How To Get Rid Of Engine Noise In Car Stereo
How To Get Rid Of Engine Noise In Car Stereo
Do you hear an annoying wine or hiss when listening to your music in the car? This is common and can be super frustrating. When engine noise gets in the way of a good experience, it’s rough for some people.
There are several reasons why this might happen, but usually, something straightforward like bad wiring will take care of it. However, sometimes it is more complicated than that. Since not all problems have clear solutions right away.
It could just come down from loose ground connections, which means routing wires differently may very well fix things up nicely.
We’ll go over all of the most typical reasons why you might be hearing engine noise in your car audio system in this article. We’ll also go over some of the most popular and successful solutions to this issue.
What Does Engine Noise Interference Sound Like?
If you are one of the unfortunate few who suffer from this issue. Your car will make an annoying high-pitched whining noise when listening to music at loud volume levels.
The pitch gets louder and higher as the song speeds up, which is why listeners notice most times if it is happening regularly. There could be anything wrong with installation or wiring inside of your vehicle that needs attention right away.
It might also be a sign of an issue with the car’s charging system. Check out the steps below to discover what’s causing this problem
What Does All Of This Mean About RMS:
It is essential to understand that RMS and peak power measurements don’t tell the whole story of a car audio system. When you decide whether or not to upgrade your current setup, be sure to consider what type of driving conditions are present for everything.
To perform at its best potentials (i.e., weather conditions). In general- but without specific details such as time spent accelerating while on turns – manufacturers will often exaggerate these values so they can appear more potent than they are, giving buyers unrealistic expectations, which leads them down an unhappy path later down the road.
To make things more complicated, speakers aren’t created equal. The speakers you choose will be only as good as the amplifier feeding them. You are already familiar with how crucial it is to match your amplifiers’ power output to your speakers’ and subwoofers’ power ratings.
Still, most manufacturers would rather you not know that most speakers can handle a somewhat higher RMS than they advertise. As long as your amplifier delivers anywhere from 75% to 150% of the stated RMS of your speakers. You won’t have any difficulties with them.
One of the most vital recommendations in this article is to make sure your amplifier is set to the same wattage as the speakers and car subwoofers it’s feeding. This will reduce the likelihood of your equipment failing significantly, allowing you to relax knowing that your system is operating effectively and can go for long periods without problems.
How Does Engine Noise Get Through My Car Speakers?
The alternator is one of the most frequent causes of speaker noise. If the sound changes in tone or intensity when the engine RPM fluctuates. It’s probably caused by an engine sound, and interference from the alternator output is a strong possibility.
Because speakers use alternating current (AC) to produce sound. They need to convert the alternator’s DC voltage back into AC before pushing it through your car speakers. This happens through a process of transforming and rectifying. First, the alternator output is sent to the speaker’s amplifiers via diodes and capacitors.
Interference can occur any time that a car electrical system is not grounding out the current it creates. When these current spikes arise, they are unregulated, which is why they recently found another path through your vehicle audio system.
How to Stop Engine Noise coming in Stereo?
Using a ground loop isolator or an inline noise suppressor is a quick and easy method to eliminate the horrible whining sound coming through your vehicle’s stereo speakers. A ground loop isolator will step in and take care of all your car speaker problems. In addition, this tiny device will automatically cancel out the interference-producing engine noise that is coming through your car speakers.
After this happens, any whine or hissing sounds that you previously heard will disappear and leave only excellent sound quality and enjoyment. This is because the power from your alternator is still being converted.
Still, instead of interfering with your music, it is working towards creating a clean, steady voltage for your stereo system to use. In essence, the isolator is keeping the annoying hiss from getting inside of your vehicle’s speakers so you can thoroughly enjoy a smooth ride without interruption!
How does a Ground Loop Isolator Work?
The way a ground loop isolator works is by way of a transformer. This transformer’s primary task is to take the noise coming into your car stereo system and reverse it. The entire engine sound interference travelling through your vehicle speakers will be cancelled out after this happens.
The power from your alternator is still being converted. But instead of interfering with your music, it’s working towards creating a clean, steady voltage for your stereo system to use.
You’ll see them called ground loop isolators, noise filters, audio isolators, audio interface devices and audio elimination kits. Just to name a few titles that they get given throughout their lifespan. They are relatively inexpensive (just under $20), so if you ask me, it’s worth trying one before investing hundreds into an RCA converter kit.
How to Reduce Engine Noise in a Car Stereo
Solution num 1:
First, take a look at the voltages that are going into your amplifier. Suppose you’re using a factory head unit with internal amplification. In that case, this shouldn’t be an issue assuming the voltage is clean enough to go directly from battery to amp without any interference.
Related: How to jump a car battery.
You might find, though, after pulling each cable from the back of the amplifiers. If they’re taking in too much noise from car lights-radio sources etc., move them apart from one another as far as possible, mainly if your car uses halogen headlights instead of LED’s (which produce less noise).
We recommend getting some good quality RCA cables and ensuring that they’re better than light gauge ones. Because this could also ensure that we have isolation and separation in our setup.
Avoid having the wires go straight from your head unit to your amp or vice versa. Instead, insert a length of wire that’s long enough in between this connection. And then create a loop with different connectors on each end. One side will go directly to the amplifier, and another will go to the head unit (via RCA converter kit).
This should ensure any noise coming from high sources like lights when driving has been eliminated hence why we won’t hear engine whirring anymore when accelerating up hills through low speed turns.
Solution num 2:
Suppose you have an aftermarket stereo, though. We’d suggest getting some kind of amplification filter pack for installing behind the back of the head unit. This would help reduce noise coming from your amp, which would otherwise be picked up by the speakers if there weren’t any filters between them.
The key is to purchase one that’s capable of filtering out electrical interference, along with other frequencies as well. Also, make sure it’s made explicitly for amplifiers rather than just loudspeakers, and it should come with a power cord and adapter for this purpose.
How to Get Rid of Engine Noise in Car Audio
By far, the most challenging noise to eliminate is likely engine noise or alternator whine in-car audio systems. This is because it’s shallow in pitch, and often, there are many different sound sources at once, creating this interference.
The best way, perhaps, would be to find some way to isolate both your system and electrical components like power wires that might be creating an extra ground loop (steps mentioned above).
Thus causing noise adversely when turning up the volume loud on songs with signature bleeps. If you’re already using good RCA cables, then chances are slim. Unfortunately, that’s what’s causing this useless noise.
Conclusion
Well, We know this is pretty much all we can do to help you reduce noise coming from your system. Other than doing things like installing a new amplifier with built-in noise reduction, etc.
Seriously though, it’s all about common sense when installing the kit. Do these things that We’ve mentioned above, and you can bet your bottom dollar noise will be reduced significantly, no joke. The only thing left to do then is pamper your speakers with some friendly, clean power.