Are all noise filters created equal?

I picked up a 20amp noise filter from advanced, about 1 cubic inch in size. Then I stopped in at radio shack and found one that was still 20 amps, but it was more like the size of 2 decks of cards, and much heavier.

I guess the only real way to tell if they work the same is to hook em up and test, but has anyone had any experience with noise filters and if one kind is better than the other?

What exactly do you do with this "noise Filter"?? Do you put it on you power wire?? Between you HU and amp on you RCA's??

Paul

well this filter connects inline with the 12v battery wire that powers the headunit. other than that, the only other thing I am gonna try is to make a new ground connection for the HU to see if that helps.   This engine noise/whine stuff has got to go.

I tried the type of filter called a ground loop isolator that connects inline with the RCA plugs, but that had absolutely no effect. Also, I ran the RCA's outside of the car and it had no effect.

Have you tried to ground the amp and the HU directly to the battery??

Paul

danieljaluise wrote:

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well this filter connects inline with the 12v battery wire that powers the headunit. other than that, the only other thing I am gonna try is to make a new ground connection for the HU to see if that helps.   This engine noise/whine stuff has got to go.

I tried the type of filter called a ground loop isolator that connects inline with the RCA plugs, but that had absolutely no effect. Also, I ran the RCA's outside of the car and it had no effect.

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With this description of your issue, your noise is DEFINITELY coming from the deck. Did you use a harness, or cut the wires? Did you use a GOOD ground for the deck? Is the noise in radio only or CD too? Is the noise ever-present, or only when you turn on other accessories? We need a little more info...

As far as the original question, the small one is an active noise filter, and they use a transistor inside (don't ask me how, I've never torn one open to look at the circuitry) to filter noise, and the big one from Radio Shanty is a passive one, using an LC network. I have seen in the past that both work, but I have had better luck with a high quality LC (big, heavy) filters. Just remember, ALL noise filters are band-aids, and only cover up the underlying problem. You really need to fix that, then you won't need a noise filter...

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

I did use a harness to intall the radio. I have previously had two different pioneer stereos in the car with no problem. The problem occured when I switched to the avic-n1.

Someone suggested wrapping the wireing harness with aluminum tape. I might try that if I can find any, so far I have not been able to.

danieljaluise wrote:

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Someone suggested wrapping the wireing harness with aluminum tape. I might try that if I can find any, so far I have not been able to.

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Don't waste your time... That will not fix anything. The issue is arising with the power supply in your car, possibly. I am referring to the ripple in the DC supply. Also, did you answer any of the above questions? If the noise only occurs with one source or the other, it is in the radio, and you may need to look other places to fix your noise problems...

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

I say swap the HU to isolate the prob. Swapping is the only way to diagnose a problem if you ask me. Don't get ahead of yourself.

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Tell the Snap-On guy I'm not here!

Been there, done that. take a length of 18 ga wire. wrap it around the ground part of the rca jack and ground the other side. This has happened to me twice on N1's and only when it was loaded with accessories. something goes bad in the unit. let me know how it goes.

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infbaffle

Alright. the noise occurs on all sources, even when the unit is off because the N1 keeps the amps running for some reason when all the sources are off. I guess it has to do with the navi voice guide or something. Anyway, the setup is loaded with accessories. A changer and 2 amplifiers (sat radio soon to come). It seems like infbaffle is onto something here. Without the amps, if i just run the speakers off the head unit, there is no buzzing. Only when I run the speakers from the external amps. Now I know it can't be RCA cables, because they are all run down the opposite side of the car from the power wire, and I tested it by running the cable outside of the car as well -still got the noise.
I am going to try what infbaffle has suggested, and hopefully this will fix the problem. I will post what happens.
By the way, I have used 3 amps, mounted in 3 different locations and 3 different ground connections, and all had the same noise. So that is why I really believe that even though the noise is only present when run through the external amps, I still think the noise is being generated by the HU.

Are you using high quality RCA's?

One thing that I know about Pioneer units is that they internaly ground their preamp outputs and that has been an issue with their units for many years. The last 2 Pioneer decks that I had both had noise issues. One way that I got rid of the noise was to reground the RCA's near the amps. That worked for the 7600 unit that I had. The 8600 that I had also had noise issues and I never delt with it, I just returned it and went with Alpine and never had an issue after.

Chris

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Alpine CDA-9833 HU
Diamond Audio M661 Components
MTX Thunder T6.6 Components:rear fill:
Cadence Q400 4 Channel Mains + rears
Thunder 801D Subs
MTX 1004 10's
Dual 4g wire to rear
4g grounds

Sounds like you definately have a HU issue.  Pioneers are notorious for poor internal ground plane quality and often the only way to fix this is by swapping head units.  I assume yours is under warranty?

Since you've already tried about everything you can with your amps, try a dedicated ground for the HU that is not part of the car's wiring system.  Try grounding the outer ring of the RCA cables.  Like haemphyst said, don't waste your time with noise filters, they do nothing but mask part of a problem and degrade your sound quality.

If the above does nothing to help with your problem, take the head unit back and swap it for another one.

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Support the12volt.com

Ha, it never even crossed my mind to try and invoke the warranty on this thing. I think that is what I'll do if grounding the RCAs doesnt work.