# Blitzsafe Adaptor and Interference/Feedback with OEM Sirius and Alpine CD Changer?



## gvass (Dec 29, 2003)

I installed the Alpine S634 CD Changer in my '04 330ci. CD Changer works great, but I can hear interference through the speakers when the changer is changing disks and when there is silence in a song. It sounds like feedback, and I can hear the pitch go up when I am accelerating. I also have HK system and factory Sirius. This is how I have it setup:

Changer plugs into Alpine AI-Net adaptor to M-Bus. M-Bus cable plugs into Blitzsafe. The Sirius receiver has a connector on it for the BMW CD Changer Extension Cable which then plugs into Blitzsafe as well. I tried to bundle the wires as far away from the satellite receiver and HK Amp as I could. I have not mounted the Blitzsafe box to anything until I am sure that there is not a problem with it. I will use adhesive and mount it once I have this straightened out. Has anyone ever done this install before using Blitzsafe and Changer extension coming out of Sirius receiver? I was told that it is no different than plugging an OEM changer into it. I am concerned about this interference. Any ideas about different mounting options? I am concerned that there is feedback amongst all the equipment. (Amp, receiver, changer?) All the BMW wiring is rock solid with wrapped wires and good connectors. Is there a way to ground the Blitzsafe adaptor? I am going to see if I can move it further away. Any help or ideas would be great.

Gerry


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## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

I also have the whine and I have 2 blitzsafe adaptors. I have posted this issue before and did not get much feedback. The only suggestion was to unplug everything and then reconnect. I tried that but it did not help.


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## rgzimmer (May 1, 2004)

Blitzsafe quality is pretty poor so it's probably your adapter. Mine stopped playing sound through the right speakers after around two months after I installed it with my Alpine changer. I pulled it out to look at the board inside and found fingerprints on it from manufacturing. I returned it to Crutchfield and got the Soundgate adapter.


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## blp (Oct 29, 2005)

I have a similar install (OEM Bluetooth, OEM Sirius, Blitzsafe adapter into Alpine CD Changer)

With Bluetooth + CD no whine; Bluetooth + Sirius + CD =alternator whine

I have tried everything to no avail. Dealer recommends the OEM CD changer. Would rather not, obviously.

Blitzsafe claims it's not their adapter as it works w/o Sirius

Looking for a solution. Perhaps a filter between Sirius and blitzsafe. Any suggestions

BLP


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## Terry Kennedy (Sep 21, 2002)

blp said:


> Looking for a solution. Perhaps a filter between Sirius and blitzsafe. Any suggestions


If you don't mind voiding your Blitzsafe warranty, you can open your Blitzsafe adapter and try something. Disconnect the adapter from both the car and the changer. Gently push on the DIN socket (at the Alpine end of the adapter) so the circuit board pops out the BMW end of the adapter. Remove the circuit board and look at the Alpine end. Holding the board with the Alpine connector up, look to the right of the connector. On the circuit board, there should be a small solder blob with a silk-screened "AG". This blob connects the "audio ground" to "chassis ground". If you carefully un-solder the blob, you'll expose two separate pads, and you have de-coupled the audio ground from the chassis ground. See if that helps.

To the other poster who lost one audio channel - there aren't any active components in the Blitzsafe audio path - only two isolation transformers. It is extremely unlikely that one of these would fail. It is far more likely that there is a loose connection, probably between the 6-pin BMW plug and the Blitzsafe.

I have Sirius, a Blitzsafe, and a PhatBox and I don't have any whine. Of course, the PhatBox isn't mounted to the chassis (it is mounted on the trunk trim panel - click here) so that may have something to do with it.


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## blp (Oct 29, 2005)

Thanks for the tip. I removed the circuit board, no problem.

The two pads near the silk-screened "AG" appear to never have been soldered. The two pads are clean of solder and the resistance between them is >20 Mega Ohms.

I may try and solder them together just for fun.

Just FYI, I have already tried grounding everything in sight to the battery terminal. 

Another thought I had is that b/c power to the CD is now coming through the Sirius receiver, that CD might not be getting 12V. I will check the voltage diff. between battery and CD.

Have you had any experience with ferrite beads on the power leads? 

Thanks again.


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## blp (Oct 29, 2005)

Soldered the AG and the CG tabs on the blitzsafe-no change. Further investigation yields:

Alternator noise; 10 = loud and unaccetptale; 1 = barely audible especially when driving;

Radio = 1
Sirius = 1
In Dash CD = 1
Alpine S630 CD Changer via blitzsafe = 10
(any) MP3 player through blitzsafe AUX jacks = 10

Is it worth the money to try the soundgate? From what I read, probably not.

If I FM modulate the changer I won't have the AUX input which I want.


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## el_duderino (Aug 1, 2005)

FM Modulators suck.

I'm surprised that grounding the audio ground did not help. The Blitzsafe actually has transformers on the board? In an X5 I had this issue with the Soundgate switcher that plugs in between the OEM CDC and the HU and lets you add aux ins. The PCB transformers seemed to pick up EMI from the air. 

Is there any chance those transformers are picking up EMI emanating from the other wiring? Or the CDC power supply? Can you route that differently?

What if you solder a wire to the audio ground pad and run that to the battery ground? Or the amp ground? Or the tuner module ground?


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## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

blp said:


> Soldered the AG and the CG tabs on the blitzsafe-no change. Further investigation yields:
> 
> Alternator noise; 10 = loud and unaccetptale; 1 = barely audible especially when driving;
> 
> ...


What is strange about this whine when CD's are played only appeared after I added my XM Direct, which connects through another Blitzsafe adapter. While I had my Alpine MP3 changer with Blitzsafe alone I had no whine. The level of the whine is not consistent. Tonight it was very low, I had a hard time detecting it.


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## apw2607 (Jun 22, 2005)

Hi,

I can't help you on your blitzsafe problem, however I can recommend certainly the best interface out there for the Alpine S634 CD Changer. Its made by a company called Intravention.

http://www.intravention.co.uk

Rather than using the older M-Bus that all the other interfaces use, this uses the faster Alpine AI-Net. In addition, the ID3 tags are displayed on the Headunit (both NAV and Non NAV cars) and you can search by folder.










It even has preliminary support for the iPod when used with Alpines KCA-420i ... and you can keep the CD Changer as well !

Its still in Beta right now, but you can participate in the beta program by Contacting Simon @ Intravention.

I have had the unit for about 6 months, and its great. I used it with the S634 and my Sirius Radio on my E46 and it sounds great. I also now have a iPod in there as well now ! Whats nice about participating in the beta program is that you can influence the final version of the product when it ships.

Well worth checking out.

Cheers, Adrian


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## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

apw2607 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I can't help you on your blitzsafe problem, however I can recommend certainly the best interface out there for the Alpine S634 CD Changer. Its made by a company Intravention.


Who carries their product here in the States?


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## apw2607 (Jun 22, 2005)

Contact them via email and they can send you the unit directly from the UK if you are interested in taking part in the Beta program.

Cheers, Adrian


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## Smittyjf (Jan 29, 2005)

I know this is an old thread, but The problem is in the Sirus Tuner.
If you take the tuner out of the loop, you'll see everything goes away.
I even tried a soloution I found on the web to pass the audio grounds around the Sirrus receiver, but that didn't work either. If I can dig up the info, I will post it.
Smitty


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## TransHuman (Apr 25, 2004)

Yes, I just posted another thread here about this exact problem. Mine started when I added Sirius just a week ago. My Phatbox signal path now has terrible ground loop (whine) noise. I tried a wire between the phatbox chassis and the common ground location near the factory harness. It attenuated a bit but no real improvement. Did anyone ever discover to see if the CD box is getting 12v?


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