So wife finally agrees it's time to upgrade Impreza radio.
One of her big criteria for minivan was backup cam. She loves it. Dark tint on Impreza rear hatch and small side mirrors make it IMPOSSIBLE to backup at night. You just hope no small animals or bikes are right behind you, because they're gonna get crushed..... :confused: So MUST get camera.
DEFINITELY want Android Auto. We both agree we don't really need CDs as we can stream from phones.
Car has 6disc in-dash CD changer (Double DIN) plus under passenger sub. The sub isn't much but for 2005 was pretty decent. NO steering wheel controls to worry about, dash is close enough anyway.
WHY is it so hard to find a volume knob anymore? I know they save like $.50 using buttons instead but seriously.....
Amazon Short list so far is
Sony XAV-AX5000 bundle voxx cam $328
Kenwood DMX4707S bundle voxx cam $299
Pioneer MVH-AV251BT bundle voxx cam $345
Pioneer MVH-1400NEX bundle vox cam $345
I love Crutchfield but prices there get to be $$$$$$$ .
Do you have volume controls on the steering wheel? The Outback has a volume knob, but as a driver, I just press the steering wheel buttons 9 times out of 10.
Quote from: Laconian on December 24, 2020, 04:50:13 PM
Do you have volume controls on the steering wheel? The Outback has a volume knob, but as a driver, I just press the steering wheel buttons 9 times out of 10.
One of the few features I find useful; that and a heated steering wheel.
Quote from: Laconian on December 24, 2020, 04:50:13 PM
Do you have volume controls on the steering wheel?
Nope! Nothing on the steering wheel but horn and cruise control stalk.
The Sony radio, has a volume knob, and looks good.
I like android boxes. Endless configuration possibilities.
Quote from: Rich on December 24, 2020, 07:50:57 PM
The Sony radio, has a volume knob, and looks good.
Which Sony? I didn't see a knob on the one I listed.....
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sony-XAV-AX100-Sony-6-4-Touchscreen-Double-Din-Bluetooth-Car-Audio-Media-Receiver/875072092?irgwc=1&sourceid=imp_3FKz%3A%3AwDwxyLUrSwUx0Mo3YgUkE3cSTkESb3X40&veh=aff&wmlspartner=imp_197432&clickid=3FKz%3A%3AwDwxyLUrSwUx0Mo3YgUkE3cSTkESb3X40&sharedid=&ad_id=565706&campaign_id=9383
I saw sony xav listed in your post and thought it was this one... the one that I would get if I were in the market, but I don't know if it meets all of your needs. I just like that it's simple, has a volume knob, is made by an established brand, and has carplay.
Oh yeah, I like that one!
We don't care about carplay- Android Auto is a must though! :)
Media decks are the way to go! I installed the 1400NEX in the C6. No volume knob but it was awsome! I iust put a Power Acoustic in the Silverado. It has a volume knob but it's Apple Car Play only!
So I ended up ordering JVC KW-M75BT
http://www.us.jvc.com/car/multimedia/kw_m75bt/
$289 with backup cam bundled from Wal-mart seller. Ordered wire harness from Crutchfield.
Supposed to arrive the 30th (yay still on vacation!) then they revised to say it would be here next week then it showed up yesterday.
Son helped me with my crappy soldering to get the harness all setup. Then pulled everything apart and spent way too long yesterday evening getting wires for phone mic threaded through the dash so it won't fall on stuff. First time plugged in the stereo/radio worked great!
BUT the OEM sub wasn't working.
Then pulled apart lots of trim to get wires to backup cam all in place, broke the taillight assembly as the plastic fastener would NOT come out- super brittle with age and poor plastic design. Super glued that then continued on, wiring backup cam to reverse light, and another wire from reverse light to stereo (to trigger camera on the screen). Put epoxy on the taillight assembly to reinforce the dumb design.
Also got the parking brake wire connected to brake wire (crappy soldering and lots of electrical tape on all my connections). Got the USB wire for the phone connection threaded into a good spot.
Took me a minute to realize there is also a FRONT camera option on the back of the stereo, plugged it into the proper one and Magic it all finally worked! But it was late last night...
This morning just said screw it and tried what I figured was a power trigger wire to the sub connecting to the power on wire to the stereo and sub/amp works (but gives a super loud THUMP when it powers off). Got the dash all put back together, put all the interior trim back nice, had to put ALL of the weird foam and carpet pieces back into trunk, and it's all sweet!
Fun to see how simple Android Auto can be. Play music and maps at the same time! (pandora or radio)
It's nice the deck is not deep so didn't have any worries at all about all the extra wires having space.
Just wish it was this easy for our Odyssey..... :huh: We don't have NAV but it has DVD and a "CD library" that records up to 18 CDs and steering wheel controls. So I don't really want to tear all that apart!
Annnnnnd apparently Android Auto disconnects at random. So much I contacted the seller, paid for a new unit to replace the one, with intent to return the defective one after installing the new one (didn't want to rip out wires).
Well new one disconnects too. If you plug the phone back in it connects ok again, but no idea why or how long this will go on. Google it and apparently it's an issue with some phones. Lots of "try a new cable, clean out your USB connector" etc... troubleshooting, but it just.... does this for some phones.
Really annoying. :( So either I rip stuff out of the car and send it all back (two units) or deal with it and send one unit back. Sigh.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on January 13, 2021, 04:49:29 PM
Annnnnnd apparently Android Auto disconnects at random. So much I contacted the seller, paid for a new unit to replace the one, with intent to return the defective one after installing the new one (didn't want to rip out wires).
Well new one disconnects too. If you plug the phone back in it connects ok again, but no idea why or how long this will go on. Google it and apparently it's an issue with some phones. Lots of "try a new cable, clean out your USB connector" etc... troubleshooting, but it just.... does this for some phones.
Really annoying. :( So either I rip stuff out of the car and send it all back (two units) or deal with it and send one unit back. Sigh.
Can't bluetooth?
Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on January 13, 2021, 04:50:24 PM
Can't bluetooth?
Can but that doesn't display the map and the Pandora controls...
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on January 13, 2021, 04:49:29 PM
Annnnnnd apparently Android Auto disconnects at random. So much I contacted the seller, paid for a new unit to replace the one, with intent to return the defective one after installing the new one (didn't want to rip out wires).
Well new one disconnects too. If you plug the phone back in it connects ok again, but no idea why or how long this will go on. Google it and apparently it's an issue with some phones. Lots of "try a new cable, clean out your USB connector" etc... troubleshooting, but it just.... does this for some phones.
Really annoying. :( So either I rip stuff out of the car and send it all back (two units) or deal with it and send one unit back. Sigh.
Cleaning out the USB-C connector is good advice. Grit gets packed in the bottom of those things.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on January 13, 2021, 04:49:29 PM
Annnnnnd apparently Android Auto disconnects at random. So much I contacted the seller, paid for a new unit to replace the one, with intent to return the defective one after installing the new one (didn't want to rip out wires).
Well new one disconnects too. If you plug the phone back in it connects ok again, but no idea why or how long this will go on. Google it and apparently it's an issue with some phones. Lots of "try a new cable, clean out your USB connector" etc... troubleshooting, but it just.... does this for some phones.
Really annoying. :( So either I rip stuff out of the car and send it all back (two units) or deal with it and send one unit back. Sigh.
My Apple Car Play was doing the same thing in the Silverado. Get a new USB Cord. That fixed my problem!
Bought a new cord before I ordered second deck. It's my wife's phone too. :'-(
That sucks!
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
The vast majority of these aftermarket head units have stability issues with CarPlay and Android Auto. Hell, most of the OEM ones do too.
I've had a whole mess of issues with Android Auto - at first it maybe connected 1 out of 5 attempts. Switching to a Anker Powerline+ usb cord helped a lot. Google fixed some issues with app updates. Alfa Romeo seemed to fix some issues with firmware updates. Ultimately my new phone seemed to solve the remaining issues and the phone probably connects 95% of the time on the first try.
I still have no widescreen android auto which is annoying because car play works in widescreen... Doesn't seem fixable without Alfa overhauling their infotainment which they no longer use (so not happening...)
I've been pretty lucky with my car I guess. I think in 4+ years it has failed to connect maybe half a dozen times? Maybe its a good reason not to upgrade my phone...avoid any potential compatibility issues. :hmm:
I still have stability issues with the Outback some. The latest upgrade helped quite a bit. And it finally takes up the whole screen and the icons are sized properly.
Once you get used to it, it's hard to go back to any OEM interface. They all suck. The S2000 just has a bluetooth head unit hidden behind the radio door, and then I have a mount for my phone, so it's basically just like CarPlay on a smaller screen.
Some more googling indicates it might be battery settings. I've tweaked those a bit to turn off 'battery saver' so maybe it will stay connected?
I've never had issues with it connecting- super fast and every time. Just annoying when you're jamming maps and Pandora and it just stops. Unplug the cable, plug it back in, and tap the app on the headunit again.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on January 14, 2021, 08:20:22 AM
Some more googling indicates it might be battery settings. I've tweaked those a bit to turn off 'battery saver' so maybe it will stay connected?
That's a good theory.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on January 14, 2021, 08:20:22 AM
Some more googling indicates it might be battery settings. I've tweaked those a bit to turn off 'battery saver' so maybe it will stay connected?
I've never had issues with it connecting- super fast and every time. Just annoying when you're jamming maps and Pandora and it just stops. Unplug the cable, plug it back in, and tap the app on the headunit again.
I have a lot of friends on the AA team. I'll see if I can get any hot tipz from them.
Quote from: Laconian on January 14, 2021, 11:18:15 AM
I have a lot of friends on the AA team. I'll see if I can get any hot tipz from them.
I'd be open to sending debug info it helps.
Sometimes it stays connected for 20min, sometimes 3. Makes me wonder what "channel" of comms it keeps open, and what would interrupt that. Or if it's the OS going into any standby or the battery saver thing.
I have Pixel 3a, wife has Pixel 3(aXL?) on most current versions. Both phones do the same, tried 2 different (good) cables, two different decks (JVC KW-M75BT).
USB-C actually has a wide range of cable qualities, and the cables themselves are active components with chips that advertise their capabilities (conductors, max current, etc.) So just trying another cable might not be the thing - you might have to try a high end cable which specifically lists AA compliance among its traits.
Quote from: Laconian on January 14, 2021, 11:58:04 AM
USB-C actually has a wide range of cable qualities, and the cables themselves are active components with chips that advertise their capabilities (conductors, max current, etc.) So just trying another cable might not be the thing - you might have to try a high end cable which specifically lists AA compliance among its traits.
Sigh.
Wife was already upset at the $14 cable LOL. The other one we tried was a 6ft Amazon basics which has worked fine for large data transfers to PC.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on January 14, 2021, 12:05:03 PM
Sigh.
Wife was already upset at the $14 cable LOL. The other one we tried was a 6ft Amazon basics which has worked fine for large data transfers to PC.
I have never had luck with amazon basics USB cables for any kind of iPhone data transfer
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on January 14, 2021, 12:05:03 PM
Sigh.
Wife was already upset at the $14 cable LOL. The other one we tried was a 6ft Amazon basics which has worked fine for large data transfers to PC.
Android Auto gobbles quite a bit of power, and if your cable isn't rated for carrying higher voltages, it's _possible_ that your phone is cutting the AA session due to high discharge rate? I'm just spitballing, please don't throw money away at my wild theories ;)
Quote from: Laconian on January 14, 2021, 11:58:04 AM
USB-C actually has a wide range of cable qualities, and the cables themselves are active components with chips that advertise their capabilities (conductors, max current, etc.) So just trying another cable might not be the thing - you might have to try a high end cable which specifically lists AA compliance among its traits.
I simultaneously love and hate USB C. It's a great idea, but can be so finicky in the real world.
Quote from: CaminoRacer on January 14, 2021, 02:04:39 PM
I simultaneously love and hate USB C. It's a great idea, but can be so finicky in the real world.
It suffers tremendously from being too open-minded. "Sure, I can do that too!" I wasted a number of hours figuring out why my desktop couldn't use a portable monitor. Turns out there's a thing called "DisplayPort Alt Mode" which COMPLETELY changes the USB protocol and is only supported by mobile GPUs, not desktop GPUs. WTF
Well when I swapped new head unit #2 back for #1 (to mail #2 back for refund) realized the oem woofer was silent. So I got that fixed too. :)
Even if AA is a semi dud, we haz better bass and bluetooth (w/ decent mic) and backup cam. No more Cee Deez though.
What a bummer about AA.
Quote from: Laconian on January 14, 2021, 06:38:57 PM
What a bummer about AA.
We'll see tomorrow with the battery settings changes. I haven't driven anywhere in 3 days :mask: