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Put 4.1 surround in my 90GT and 5.1 in my Rover. For MUSIC. It sounded FANTASTIC on radio, cd, iPhone etc. And yes almost all music content is surround sound encoded. Never even tried a movie in either. Everything that was ever put out on CD or newer definitely is surround encoded. Even noticed some college stations that play old jazz vinyl late at night has surround encoded. Creates a much better sound stage
You may get channels of recording (left, right) confused with channels of reproduction (front left, front right, rear left, rear right, subwoofer mono - five channels). Maybe somebody more knowledgeable than I could chime in.
I bought a used Yamaha Preamp in 1982. It had "Dolby Surround".
No "Dolby Surround" on the iPhone.
I don’t want to hijack this thread. If there is interest, we should move to a new tread.
OK, it has been moved and seconded that there be made available some flat plastic that is cut to match the outline of the center console upper edge. Before I call the question I think we need to have some discussion about just what this actually means. I would like to hear some discussion about some of the following considerations:
1. What thickness should the flat plastic be.max 3mm (1/8")
2. Should the plastic be ABS which is glueable or some other plastic that is perhaps weldable? Whichever has the most resistance to warping in heat, as it sits right under the windscreen
3. What allowance, if any, should be made for anything to cover the finished workpiece? Allow for leather wrapping. because of the nature of the piece no stitching is required and it will look better.
4. Since the finished item(s) will end up flat in only one direction, what provision should be made for forming it to match the curves in the other direction? could you clarify?
5. What additional plastic material should be provided with the first piece or two, if any, and what form should it be in and how thick? Several strips for strengthening or a sheet big enough to make strips
And, this is just to get started because there are a whole lot of other considerations to be discussed before the vote.
Originally Posted by Jerry Feather
Further discussion topics are as follows:
6. Should there be only one piece or two? I am torn on this. Cleanest is one piece. Easiest to install and form would be two. Personal preference is one piece
7. If there are to be two pieces, where should they separate, how should they be separated and where? Between din and heater control would be best as these two are going to be a natural separator due to the age of the components
8. f there is to be only one piece, how will it be installed and removed? There are many means to do this. Industrial Velcro would be the easiest, but any of the current systems for attaching plastic would work.
9. How will the openings be made for the components to be mounted, and who will make them? Personally upper vent, double din, heater control. I would think these would be best if you did, but a complete blank is easy to offer.
10. How will the openings be made, and who will make them? See #9
11. What are you going to do with the upper air vent? Make an extension piece. I would think an extension piece would be easy to make with a 3d printer.
12. How are you going to deal with the shifter? Either auto or Man? Offer holes cut for either
13. Where and how are you going to mount the Double DIN NAV or PC unit? See #9 (for me, anyway)
14. How and where are you going to mount the HVAC and AC/key panels? See #9. Mounting can be the completion that is required
There is still more to be discussed, so let's get with it.
OK, Max thickness of 1/8th inch; but why? What are your considerations? If that is your max, why do you need some additional strips or blank material for doubling and beefing up? Where would that go?
I've always found music to be far better in studio than dolby "surround" firstly because the sound engineers mix down the tracks in stereo in the first place, and put a lot of thought and effort into the stereo spacing of the sound elements. Second because dolby isn't true surround anyways.
(Of course assuming that "surround encoded" is referring to dolby rather than true 5.1 surround, which is not how just about all music is encoded.)
Now if you're watching movies in your shark thats another story!
With a CarPC you get Surround Decoding AND you can run the Durameteric software which would allow you to do all the functions of the Hammer, i.e. check and reset error codes. AND you could run SharkTuner. And you can add a backup camera.
Bingo. SharkTuner is the main reason I asked Jerry to do the conversion on my console (I'm one of the two in his shop at present). After discussing with the relevant smart people, it was determined that I had to have a Windows platform in order to use it. I considered a Mac Mini remotely connected to a touchscreen, running VMWare Fusion or similar, but that seemed even more complicated in the end. The E3io device, while not perfect, integrates solutions to a lot of standard automotive application issues:
1) soft startup and shutdown, including proper Windows shutdown
2) inputs and outputs for things I need already on the back panel
3) a reasonable form factor
4) a reasonable display
Beyond ST, I'll eventually have it set up to use GPS and connect to my phone via bluetooth (for hands free calling and media streaming) *and* wifi (for mobile data tethering). I listen to Pandora and FM radio, so I don't have a library of MP3s to worry about, but by all accounts the E3io device would handle those pretty well.
ST on the go is useful because you can leave it in auto-tune mode taking signals off the wideband, without cables and a laptop to worry about flopping around in the passenger footwell.
Mobile internet may amuse passengers and help win bets. I don't intend to watch movies on it, though I suppose I could given enough bandwidth.
Rearview camera is on the future list, probably around the same time I put a sharkwoofer in and redo the speakers and other things properly.
YMMV, of course. I would have preferred not to use a desktop-class OS and attendant hardware, but the critical app for me was SharkTuner, which left no room for negotiation.
SharkTuner is the main reason I asked Jerry to do the conversion on my console
If having SharkTuner and/or Durameteric is a requirements, then a Windows computer (virtual or physical) must be in the system somewhere.
iPhone and Windows computer are not mutually exclusive and would complement each other very well. The question becomes more what controls what.
- touchscreen of the E3iO accessing and controlling an attached iPhone. A iPhone could be used for Internet access, cellular services, and other services. Unfortunately, couldn’t find anything on the Internet that this is currently possible.
- iPhone accessing and controlling an Windows computer (the computer running SharkTuner and/or Durameteric). There are a large number apps offering this. The computer could be anywhere in the car, wouldn’t even need a screen or keyboard. For example, the Next Unit of Computing computer is only 4"×4"×2" ($150). Basically, remote access would be just another app, clicking on it would bring into view the program running on the computer (could be full screen on the PC). One could use two computers, one completely tailored and dedicated to SharkTuner and the other tailored and dedicated to Durameteric. Each having a separate (remote access) app appropriately named. I know too little about SharkTuner and Durameteric, how it is used, what screen real estate is required, and how it is connected to give an opinion on the practicability of this.
Since E3iO is located in WPB, I will visit them in person within the next two weeks and discuss the options available.
A 15" Laptop is barely enough screen real-estate for me to read either the durimetric or ST. Anything smaller would be unusable to try to read and attempt to touch on the small area to select anything. Have you tried to remotely control a PC from even and iPad let alone an iPhone. Even with the zoom feature it is very cumbersome. I work from home remotely managing several PC and Mac Servers. Got and iPad because iPhone is too small to be useable. Still use my 15" Laptop only when away from home desk, and prefer the 27" monitor plugged into the laptop.
From those experiences I'm not sure the E3iO screen won't be a challenge to use with the PC apps.
There is also another app that would be cool on an in-dash PC...Track Data Aquisition/Video!
As soon as I get everything else on my GTS running right the console is going to Jerry for E3iO CarPC modification/installation. Also considering moving the rear air controls to the drivers side hand brake cover along with the rear hatch ****.
A 15" Laptop is barely enough screen real-estate for me to read either the durimetric or ST. Anything smaller would be unusable to try to read and attempt to touch on the small area to select anything. ...
From those experiences I'm not sure the E3iO screen won't be a challenge to use with the PC apps.
Yes, indeed the small 7" Touch Screen of the E3iO CarPC could be a challenge.
Admittedly, the screen of the iPhone 6 Plus is with 5.5" considerably smaller, but not so much smaller. The E3iO screen is also somewhat awkward located to operate, the iPhone is easily removable and can be held close, and therefore, easier to operate. What would work best, who knows?
Maybe one solution is to perform major work like installing and setting up the program remotely with a large notebook (accessing either the E3iO CarPC or the suggested small PC). Only smaller jobs would be done remotely with the iPhone or directly on the E3iO CarPC.
You're both right. The built in display, even though the pixel count is OK, will be physically very small to see when doing individual cell tuning and optimization. I intend to use one of the USB connectors on the PC to drive something like this:
max dimension 150mm, small enough to put in the armrest pocket when not in use.
It's not a perfect solution but I am comfortable it'll be workable. I looked at remote VNC display options via iphone/ipad but space constraints and the small physical display size of an iPhone ruled those options out for me.
Yes, I think most of the setup work will be done by VPNing onto the E3io from a laptop. If the primary screen ends up being too small for navigating around in the ST2 software (likely, I think....), for mounting a temporary Aux screen I wonder whether the ProClip Ipad mount spacing might still be preserved between the top of the console and the bottom of the e3io? (Probably not...)
Maybe using the double DIN space to solidly mount a heavy-duty, articulated arm for holding an iPad? Not too much behind the iPad what would therefore be covered by the iPad. Maybe expand the space into a tripe DIN space! (minus radio, clock, and ash tray) and mount the iPad vertically?
Got a nice present from the Fedex dude today, Jerry sent along my flush console and the e3io PC today. I am _amazed_ at the fit and finish, there is a metric ton of work that goes/went into the conversion.
Even the shifter is excited:
Exploded view (the touchpad window buttons are Hans' and Paul's, I just added the insert into the console for completeness). Note the perfectly cut-down vent insert, and the 'spacer' for the center vent to bridge from the HVAC airbox to the console duct:
Upper and lower inserts- they press into the console, tightly, tool-free, and perfectly aligned. The fit is flawless.
Daylight to show the match of the insert vinyl to the console vinyl:
Powered up the e3io, added the Wifi password, and headed right to RL. Not sure I like Win8.1, but it'll run everything that I need to run on this. PC pulls 2.1 to 2.6 amps depending on whether it's working or not. 8GB ram, 128 GB Samsung SSD. That ought to be enough for my meager ripped CD collection and PET 7.3
