PSP + Airtunes + Coverbuddy = Dance Party Hi-Fi Wiring

Now that I have my Mac Mini set up to deliver my whole iTunes library to my listening room through Airtunes with Sony PSP remote control, I needed to rewire my hi-fi components. The goal: deliver the digital Airtunes signal through the best DAC in the path and passing the analog signal cleanly through to my loudspeakers. I have no budget, so I must only use components I already own.

I also wanted to test how much I could combat the compressed audio feed’s nasties in the analog realm. My weapons: Taddeo Digital Antidote II and Rogue Audio Magnum 99 Preamp. One of these components won the battle and the other almost lost the whole war.

Airport Express DAC: Stereophile has taught us that the Airport Express’s internal DAC is to be avoided in a hi-fi set up. To successfully use an Airport Express in your signal path you must use its digital optical output feeding an external DAC. The Airport Express outputs a digital signal through the same mini jack port as analog. I just needed this mini-jack to optical adapter from Parts Express.

Digital Optical cable: My optical cable collection is the most neglected cable category in my home theater set up. I’ve read many articles and books (like Audio/Video Cable Installer’s Pocket Guide) lauding the optical cable. Digital coax is universally considered a superior connection—jitter reduction (or least amount of addition), and more stable connectors. So the best optical cable I have is not from a !33t boutique manufacturer but from Best Buy’s favorite: Monster Cable. I’m sure its price surpassed its quality.

With the mini jack adapter clicked in place I insert it into the Airport Express and then snake it across to my Onkyo’s Digital Optical Input 3 (formerly home to Dish HD STB audio output, soon to be sent back to Dish/AT&T for personal budget cuts).

Onkyo DAC and analog passthrough/output: It took me a couple tries to figure out the analog output from my Onkyo AV receiver the Airport Express feeds. My initial attempts pass the digital signal out through an analog out failed. I had to reference the manual to find out that you could not pass a digital only signal to either the analog record out or to Zone 2. I split the Onkyo’s preamp out to deliver the Onkyo DAC signal to my Rogue preamp. One pair of interconnects plugged into the Tape Input while the other remained in the AUX input (with the Rogue’s home theater bypass the AUX input is wired to bypass (duh) the Rogue’s tube gain and output stages). (I hope the Monster Turbine Y Adapters I use to split the preamp out are as transparent as advertised, a small bit of metal and teflon shouldn’t make too much difference, right?)

Problems with Taddeo Digital Antidote 2: I love my TDA 2 for CD playback. I thought for sure they could make compressed digital audio just as sweet as CD. I was wrong. Airtunes through the TDA 2 sounded compressed, congested, boomy, splashy, muted and just super awful. Since this was the way I first wired the rig I was quick to blame the Airport Express and compressed audio delivery. I almost gave up. Always suspicious that I’m doing something idiotic that I think is genius I took the TDA 2 out of the path. Someone just removed the thick veil covering the music.

Gain and Volume Control: When you attenuate digital signals you lose bits along with decibels. I wanted the cleanest signal out of the Onkyo while using the Rogue’s normal volume range. To achieve this I raised the Onkyo’s volume to its reference, 0 db. I kept the Rogue’s gain at the middle setting. This combo gave me manageable volume control on the Rogue with a minimal loss of bit resolution.

With all my wiring (and non-wiring) in place I was finally ready to sit in my listening chair and enjoy any song in my iTunes catalog.

Next: Listening tests and family dance parties.

Father, Husband and Geek. My geeky interests have not changed since I was a kid. I still love comic books, anime, role-playing games, console video games, indie rock, imported toys and mecha models, bad American and great British sitcoms, and all the tech that let’s me experience these hobbies to their fullest. Now that I’m married with children, I’ve had to strike a balance between supporting and pleasing my family and feeding my geekery hunger. Lucky for me, my wife is very accomodating and even geeks out with me on occasion (the ladies love Joss Whedon’s "Firefly"). My two year old likes anything that moves on the front projection screen and makes noise, so far she is easy to please. Geekwithfamily.com exists to enrich the lives of fellow geeks and the friends and family who put up with them.

Aluminum Wiring Hazards When Buying a Home

If aluminum general circuit single strand wiring exists keep in mind it has been linked to an increased risk of house fires. The house fires are caused by overheating at connection points.

Further inspection and evaluation by an electrical contractor familiar with aluminum wiring must be conducted prior to expiration of your inspection contingency to determine what upgrades are necessary or desirable. All connections must be checked for signs of damage or overheating. Expect it to be diffcult job that few electrical contractors around "want to do".

The connection points can experience overheating or become loose due to the properties of aluminum wiring. Upon fitting the wiring with special connectors and outlets, the wiring is considered to be safer. Contact the home owners insurance company you intend to use to determine if coverage will be impacted. Please point your browser to http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/516.pdf for more detailed information!

Even if you as a buyer do not care about the aluminum wiring you can rest assured that the person who buys the home from you when you sell it may very well ask you to pay to cure the hazard.

Aluminum single strand wiring is all Romex type (non-metalic) I have never heard or seen any single BX type wiring.

Michael Del Greco is President of Accurate Inspections, Inc. A New Jersey home inspection firm. He has performed thousands of home inspections in New Jersey since 1993. He has taught the New Jersey Home Inspector Licensing classes and New Jersey Home Inspector CEU classes as well as participated in developing questions for the National Home Inspector Exam. Michael's home inspector resume may be viewed at http://www.accurateinspections.com/michael2.htm.

Visit http://home-inspector.NewJerseyHomeInspection.com for a list of home inspectors in New Jersey.

This article may be freely reproduced if it is not altered and the above two lines are reproduced with active hot links.

VW Wiring (1998 And Later Models

The radios in VW cars (1998 model and onwards) use an amplified aerial for improved radio reception. This amplifier is built into the base of the aerial and is powered by a feed from the stereo. This power feed is sent down the center of the aerial cable.

Therefore, if the factory-fitted stereo is replaced with an aftermarket unit, the aerial will no longer get this power feed and the amplifier in the aerial will not be turned on. This will result in poor radio reception.

To solve this problem you will need a VW aerial adapter. This takes the electric aerial output of an aftermarket stereo and combines it with the aerial socket to supply power to the amplifier in the aerial.

The other difference that post 1998 Volkwagen car radios have is their power connection. . .

Stereos require 2 power feeds. One is a constant feed that is always live whether you have the key in the ignition or not (this keeps the memory settings, clock etc). The other is a switched live which gets a feed when the ignition key is turned.

Although VW car radios use an ISO connection block for their stereo wiring (the same as all aftermarket stereos) you cannot simply plug it straight in. On later Volkswagen car radios, the pin configuration of these two power wires is reversed. If you plug it straight in, the stereo will work fine. However, it will lose all of it's memory settings once you switch it off.

To solve this problem, you will need a VW wiring adaptor. This will plug into your VW wiring harness at one end and the aftermarket stereo at the other end. In between these two points, the adaptor swaps over the location of the two power wires. This takes care of the problem.

This store specializes in car audio. I give them thumbs up -- I work with them daily (so I know their business philosophy -- customer satisfaction) . However, if your country is not served by them, you can still get other recommendations at car-audio-products-and-accessories.com

Chimezirim Odimba writes for CarAudioPlus.