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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
I would like to know if hdmi setting for our Note 2 gives real possibility to use 5.1 or 7.1 surround audio.
That's what I tried. I was connecting it to my LCD TV Sharp LC46x20e using mhl adapter and hdmi cable. Sound was sent from optical output on the TV to my Logitech z5500 speakers.
The audio was pretty good, but unfortunately it wasn't Dolby or DTS (only Prologic surround from the speakers).
So either TV doesn't send correct 5.1 signal to the speakers or my video players (stock Samsung, MX Player and Dice Player) can't send 5.1 signal or Note 2 simply doesn't send 5.1
It would be very helpful for me if someone would be able to confirm any of those statements as I'm thinking of buying something like this to route the sound directly to the speakers without passing it through the TV and in effect achieve true 5.1 surround sound.
Have you tried Setting-->My device--> Accessories-> HDMI-Audio output--> Stereo/Surround option?
Can anyone confirm that USB audio output works? Either with a DAC or car head unit will do. Just want to make sure...
Also interested in this question, as I found that USB audio does not work on Nexus 5 and 9 after update to 6.0.
My setup: Nexus 5/9 > USB DAC/amp > headphones. Works fine with 5.1.1.
Actually, it only works on 6.0 with USB Audio Player Pro app, which uses its own driver. It doesn't work with other apps (e.g. Spotify)
Zebbub said:
Also interested in this question, as I found that USB audio does not work on Nexus 5 and 9 after update to 6.0.
My setup: Nexus 5/9 > USB DAC/amp > headphones. Works fine with 5.1.1.
Actually, it only works on 6.0 with USB Audio Player Pro app, which uses its own driver. It doesn't work with other apps (e.g. Spotify)
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Got my 5x and it works with both my car head unit (Kenwood in Android hand mode) and FiiO USB DAC. Audio from all apps (e.g. Spotify, Youtube) works.
smacksa said:
Got my 5x and it works with both my car head unit (Kenwood in Android hand mode) and FiiO USB DAC. Audio from all apps (e.g. Spotify, Youtube) works.
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Good news! Does it work right out of the box, or does it require some settings?
I am trying to connect to my car via. iSimple Lightning connection to Aukey USB Type C (CB-A3). "The connection does Rapid Charge Nexus 5X"
How do I set the phone to send music from an app like: Amazon Music or Pandora, to the car though USB Type C port?
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
Any one else have any experience with the 5X and any other available DACs? I was looking at the Cambridge Audio XS but I haven't been able to find any mention of it working with 6.0.1
So i have hifimediy dac with usb-c to micro usb, and i cant get it working. I have xiaomi's adapter and some random chinese cable so i dont know how to fix it.
Hi All,
I have lately ventured into th Androi dheadunits world and have been really happy the functionality they bring with them.
I am using a USB dac hifimediy to get audio out from the HU. The HU is a HA version and is on 5.1.1
I dont get the generic Android sounds via the DAC. When the DAC is connected i don't get any sounds from HU. I only get any sound play from UAPP. Rest all the apps which play music doesnt output to USB dac even if i am playing low bitrate MP3
Is this behavior expected or there is something that can be done? Thanks in advance
P.S:Thread is already in MTCB general
P.S2: i have the "Prevent audio rout to USB" disabled in Developer options
I have this Android based head unit in my Ford Focus......
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Focus-Mondeo-S-Max-Radio-Android-7-1-GPS-Sat-Nav-Car-CD-DVD-Player-Stereo/182719184022?hash=item2a8ae97c96:g:rpAAAOSwV~1Zk-uw
I got this one because it has an HDMI output.I need this because I have an audio DSP unit that needs a digital input (optical or coaxial) which I get from an HDMI to optical convertor.The problem I have is that the HDMI output is fixed at full volume which is independent of what the head unit is set to as it's designed to feed headrest monitors/headphones etc that have their own volume controls.
The DSP unit (Mini DSP Nano digi) is supposed to be able to work with a learning IR remote to give a master volume control,which if it worked would be perfect for this system.But despite spending countless hours programming and hacking with different IR remotes and even cloning with an Arduino,I still can't get it to work and have had no real help on the Mini DSP forums.
I can't find an app that would make the HDMI audio output track with the head unit's main volume control.Am I searching for the wrong thing,or is there another known way of doing this?
Bump for this as well
bump