Hey guy, im about to start my car audio install and i figured being such a avid android person haha i might as well use a nexus 7 as a headunit. I consider myself to be a bit of an audiophile when it comes to sound quality. Most people that go the nexus route just want it in there and aren't too concerned with sq it seems like. I'll be running a custom rom obviously, with a kernal for otg data and charging so i am able to charge the tablet and also have a flash drive plugged in to store various files.
My main questions are:
1. Whats my best option as far as wiring goes for SQ (thinking buetooth reciever in trunk that will have rca outs to an amp)
2. Kinda want to be able to take it out easily so best options or ideas for that
3. Is there a way to turn on the device without touching the power button? Not just wake it, actually boot the nexus
SQ doest NOT equal bluetooth a2dp to the trunk. Just wanted to mention that. Direct wire... or usb audio dac.
NFC tags would help, It wont boot the N7 up, but it will launch a media player and a change some settings at the same time.
1. Whats my best option as far as wiring goes for SQ (thinking buetooth reciever in trunk that will have rca outs to an amp)
Already posted, but bluetooth would be about as poor as you could go. I have my Nexus outputting to a Sabre USB-DAC, that feeds into a JBL MS8 and then onto the amplifiers.
2. Kinda want to be able to take it out easily so best options or ideas for that
This depends a lot on what car you are putting it in, and how much fabrication you want to do. I want to be able to take mine out easily, but am kind of lucky in that the dash panel I have it behind pulls out fairly easily allowing me to remove the Nexus.
3. Is there a way to turn on the device without touching the power button? Not just wake it, actually boot the nexus
I don't know that there is one, but to be honest I did not look into it that much. I use Tasker to put my Nexus to sleep, switch on Airplane mode etc. and to do the reverse whe it gets power.
For mine I am using Timur's ROM, it works really well for me, and I recommend you look into it.
Related
I use to have a droid 2 and I used it with the car dock with out any problems at all, My car had the aux input for the audio cable from the dock, so when ever my phone would ring or I would make a call, it would go through the cars speakers, Ok so now I have the D3 and the new D3 car dock, same car. Here's the problem, when ever the phone is in the car dock and you place or receive a call, by default the phone switches to speaker phone, and when in speaker phone mode it will not play through the speakers, and yes I can just hit the speaker phone button on the dial pad to turn the speaker off and then it will play through the cars speakers but I really dont like having to do this every . time,I NEVER had to do this with my D2. I have tried other car dock apps to see if this would go away but it don't. Any help or thought would be great.
stephendowney said:
I use to have a droid 2 and I used it with the car dock with out any problems at all, My car had the aux input for the audio cable from the dock, so when ever my phone would ring or I would make a call, it would go through the cars speakers, Ok so now I have the D3 and the new D3 car dock, same car. Here's the problem, when ever the phone is in the car dock and you place or receive a call, by default the phone switches to speaker phone, and when in speaker phone mode it will not play through the speakers, and yes I can just hit the speaker phone button on the dial pad to turn the speaker off and then it will play through the cars speakers but I really dont like having to do this every . time,I NEVER had to do this with my D2. I have tried other car dock apps to see if this would go away but it don't. Any help or thought would be great.
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Sorry man, but I've dug through and have not found any settings pertaining to that. It may be an automatic feature that has not been developed into an adjustable setting in Android 2.3.4 (Since its a new Car Dock App)
However, this may help you out.
http://ig88.cwfk.net/?page_id=96
It's a third party app that might work.
Actually, I think I found something pertaining to it.
In here: http://static.googleusercontent.com...lp/hc/pdfs/mobile/AndroidUsersGuide-2.3.4.pdf
On page 333.
Not sure yet if it applies to our Droid 3 completely, but it might. I don't have an AUX in port in my car to test it out at the moment.
Edit: It appears Motorola/Verizon left out the "Dock" settings under the general settings menu. Unless, it shows up when docked - idk yet.
If it doesn't, I'd try going into applications, "all" applications, select cardock or car home app, and clear data. This may restore the question that it supposedly asks you when you connect to the dock for the first time.
I found the problem and the solution.
Without any setting to change and all the apps I tried did not help, I decided to take a look at the dock and by that I mean take it apart and see whats going on inside. What I found was that where the usb car charger attached there was a circuit board, I am not an electronics guy but I figured that was whats causing the phone to automatic go in to speaker phone when connected to the dock, and I was right. That was the problem, and now for the solution, I had a car dock for a droid x handy so I took it apart as well, and I found that it did not have the circuit board, it was just a straight through put, from the usb connection on one end to the micro usb on the other end, the end that sticks up in the car dock that the phone connects to. So with a little bit of modification and I do mean little, I was able to swap them out, and now all is well again. Pretty ****ty that MOTO would do this and not give an option to change it in the setting though.
I have been working on using my Nook as an In-Car PC. The setup as taken some time to perfect, but I think I've finally got it. I am running CM7 nightly 117. Internet is being supplied to it by an AT&T Mifi and the audio is being streamed over bluetooth through a modded Plantronics Voyager 855 ( headset has A2DP). I modded the headset by removing the earpiece and replacing it with a 3.5mm headphone jack.
I found a tutorial on Lifehacker.com about modding the headset.
My mount in the car was created using a piece of 1" aluminum flatstock, some black self adhesive felt and some velcro. The dash kit in my car has a pocket under the stereo that was the perfect height for the bracket that supprt the nook. All I did was cut the flat stock to 2 8" pieces and bend the into hooks at the end. I covered the Hooked ends with felt to protect the Nook from getting scratched and then velcroed them to the top of the pocket. A piece of velcro on the back of the nook and on the dash above the stereo finished the install. I posted the video on youtube under the username jboyz1007 ( sorry haven't posted enough to be able to post a hyperlink.)
Here is a pic of the modded bluetooth
Nice attempt! Here's the embedded video for ya.
Thank you for posting the video. I appreciate it.
I would be interested in some pictures of the mounting you did. Vehicle make/model, etc.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
I am at work right now but when I get home for lunch I will post a pick of the mount. The car is a 2004 Chevy Cavalier 5 speed. The mount puts it at a great angle for viewing and I can reach it with my hand on the shifter.
Here's the pics that were requested.
A little update. (actually big update.). I totally redid everything. My stereo is now in the glove compartment and the nook is now flush mounted in the dash. I ditched the Bluetooth for a audio cable direct to the stereo because audio quality was much better. I now have gps supplied by a TomTom MKii Bluetooth gps receiver I picked up on eBay for $12. I am using Carhome Ultra as the launcher and power is supplied to the nook through the USB cable run through the dash to a USB charging adapter in the aux power port. Here's a pic. Enjoy
kalel2000 said:
A little update. (actually big update.). I totally redid everything. My stereo is now in the glove compartment and the nook is now flush mounted in the dash. I ditched the Bluetooth for a audio cable direct to the stereo because audio quality was much better. I now have gps supplied by a TomTom MKii Bluetooth gps receiver I picked up on eBay for $12. I am using Carhome Ultra as the launcher and power is supplied to the nook through the USB cable run through the dash to a USB charging adapter in the aux power port. Here's a pic. Enjoy
View attachment 1265233
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Very nice man. Might have to check this out
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
kalel2000 said:
A little update. (actually big update.). I totally redid everything. My stereo is now in the glove compartment and the nook is now flush mounted in the dash. I ditched the Bluetooth for a audio cable direct to the stereo because audio quality was much better. I now have gps supplied by a TomTom MKii Bluetooth gps receiver I picked up on eBay for $12. I am using Carhome Ultra as the launcher and power is supplied to the nook through the USB cable run through the dash to a USB charging adapter in the aux power port. Here's a pic. Enjoy
View attachment 1265233
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Nice, I like the custom molded dash panel, too.
Is CarHome Ultra your default launcher? How do you handle volume control? Power control for the Nook (in the event of a hang, for example)?
Tiezane said:
Nice, I like the custom molded dash panel, too.
Is CarHome Ultra your default launcher? How do you handle volume control? Power control for the Nook (in the event of a hang, for example)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the compliments.
To answer your questions. The dash panel isn't custom molded. I just covered it in carbon fiber vinyl because I have a few too many holes in it and don't have the money for a new panel right now.
ADW EX is my default launcher. Carhome Ultra is an app, but in the settings of the app you can set it to respond to the home key as if it were a launcher.
Volume is controlled by an app called oddly enough "volume control" by Rubberbigpepper. It has a slider on the side of the screen. I put it to the right side on the center and set it to auto hide so all I do is touch that spot and slide my finger up and down.
As far as power, that is a funny one. My nook doesn't run on battery. A circuit fried inside and since then it won't run on battery power. It is way outside warranty and works fine when plugged in so this just seamed like a logical use for it. If I have to hard reboot it, which is rare, I simple pull the power. As far as sitting the screen down, for that I use Button Savior.
Hope this answers all you questions.
Latest tweak.
Didn't like the way carhome ultra was chopping off the words on the icons and the time. After reading in a couple of forums, I found out that it doesn't support non standard dpi like 160dpi. Which is the default of the nook color. I used the nook odds and ends app to change it from 160 to 180 and here is how it looks now.
As you can see it is much better and all my other apps still work. As a matter of fact pandora even looks better.
What about access to the SD Card? Are you still data tethering through the Mifi?
Tiezane said:
What about access to the SD Card? Are you still data tethering through the Mifi?
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I don't have access to the sd card, but if I do need to transfer files,I use Dropbox and file manager. As for your other question, yes I am still using the mifi.
Also the mifi has an sd slot, so if I need to access a big file like a movie, I can put it on there and then use a file manager app to transfer the file that way.
Was wanting to try something like this in a 2002 Honda civic, thanks for the tips!
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda app-developers app
Last update.
Just got a OBDii Bluetooth reader off Amazon. Running Torque lite. Works great.
kalel2000 said:
Last update.
Just got a OBDii Bluetooth reader off Amazon. Running Torque lite. Works great.
View attachment 1294656
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No problems with range?
No problems with range. The obd II device is only about a foot and a half away from the nook. The GPS receiver is about 2 feet away and it works fine too.
Thanks for your post, I wish I would have seen it earlier.
Just started a project like this myself recently using a Nook Color, but I'm wishing I would have spent the extra money and got a tablet that works a bit better. Seems too unstable, but it could be my dislike of CM7 and the need to use CM10.
Anyway, I use A2DP as well (which isn't working for me on the recent Beta 4 of CM10 all of the sudden) with a Blackberry Bluetooth Remote. I really hate Android's handling of Bluetooth, as I have to use AutomateIt to turn off Bluetooth when the power shuts off, and turn it back on in order to connect every time. The wireless part is nice though. I also use AutomateIt to keep the screen on when I turn on the car (usb power connected), open Poweramp when Bluetooth is connected, and turn the screen off when the car goes off.
Also use Poweramp as my music player, and was hoping to get music videos on there too, but it's another limitation of the old NC that it can't seem to play much. I don't have mine built in to my dash, but I did pick up an iKross car mount and I'm using it without the arms to hold my NC. Unfortunately, another problem I'm having, is the suction on the back of the tablet is causing ghost touches all over the screen instead of working properly like when I just hold it. I bought a cheap case thinking that would help, but it hasn't helped at all.
I like your setup though, and I'm glad someone is getting it right, I'm hoping I can get mine working in the next several weeks before I decide to just get rid of the NC and pick something up for Christmas that will work better for me.
http://www.isimplesolutions.com/charge/jamport-streaming-charging.html
Anybody here ever play with one of these?
It says it works with the GS4, it seems to be just a USB DAC. From what I remember, our N4's work on this type of device, right?
From the user manual:
IS3301 uses Android Open Accessory Protocol. Accessory mode is ultimatley
dependant on the devices hardware, and not all devices support accessory mode
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Click to collapse
This is pretty much exactly the device I've been looking for. I've got a really good head unit, it's just that it's pre-BT/USB/anything else useful. It'd cost me pretty big bucks to replace with a equivalent "modern" HU. I currently use a 3.5mm->RCA->HU aux input setup right now that is lacking in quality.
I just can't find anything about this thing online.
I'm not sure about that particular device, but most if not all USB DACs work with the N4 (on 4.x at least, LP reportedly broke compatibility with some previously working units ). I have an Asus Xonar U3 ($40 when I bought it from Amazon), and it's really FAR surpassed my expectations. As long as you plug it in before launching your (any, afaik) music player, it should produce a very noticeable improvement on sq. If you do end up getting a USB DAC, I'd highly recommend at least checking out the 14 day trial of USB Audio Player Pro... it bypasses the system's drivers and uses it's own, and IMO the sq is untouchable! If you listen to a lot of music from your N4 (a great output source in itself, x100 with UAPP) I can say pretty confidently that investing in a DAC will greatly increase your enjoyment! :good:
i use my nexus 7 as my in dash, how would this help ? currently just using 3.5mm port to rca to get the audio out...
does it charge the tablet at the same time?
I should have mentioned in my post above that portable USB DACs are primarily intended to be used with headphones. They will generally improve sound output to speakers as well, but a car-audio specific device like the one the OP posted may be better for that application... however, the only immediately apparent difference are the RCA plugs vs. aux. Worth the price difference? Not having heard that device as well as the lack of info/reviews (possibly a bad sign), my guess would be "no". With a device like mine or the Fiio usb models, you get the bonus of versatility: carrying it in your pocket and using headphones and then just using it in your car via an aux input (as long as your receiver has one). A caveat to using a portable USB DAC is that they actually drain your battery significantly faster (I found it odd that mine would only work with a "regular" micro usb to usb adapter cable, no sound when I tried it with a powered micro usb hub).
There may very well be better products if the intent is just to use it for car audio... I'm just not personally aware of any. I'm sure there are better forums (similar to head-fi.org but specific to cars) where you could probably find or get better answers re: good DACs for car audio
masri1987 said:
does it charge the tablet at the same time?
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Click to collapse
The one I posted says it does charge @2A.
My other question is: What controls the audio volume when you use a DAC?
My biggest issue is even with the volume maxed on my N4, my h/u sees very low input volume, and I have to nearly max out my h/u's volume to get anywhere, which induces a lot of clipping and distortion.. Which is bad.
jazzmachine said:
I'm not sure about that particular device, but most if not all USB DACs work with the N4 (on 4.x at least, LP reportedly broke compatibility with some previously working units ). I have an Asus Xonar U3 ($40 when I bought it from Amazon), and it's really FAR surpassed my expectations. As long as you plug it in before launching your (any, afaik) music player, it should produce a very noticeable improvement on sq. If you do end up getting a USB DAC, I'd highly recommend at least checking out the 14 day trial of USB Audio Player Pro... it bypasses the system's drivers and uses it's own, and IMO the sq is untouchable! If you listen to a lot of music from your N4 (a great output source in itself, x100 with UAPP) I can say pretty confidently that investing in a DAC will greatly increase your enjoyment! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear you on the lack of reviews/info on it being a bad sign, but I'm guessing the vast majority of people have no idea wtf a DAC even is..
ummduh said:
The one I posted says it does charge @2A.
My other question is: What controls the audio volume when you use a DAC?
My biggest issue is even with the volume maxed on my N4, my h/u sees very low input volume, and I have to nearly max out my h/u's volume to get anywhere, which induces a lot of clipping and distortion.. Which is bad.
I hear you on the lack of reviews/info on it being a bad sign, but I'm guessing the vast majority of people have no idea wtf a DAC even is..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i use a line-driver before i route the audio to my amp to make it sound like a pioneer deck , but that's wit a 3.5 mm to rca plug... imagine with this product.. i'm concerned about overheating because it's constantly charging and i live in phoenix and it's hot as you know what
and viper4android of course
It looks like the charge wiring is separate, you could always switch it on/off as required.
I'm thinking about giving this a go and see what happens. It's still a TON cheaper than replacing my h/u.
ummduh said:
The one I posted says it does charge @2A.
My other question is: What controls the audio volume when you use a DAC?
My biggest issue is even with the volume maxed on my N4, my h/u sees very low input volume, and I have to nearly max out my h/u's volume to get anywhere, which induces a lot of clipping and distortion.. Which is bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Re: volume control, it depends. Some have some kind of volume control on the DAC, but most don't. With most music players you just control the volume as usual from the phone. Usually the output is louder than it would be otherwise, but particularly clarity at high volume. Considering your description, I think you'd notice even more of a benefit from using UAPP - the volume is controlled by a slider on the "now playing" screen (there's a setting to use the physical volume buttons also, but warns that it will drain much more battery) and it can definitely play music louder overall.
gonna try this as well..
Does a USB OTG kernel capable is required for this?
---------- Post added at 06:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:33 PM ----------
http://www.amazon.com/iSimple-Charg...e=UTF8&qid=1427909651&sr=8-1&keywords=JamPort
is this the same product? damn cheaper too.
According to the specs on that page, yes, it's the same product; "IS3301".
And thanks for finding it! I'll pick it up and give it a try and post back, eventually.
Well, got it and installed it.
A few things:
1) Was wrong on being able to switch power. If you don't hook up the power wires, the DAC doesn't power up.
2)Won't work on the Note4 with a stock /rooted Tmobile ROM. Just can't do it. Why? No idea. The USB Audio Pro app doesn't work either.
3)DOES WORK and sounds great with both a Nexus 7 (2012) 4.4.4 and an ASUS ME173X., 4.2.2.
4)Even working on those 2 tablets, it pops up a dialog box saying something to the effect of "No apps that are compatible with this device are installed". Still works anyways, every app I tried played properly through it.
5)Audio is basically ON/OFF. If you adjust the audio volume on the tablet it's all or nothing, no in between.
I'd still like to figure out how to get it working on the Note, tethering the tab to my phone is less than elegant, the ME173x tablet is pitifully slow and horribly unresponsive, and it seems Samsung in their infinite wisdom have also removed BT tethering.
Also not working with Note 4 and the canadian 5.0.1 ROM (chenxiaolong). Argh. Going to try some different cabling, possibly a data only cable, I've read some Samsung phones do weird stuff with USBOTG and charging.
So I've replaced my stock Navigation system in my '09 Mazda 6 with a 2nd gen Nexus 7.
I bought a used one off ebay because it didn't matter to me if the case/cover was banged up or not as I was planning on building it into the dash. The Nexus fits pretty well in the 2-din opening of the aftermarket panel I got [American International brand kit# MAZK860]. I used a Minisuit-X TPU case to help hold the tablet in place. The case creates a raised frame around the screen and makes it easier to locate the screen from the back of the 2-din panel. Notches needed to be cut in the sub-frame piece of the din kit for the USB connector and headphone jack, but other than that very little modifications were needed. I used a piece of PVC perforated sheet to hold the tablet into the din plate. The perforations in the sheet made it easy to cut out notches and holes with side cutters and achieve the shape I wanted without having to make a mess using a dremel.
For audio, I had purchased a Syba SD-CM-UAUD DAC but had trouble getting it to work right so I am now just using a 3.5mm 4-pin splitter to 3.5mm headphone/mic jacks. I have a JK MIC-J 044 lapel clip microphone stashed behind a small vent in the upper console panel and wired a headphone jack into the harness [Metra 70-7903]. I know some people think the DAC is far superior but I found the headphone jack audio output good enough for me and running it through the stock Bose amplifier in my car sounds excellent.
I'm also using a Joycon EXR to capture steering wheel controls and an EasyCap Dc60 to capture video from my KS1 dual channel dash camera. The camera is set to show the rear view for the video out so I can use it as a back-up camera on the tablet.
My first time installing the tablet worked ok. I had a few problems including the steering controls not working (except Volume down) and the battery wouldn't stay charged enough, forcing me to remove the tablet and charge it every other week. The Easycam also wouldn't work and flash drives wouldn't load right. The Joycon, Easycap, and flash drive issues were due to the $2 4-port hub I got free with something. I tried an Amazon Essentials hub too and it had an intermittent short. A 4-port Insignia hub from Bestbuy did the trick and everything is working now.
I did rebuild the harness last weekend because I wanted to get the Li-Ion battery out of the hot dash. Even though this setup was working ok, when it's 90-plug degrees outside, the tablet will shut itself off and boot-loop until it cools down. I decided to replace the battery with a 12V to 4.2V DC Step-Down regulator. I got an extra battery from ebay and remove the tiny controller board. I had read where other people just replaced the battery with a power supply and were getting odd messages from the tablet about how it was at 0 volts and wouldn't sleep or update properly. So, I used the battery control board and it reports the battery level to the tablet (usually around 90~95%).
The only issue I am having with the power is that when I start the engine, either the power is dropping too much or the car kills power to the radio harness and then I have to wait for the tablet to restart.
To fix this, I plan on using a capacitor to try and keep the tablet powered while the car is starting.
I do need some help. Though I have removed the Li-Ion battery, the overheated tablet will still shut down and boot-loop until it cools down. Is there a way to program it to ignore the temp. sensor? If not, does anyone know where this particular sensor is so I can replace it with a fixed resistor and make it think it's always room temp?
Questions, comments, and ideas welcome!
~Mike
i am sorry i cant be any help but what launcher and rom/ kernel do you use?
amazing. navigation works well ?
ccb101 said:
i am sorry i cant be any help but what launcher and rom/ kernel do you use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using Timur's USB Rom for 4.4.4.
eldar4uk said:
amazing. navigation works well ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't been on any trips yet, but I did test it on the ride home from work and it works well; picks up the GPS signal well. I just used Google Maps navigation for it and I input the directions using "OK Google".
~Mike
I've tried many different ROMs and kernels, but so far I've been unable to find a configuration where my Captivate can be used as just a music player with support for music audio through the desktop dock. I don't care very much which Android version I end up with (CM 7, CM 9, CM 10, CM 11, some stock ROM, whatever). I'm also not interested in actually using it as a phone, or for any other apps.
Can someone point me to a ROM/ROM + kernel that reliably supports automatically routing the music audio through the desktop dock when docked?
Thanks!
Update:
From what I've read (and tested), I need the Galaxy Dock Sound Redirector app to get it to play audio through the Desk Mount. But only "official" Kernels have the necessary function(s) to support the redirect. Using that app on any other ROM won't work. So that limits me to just the official ROMs (or ROMs/Kernels based off one of the official Kernels). That's okay, since there are several available, and I really don't care which one I end up with as long as it works.
I've tried all that I could find (2.3.3, 2.3.4, 2.3.5) and although they all do redirect the audio through the Desk Mount, there's an audio quality problem I've come across: With no power to the Desk Mount, the audio sounds great. But when I plug in the power, and the battery is fully charged, I can hear what can only be described as computer-generated digital noise. This noise is faint, but very noticeable when the music is very quiet. And it seems to be related to what the phone's processor is doing. (i.e. The noise changes as I do things such as open an app, swipe the screen, etc.) This noise is only heard from the Desk Mount, never directly from the headphone jack. I've tried using many different power cables/adapters, and two different Desk mounts - nothing seems to help.
Does anyone have any idea why this noise happens when docked in the Desk Mount and the Desk Mount has power?
If anyone's interested, I've made a short recording of the noise.
Static.mp3
I'd appreciate it if someone could listen to this and tell me what it is, and perhaps how I can fix it.
Right now I'm thinking that it's due to the Desk Mount's electronics (or lack of quality, that is).
Totally giving up on this idea
If anyone cares, I've given up on this idea. I've come to understand that PWM audio just plain sucks, and the versions of Android/apps that I'm testing for this setup (listed above) come with a variety of problems that are just too difficult for me to continue slogging through.
As an alternative, I've decided to go with a dedicated Raspberry Pi 3 + USB Audio DAC to accomplish my primary goal of playing sweet music at night. It's fairly cheap, easy to setup and configure, and rock solid in performance.
Cheers everyone, and thanks for all the help/feedback!