rockbox equalizer affects usb sound output for ipod?

[yegods]

forgive me if this is a dumb question... but i'm wondering if the EQ settings affect the sound output when "plugged" into a car adapter.  i do know that changing the volume doesn't appear to affect the overall volume.

what i'm wanting is a way to boost the volume output of the ipod when plugged into the car adapter audio system... is there a good way to do this?

[saratoga]

forgive me if this is a dumb question... but i'm wondering if the EQ settings affect the sound output when "plugged" into a car adapter.  i do know that changing the volume doesn't appear to affect the overall volume.

Yes it does, but its not USB sound, just line out.

what i'm wanting is a way to boost the volume output of the ipod when plugged into the car adapter audio system... is there a good way to do this?

No its not.  Line out is already the maximum volume possible without any chance of clipping.  Going higher will likely distort.  You need to raise the gain on whatever amp your ipod is hooked into.

[yegods]

No its not.  Line out is already the maximum volume possible without any chance of clipping.  Going higher will likely distort.  You need to raise the gain on whatever amp your ipod is hooked into.

i'm no audio expert.  do you mean, raise the volume?  the problem is that to get the ipod output sufficiently loud, i need to set the amp volume very high -- so high that when listening to non-ipod (radio or cd player), it's deafening.  thought maybe there was a good solution to this.

[soap]

i'm no audio expert.  do you mean, raise the volume?  the problem is that to get the ipod output sufficiently loud, i need to set the amp volume very high -- so high that when listening to non-ipod (radio or cd player), it's deafening.  

And you have your iPod plugged in via the dock connector, not the headphone jack?
Do you have the EQ preamp set to a highly negative gain?

[yegods]

And you have your iPod plugged in via the dock connector, not the headphone jack?
Do you have the EQ preamp set to a highly negative gain?

yes, and no.

and i am confused about the line out properties.  whenever i've had a device that has line out and headphone jacks, the volume is always louder out of the headphone jacks... so why is it that supposedly the volume is the highest it can be out of the line out?  what does "any possible chance of clipping" mean?  i never hear clipping out of headphones (that i'm aware of at least).

[Llorean]

The line-out volume is equivalent to 0db in Rockbox. This is "At the level in the file, no louder no softer" essentially. If you go up from there, there is a change of clipping. If you go down from there, you don't have the full range. This is called "line level" and is what the line out is presented with.

But if you add any digital gain adjustments (equalizer, replaygain) this happen before the analog gain adjustment (which is where volume control comes in, or in the case of the line out, where it doesn't.) Whether you hear clipping or not, things with a true "line-in" expect line-level audio, and that's what comes from the line-out.

The other difference of a line out is that it's not designed to drive headphones, which have a much greater resistance than a line in, so the perceived volume with headphones may be different from what you'd expect to get from the actual gain level.

At least, this is if I understand the concepts correctly, and haven't completely screwed up my explanation (both of which are at least semi-decent possibilities).

[yegods]

thanks for the explanation!  i'll be playing with the replay gain pre-amp settings to see if i can get the car volume to be reasonable, without totally clipping my songs.

[Febs]

How are you connecting to your car stereo?  Check the manual for your stereo, as there may be a way to adjust the input gain of the input that you are using.

[yegods]

How are you connecting to your car stereo?  Check the manual for your stereo, as there may be a way to adjust the input gain of the input that you are using.

i'm using a FM transmitter, and it doesn't seems to have any settings like that.  i'll be changing over to a standard stereo input soon, hopefully that will make a difference.