Playing through car audio speakers?

Deadpool_25

Deadpool_25

Fractal Fanatic
Kind of a weird one. I'm considering building out an RV/van along the lines of a Sprinter, Transit, or Promaster.

One of my focus areas is on how I might incorporate a small "studio" setup. Nothing elaborate--just a desk, a computer/mac, an interface, and some speakers. My first thought was to just use some HS5s and a sub. Then I started thinking maybe building some speakers into the wall to either side of the monitor for a cleaner setup. Maybe some really good speakers in fiberglass enclosures and a small sub?

Hmmm...Focal makes some great car audio gear...
 
VW and First Act beat you to it Bro!

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VW partnered with First Act to provide promotional guitars to be given with each car sold (certain models) in the mid-2000s. I bought a pearloid model off of eBay. Gotta say that it's actually a pretty cool guitar. Anyway it came with a special cable (1/4" to 1/8") to allow you to play through the vehicle's sound system. The guitar itself has built in distortion and fuzz modes (it houses a 9v battery to support those features).

 
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fcs101 said:
VW and First Act beat you to it Bro!

View attachment 141559

VW partnered with First Act to provide promotional guitars to be given with each car sold (certain models) in the mid-2000s. I bought a pearloid model off of eBay. Gotta say that it's actually a pretty cool guitar. Anyway it came with a special cable (1/4" to 1/8") to allow you to play through the vehicle's sound system. The guitar itself has built in distortion and fuzz modes (it houses a 9v battery to support those features).

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I remember that!
 
Way back when I'd occasionally kidsit for a family down the street. They had a cheapo intercom setup built into the walls in some rooms. I'd sometimes bring my guitar and plug into it. No distortion or anything else for guitar, and it sounded like crap, but you do what you can, and it was a goof.
 
Deadpool_25 said:
Kind of a weird one. I'm considering building out an RV/van along the lines of a Sprinter, Transit, or Promaster.

One of my focus areas is on how I might incorporate a small "studio" setup. Nothing elaborate--just a desk, a computer/mac, an interface, and some speakers. My first thought was to just use some HS5s and a sub. Then I started thinking maybe building some speakers into the wall to either side of the monitor for a cleaner setup. Maybe some really good speakers in fiberglass enclosures and a small sub?

Hmmm...Focal makes some great car audio gear...
Click to expand...
Why don't you just mount the HS5 to the wall with some brackets or sideway on a tablet under your monitor?
If it's not for mixing, maybe a Bose soundbar under your monitor.
If you don't want stereo, maybe an EV ZXA1 8" speaker, you could take it outside and play for the bears.
The sub can be positioned under some sitting spots.
 
donaldr said:
Why don't you just mount the HS5 to the wall with some brackets or sideway on a tablet under your monitor?
If it's not for mixing, maybe a Bose soundbar under your monitor.
If you don't want stereo, maybe an EV ZXA1 8" speaker, you could take it outside and play for the bears.
The sub can be positioned under some sitting spots.
Click to expand...
Just using HS5s is absolutely an option. It was my first idea actually.

One reason I'm thinking about alternatives is that I'm also thinking about a kinda surround sound home theater type setup. Idk. Just kicking around ideas at this point.
 
That would be a challenge as the space is very tight. I don't know your floorpan but assuming you would do it on one side of the van, the sound will bounce from behind and it will create a lot of reflections. IMHO you would get best results using the smallest speakers and a small sub. Or IK Multimedia iLoud MTM without a sub (supposed to go down to 36Hz and self-calibration).

My van is nowhere as big as yours (Nissan NV200) but I put a "desk" and 24" monitor screen so I can work in it. The walls are not finished though.

It's a nice projet, do it and show us the result
 
I think that getting sound that's actually good in a van like that would be extremely difficult. I'm not saying not to try, but I would try it with pretty cheap speakers (like HS5s or LSR 305s) first....see how it works and then re-evaluate.

If it were me, with my biases and preferences, I'd get really nice headphones or IEMs and figure out HRTF crossfeed and EQ correction (imho, all headphones need EQ correction; and most IEMs can benefit from them). IEMs, especially, have gotten really freaking good over the last few years. The "problem" with them is that your physical ear canals can drastically change the high-end response, so recommendations and reviews can be a little weird. You and I can vehemently disagree with neither of us being wrong, for example.

But, despite having a pretty nice room (room modifications, treatment, and speakers were ~ $40k), I find it easier to make decisions and to be confident in them with my IEM setup than with my speakers....which is something I never would have expected. In theory, we're moving some time this year....and I'm honestly questioning whether it's worth rebuilding my room in the new place. I'm seriously considering approaching it as if I were a digital nomad except for the actual travel part. I'll probably still have speakers, but with what I've been hearing this year....if I can listen to podcasts with them (for comfort) while I'm doing non-audio tasks, that's honestly probably good enough....and use my IEMs for listening to music and all of the actual audio work.
 
marsonic said:
I think that getting sound that's actually good in a van like that would be extremely difficult. I'm not saying not to try, but I would try it with pretty cheap speakers (like HS5s or LSR 305s) first....see how it works and then re-evaluate.

If it were me, with my biases and preferences, I'd get really nice headphones or IEMs and figure out HRTF crossfeed and EQ correction (imho, all headphones need EQ correction; and most IEMs can benefit from them). IEMs, especially, have gotten really freaking good over the last few years. The "problem" with them is that your physical ear canals can drastically change the high-end response, so recommendations and reviews can be a little weird. You and I can vehemently disagree with neither of us being wrong, for example.

But, despite having a pretty nice room (room modifications, treatment, and speakers were ~ $40k), I find it easier to make decisions and to be confident in them with my IEM setup than with my speakers....which is something I never would have expected. In theory, we're moving some time this year....and I'm honestly questioning whether it's worth rebuilding my room in the new place. I'm seriously considering approaching it as if I were a digital nomad except for the actual travel part. I'll probably still have speakers, but with what I've been hearing this year....if I can listen to podcasts with them (for comfort) while I'm doing non-audio tasks, that's honestly probably good enough....and use my IEMs for listening to music and all of the actual audio work.
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The only headphones I have are some old HD280 Pros. They didn't seem bad when I tried them way back when but I don't really have a good frame of reference for headphones and they get uncomfortable after a while.

As I'm in the middle of a pretty big downsizing phase it might be a good idea to look into some good headphones or IEMs. I'd probably set an initial budget at $1000 and go from there. Suggestions?
 
Deadpool_25 said:
The only headphones I have are some old HD280 Pros. They didn't seem bad when I tried them way back when but I don't really have a good frame of reference for headphones and they get uncomfortable after a while.

As I'm in the middle of a pretty big downsizing phase it might be a good idea to look into some good headphones or IEMs. I'd probably set an initial budget at $1000 and go from there. Suggestions?
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For headphones, no. Sadly. I haven't really looked at that price range. I've heard good things about the LCD-X for just a bit more than that, but IMHO only after correction. I think all the Audeze cans sound awful without correction. They are low-enough distortion and extend low enough that correction does wonders for them.

It's nowhere near your whole budget, but I really like the Truthear Nova for IEMs, as long as you use comply (or similar) foam tips - they're too sharp-sounding (for lack of a better word) with any other tip design. They do benefit from correction (mostly in the high end), but much less than headphones, at least for my ears. The really cool thing with them is that low-end especially is insanely easy (as long as the tips make a good seal with your ears). They're the only things I've heard short of 6-figure studio setups where I can hear the transition from clicks to tones as I play a sweep from 10Hz to 50Hz. Midrange just sounds "right", though they border on "shouty". High end is smooth and even when I play a sweep. It could be peculiarities of my ear canals that especially make the high-end sound so nice....sadly, that's something you can't predict. You just have to try stuff.

YMMV. Drastically. But they just sound "right" to me with mild correction and CanOpener on my preferred settings. At some point, I'm going to shoot them out against LCD-5s, but a) I legitimately think that comparison is valid despite the drastic difference in price and b) I think the Novas are going to win at least partially because I've always preferred IEMs to headphones in general.

The way I'm doing correction now is generally with an IR from autoeq.app. I also generated a 5-band parametric EQ for use with my FM3 (no IR player) that gets most of the way there. All of the corrections are to my preferred target curves, which you'll probably have to experiment with.

Those are the ones I'd seriously consider, but I've honestly gotten to the point that I prefer pleasure listening and working on the Novas to my treated room.
 
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