aux input audio skip alpine

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=133867
Printed Date: May 10, 2025 at 12:07 AM

Topic: aux input audio skip alpine

Posted By: starfox5194
Subject: aux input audio skip alpine
Date Posted: March 15, 2013 at 3:44 PM

This is my setup
Alpine CDE HD138BT (head unit)
Alpine MRX F65 (4 Channel amp)
Alpine MRX M110 (Sub Amp)
Alpine SPX 17RPRO (Component up front)
Alpine SPR 60 (Coax in the back)
Alpine Type R 12" 4ohmDVC (x2 Wired down to 1 ohm)

I have a second battery and a 1 farad capacitor also.
I installed everything on my own.

I play my music from an android HTC one x+ going straight to the Head Unit. I play flac files. I play my music this way 90% of the time. I like to play it at max volume. Just below where the light bulb lights up on my crossovers up front.

My music is skipping. Like the old days when everyone used CDs. I just bought this head unit around christmas time. It's not that old! Research is leading me to believe that my issue is the head unit.

What I've done so far:

Turned down the gains on the 4ch amp. (Doesn't seem to affect issue although I haven't read with a scope or anything yet. I might be able to get a scope on it in a week or two if that is the only way to figure this out.)

Turned the volume way down on the head unit. (This helps a lot! but... I don't want to do that...)

Checked all of the speaker wiring to make sure that no wires are shorted out.

Checked to make sure that my 4channel amp did NOT go into protect mode when the music cut out.

The music cuts out for a split second just like a skip. It's been getting more frequent lately. Last night I only drove my car for 3 minutes and my audio just cut out for about two seconds. Turning the head unit volume down to about 10 from 35 caused it to start playing again. Then the usual little skip in the music happened every 10-15 seconds.

What I think might be wrong:

My components up front could use some larger gauge wire. It's only 16 gauge. Wire coming from amp to crossover is 12 gauge... But then only the components would cut out right?

The 4 channel amp is going bad... It's not even a month old! What gives! This is why I want to read it with a scope. I think the amp is fine because it doesn't show any signs of going into protect mode when the music skips.

The capacitor is going bad.... Once again I would think that the amps would go into protect due to a lack of power.

The head unit is bad..... I really hope not!

My cell phone is just doodiety... I've tried hooking it up to other sound systems with the same song and there is no issue.

I know this is way too long, but does anyone have any ideas of what I should do to diagnose this?

Replies:

Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: March 15, 2013 at 4:56 PM

Fire up your system to the point where you notice the "skipping." Look at the amps. Are they going into protection mode? Measure the voltage at the amps. How low is it dropping?

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Posted By: starfox5194
Date Posted: March 15, 2013 at 11:28 PM

The amps are not going into protection mode. I turned the gains on the amps all of the way down. This seems to be helping. I just wish I could make it loud like it used to be. I guess it's better than buying all new components due to clipping.

Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: March 16, 2013 at 12:34 AM

starfox5194 wrote:

The amps are not going into protection mode. I turned the gains on the amps all of the way down. This seems to be helping. I just wish I could make it loud like it used to be. I guess it's better than buying all new components due to clipping.

Read the "how to set your gains" post in the Hot Topics forum and set them properly.

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Posted By: starfox5194
Date Posted: March 16, 2013 at 11:17 PM

I put a scope on the amp. It was definitely clipping. I guess it wasn't as powerful as I thought :/

Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: March 17, 2013 at 2:21 PM

starfox5194 wrote:

I put a scope on the amp. It was definitely clipping. I guess it wasn't as powerful as I thought :/

If it's clipping then either the gain is too high or the load is too low. Or it's just a crappy amp, which is also possible. But clipping is not the same as cutting on and off, which is what I assumed you meant by calling it "skipping" in the original post. If the amp is cutting out, then it is likely going into protect mode due to low input voltage, shorted or low impedance speakers, heat, or some other cause. Or it's defective.

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