the back. But, I will if it gets rid of that annoying hiss.

So, has anybody reduced or eliminated the hiss by switching from the Pioneer's amp/speaker outputs to using the preamp outputs instead?

why would you waste the money on an eclipse amp if you just going to lose sound quality by using a LOC? you might as well just have gone to wall-mart and bought a dual or jensen amp,

yes the F's have a background noise that can not be done away with, i think it has somthing to do with the way the computer side of the unit interfaces with the sound processing side of the unit(poor parts or bad design, who knows)

It doesn't sound like a computer /software thing, as the hiss is there even when the volume is at zero. That tells me it is most likely in the HW, either the power amp or pre-amp sections. I was hoping that somebody who has used both the speaker outpuuts and the pre-amp outputs could post whether they noticed a difference or not.

As for the LOC, I think I made it clear why I used it, to avoid running add'l cables. And, the amp wasn't a waste of money using the LOC, as it sounds much better than with the factory Monsoon. (It was only $129, anyway.) Will it sound better using the HU's preamp output directly to the Eclipse? Definitely. Will the difference be enormous? Unless it gets rid of some or all of that hiss, probably not enough to run add'l cables.

So, has anybody used both outputs at some point, and noticed a difference in the amount of hiss between the two?

Thanks.

try grounding the rca's that go to the amp. solder a wire on the shield of the rca plug and ground that to the deck. should make that hiss go away.

Thanks. But, are you sure about that? Have you done this yourself to correct the problem? Is it possible you are confusing the term "hiss" with "hum"? I can't imagine how grounding could get rid of hiss?

I often see people mix up audio noise terms like hiss, hum, static, and whine, which are usually caused by different things, and sound quite different from each other.

This is a high-end hiss, a soft whooshing sound like a breeze. It's identical to the background hiss on old cassette tapes. Except, in this case, it's there even when nothing is playing and the volume is at zero.

yeah i had this noise to after i moved my amps around. the pioneers have pico fuses inside the deck that will blow if there is ANY spike sent threw them. this happens when you unplug the rca's at the amp and reinstall them . the rca pin could breifly touch the shield on the amp and you wont even know it. after a lot of searching and buying some EXPENSIVE rca's (witch didnt work) i found the ground wire solution. it worked for me.drove me insane. lol james

OK then. I'll try it. But, I'll use alligator clips for testing, before soldering anything.

I still can't imagine hiss being a grounding issue. But, if it works, that's all that matters. Thanks.

try grounding the rca's that go to the amp. solder a wire on the shield of the rca plug and ground that to the deck. should make that hiss go away.

dude your not reading, HE IS NOT USING RCA's, there is no shield wire to ground, he is using speaker level outputs from the AVIC, so even if the RCA pico fuses where blown (which would be pretty difficult with nothing plugged into them) the internal amp is still sending out the noise, and OP, i didn't say that it was a computer/ software thing, i think its a problem with the way that the computer interfaces with the pre amp.

bottom line the noise is created before the amp, using a bigger more powerful amp (even off of the RCA's) will just amplify the noise even more.

It's obvious the noise is originating before the external amp. But, my original question was whether or not it is being created before the internal map. If not, and it's created in the amp itself, bypassing it should help.

As soon as I have the time, I guess I will just pull the HU and see if running a line level cable from the pre-outs to the amp gets rid of or reduces the hiss.

If fonjo's problem was due to blown pico fuses at the pre-out, then I guess that doesn't affect my situation. Although, it might when I switch to the pre-outs.

I think I'll throw out my question to all the users once again:

Has anybody who has used both the speaker outs and the preamp outs noticed any difference in the hiss that occurs while the volume is at zero or turned up with no signal present? Thanks.

ok then have you ever used the rca's from the deck before? i have ZERO noise coming from my system after i grounded the rca's. i have not used the high level output wires so i dont know if this is the reason for your problem. have you tried using the rca's to the amp yet? also have you ALWAYS had this noise?

I have never used the RCA preamp outs. But, I will pull the HU and try them to see if it helps. If the hiss is still there, I will then try your fix, and see if that helps. Hey. It worked for you.

I have been using the high-level speaker outputs with both the factory Monsoon amp and the new aftermarket amp. So, I am hoping that the problem is caused by the Pioneer amp section. I guess I'll see when I try the preamp outs.

ok then have you ever used the rca's from the deck before? i have ZERO noise coming from my system after i grounded the rca's. i have not used the high level output wires so i dont know if this is the reason for your problem. have you tried using the rca's to the amp yet? also have you ALWAYS had this noise?

yes i have a pair of two channels driving my speakers (with RCA cables of course) along with a switch box that reconfigures the system to run off of the AVIC's internal amp when the amps are turned off, the same noise is there either way, just louder with the external amps on

every F series i have ever seen or installed (well over 50 and half of them with amps) make this noise, i probably wouldn't have noticed it if i had not came from using an alpine and an eclipse which go 100% quiet when the volume is turned to zero, i have a hard time believing that you have the one and only F series that is 100% quiet in between songs expecially when listening to CD's

i hardly ever listen to cd's. i use my ipod. i didnt think about that. maybe its the cd? i'll try and put a cd in this afternoon and see if there is a noise.i'll post what i find. good or bad!! lol james

ok, listen to as the avic switches songs, you should hear a very faint hiss (kinda like static), its not like a buzz, hum or whine, just real faint static, a good quality receiver (audio quality) will be dead silent when turned up pretty loud for that second or two between songs. some times its hard to hear over the noise that the F-series itself makes due to the very loud cooling fan.

In my case, it's just standard hiss. It sounds like "ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss". And, it is audible not just between songs, but also when songs are paused, before music has even started playing during bootup, and/or when the volume is at zero. It does get louder if I crank the volume up. But, it is clearly audible at zero.

oh yea i know it there all the time, i was just telling him an instance where is would be most noticable

Ya know, Pioneer should be ashamed of themselves. It's really unacceptable. My next Navs will not be a Pioneer. I'm gonna look at Kenwood, Alpine, maybe score an Eclipse on closeout.

Okay. I ran a couple of temporary RCA cables from the HU to the amp, and the hiss is greatly reduced. I also notice that the overall level is lower. So, I lowered the gains on the LOC to match, and the hiss at zero-volume is almost gone now using the high-level outputs.

However, I think I might just buy a 4-channel rca cable, and go line level. It couldn't hurt to remove two stages of processing (HU amp and LOC) from the signal path.

I think I might just buy a 4-channel rca cable, and go line level. It couldn't hurt to remove two stages of processing (HU amp and LOC) from the signal path.

there you go, thats what im talking about. using LOC's if you dont need to is one of the biggest creators of distortion, i mean you take the original signal and boost it up with a very basic low powered amp then you cut that down to a fraction or the power and then reampifly it again. its a recipe for disaster.

most of the time, the noise is barely noticeable, but it is silly that its there in the first place. but you do get what you pay for in life, this unit barely cost any more than the regular alpine CD deck that it replaced, or the eclipse i had before that. those units where night and day better sounding. oh well, one day i will go back to an eclipse HU.

Unfortunately, it appears that Fujitsu has dropped the Eclipse brand from Europe and North America. That's the word on the street. Just look at their websites for those regions. The last entries are from 2009.

The Japanese site is relatively up to date, though. So, it seems they're still rocking Japan. (My brother-in-law has a Japanese Eclipse AVN in his Toyota Vitz. Thank god. Or, I'd never be able to find shit there.)

I wouldn't mind one of those flash disk AVN units. I'm hoping they drop to a closeout price at some point, the way their amps and speakers have dropped in price, due to shutting down their North American ops.

BTW, do you have any recommendations on brand of rca cable? I usually don't fall for the Monster Cable BS. But, their 300 series looks good at a decent price. Kicker's Z series looks nice and is dirt cheap.

with the key on engine off , ipod plugged in , volumne at 0 - 2 , i have almost no noise. i cant hear it , my wife says she can hear a slight noise. same thing with the homemade cd and a store bought cd. i do play my music loud , probably f_cked up my hearing somewhat (lol). just wondering why would you use the high level wires instead of the rca's? seems like more of a pain running the wires than rca cables . i'm no installer or expert in car audio , just someone who likes music and bought a P.O.S. head unit like the rest of you. hope you get it figured out. have a good one. fonjo

the brand doesn't really matter too much for basic systems, most brands usually make crappy, good, and great cables. i would try to stay away from any brand that has "jelly ends" where the ends of the cable are molded rubber connectors as they seem to be the easiest to break, i prefer ends that have a solid metal connector (preferably ones that unscrew so they can be repaired if needed) but how you run them is much more important, you need to make sure that you keep the cables as far from high current power sources as possible.

just wondering why would you use the high level wires instead of the rca's? seems like more of a pain running the wires than rca cables .

Obviously, I would have run line-level, if I was going to run wire. And now, it looks like I will be doing that anyway.