How did you install Wetsounds Alink

[Jaylex]

For those of you who have the alink how do you install it....one looks like it needs to be going to the aux plug and the other needs to be connected to a output but not sure what that means.

Any help would be appreciated

Got on the water and was disappointed I couldn't fig out how to use them.

 

[PaulyB]

Do you have a wet sounds equalizer? If so, then on the back it has small jacks on the back for 3.5mm input and output. If you want your boat to be the one controlling the music, then you hook it to the output side. If you want another boat to control the music and you only receive it and play it you put it on the input side. If you are receiving, you have to change the knob on your EQ to the AUX input.

If you dont have the Equalizer you will most likely need to buy a 6 foot RCA to 3.5mm adapter and plug it into the back of your stereo's RCA out port where you would hook your RCAs to an amp at. Then you will control the music, and the other boat will just connect it to its auxilary port to receive the music.

One of the a-links has to be set to transmit, the other has to be set to receive, and then you have to pair them... Message me if you need any more explanation and I will give you my number and you can give me a call.

 

[2kwik4u]

I have them setup and working. Pretty easy installation really.

Assuming you have your source with a 3.5mm Audio output.
My connections are like this:
On my boat
Android phone as source connected to input leg of 3.5mm splitter
1st leg out output from splitter to AUX-IN on head unit
2nd leg of output from splitter to A-Link set to Transmit

On Friends Boat
3.5mm from A-Link set to receive to Aux-in on head unit

If you don't have an output from your phone or other device and instead want to use bluetooth or similar connectivity, then you'll need to find an output from the head unit. Most likely what @PaulyB recommended will work. Running an RCA to 3.5mm from the amp output of your head unit to the A-Link.

The whole setup fired up and worked in minutes with very little drama for us. Had 6 boats in the raft up on Monday. Ended up setting boats #2 and #5 with the A-Link, and that almost covered the whole "fleet". Once the guys with the wake boat showed up, we put the A-Link away and just listened to that monstrosity of a stereo they have (I think someone counted like 28 speakers or some such madness). Of the initial 6 boats, 4 of them are now splitting another pair of A-Links a piece so we can all be on the same music.

The A-Links are pricey at like $130 or so, but they seem to work well, and no more competing tunes. We had one small issue previously where the music wasn't sync'd very well between boats, however once we reconnected the units together and gave them a few minutes of play time everything worked out fine.

 

[Jaylex]

No WS EQ, so how would I hook it up to my boat so that it still plays through my speakers if the RCAs need to plug to the 3.5mm jack.

Im confused still. That means I would need to unplug it every-time?

 

[PaulyB]

I drew a diagram that is how 2kwik described it. I like his idea better.

Let me know if you dont understand it...

 

[Seadeals]

Here is another thread with some feedback/info. I still have not purchased the A-link so not sure if my proposed RCA splitter idea in that thread would work well too. There seem to be several ways to skin the cat which is a good thing given different remaining available inputs/outputs on various systems.
https://jetboaters.net/threads/audio-link-between-boats-wet-sounds-a-link.16080/

 

[Jaylex]

Ok so basically I need a splitter on the aux input on the radio...do we have one of those on the back of the unit. If so I can use the splitter it came with...but can I still use my phone connected to bluetooth and play music that will transmit?

I think @Drift Away and @wallacerb have this setup, wonder how they did it since it seems there might be a few diff ways to do it.

The thing I want to ensure is that both my buddy and I can send or receive by changing where I plug the alink in...does that make sense...or is there a diff way to do it.

 

[FloJet]

Ok so basically I need a splitter on the aux input on the radio...do we have one of those on the back of the unit. If so I can use the splitter it came with...but can I still use my phone connected to bluetooth and play music that will transmit?

I think @Drift Away and @wallacerb have this setup, wonder how they did it since it seems there might be a few diff ways to do it.

The thing I want to ensure is that both my buddy and I can send or receive by changing where I plug the alink in...does that make sense...or is there a diff way to do it.

Its more easier to use thru the WS but without it yes a splitter is needed. One to your phone the other to the Alink, granted if you play with Aux in your system. But if you are receiving on the Alink, no splitter is required. Make sure to get excellent quality Aux cable or you will be getting distortion from others and possibly damage your equipment. IMO go Audioquest Aux cable. Pricey at $35-40 but way worth it.

 

[Jaylex]

I didnt do the install so Im not sure about the input/output on the HU, but where does the splitter go...do we have Aux output on the HU I connect the splitter to.

Or do I use the AUX in on the dash with the splitter?

 

[FloJet]

I didnt do the install so Im not sure about the input/output on the HU, but where does the splitter go...do we have Aux output on the HU I connect the splitter to.

Or do I use the AUX in on the dash with the splitter?

Aux in the dash with the splitter. Just make sure connext is on Aux too.

 

[2kwik4u]

My A-Link came with all the cords I needed I think. I know I bought a spare splitter because I didn't realize it was included with the A-Link. I think I might have used a single male-to-male 3.5mm audio cable to complete the setup. I had a few of those laying around though.

It sounds like you don't have these things in your hands yet. I was super confused on how they worked as well until I got them in hand and it became pretty clear. @PaulyB has a good diagram there, and you shouldn't have to do ANYTHING to the back of the stereo with RCA's to make this work. You also don't have to have any other EQ setup to make it work.

@Jaylex The A-link in it's "as-packaged" form gets it's source from some device OTHER than your head unit. Phone, MP3 player, XM/Sirrius Player, etc....basically anything with a 3.5mm (small headphone jack) OUTPUT.

If you want to have your head unit be the source for the A-Link you will need to use the RCA outputs of the head unit (usually reserved for amplifier signals) to the 3.5mm jack of the A-Link. At that point you won't need a splitter at all. The splitters only job it to turn a single output of a device into a multiple output (one for the A-Link, and one for your head unit)

Let us know what you want the audio source to be and I think we can make either a better diagram, or take some pictures to better explain the connections.

I'll go out in the garage and take some pictures tonight. if you're still confused.

 

[FloJet]

My A-Link came with all the cords I needed I think. I know I bought a spare splitter because I didn't realize it was included with the A-Link. I think I might have used a single male-to-male 3.5mm audio cable to complete the setup. I had a few of those laying around though.

It sounds like you don't have these things in your hands yet. I was super confused on how they worked as well until I got them in hand and it became pretty clear. @PaulyB has a good diagram there, and you shouldn't have to do ANYTHING to the back of the stereo with RCA's to make this work. You also don't have to have any other EQ setup to make it work.

@Jaylex The A-link in it's "as-packaged" form gets it's source from some device OTHER than your head unit. Phone, MP3 player, XM/Sirrius Player, etc....basically anything with a 3.5mm (small headphone jack) OUTPUT.

If you want to have your head unit be the source for the A-Link you will need to use the RCA outputs of the head unit (usually reserved for amplifier signals) to the 3.5mm jack of the A-Link. At that point you won't need a splitter at all. The splitters only job it to turn a single output of a device into a multiple output (one for the A-Link, and one for your head unit)

Let us know what you want the audio source to be and I think we can make either a better diagram, or take some pictures to better explain the connections.

I'll go out in the garage and take some pictures tonight. if you're still confused.

Yes that can work. But the issue here is if he is utilizing all his RCAs for amps and all, it would be better off to use the Aux input in the dash as the RCAs in the back needs to be split at the RCA ends. Knowing him having multiple amps, I'm sure all the RCAs are being utilized. Only reason the splitter is coming in play is he needs his phone to play the music thru the Aux too. If he was using the BT route, than no splitter would be needed.

You're right no EQ is needed but the WS makes things a whole lot easier. To be honest if someone is running interiors, towers, and subs, there is no reason for them not to use a EQ like the WS. It just simplifies the setup a little and it gives one control of multiple zones.

 

[FloJet]

Another note. For cost comparison, it would cost more to get a RCA to Aux cable than to get a Splitter. IMO again I would go Audioquest or another quality splitter to not lose much quality in the music if you were to get a splitter. Even the other route, I would still go quality. These Alinks are very sensitive and I've had many friends out here quit using them because of that. But most just don't realize their Aux cables suck bad.

 

[2kwik4u]

I didn't realize he had multiple amps already. Didn't see that mentioned here at all. That changes things a bit.

If he wanted to use his existing Head Unit to be the source then I'm not sure how else you get the signal OUT of the head unit beyond RCA's. Most don't have outputs on the "front" of the unit to use, at least not that I'm aware of.

I'm also not sure how you use BT to transmit to his stereo, as well as the 3.5mm output. I know my phone (Android) won't output to both as the same time. It's either BT or 3.5mm, so when using BT you would have to make the boat head unit be the source for the A-Link.

I clearly need to understand more about his setup before I can help any more.

 

[FloJet]

I didn't realize he had multiple amps already. Didn't see that mentioned here at all. That changes things a bit.

If he wanted to use his existing Head Unit to be the source then I'm not sure how else you get the signal OUT of the head unit beyond RCA's. Most don't have outputs on the "front" of the unit to use, at least not that I'm aware of.

I'm also not sure how you use BT to transmit to his stereo, as well as the 3.5mm output. I know my phone (Android) won't output to both as the same time. It's either BT or 3.5mm, so when using BT you would have to make the boat head unit be the source for the A-Link.

I clearly need to understand more about his setup before I can help any more.

Understandable. Well for the AR240 he does have an aux by his usb/cig charger. The question is can he push out the signal with the Alink while he is using BT? I'm quite not sure but I do know he can receive from it as I've done that before I got my WS hooked up. I am curious to see if he could push out with that same imput but rather playing thru BT. He maybe be able to do so as I play BT but push out with Aux thru the WS. Maybe the WS is just a different beast to allow that. But @Jaylex please try these suggestions and then let us know what's up. That would help me understand what's going on here.

 

[FloJet]

Shoot wait, I can experiment with that tomorrow myself lol. I'll try to check it out while I'm on the water tomorrow.

 

[2kwik4u]

I'll play with mine in the garage tonight and see what I come up with. I assumed the AUX on the head unit was just an input. I had never considered using that as an output. IF (and that's a big if) the AUX can be used as an output then we could potentially send signal to the A-Link via that and broadcast to the HU with the BT.

I'll definitely try that tonight

 

[Jaylex]

Thanks fellas....this made complete sense....for some reason I thought I needed to tap into some sort of output on the radio, but if I use the supplied splitter on the AUX and attach to my phone and Alink then Im good to go.

I think I was confused b/c I figured I could just use BT through my HU and then it would work, but that obviously didnt work,lol

Cant wait to give this a second go....my other buddy has an insane system with horns and mids throughout, plus 4 12s and about 5K watts, so linking up with him will be fun!

I think this should work fine.

Let me know what you gus find out if an alternative exist, but using the RCAs prob wont work, unless there are a free pair I can tap, will ask my installer what he can work out.

 

[PaulyB]

Just be careful with the aux cords when you plug them into the a-link, that is their weak spot... I have broken several pushing them in too hard trying to get better audio quality.. the cords that come with the a-link are garbage and should not be used if you are trying to throw signal to a nice stereo system... it will just make it sound like crap.

 

[Jaylex]

Sounds good...thanks for the info, I will grab a couple nice aux cables to be on the safe side.