My stereo in my boat seems to skip when I turn up the volume with my MP3 player going?

Question

I have a Pioneer Stereo in my boat. Recently, I notice that when I have my Microsoft Zune MP3 player attached and playing, and I turn up the volume loud, it starts "skipping", almost like a scratched CD would skip. I try equalizing the volume with the MP3 player and stereo, but it still does this. I havent tried it with a CD and turn it up loud to test if its the MP3 player or not. Does anyone have any idea what the issue might be? I dont think there are any wires crossed or shorted out, because its fine with the radio on.

Answer 1

Kaezoo is right. I had this same problem.  You probably have 16 gauge wire, so I would go with 14 gauge or bigger (meaning a lower number: 12, even 10).

Answer 2

The most common problem in a boat installation is a voltage drop over the wire run between the battery and CD player.  This happens because the power and ground wiring is usually too thin and too long, and often is shared with other devices.  Unlike a car, there's no metal grounding point under the dash, so the ground wire has to run all the way back to the battery.  Also, a boat system is typically played just from the battery without the engine running; so the voltage is already lower than a typical vehicle system.

The resistance on the wire causes the voltage to drop when the current load is too high.  This happens when you turn up the volume.  I'd expect the same problem with the CD player, and maybe with the radio, although you may be able to turn the radio up louder before the problem starts.  When the voltage drops, the built-in amplifier starts to cut in and out.  The faceplate display will usually start to dim, and the unit may shut off altogether.

The cure is to run new wires from your CD players power connections (the yellow and black wires) directly to the battery.  Depending on the length of the run, you'll probably want to use 14 or 12-gauge wire.  Be sure to fuse the positive wire within a foot or so of the battery.

Answer 3

Usually in situations where you have multiple volume controls, i.e. on the console and the player. There are often sound quality problems, that could be mistaken for skipping. It's usually ideal to have your Zune's volume at it's max, then use only the stereo's volume controls. If this causes the volume controls to be very sensitive, lower the Zune volume to 75% or 50%. Then use the stereo controls.

Anyways, I'm not sure that will fix the problem, since I'm not sure what you meant by "equalizing the volume".

I would try and keep the zune on a power supply while you're playing (DC adapter?), who knows?

Also, there's a chance that the woofers on your boat are shaking your Zune too much at high volumes. Zunes are hard-drive based players, which means they have moving parts that can be disrupted by shaking it and cause skipping. This is very prevailent if it's sitting a rigid surface, you can probably solve this by placing the Zune on a padded surface to reduce the shaking.

Also, describe the skipping sound. Does it repeat segments of the song or skipp parts?  Or is it a loud crack/pop sound, this could be codec problems with your player. Alot of times car stereos will exaggerate codec imperfections that you wouldn't hear through headphones.

Finally, you might need an amp, if you replaced your speakers, they might need more power at high volumes. When you don't have sufficient power, it can cause distortion

Good luck.