Aux jack....so quiet

[hell pie]

ZZT, are you involved in the sales of the sound shocker?

 

[PHPAudio]

Involved? Yes. To make that perfectly clear, I’ve registered as PHPAudio. PHP Audio, LLC is me. I design, build, and ship every tube amp and Sound Shocker myself. That’s why I have always been careful to advise people to look at other options that are available. Sound Shocker does one thing well. It converts a headphone output to an AUX compatible signal. Other products are available that are capable of driving headphones, have line or USB inputs, etc. If those additional features are important to you, then Sound Shocker is not for you.
BTW
My son does use a Sound Shocker Pro in his car. My ride is a 2000 Full Size Chevy Pick-up with 160,000 mi and no AUX input so I have no use one in my truck.. I do use one with my home stereo.
For the full story
I form PHP Audio, LLC in 2005. The only product then was a tube headphone amplifier. About 3 ½ years ago a friend of mine, who did a lot of travel for business, told me about the problem he had using his mp3 player in rental cars. After looking around I felt that there was a better way. The standard Sound Shocker uses “off-the-shelf” transformers and works well with standard stereo systems. The low bass just isn’t there if you have a premium sound system or use a subwoofer. To address that I developed Sound Shocker Pro which uses custom designed transformers (made in the USA). Why don’t other makers use this approach? I believe that it is because transformers are just too expensive to use in this type of product. Just as an example….The FiiO E3 (their lowest price amp) is about $8 at amazon. It requires (1) AAA battery, doesn’t have as much gain, and I don’t think that it sound as good. But, for about $8 you can have an amp the will also drive headphones. Everyone needs to decide for themselves what is important to them.

 

[toddjb122]

Involved? Yes. To make that perfectly clear, I’ve registered as PHPAudio. PHP Audio, LLC is me. I design, build, and ship every tube amp and Sound Shocker myself. That’s why I have always been careful to advise people to look at other options that are available. Sound Shocker does one thing well. It converts a headphone output to an AUX compatible signal. Other products are available that are capable of driving headphones, have line or USB inputs, etc. If those additional features are important to you, then Sound Shocker is not for you.
BTW
My son does use a Sound Shocker Pro in his car. My ride is a 2000 Full Size Chevy Pick-up with 160,000 mi and no AUX input so I have no use one in my truck.. I do use one with my home stereo.
For the full story
I form PHP Audio, LLC in 2005. The only product then was a tube headphone amplifier. About 3 ½ years ago a friend of mine, who did a lot of travel for business, told me about the problem he had using his mp3 player in rental cars. After looking around I felt that there was a better way. The standard Sound Shocker uses “off-the-shelf” transformers and works well with standard stereo systems. The low bass just isn’t there if you have a premium sound system or use a subwoofer. To address that I developed Sound Shocker Pro which uses custom designed transformers (made in the USA). Why don’t other makers use this approach? I believe that it is because transformers are just too expensive to use in this type of product. Just as an example….The FiiO E3 (their lowest price amp) is about $8 at amazon. It requires (1) AAA battery, doesn’t have as much gain, and I don’t think that it sound as good. But, for about $8 you can have an amp the will also drive headphones. Everyone needs to decide for themselves what is important to them.

That's great info and thanks for the disclosure.

Nice to have someone designing something specifically for our application who also cares about cost and sound quality.

Does your product pick up any background noise or are the "quiets" pretty quiet. I know that depends a lot on the power supply and how you filter it in your product.

 

[PHPAudio]

Sound Shocker is a totally passive preamp. Other than transformers, there are no electronic devices inside. With no internal power supply or other electronic parts, it adds virtually no additional noise or hiss. Since transformers are used, it has the additional benefit of isolating input and output. Think of it as a ground loop isolator with gain. In many cases it will actually reduce engine noise pickup. Most people will notice a reduction in hiss because you can now keep your mp3 player at about 1/2 to 3/4 volume instead of max.
Any additional comments or questions are always welcomed.

Pete.
PHP Audio

 

[toddjb122]

My son uses a Sound Shocker Pro.
There seems to be a lot of people who like the standard Sound Shocker at:
tacomaworld

I'm all for a clean simple solution if it works.
On your website there is a Sound Shocker and a Sound Shocker II (inline with the cable). I don't see an option to buy a II.

Are they the same product other than one being smaller? (guess which one I want)

I actually don't need a long cable...I only have to go 2 inches. (from my Bluetooth receiver plugged into my power outlet, which is right next to the stereo AUX in.)

 

[PHPAudio]

I'm all for a clean simple solution if it works.
On your website there is a Sound Shocker and a Sound Shocker II (inline with the cable). I don't see an option to buy a II.

Are they the same product other than one being smaller? (guess which one I want)

I actually don't need a long cable...I only have to go 2 inches. (from my Bluetooth receiver plugged into my power outlet, which is right next to the stereo AUX in.)

First let me say that I no longer offer Sound Shocker II. They were just too labor intensive and, like all cables, eventually the cable will break and you end up throwing out the Sound Shocker. (I really hate cables ) If quantities ever get to a point that it's doable, I may have a proper mold made but, right now, Palmer's basement doesn't have an injection molding machine.

Now lets address your problem. You want to go from your Bluetooth receiver to a preamp and then to the AUX input. The only potential problem with that is most Bluetooth outputs are not headphone outputs but are line outputs. Line outputs are "hit or miss" in that some have capable drivers for the output and some have very high impedance drivers. For a quick test try driving a set of headphones. If the sound quality is good and it can drive the headphones to a reasonable level, then Sound Shocker should work just fine.

I need to update my site. Every Sound Shocker comes with a full, 30 day money back guarantee (no reason needed) and a one year warranty for defects in materials or workmanship.

 

[toddjb122]

Thanks, PHP. I'll check. I think mine is a headphone level output because I get the same volume on the stereo whether I go through the bluetooth unit or direct from the iPhone. That is a good point, though, as my prior Belkin (non bluetooth) I believe was a line out as I only hooked the charger up to the iphone base, which used the line output provided by the Apple dock connector.

I'll run your test to confirm, but I'm guessing I can just velcro the sounshocker to the side of my center console or something to keep it out of the way.

I hope this works. I don't need a lot more volume, I just want to get it to normal listening levels, as if I had on a CD or the radio (as your site describes).

 

[Ober129]

I got a sound shocker for my '08 LR3 and it does the trick. I love that it doesn't need power. I actually ordered both (regular and pro) out of curiosity and I can return the one I don't want. Both work fine but the pro seems to have a bit better sound.