C6 Pioneer White Static Noise
Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2022
Posts: 41
Likes: 3
Racer
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 337
Likes: 26
From: San Antonio, TX
@jontx the rca cables from preouts to interface worked a treat. There’s a little bit of a ringing when in acc mode that’s not detectable with the engine running, but I can probably chock that up to bring one of 2 things - the wires are twisted together to test it, and I’m actually going from rca on the preouts, to female RCA from the LOC kit, to the interface. The original speaker wire rca cables I ordered never shipped. For now I’m hooking up the interface to the LOC kit so I can use the car with it hooked up until I order some different rca to speaker cables
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,418
Likes: 2,302
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
@jontx nice! Total white noise elimination or just mostly gone? I ordered a loc kit in case the rca doesn’t work tomorrow. Also, unrelated but did you do cameras with your HU or just the sound system? Trying to figure out how I’m going to power my rear camera
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,418
Likes: 2,302
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
That's interesting that the Kenwoods are causing this issue, that's the first I've heard of such a thing, my Pioneer has no issues what so ever. I'm glad however you're finding away to work around the issue. Something else you guys might be interested in, is doing the brake bypass, so you can make certain changes to your head unit without having to apply the parking brake to do so. Very simple to do, here's a short video explaining how to do it.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 337
Likes: 26
From: San Antonio, TX
@madsonp iI don’t know if the issue is specific to the kenwoods since op was using a pioneer and getting the issue. A lot of the forum posts I’ve read seem to be issues with the kenwoods and pioneer units causing white noise, and I wonder if that’s because they tend to have higher voltage speaker outputs for use in non-amp systems? It could be different with each car though, maybe some have a ground issue while others aren’t doing the wiring correctly or have a bad interface. I finally got everything together in the car last night, and the sound quality is still good but definitely muted with the engine running. I’ll live with it until my new cables come in so I can go from the preouts and be done. Getting everything tucked away with that little loc module was an absolute pita
Racer
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 337
Likes: 26
From: San Antonio, TX
@madsonp for the cameras I ended up powering the front straight off the battery and the rear off the reverse wires. They poke out from the plates a little more than I was wanting, but they’re alright for $30-$40 cameras and I didn’t have to tape them up or drill holes in the car for them. When they fail I’ll probably switch over to a plate frame camera instead of a camera over plate one. I have yet to take the car out so I don’t know if this model blocks out features unless the parking brake is on, I should know after this weekend. If it does then that bypass is another thing I’ll do when I pull the headunit to change speaker wiring again
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,418
Likes: 2,302
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
@madsonp iI don’t know if the issue is specific to the kenwoods since op was using a pioneer and getting the issue. A lot of the forum posts I’ve read seem to be issues with the kenwoods and pioneer units causing white noise, and I wonder if that’s because they tend to have higher voltage speaker outputs for use in non-amp systems? It could be different with each car though, maybe some have a ground issue while others aren’t doing the wiring correctly or have a bad interface. I finally got everything together in the car last night, and the sound quality is still good but definitely muted with the engine running. I’ll live with it until my new cables come in so I can go from the preouts and be done. Getting everything tucked away with that little loc module was an absolute pita
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,418
Likes: 2,302
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
Could very well be. You'd think PAC would of addressed this with their interfaces so there wouldn't be any issues with it. Maybe they will with future updates, speaking of which did you make sure the latest firmware was installed on the PAC ? Perhaps they already addressed it with their latest firmware.
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Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2022
Posts: 41
Likes: 3
Could very well be. You'd think PAC would of addressed this with their interfaces so there wouldn't be any issues with it. Maybe they will with future updates, speaking of which did you make sure the latest firmware was installed on the PAC ? Perhaps they already addressed it with their latest firmware.
Does the PAC you use have firmware updates? Cannot recall the one but I remember coming across a thread while researching where you got a more configurable PAC unit for a steal.
Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2022
Posts: 41
Likes: 3
@madsonp iI don’t know if the issue is specific to the kenwoods since op was using a pioneer and getting the issue. A lot of the forum posts I’ve read seem to be issues with the kenwoods and pioneer units causing white noise, and I wonder if that’s because they tend to have higher voltage speaker outputs for use in non-amp systems? It could be different with each car though, maybe some have a ground issue while others aren’t doing the wiring correctly or have a bad interface. I finally got everything together in the car last night, and the sound quality is still good but definitely muted with the engine running. I’ll live with it until my new cables come in so I can go from the preouts and be done. Getting everything tucked away with that little loc module was an absolute pita
I changed to the 'Non-amplified' port on the PAC.
I couldn't hear the radio very well in the 'Amplified' port while driving. It's not as muffled now nor distorts as bad when turning up the volume to my ears. (Distortion kills speakers.)
Unplugged the center dash speaker because it was overly harsh and overpowered everything else no matter what I did.
Cycled through the Kenwood 'Speaker/X-over' settings and have settled on the following so far. Still messing around with the Gain/TW Gain and HPF settings within.
Front speakers: Size '3.5"' and 'Middle' tweeter.
Rear speakers: Size '5"'
Working through equalizer settings, listening position, and time alignment.
And yeah, trying to get everything stuffed in the dash was fun.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,418
Likes: 2,302
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
First thing I checked. No updates since it was released September 2021 per the PAC website. So it is what it is I guess?
Does the PAC you use have firmware updates? Cannot recall the one but I remember coming across a thread while researching where you got a more configurable PAC unit for a steal.
Does the PAC you use have firmware updates? Cannot recall the one but I remember coming across a thread while researching where you got a more configurable PAC unit for a steal.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,418
Likes: 2,302
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
I've messed around with mine the last few days before putting the dash back together.
I changed to the 'Non-amplified' port on the PAC.
I couldn't hear the radio very well in the 'Amplified' port while driving. It's not as muffled now nor distorts as bad when turning up the volume to my ears. (Distortion kills speakers.)
Unplugged the center dash speaker because it was overly harsh and overpowered everything else no matter what I did.
Cycled through the Kenwood 'Speaker/X-over' settings and have settled on the following so far. Still messing around with the Gain/TW Gain and HPF settings within.
Front speakers: Size '3.5"' and 'Middle' tweeter.
Rear speakers: Size '5"'
Working through equalizer settings, listening position, and time alignment.
And yeah, trying to get everything stuffed in the dash was fun.
I changed to the 'Non-amplified' port on the PAC.
I couldn't hear the radio very well in the 'Amplified' port while driving. It's not as muffled now nor distorts as bad when turning up the volume to my ears. (Distortion kills speakers.)
Unplugged the center dash speaker because it was overly harsh and overpowered everything else no matter what I did.
Cycled through the Kenwood 'Speaker/X-over' settings and have settled on the following so far. Still messing around with the Gain/TW Gain and HPF settings within.
Front speakers: Size '3.5"' and 'Middle' tweeter.
Rear speakers: Size '5"'
Working through equalizer settings, listening position, and time alignment.
And yeah, trying to get everything stuffed in the dash was fun.
Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2022
Posts: 41
Likes: 3
Threads I bookmarked while researching the issue.
Hopefully helpful for someone searching the forum in the future for white noise issues/volume levels and possible solutions:
(2012) Hiss sound with stereo off; no solution presented: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...er-issues.html
(2013) Sound level high at low volume settings; swapped to RCA pre-outs: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-install.html
(2013) Adjusted potentiometer on GMOS-4 to increase sound output: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...kenwood-3.html
(2016) White noise; swapped to RCA pre-outs on headunit: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...hu-instal.html
(2017) No solution provided: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-terrible.html
(2018) Buttons on headunit were loud when pressed: returned and went back to OEM: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-x5700bhs.html
(2018) Being sent a new PAC interface but no update from OP: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-install.html
(2020) Lack of headunit volume adjustment and white noise; new PAC interface helped: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...io-issues.html
(2022) Static sound when volume level 0; new PAC and different headunit but sound still there: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...is-on-off.html
(2022) Static sound/white noise; changed Pioneer to 'network mode': https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-behavior.html
Hopefully helpful for someone searching the forum in the future for white noise issues/volume levels and possible solutions:
(2012) Hiss sound with stereo off; no solution presented: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...er-issues.html
(2013) Sound level high at low volume settings; swapped to RCA pre-outs: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-install.html
(2013) Adjusted potentiometer on GMOS-4 to increase sound output: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...kenwood-3.html
(2016) White noise; swapped to RCA pre-outs on headunit: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...hu-instal.html
(2017) No solution provided: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-terrible.html
(2018) Buttons on headunit were loud when pressed: returned and went back to OEM: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-x5700bhs.html
(2018) Being sent a new PAC interface but no update from OP: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-install.html
(2020) Lack of headunit volume adjustment and white noise; new PAC interface helped: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...io-issues.html
(2022) Static sound when volume level 0; new PAC and different headunit but sound still there: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...is-on-off.html
(2022) Static sound/white noise; changed Pioneer to 'network mode': https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-behavior.html
Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2022
Posts: 41
Likes: 3
I couldn't find technical information from PAC what the interface is doing between the two.
I'm assuming it's dropping voltage down even more through the 'Amplified' port and then the vehicle's amplifier brings it back up to what's required for the speakers?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,418
Likes: 2,302
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
Threads I bookmarked while researching the issue.
Hopefully helpful for someone searching the forum in the future for white noise issues/volume levels and possible solutions:
(2012) Hiss sound with stereo off; no solution presented: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...er-issues.html
(2013) Sound level high at low volume settings; swapped to RCA pre-outs: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-install.html
(2013) Adjusted potentiometer on GMOS-4 to increase sound output: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...kenwood-3.html
(2016) White noise; swapped to RCA pre-outs on headunit: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...hu-instal.html
(2017) No solution provided: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-terrible.html
(2018) Buttons on headunit were loud when pressed: returned and went back to OEM: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-x5700bhs.html
(2018) Being sent a new PAC interface but no update from OP: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-install.html
(2020) Lack of headunit volume adjustment and white noise; new PAC interface helped: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...io-issues.html
(2022) Static sound when volume level 0; new PAC and different headunit but sound still there: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...is-on-off.html
(2022) Static sound/white noise; changed Pioneer to 'network mode': https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-behavior.html
Hopefully helpful for someone searching the forum in the future for white noise issues/volume levels and possible solutions:
(2012) Hiss sound with stereo off; no solution presented: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...er-issues.html
(2013) Sound level high at low volume settings; swapped to RCA pre-outs: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-install.html
(2013) Adjusted potentiometer on GMOS-4 to increase sound output: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...kenwood-3.html
(2016) White noise; swapped to RCA pre-outs on headunit: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...hu-instal.html
(2017) No solution provided: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-terrible.html
(2018) Buttons on headunit were loud when pressed: returned and went back to OEM: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-x5700bhs.html
(2018) Being sent a new PAC interface but no update from OP: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-install.html
(2020) Lack of headunit volume adjustment and white noise; new PAC interface helped: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...io-issues.html
(2022) Static sound when volume level 0; new PAC and different headunit but sound still there: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...is-on-off.html
(2022) Static sound/white noise; changed Pioneer to 'network mode': https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-behavior.html
Last edited by madsonp; Feb 18, 2023 at 12:15 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,418
Likes: 2,302
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
This I understand. Just relaying what worked with the Kenwood in my specific situation.
I couldn't find technical information from PAC what the interface is doing between the two.
I'm assuming it's dropping voltage down even more through the 'Amplified' port and then the vehicle's amplifier brings it back up to what's required for the speakers?
I couldn't find technical information from PAC what the interface is doing between the two.
I'm assuming it's dropping voltage down even more through the 'Amplified' port and then the vehicle's amplifier brings it back up to what's required for the speakers?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,418
Likes: 2,302
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
I just sent a note to PAC with a link to this thread to explain the issues you're having, for them to review. I'll let you know if they respond, and what their reply is. Hopefully it can be addressed with something as simple as a firmware update.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,418
Likes: 2,302
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
Hi, I belong to a forum concerning C6 Corvettes and the use of your RP5-GM11 and the issues some are having with your interface with certain head units. Here's a link to a thread from this forum explaining the issue some people are seeing. Just thought I'd let you know in case this is something you can fix with a product change or firmware update. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...c-noise-2.html
And for what it's worth, this was their reply:
Hello,
The RP5-GM11 is an interface that retains OnStar vocal prompts and also Bluetooth via OnStar. Due to that reason, we have to inject those audio signals into the audio chain. We do this via speaker level. All radios are designed differently with different power ratings and different amplifier technology. Some radios are really powerful (Sony has a 100wpc radio) and some radios use MOSFET chips (Pioneer). These technologies put a lot of strain on that circuitry and can sometimes pose problems with OE amplifiers. In situations where this problem arises, they will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. If OnStar is not desired the radio can bypass the interface and run into the OE amp low level, like our RP4-GM11 is designed. If OnStar is desired the radio can still bypass the interface via low level, but a 4-8 ohm speaker will be required on the left front output channel coming out of the interface. I hope this clears things up. If you have any further questions please let us know.
Matthew Calderon
Technical Services
AAMP Global
8th Gear
Joined: Jun 2023
Posts: 8
Likes: 1
@KenMathisHD @thing1
I crudely hooked up the front outputs from the radio to the LOC at lunch because I'm impatient.
And by crudely I mean undoing my original harness, stripping speaker wire back, wrapping the ends around one another, and using some electrical tape to keep them from shorting.
The front speakers had NO white noise and I could actually turn the head unit up to 30.
Tonight I will redo my harness and solder all of the speaker connections to run through the LOC.
Hopefully this solves it even though it's adding another potential point of failure to the mix (in addition to the PAC).
I crudely hooked up the front outputs from the radio to the LOC at lunch because I'm impatient.
And by crudely I mean undoing my original harness, stripping speaker wire back, wrapping the ends around one another, and using some electrical tape to keep them from shorting.
The front speakers had NO white noise and I could actually turn the head unit up to 30.
Tonight I will redo my harness and solder all of the speaker connections to run through the LOC.
Hopefully this solves it even though it's adding another potential point of failure to the mix (in addition to the PAC).
Racer
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 337
Likes: 26
From: San Antonio, TX
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-4MW0GM...Converter.html
You can also get RCA to speaker wire cables so you can plug your PAC directly into your RCA outputs. This is what solved it for me - achieved basically the same thing as the LOC. If the voltage on you’re preouts isn’t high enough though I’m not sure how that’ll effect sounds quality
these are the RCA to speaker cables I ordered
