Audio Playback via USB w/ my Android device - Connected Car

I am sure this was asked and answered before somewhere in this forum, but I have yet to find a thread similar to my issue.
I have been doing a heavy amount of research about how to use my Google Pixel for USB audio playback like my iPhone did when I had one once upon a time. I am not necessarily shunning the fact that my car is also Bluetooth enabled, but the quality of audio playback is far greater via USB than over BT no matter how much I mess with the Bluetooth settings under Dev options. BT is as of right now, far away from being headphone/USB/dock quality and I'd like, no, LOVE to get back to using USB audio with my phone. But how?
Again, I have been doing the research and what I have found is either outdated articles, people who don't have any answers, or just irrelevant information. My brain is exhausted and irritated. So, I figured I'd head to the one place I know is full of knowledgeable people and hopefully once and for all get a straight forward 'yes' or 'no' answer or maybe even a workaround with root or something.
So, moving on... I watched a video from Sid's Classroom and he directed me to a an option under the dev settings called "Select USB Configuration." I followed his steps to change my config to 'Audio Source' thinking this would work. Now, I drive a 2016 Honda Civic with BT and USB audio hookups. No 3.5 jack anywhere to be seen. My 2012 Focus only had a 3.5 jack. Quite the change, but nonetheless an easy adaptation. And when I bought the Honda, I still had my iPhone. A couple of months later, I find myself switching back to Android and getting the Google Pixel from Verizon (huge mistake). Fast forward to now, and suddenly I am finding myself wanting to upgrade to the Note 8 and still driving the Honda with the USB hookup teasing me in the background as I drive. Don't get me wrong, I love BT, but I also love true HD music, especially since I pay for Spotify and want to listen to my music at the Extreme bit rate they offer for streaming.
My dilemma is this: the USB don't work good with my phone. In saying that way, I feel as though the selecting 'Audio Source' under dev settings should have done the trick. Obviously it hasn't and here I am writing a story behind why I am here.... Redundancy at it's finest. Anyways, I need help. Is there any way possible to fix this issue or at least find a workaround so that I can go back to listening to audio over USB or am I just a pleb left in the dark for now until car manufacturers start collaborating with Google to get USB audio going?
P.S Point me in the right direction if anything. I know there is a small tech start-up called DROM developing a USB cable to allow for this but they have yet to release a product yet and I am skeptical of it.

Hi mate, not sure if I'm digesting all that info! But it sounds a little familiar with the Volkswagen MDI setup that I had. It has this "special" (read extra $$$) USB setup that most cars have stock. I used a generic USB drive, stuck music on that and presto - worked great including song data (on a very plain Volkswagen MCD-310 head unit). But - it wouldn't play music from my Moto G4 or my LG Q6 via USB. I believe the problem was it couldn't read exactly where the files were located. I tried them on both the internal and SD storage to no avail. From memory I *might* have had success running my Galaxy Tab 3 7" through it, but it just said "Media Player", no song data etc. Might also be what format the drive/card is, ie FAT.
Alternately one way I got around was going onto AUX on the head unit and just plugging a 3.5mm in from device into it. You can control your songs from device but depends on if you can/like touching device whilst driving.
I'm doing an aftermarket head unit/tablet install for something different. Similar to the Nexus ones but a little different.

Related

Galaxy S2 with Parrot MKi9200 Handsfree

OK, first post here, but I think it's a useful one!!
Collected a Galaxy S2 on Monday night from the 3 store in the Trafford Centre. Absolutely love it!, fantastic handset.
Or so I thought until last night.....
This was the only bugbear/issue that the phone gave me and gave me no end of grief; I paired it with my Parrot 9200 Car Kit, as with any other phone. All seemed to be well.
That was until I tried to make a call. When I pressed the green button on the handsfree to initiate voice dialling, android launched the "Voice Commands" program, which tried to take over. Unfortunately, the voice commands program required a little bit of interaction with the phone, and wasn't particularly accurate over bluetooth.
Tried deleting and re-pairing, turning off voice commands over bluetooth, which just bypassed the hands free mic, to the handset!!. Grief grief grief.
OK, I thought, I'll just manually select the numbers on the car kit. A bit of a ballache, but it'll do!
Wrong, the phonebook hadn't downloaded, and no amount of tweaking the car kit or the phone could sort it.
There was very limited info on this, hence the reason for this post!
After much googling, I found that the latest version of the Parrot firmware had an additional pairing setting; "Force AT Sync".
So, car kit updated with the latest firmware from the Parrot website, on the car kit, I navigated to Settings>Bluetooth Settings> Pair With> Force AT Sync. (This is at the bottom of the list of phones that the kit "knows" about by default.
Seconds later, my phone was requesting permission for the car kit to access the phone book, and syncing away nicely.
No more voice commands software, and the Parrot kit is working as it should, completely hands free!
Cheers
Tim
Thanks for the info on this. I'm thinking about getting the same kit, can I ask what the sound quality is like through Bluetooth?
Update:
I've just had an MKi9200 fitted. Only had a couple of hours to play with it but so far I'm delighted.
Feel free to ask questions.
pjfriend said:
Update:
I've just had an MKi9200 fitted. Only had a couple of hours to play with it but so far I'm delighted.
Feel free to ask questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it work?
Yep, works really well.
Phone calls are very clear for both parties and (to me at least) the bluetooth music sound quality is really good. It's not a top of the line speaker system but it's clear and the volume is adequate.
It cuts in with the sat nav directions nicely. I had a bluetooth headunit before and if I had the phone connected the directions wouldn't interrupt a cd or radio. This works just fine, even if I'm listening to the radio through the stereo, the directions still come through.
I've not tried using the other sound connections yet, iPod, USB stick, aux jack or SD Card. I'll try them all over the next couple of days.
I'm thinking about taking the SD card out of the phone and using that way as it only lets you move the tracks foreward and backwards on a playlist or album if you use bluetooth. You have to use the phone to select another artist or album etc. Also, an SD card would let you see the album art and display the track details on the Parrot screen.
The only thing that isn't working correctly at present is that the remote won't skip tracks if the music player isn't displayed on the phone. If I have the sat nav screen up the track forward and backward keys are ignored.
I'm just going out to update the software though so this might fix that.
Anything else you need to know?
Right, I've updated the software which was really painless.
The sat nav stopping the track controls from working only happens in Co Pilot, not in Google Navigation.
I tried using my SD card from my phone in holder and it didn't seem to pick it up. I might need to leave it in longer (about 28 gig of music on it) or it might be that the card is too large at 32GB. The Parrot website says that there is no limit to card size but that sounds a bit optimistic to me.
Other than that though, I'm delighted so far.
I've got one of these too. Great bit of kit. I did notice a tweak in the VillainRom thread that ups the Bluetooth audio quality, if that's how you're using it. Haven't tried it yet myself.
One thing I have noticed is it's a bit hit and miss when play and pause work. I could never get into the car and press play, and just have it resume the last thing that was playing (usually BeyondPod). In the end I set Tasker up to automatically start playing when Bluetooth connects. Job done.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
dan13l said:
I've got one of these too. Great bit of kit. I did notice a tweak in the VillainRom thread that ups the Bluetooth audio quality, if that's how you're using it. Haven't tried it yet myself.
One thing I have noticed is it's a bit hit and miss when play and pause work. I could never get into the car and press play, and just have it resume the last thing that was playing (usually BeyondPod). In the end I set Tasker up to automatically start playing when Bluetooth connects. Job done.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you post a link to that thread? I have a Mki9200 myself and would be very interested to read this.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Have a look for a post by Faremoney on May 16th in the VillainRom thread over in the dev forum. It's to do with altering the Bluetooth bitpool. I'd link, but I don't think I can from the app.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
dan13l said:
Have a look for a post by Faremoney on May 16th in the VillainRom thread over in the dev forum. It's to do with altering the Bluetooth bitpool. I'd link, but I don't think I can from the app.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll go searching for it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
The only annoyance I have now, which is more parrot related is that if I have a usb memory key and sd card connected, even if i had been.listening to music on the sd card, next time I get in the car and press play, it defaults back to the usb.
All in all, the kit is impressive. I bought mine about 18 months ago and gave nearly £300 fitted. A couple of months ago, I bought a kit for my girlfriend, brand new for £110 and fitted it myself in 40 mins!!
Definitely recommended.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Thanks for this post. It helped me to sync my contact from sgs2 to my parrot 9100.
It works very nice now!
Galaxy SII and Parrot MKi9100
Thanks for the fix - I was getting close to returning the unit - spent an hour or more listening to 'Voice Prompts'! Stick loaded with update and ready to go
Cheers
david
Ordered a second hand unit off ebay for 65 and getting it fitted late this week/early next week.
Has anyone figured out a way to charge the s2 from the iphone connector?
Hi there
Hope all ok with yours. I've been delighted with mine so far.
It does charge off the USB connector, don't need to use the iPhone end. It seems to deliver quite a small charge though so I still use a cigarette lighter socket.
From memory you can set the phone to storage mode and the Parrot kit will read the music contents of the phone but I had trouble with a larger capacity card. I'm happy with the audio quality over Bluetooth so this was the simplest way for me to work.
Let me know if that doesn't make sense or if you have any other questions.
Paul
Working but could be better...
Hi,
I have updated my MKi9200 Parrot software and set the "Force AT Sync". Effectively I don't have the phone voice commands anymore and it is already much better. Thank you for this.
However, I experience some interruptions of sound each time I use the phone (like just checking my mail) or each time an event occurs on the phone (like reception of an email notice or reception of SMS notice). It is not comfortable when listening to music...
Also, I had a much better experience with my Parrot and another phone than SG2. With SG2 + Parrot, sometimes you press the green button on Parrot and you don't get the voice command to dial, sometimes you have a phone ring and you can't take the call when pushing the green button on Parrot, sometimes you can't hang up after a call, sometimes it only works after several attempts of push on a given button.
Well, it is better than before but still not working as it should. Of course, when the Parrot buttons are not responding, I can still get the command right using the phone screen to take the call or hang-up but it is really not safe at all while ones drives his car in the same time...
Has anyone here found a solution first not to get those cuts on phone events?
Has anyone found a better setting to make sure the Parrot buttons are always working with SG2?
Has anyone experienced the same kind of troubles despite the "Force AT Sync" mode is set like on my SG2?
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for confirming. much appreciated.
pjfriend said:
Hi there
Hope all ok with yours. I've been delighted with mine so far.
It does charge off the USB connector, don't need to use the iPhone end. It seems to deliver quite a small charge though so I still use a cigarette lighter socket.
From memory you can set the phone to storage mode and the Parrot kit will read the music contents of the phone but I had trouble with a larger capacity card. I'm happy with the audio quality over Bluetooth so this was the simplest way for me to work.
Let me know if that doesn't make sense or if you have any other questions.
Paul
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
I can't find how to get latest firmware from the parrot website
Your post was interesting but for the life of me I can't work out where to get a newer version of firmware! I have just put in the unit and was dismayed when I called Samsung and was told that I can't put my contacts in it! It seems that you have so I'd love to know where and how you got the firmware you refer to.
You can get it from here http://www.parrot.com/uk/support/downloads
Hi guys, just registered. I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 (with 2.3.5 KI3) and a Parrot LS-3400GPS carkit. It pairs without problems but of course it is a bit limited so I would like to change it with a Parrot MKi9200. I'm reading in many places there are a lot of issues with Android phones. I also wrote di Parrot and they do CONFIRM. But the problem (they say) is not in the carkit sw but in the Android! So strange...
On the parrot forum there are still users with mic issues, contact sync issues and voice command issues, even with the last 1.96 fw.
I've read here that everything works fine using "force at sync".
I understood that it does sync but what about the voice commands? Any problems?
Is there a conflict with the parrot ones?
I'm really confused
Thank You

[Q] Does the SGS3 have USB audio out?

Does the ATT SGS3 have USB audio out for with external USB DAC/Amps? Because if it does, I'm giving up my Infuse, lol. I saw somewhere that the international version does, but I don't want to pay $600 for an unlocked version. Thanks.
I believe this is an added feature in Jelly Bean, so it should only be stable on the Galaxy Nexus at this point.
Slurpee7600 said:
I believe this is an added feature in Jelly Bean, so it should only be stable on the Galaxy Nexus at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be awesome! Any idea when S3 is getting Jelly Bean?
I'm pretty sure I'm asking the same question as above but want to get some clarification in less technical-speak: I recently switched from AT&T iPhone 4 to AT&T S3 and ended up switching back to the iPhone. I kept the Android though because I'm hoping that Jelly Bean solves the one major issue that was a showstopper for me: subpar support for USB audio on the S3, and any Android as far as I'm aware. One of the main uses of a mobile device for me is the ability to do USB audio in the car with it, both with audio stored on the device and streaming. I drive a 2011 Lincoln MKX with the Ford/Lincoln Touch system in it, and the iPhone seems to work great over USB audio. The Android only works with audio stored on the device, so I have to switch over to bluetooth in order to do streaming (Spotify, Pandora, etc.), and then the track/artist/etc. info doesn't show onscreen.
Does anybody know if Jelly Bean will allow streaming audio over USB? I'd love to switch back to Android but that's holding me back.
Thanks much
certain usb dac's work with this phone there are several threads about this already
Understood, but do any of them work with Ford Sync?
I don't know if this helps, but under the settings - doc menu, there is an audio when docked option which should allow for Audio over USB. It at the very least allows analog sounds over USB with certain CAR docks.
No luck with that option. The main difference I see between Android and iPhone is the iPhone will interrupt whatever audio is playing whenever you switch apps to play something new. Android will only play the native apps. So, for example, I plug my Android into USB. It'll start playing whatever's stored on the device, and if I open say Pandora it'll look like Pandora's playing but the audio will still be of the stored audio. The iPhone will fade the stored audio and play Pandora instead. That's the function I'm really looking for that's missing from Android.

[Q] Car infotainment device

I would like to build an Android car infotainment device to replace all my gadgets inside the car. One option would be a micro PC with USB touchscreen and a lot of devices connected via USB. The other one would be an Android gadget, either small tablet or TV box.
The biggest question I have is: what Android devices support 5.1 audio? This is a must, though I actually can use only 4 channels. What audio formats are supported for this?
The other question would be TMC - the FM kind, not online.
Are there any embedded platforms out there (except PC and Android) which support multi-channel audio?
Has anyone done this before? I might be reinventing the wheel.
No updates? Either nobody knows about Android 5.1 sound output or they are working under NDAs.
Are you planning on keeping a headunit to control volume, do you want am/fm radio, etc....
without a headunit you will need an amp where you can use the headphone to rca adapter and usually its the amp that would add front and rear to the left/right output of your android device so you would still get the 4 chan output effect. to go for the 5.1 chan you will need another device that actually controls the 5 speakers plus the subwoofer which might be tricky but I'm sure its not impossible.
the setup I was going to go with was a amp that I can mount its power controls (left right front back and volume) (or amp/eq combo) to where I can reach it and build a mount for a 7in (possibly diff size not sure depends on how it will look) and use the heaphone to rca adapter to power the audio and put the usb inside the dash possibly with a little hub if they make it (that way not only is it getting power from it, if it allows, the addition of say a thumb drive with added music/movies. some tablets/phones have fm radios built in as long as something is plugged into the headphone jack (my new phone doesn't seem to have it but thats a feature I will be looking for in a tablet)
4chan amp
eq that would allow 2 chan in and 4 chan out plus sub out (if you have a separate sub amp)
I just want to know if there are any android devices that are able to stream 5.1, I can take it from there. Same question about TMC support.
Some details:
My car is already fitted from the factory with 4 channel preamp and 12 speakers including subwoofer low-pass. It has low-level input for those channels, worst case I would buy a preamp.
FM is pretty much given on most Android devices, probably excluding some tablets, but I won't actually miss it if it's not there.
TMC would be nice since all Androids usually have a GPS sensor and sometimes compass.
Anyway, it was mostly a request for suggestions or even a rant - I'm surprised that something like this doesn't exist yet. With the exception of dedicated units going >$$$-$$$$, an alternative set-up would be a medium-range blueray player coupled with an Android tablet. Music control could be set up with DLNA, bluetooth streaming or mixing player and android audio would be a bit harder but not impossible.
hey friends
this is a nice thought and you are absolutely great.
this is wonderful thread
........................
Great Idea
Hi,
Currently I'm also thinking about installing an android tablet in my car to have music, navigation, movie player, speed camera warning, etc. But the biggest problem is the sound. I want to connect tablet with car audio using jack-jack cable. Everything is fine till the AUX source is selected in car audio device, but when I switch it to Tuner or CD - the sound from tablet is cutted off, so e.g. navigation announcement are not heard.
Any suggestions for this issue?
audio rom
its a shame that there are many many roms but none fur special purposes like this.
we need a car rom
[email protected] said:
Hi,
Currently I'm also thinking about installing an android tablet in my car to have music, navigation, movie player, speed camera warning, etc. But the biggest problem is the sound. I want to connect tablet with car audio using jack-jack cable. Everything is fine till the AUX source is selected in car audio device, but when I switch it to Tuner or CD - the sound from tablet is cutted off, so e.g. navigation announcement are not heard.
Any suggestions for this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only solution can see is to run the audio from the tablet alone. I.e. use the tablet to provide both radio tuner AND navigation. You will end up using the car system purely as an amplifier.
Cris123 said:
Only solution can see is to run the audio from the tablet alone. I.e. use the tablet to provide both radio tuner AND navigation. You will end up using the car system purely as an amplifier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would be what I would do in this situation. Or just unplug the audio cable from the tablet when using other radio options so the navigation will come through the tablet's speakers.
I want to do something similar but rather than purchase a new device I want to use my Note2. No head unit at all. The Note2 would likely be dedicated to this use and I'd get a different phone to use as, well, a phone.
For sound I was hoping I could use USB OTG to connect a USB sound card with 5.1 output but I'm not sure if this would work. I want to use the sound card instead of audio direct out of the headphone jack because that reduces my connected cables to just one (easier) and should provide at least 4 channel output which eliminates the need for another device to control volume, fader, and balance.
For radio I was going to use SDR for AM/FM (and more) via a cheap USB TV tuner.
http://sdrtouch.com/
Where I'm stuck now is that I'd like to be able to connect an iProduct (iPhone/iPod) like you can to most car radios and control/stream music from the iProduct, via the Android Note2 using USB OTG again. I cannot find how to do this but the Parrot Asteroid Smart runs Android and it seems to be able to do it so it must be possible.
http://www.parrot.com/usa/products/asteroid-range/parrot-asteroid-smart/
Any info anyone can provide regarding the sound card and iPod integration would be highly appreciated.
You can go wireless and use some AirPlay receiver for Android.
I don't know about wired solutions, the classic iPod connector has ~30 pins and some of them are used for audio and some of them are used for serial-like playlist control plus current track information.
brainwash123 said:
You can go wireless and use some AirPlay receiver for Android.
I don't know about wired solutions, the classic iPod connector has ~30 pins and some of them are used for audio and some of them are used for serial-like playlist control plus current track information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just a USB to iPod cable that they use for everything else... Parrot Asteroid Smart that I linked to has it as do most modern stock head units.
Did a little more googling and it seems several companies sell android head units that support iPod.
Why don't you use a USB DAC? There are a few out there that are surround sound capable.
Out from the DAC into an eq preamp and out to your existing amplifier. The eq preamp has main volume controls as well as sub control with dedicated output.
Also there are head units out there that are just "receivers" capable of accepting a digital inputs and outputting 5.1 signal via RCA.
I installed a nexus 7 2013 in my VW, currently using Bluetooth to connect to a receiver where it the outputs to an rca input on my deck that was relocated to my glovebox. I am planning on replacing the Bluetooth adaptor with a USB DAC in order to achieve a higher quality sound.
I am currently doing a similar install in a 2010 charger, a deck will not be used however as I will be using the DAC method with an eq and output to the factory amp. I considered going the android TV box route as I have a MINIX box, but there is some work involved in getting the touchscreen to function properly as it is not set up for this out of the box.
You can purchase a double din deck from eBay (I stumbled across it a few days ago but didn't write the link down) it has a dual os system. It uses android for the car audio function and windows for the car PC function. Not sure how well it works but it got reasonable reviews.
Edit: ...and once again I answer without reading the whole thread...:silly:
Is it somehow easier to get all the various apps on the phone to output audio to a DAC than a USB sound card?
unL33T said:
Is it somehow easier to get all the various apps on the phone to output audio to a DAC than a USB sound card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe when the device detects a DAC (must use an otg cable BTW) it automatically re routes all audio out the USB. You can disable automatic USB audio routing in developer settings.
k.s.deviate said:
I believe when the device detects a DAC (must use an otg cable BTW) it automatically re routes all audio out the USB. You can disable automatic USB audio routing in developer settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds easier. Thanks for the tip.
Well I can't find any information regarding the iPod integration and I've found next to nothing for DVD video and audio CD playback and radio and backup camera functionality would also take some mucking about so it looks like I'd probably be better off buying something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-Android-4...621?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a31320af5
Which has it all sorted out already. So much for that fun idea. No idea what apps they use for all that stuff.
Which has it all sorted out already. So much for that fun idea. No idea what apps they use for all that stuff.[/QUOTE]
That unit looks slow at only dual-core. It will probably be sluggish when multi-tasking.
The main chip probably supports several I2S devices (aux in/adc, tuner/adc, DVD) and routing plus demuxing is done via linux hardware control.
The DVD player and tuner probably support the i2c or spi protocol to control seeking and other functions. This is again controllable via the linux devices.
Usually the consumer devices don't have these easily exposed and it's probably a non-trivial task to piggyback on existing hardware, assuming the needed connections are broken out on the board. As far as I can see the only Android devices with CD or DVD are the car players like above.
Another option would be to take the sound from the HDMI signal. A DVD player/tuner can be wired in parallel with an HDMI switcher. However controlling the tracks would not be easy, it would require emulating the remote with an IR transmitter.

Car Stereos with USB

Does anyone have a car stereo with a USB port? If so can you elaborate on what that is like to use? I am purchasing a new unit and that feature is one I do not truly understand. A few questions I have are listed below, but feel free to add anything else you think might be useful in making this decision.
1: Does the phone charge while connected to a USB port on a stereo?
2: Can you use the file system and player controls through your stereo or do you have to control the music and other audio through the phone itself?
3: Does the audio work from all sources with a USB connection(for example phone calls or turn by turn), or will it only play music player audio?
4: If you do have access to the file system from your stereo, will it display song titles and artist info etc? How cumbersome is it do control this way?
Landara said:
Does anyone have a car stereo with a USB port? If so can you elaborate on what that is like to use? I am purchasing a new unit and that feature is one I do not truly understand. A few questions I have are listed below, but feel free to add anything else you think might be useful in making this decision.
1: Does the phone charge while connected to a USB port on a stereo?
2: Can you use the file system and player controls through your stereo or do you have to control the music and other audio through the phone itself?
3: Does the audio work from all sources with a USB connection(for example phone calls or turn by turn), or will it only play music player audio?
4: If you do have access to the file system from your stereo, will it display song titles and artist info etc? How cumbersome is it do control this way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would be helpful to know what actual head unit you're getting. But I will try to answer most of the questions as best I can since I have a fairly new Pioneer HU.
1. Yes, but it only charges on "USB" mode, not "AC".
2. Yes and no. The Pioneer HU that I have does NOT support MTP mode (which is what Jelly Bean, and I believe ICS) uses. Basically MTP is the protocol for storage on the Galaxy Nexus. If you can find a ROM or Kernel or any way to change the mode to "Mass Storage", then you'll be able to browse the file system.
3. Only music (or whatever else is inside your MP3 file). When you connect to your HU through USB, your phone basically turns into a flash drive. From there you have to navigate to your "Music" folder and tell it what to play. The only way to do calls, navigation and music at the same time is to use Bluetooth or a 3.5mm cable with an inline mic.
4. It displays what is inside your ID3 tag inside the MP3 file. So basically, if you have all the info filled in, then yes, it will display it. As far as how cumbersome it is, it takes some getting used to, but not to bad (on Pioneer, I have no idea on any other brand).
Short answer: Unless your stereo support MTP or you can find a way to force "Mass Storage" (which I'm not familiar with a way how), your stereo will only charge your phone. It sucks, but that's the way it is.
Pioneer has the app radio which will control your phone and also allows you to use Pandora on the actual H/U. That said I have never used it nor do I plan on it as its a dual din and I am just happy using bluetooth.
I have a JVC unit that works great with my nexus running linaro aokp jelly bean. The unit is x50bt. It will not play through USB only charge. However it is Bluetooth enabled so it can play anything including you phone calls through your car stereo. I have it setup so that my phone auto connects and plays Pandora automatically. The head unit displays song title and artist and also allows u to thumb up or down using the remote conyrol. I also have playlists set up in power amp for my MP3s. The built in equalizer in power amp along with the equalizer in the head unit work well together. I have the USB cable in the rear USB port so it is hidden in my CRZ. The tiny Bluetooth adapter is in the front and does not look out of place.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
nastystang05 said:
I have a JVC unit that works great with my nexus running linaro aokp jelly bean. The unit is x50bt. It will not play through USB only charge. However it is Bluetooth enabled so it can play anything including you phone calls through your car stereo. I have it setup so that my phone auto connects and plays Pandora automatically. The head unit displays song title and artist and also allows u to thumb up or down using the remote conyrol. I also have playlists set up in power amp for my MP3s. The built in equalizer in power amp along with the equalizer in the head unit work well together. I have the USB cable in the rear USB port so it is hidden in my CRZ. The tiny Bluetooth adapter is in the front and does not look out of place.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Per your suggestion, I purchased the X50BT. I am not disappointed. As you said, it does not support MTP, however I have a tiny 32gb Flash Drive(about the size of the Bluetooth Dongle) inserted in the front and the audio quality is simply breathtaking. I have my phone set to auto-connect via Bluetooth, which it does seamlessly. It even connects for audio however the BT audio stream sounds terrible when compared to the USB audio from the flash drive. I don't know if that's a limitation of my phone, the technology or the unit but it hardly matters since I can fit all of my music on the USB drive anyway. I just have to use Bluetooth or the 3.5mm jack for Pandora. Thanks for the suggestion, I really love this head unit!
Landara said:
Per your suggestion, I purchased the X50BT. I am not disappointed. As you said, it does not support MTP, however I have a tiny 32gb Flash Drive(about the size of the Bluetooth Dongle) inserted in the front and the audio quality is simply breathtaking. I have my phone set to auto-connect via Bluetooth, which it does seamlessly. It even connects for audio however the BT audio stream sounds terrible when compared to the USB audio from the flash drive. I don't know if that's a limitation of my phone, the technology or the unit but it hardly matters since I can fit all of my music on the USB drive anyway. I just have to use Bluetooth or the 3.5mm jack for Pandora. Thanks for the suggestion, I really love this head unit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're rooted, you have to tweak the Bluetooth sound profile using voodoo or DSP manager for example (which one your kernel allows).
You could add some "gain" amp or reduce the "Mids" and raise the "Bass"..
I have a different sound presets for the:
-Phone speaker (added some mids)
-Headphones (optimized for my Sony headset)
-Blueooth (lots of bass and "Rock" setting, sound is pretty good)
Possible Helpful Info on UMS & MTP
Landara said:
Does anyone have a car stereo with a USB port? If so can you elaborate on what that is like to use? I am purchasing a new unit and that feature is one I do not truly understand. A few questions I have are listed below, but feel free to add anything else you think might be useful in making this decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread might have some helpful info. (especially if the OP dev actually wrote the code for it).
(just tryin to help
danielsaenz said:
2. Yes and no. The Pioneer HU that I have does NOT support MTP mode (which is what Jelly Bean, and I believe ICS) uses. Basically MTP is the protocol for storage on the Galaxy Nexus. If you can find a ROM or Kernel or any way to change the mode to "Mass Storage", then you'll be able to browse the file system.
Short answer: Unless your stereo support MTP or you can find a way to force "Mass Storage" (which I'm not familiar with a way how), your stereo will only charge your phone. It sucks, but that's the way it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just wanted to point out that even if you found a way to force USB Mass Storage, it is unlikely that your radio would be able to read the filesystem. Most radios will only read FAT file systems, while the Nexus uses EXT3 (I think, could be 4). So Bluetooth/AUX are really your only options.
Gnex to HU
Landara said:
Does anyone have a car stereo with a USB port? If so can you elaborate on what that is like to use? I am purchasing a new unit and that feature is one I do not truly understand. A few questions I have are listed below, but feel free to add anything else you think might be useful in making this decision.
1: Does the phone charge while connected to a USB port on a stereo?
2: Can you use the file system and player controls through your stereo or do you have to control the music and other audio through the phone itself?
3: Does the audio work from all sources with a USB connection(for example phone calls or turn by turn), or will it only play music player audio?
4: If you do have access to the file system from your stereo, will it display song titles and artist info etc? How cumbersome is it do control this way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just installed an Alpine HU, It is also does not support MTP. I really like using the Bluetooth but have found that I have to reboot my Gnex and or restart my car to get the Bluetooth to sync correctly. USB does charge but it is slow. One thing to look for is Bluetooth Parrot.
gkaurin said:
I just installed an Alpine HU, It is also does not support MTP. I really like using the Bluetooth but have found that I have to reboot my Gnex and or restart my car to get the Bluetooth to sync correctly. USB does charge but it is slow. One thing to look for is Bluetooth Parrot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have found if you just toggle the Bluetooth on and off on your phone it should sync.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
I am finding that it is more of how my HU looks at my blue tooth. Thus restart car. I am wondering if it has something to do with Android BT. My gnex has worked this way with multiple roms and BT enabled HU.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
I bought a cheap stereo from Wal-Mart a Dual stereo with Bluetooth, takes a SD card, front and back inputs and satellite compatible. It has the USB plug that charges but like the others, doesn't read the memory on the phone. I stream through Bluetooth all of the time with Spotify. My son's Galaxy SIII can connect too if I turn mine off without changing anything. It was a great investment. It is a convertible and the microphone works great at 70mph with the top down. For $118 I am very happy.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
I don't believe the Galaxy Nexus will work with the USB of many head units since the Nexus uses MTP instead of UMS.
Hopefully someone can come up with a UMS for the Nexus.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
infazzdar said:
I don't believe the Galaxy Nexus will work with the USB of many head units since the Nexus uses MTP instead of UMS.
Hopefully someone can come up with a UMS for the Nexus.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the better way would for HU to be able to connect like they do to Apple products and have MTP support.
HU
I know that JVC / Ken-wood have apps for android. Looked more like a HU controller rather then playing from android. Never tested.
I think I figured why my USB isn't connecting from the AVH 4000 NEX to my galaxy note 3 SM-N900. It's possibly due to the MTP mode. I believe if the was a mass storage mode that will work, kinda like a USB stick. I don't think the firmware in my HU is properly picking up MTP, all it does is charge the phone. You need a kennel that has UMS enable for mass storage however the international note 3 SM-N900 currently does not have such kernels. There is only 3.... To my surprise. Maybe the last time I ever go with international models again. If anyone finds away around this let me know thanks.
My car does not have USB or card reader, but aux line!.
So I decided to go cheap and buy a Vieta FM Car Transmitter and BT Handsfree unit, and I does a decent job.
Perhaps in a future I'll go for a Parrot...

[Q] Car stereo with USB and bluetooth for Android tablet navigation

There are so many options that I don't know where to begin.
In fact, I'm rather lost as I can't really tell if a combination of tablet + car stereo will work for what I want to achieve.
Here's what I want to do:
I am using a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8" as a satnav with Sygic.
I currently have an old Pioneer car stereo which works perfectly fine for mp3 CDs and radio but I want to change it to a new unit that would accept a small USB drive as storage for my mp3's. I don't care if it will accept CD's or not (even better if it doesn't).
What I want is this new unit to allow me to play music or radio as normal and, when instructions come from the Sygic App (turn left, turn right etc) during navigation, to get the music interrupted and the instructions heard from the car's speakers. After the instructions are over, the music then start back automatically.
The only thing I managed to sort out is that, for this whole thing to work, both devices (tablet and car stereo) must support the A2DP protocol. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8" does indeed support A2DP for Bluetooth (according to specs) but I'm lost as far as car stereos are concerned.
Instead of looking the specs of every single car stereo available on the market today, I thought I would try asking here first.
Does anyone have anything similar working?
Thanks in advance
Car stereo
aianas said:
There are so many options that I don't know where to begin.
In fact, I'm rather lost as I can't really tell if a combination of tablet + car stereo will work for what I want to achieve.
Here's what I want to do:
I am using a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8" as a satnav with Sygic.
I currently have an old Pioneer car stereo which works perfectly fine for mp3 CDs and radio but I want to change it to a new unit that would accept a small USB drive as storage for my mp3's. I don't care if it will accept CD's or not (even better if it doesn't).
What I want is this new unit to allow me to play music or radio as normal and, when instructions come from the Sygic App (turn left, turn right etc) during navigation, to get the music interrupted and the instructions heard from the car's speakers. After the instructions are over, the music then start back automatically.
The only thing I managed to sort out is that, for this whole thing to work, both devices (tablet and car stereo) must support the A2DP protocol. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8" does indeed support A2DP for Bluetooth (according to specs) but I'm lost as far as car stereos are concerned.
Instead of looking the specs of every single car stereo available on the market today, I thought I would try asking here first.
Does anyone have anything similar working?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may try the "Dynavin Car Stereo"

Categories

Resources