1hz "chirp" noise with Mediabridge

[2004_blue_zhp]

Hey all,

Posted this at e46fanatics, but wanted to try here as well since I've found this site to be a bit friendlier.

I've had a Dice Mediabridge in my '04 330ci for about a month now. Really liking it. Interface is great, functionality is great.

The only issue I have is that when listening to my iPhone via USB, there is a regular "chrip" noise. The "chirp" itself probably lasts 0.2 seconds or something like that and repeats at about a 1hz frequency. I.e you'll hear something like 60 chirps per minute. In between chirps, there is basically 0 noise in the system (no hiss or anything else like that). The chirp unaffected by road speed or engine speed (i.e. neither the frequency nor the volume changes).

Compared to the volume of the music, the chirp is pretty muted. So when listening to rock it's not terrible. But for classical or anything that has low-volume sections or pauses, it's pretty annoying to hear that chirp.

This noise is not present when listening to the radio.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[kayger12]

Shot in the dark, but I had a similar interference issue with my blu tooth.

After a lot of narrowing down, it turned out to be the wireless function with the Droid X. Whenever it was searching for or picking up a wireless signal, I'd get the interference.

Started turning off the wireless when I got in the car and have never had the problem since.


Droid X. Tapatalk. Use it.

[2004_blue_zhp]

That is a great thought. I hadn't even thought about wireless interference. I'll give that a try and let you know how it goes. If anyone else has suggestions, toss them out there. I'm going to spend a couple hours trying to sort this out tonight and will let everyone know if any of these work.

[spencers]

Man, DICE still hasn't fixed their interference issues with their stuff? That's just sad.

Recall that the positive battery lead goes up the passenger side of the car. If you happened to follow the DIY's widely available out there, you likely ran the DICE cable up that way, assuming you bought the mediabridge that connects to the trunk. I've read about interference issues when run in close proximity to that wire. I had the same "chriping" issue with my DICE Silverline Pro, which I installed in the same fashion mentioned above. I ditched the piece of sheiBe for a USA-Spec PA-12. No problems since, and I ran it in the same fashion as mentioned above.

However if you have the mediabridge that connects directly to the deck (if such a product even exists), my guess is as good as yours.

[2004_blue_zhp]

Mine does indeed connect in the trunk, and my cable is run along the passenger side floorboards, so battery/electrical interference was one of the first thoughts I had as well. If the WiFi fix doesn't work, my next step will be putting the Dice (temporarily) loose on the rear seat and seeing if that makes any difference since that will keep all the wires several feet from the battery and its associated cabling. To be honest, though, I just wasn't sure how anything battery related could create an issue with this particular (1hz) frequency. I wouldn't expect that there are pulses of current moving around 1x/second in the car. But who knows? Will let you know.

[spencers]

Good idea! Yes I was going to suggest running the cable itself freely in the car to see if the issue resolves, but I forgot.

Perhaps the interference is coming from another module in the car.

I noticed the most interference when I had CD text enabled (show artist/song). Every time the text creeped across the LCD, the chirp would happen. I don't recall if disabling that feature solved the issue. Perhaps it made it less pronounced.

[mimalmo]

1Hz is a super deep bass tone so I'm assuming you mean "1kHz"?

Just as a reference, 1kHz is about what that test of the emergency broadcast system tone on your TV sounds like.

[billschusteriv]

Think Keith and Spence have some good thoughts. Keep us posted. Been thinking about those kits to get an outside source hooked up to the business CD.

I remember using isolators in older cars to get rid of alternator whine in amplifiers. Assuming such a product that would fix this issue doesn't exist and isn't applicable in this case.

[2004_blue_zhp]

I don't mean that the tone is at a 1hz pitch, I mean that the tone makes a noise 1x/second and repeats. Someone on another forum had a similar issue and recorded their sound:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22417/e46%20...20chirping.wav

Mine sounds similar. But while his seems to "chirp" about 2x/second (2hz) mine only chirps about half as frequently. Odds are, if you have any idea what his problem is, you also know what my problem is.

The more I think about it, the more I think (hope?) it's the WiFi interfering.

[johnrando]

Re-wiring with a more shielded cable fixed my Dice interference issues.

[billschusteriv]

Re-wiring with a more shielded cable fixed my Dice interference issues.

Good info John. Thanks for stopping in. :thumbsup


BlackBerry. Tapatalk.

[2004_blue_zhp]

I tried disabling WiFi on my iPhone. It didn't eliminate the noise, but I think it may have lessened it. Hard to be sure. I think the comment about it being related to text scrolling is a very interesting one. The text updates on the screen are definitely one of the few things in my car that I would associate to a 1x/second update/cycle frequency. I'll give that a try tomorrow.

Thanks very much to everyone for their help. Its much easier to tackle DIY's on this sort of thing when you know the community will help out if things don't turn out perfectly.

[2004_blue_zhp]

And the prize goes to Spencers! The chirp noise is happening exactly (and only) when the CD text readout is changing. I guess there is some interference between the wire that carries the data signal and the wires that carry the audio signal. That would completely explain why there is no chirp at all when on Aux mode or on Bluetooth mode since the screen is not updating at those times. I will try disabling the text-scroll option in USB mode to confirm all of this.

Now a question for those who know the guts of these systems: is it possible to shield the audio wires from the interference from the data wire? I worry that this would be a pain even if possible since the wires are all currently bundled in the black sheathing from Dice. But if it were possible, what would I use to wrap the two wire bundles to keep them from interfering with one another on the trip from the glovebox (Dice location) to the trunk (connection location).

Progress!

[kayger12]

Glad you got it worked out.

[spencers]

I've read where people have soldered something up to the wires; whether a resistor or isolator, I don't know. I'm on my phone, else I'd search and help you out.
When I had my DICE system, I thought about soldering, as I do own a gun, but I opted to chunk the pile of crap. Too many problems. It bugs me that they still haven't fixed them.

[billschusteriv]

I would think you'd be able to install shielded cables... but I don't know for sure. Any electrical, electronics, or EE types hanging around?

[az3579]

The thing is, you shouldn't have to do any of this. I personally would try to get it replaced under warranty and pray that you don't get another affected unit, which is likely.

[2004_blue_zhp]

Someone on e46 fanatics suggested that a headunit-wired rather than trunk-wired unit might not have this issue. Can anyone offer a data point before I call dice/eas?

Anyone here have the trunk connection *without* the clicking chirping even with text scrolling enabled?

Anyone here have the headunit connection *with* the clicking/chirping associated with text scrolling?

Lastly, anyone have experience with either dice or eas tech support and can offer a sense of how receptive they'd be to swapping out my module for a replacement in the hope of fixing this issue?

Thanks.

[az3579]

Lastly, anyone have experience with either dice or eas tech support and can offer a sense of how receptive they'd be to swapping out my module for a replacement in the hope of fixing this issue?

Thanks.

I wouldn't think they would give you a hard time about swapping it. Tons of people have had issues with DICE units so I would think they're used to it...

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