Android in dash...Among other things...

[Booba]

Her everyone, like the title says, I'm installing an Android based head unit in my car, along with some new goodies. I currently have a Kenwood eXcelon KDC-991 with Infinity Kappa coax's in the front doors, running stock tweeters with them in series. I know that was wrong and dropped the impedance down, but I faded the head unit to the rear a bit and never noticed a difference. I also have some Kenwood 6x9s I received as a gift from a friend, some KFC-S6983's. As for a sub, I have a POS Sony 12 inch 1200w in a 1.1 cubic foot sealed box, powered by another amp my friend gave me, lol. For now, the sub stays, along with the 6x9s, but they are both getting new amps. I have a 800w Pioneer amp in my truck that I had for years and I'll be moving it over to the car, and I just bought an Infinity 475a for the surrounding speakers. The Kappas are coming out of the doors and some new Infinity Kappa Components are taking their place. The Kappas I have in the doors now are strange. They sound good, don't get me wrong, but they have no magnet, it's all an electromagnet. I used to have Kappa components in my Civic and loved them, so I decided to get them again for my GP.

 

As for the head unit, things got a bit more complicated. I have kids, and I have family in Arizona...1400 miles away...so a DVD system with external screens would be nice to say the least. I'm a nerd, so it had to be something cool. Boom, Android based head unit. Does everything I want and more, even has Torque on it. Problem is most of these Android head unit have low pre-outs, and are pretty pricey. I opted to take a chance and bought a Chinese knock off, known as the AU-21 N, with dual core 1 GHZ A9 CPU, 1 GB DDR3, 6.2" screen, 6 GB internal memory, internal GPS, internal bluetooth, front\rear usb, yada yada yada. shipped to my door in just over a week (from China, so not bad) for $299.90. Out of the box it's cool, but has it's problems. Aspect ratio is wrong, slow, glitchy, etc. I rooted it, installed Sygic, Poweramp, Tasker, ADW, Car Home Ultra, and a few others, and it's running great! On my kitchen table. I found out Bluetooth and Wifi Torque Pro is a no go, so a usb OBD2 cable is on it's way now, along with a backup camera, and a USB hub. I still need to find a video player that has a dark theme to it, whites on this screen don't work out so well, but overall I'm happy.

 

On to the pre-out voltage. I assume this head unit is 2 volts or less, so I picked up a 3-way crossover with a 7 volt line driver built in, I tore it apart and I have 9 op-amps to upgrade! That'll happen later, but I'm getting some Burr Browns for this bad boy.

 

The main install happens this Sunday, the new power wire, head unit, front speakers (if they get here in time), amps, and crossover. I'll get some pics in the morning of everything, I'm tossing around the idea of installing some of the stuff before work tomorrow.

[will_s95]

Very cool man! What 3 way crossover did you get? I have 2 12" Kickers on a 500 (actual) watt Alpine amp and safe to say my Polk mids and his off the deck can't really keep up lol. I want to do a mids and highs amp this summer when I have cash but I need a good crossover first.

Edited February 28, 2014 by will_s95

[Booba]

A Cadence CXR-7. It's a cheaper one, $60, but it gives me a platform that's easy to upgrade. I can put new op amps and filter caps in and it'll sound great. That'll happen a little later on after the install. I decided not to install anything yesterday, but I cleaned my shed REALLY well so I have plenty of room to work. Here's the crossover:

With the cover off:

[Booba]

Well thanks to Mother Nature and my bad back this project is taking a bit longer than expected, lol. Originally we were going to work all day Sunday and have it done, but so far We've worked 4 hours on Saturday, about 6 hours today, and still have more to go. The weather has been the biggest time consumer, we have my car pulled into my shed and space is TIGHT and I'm a big guy... Anyways, so far we have the Front speakers installed minus the crossovers (but the wire is run to the crossover's locations). I ended up having to mount the tweeters on the dash because these things are HUGE, bigger than a silver dollar. Both speaker wires are run up the passenger side, both crossovers are in the dash, by the glove box, and the driver-side's speaker wires are run across the top of the dash undder the HUD trim panel. We also have the power wire run, connecting it to the side post of the battery was fun, I had to grind the post's bolt down to make room for the wire's connector. Dash is basically ready for the head unit, although I need to actually bolt the headunit in...which involves me bending some metal up and screwing in some self-tappers. Both RCAs are run to the trunk, along with the sub control wire, remote wires, and power wire. In the trunk, I have some of the amps hooked up, but I haven't mounted them yet. I want to make sure all the wires reach so I'm going to mount them after they're all connected.

 

Cliff Notes: Life sucks because I have a small building and it's f*cking cold, but all I have to do is install the head unit, crossover, connect the 6x9s, put the sub in, and bolt everything down. Here's some pics:

Majority of what all is getting installed:

Cramped is an understatement:

Power wire run:

Trunk Progress:

Tweeters freakin huge:

Interior:

Hopefully everything will be wrapped up tomorrow morning!

[will_s95]

Looks like a sweet x-over. Looks good man! Finally someone doing a cool audio build on this website and posting a build thread!

[Booba]

Everything is installed and sounds GREAT! I have 3 main issues, but other than that, it just needs a few last finishing touches. My 3 main issues are Torque doesn't work, even with an OBD II USB adapter, Steering Wheel Controls, and everything is run off of the Front Outputs. I would like to be able to fade front to back from the head unit itself, but if push comes to shove, I can live without it.

[Booba]

Just backed it out of the garage and played with it some. I have some alternator noise, which is a pet peave of mine so it'll get fixed ASAP. Short of that, it sounds GOOD, like really GOOD. Even though I discovered one of my 6x9s are blown, lol.

[Booba]

I had to drive to Springfield yesterday, so I was able to test out the system pretty well. There was one glitch, but a push of the rest button fixed that no problem. Sound is GREAT, I can't wait to upgrade the opamps in the crossover, it'll sound even better! Steering wheel controls are going to work soon. It ends up that I have to buy a USB remote in order to get them to work. I already have an SWI-X, so I'll just program that to the usb remote.

 

These things get a bit more complicated. Most people are under the assumption that it's a lot like a android phone, where you can "hack" things to work and that Android is in charge of everything. These are not like that at all. There is a chip called the MCU that controls everything, Android is just like a "feature" of the head unit. It controls the Bluetooth, Wifi, Sound output, REMOTE, etc. That being said, the original remote that came with the head unit controls the MCU not Android. Since I'm using Poweramp to listen to music, the MCU does not know to grant sound output to that app, so the remote does not control Power amp at all. With the USB remote, Android will recognize it, and the remote will control Android, not the MCU...so the remote will work with anything.I should be getting some pics later today.

 

This is kind of a temporary setup or a "test run" if you will. In a few weeks I'll be ripping a lot of it apart (again) to install headrest monitors, and a backup camera. I'll probably install the USB remote before then because i want my steering wheel controls, lol.

[GnatGoSplat]

These things get a bit more complicated. Most people are under the assumption that it's a lot like a android phone, where you can "hack" things to work and that Android is in charge of everything. These are not like that at all. There is a chip called the MCU that controls everything, Android is just like a "feature" of the head unit. It controls the Bluetooth, Wifi, Sound output, REMOTE, etc. That being said, the original remote that came with the head unit controls the MCU not Android. Since I'm using Poweramp to listen to music, the MCU does not know to grant sound output to that app, so the remote does not control Power amp at all. With the USB remote, Android will recognize it, and the remote will control Android, not the MCU...so the remote will work with anything.I should be getting some pics later today.

 

So it's kind of like the A/V and Android are separate, like if you had an Android device just hooked up to A/V inputs and switched to it, with the difference that the HU's touchscreen controls the Android?

[Garrett Powered]

that looks like CCA cable

[Booba]

So it's kind of like the A/V and Android are separate, like if you had an Android device just hooked up to A/V inputs and switched to it, with the difference that the HU's touchscreen controls the Android?

Sort of, but a more intelligent version of that since the MCU switches output for you, there's not multiple volumes, etc. Once you open the Disc app (and it closes itself since there is no DVD), the audio portion is exactly like a normal Android device. The only time I run into a problem with it is when it comes to running Torque via Bluetooth. Well, I have the USB remote IR sensor installed, IR emitter relocated, and new sub installed. Not sure if I mentioned it or not, but I fixed an amp for a friend of mine and in return he's selling me a W3 for $75. I put it in Tuesday and what a difference, who would have though a JL would sound better than a Sony (haha...)? Steering wheel controls all work great now, and most of the kinks are worked out. There's a few minor issues here and there, but that'll get fixed in the next round of "ripping all this **** apart." I have the backup camera to install, a relay to install on the remote amp wire (long story), a small capacitor to install on the power line (another long story), and clean up the wiring in the trunk. Then the weather should be warm enough for me to do the exhaust!

 

Here's a few pics and a video:

JL sub and amps, I need to trim up some of the speaker wire and tuck some RCAs, but that's about it:

Video of how the Android is working:

[Psych0matt]

is this the one you chose? I've been looking at different things to do in the GTP. I originally was going to go carputer, then I was gonna do a rasperri pi carputer, then android, and now I'm back to undecided. something like this looks sweet, although I was looking at getting a parrot, only they're $$

[Booba]

Once I get all the quirks worked out it will be badass. Right now, if you are listening to music with the key on, engine off, then start the car it's breaks itself. The voltage drops enough to close the MCU but not Android, so they get out of sync. That means that the audio portion has strange behavior, like you have to open the music app, play a song, pause the song, then Power Amp will have sound output, no other time. Then when you start the unit again both Power Amp and the stock Music app will play a different song, so you have to pause one of them. There's a reset button on the front of the unit to "resync" everything as I put it, but a permanent fix might be to install a small capacitor on the power line going to the head unit. I'm researching a bit more on this.

 

Another issue I have (I'm a perfectionist) is that when the head unit turns off, you can continue to hear music at a lower volume until the MCU cuts the power to the remote amp wire. Once it does cut power, you hear a pop. My fix for this will be to connect up a relay, or maybe another capacitor (if the relay still has the "pop" sound).

 

Other than those few things, I like it a lot! Power amp has a 10 band EQ built in, it comes with a Wifi dongle and GPS built in (Sygic sucks, I need to find something else), etc.

 

One thing I should mention also is that I can't say anything to the preout voltages. I have the Front\Rear RCAs run into a 7 volt line driver so I have 7 volt preouts now...

[Psych0matt]

oops, forgot the linik. This is what I meant to paste:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA3220ZC6454&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-_-pla-_-GPS+Navigation-_-9SIA3220ZC6454&ef_id=UxaKbAAAADTjRRSE:20140313164926:s

[Booba]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Android-Double-Din-Car-DVD-Player-WIFI-3G-GPS-Navigation-Bluetooth-iPhone-in-RDS-/191060096403

 

Basically the same thing, but I bought mine off of eBay. It took a little over a week to get, and that's only because I have a RT address instead of a street address. I also bought this line driver\crossover:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cadence-CXR7-Car-Audio-3-Way-Electronic-Crossover-w-7-Volt-Line-Driver-New-/400659053948

 

That'll be getting some upgraded op amps as well, so it should sound even better. I'll show you how to upgrade them if you end up getting a similar set up, if you know how to solder you can do it.

[Psych0matt]

my main issues with mine are A) it's single DIN, I do not want to run all the speakers off of amps, so I was going to run a dual setup (HU in the glovebox, android/pc or whatever in the dash), and having the functionality that I need for OBD1, which is why I was leaning toward a windows system instead of android.

[GnatGoSplat]

Video of how the Android is working:

 

Your vid is showing just the Android part, right?

If you were to use the radio or play a CD/DVD, that's built into the MCU part and not part of Android? Can you still access the Android while using the radio or playing a CD?

[Booba]

Your vid is showing just the Android part, right?

If you were to use the radio or play a CD/DVD, that's built into the MCU part and not part of Android? Can you still access the Android while using the radio or playing a CD?

Yep, when you were done you would just need to open the disc without a dvd inserted, or hold the back button in the Radio app to use Poweramp\Android stuff again.

[Booba]

Even more good stuff. I picked up a Ported sub box on CL for $15 today, if my measurements are right, it's 1.68 cubic feet, with a 12x2 port that 13.5 inches long. It's a solid box, but it's tuned to around 43hz, with a port that size. My JL needs at least 1.75 cubic ft, and needs to be tuned as close to 30 hz as possible (35hz would be fine since I'm more of a Rock guy). I extended the port another 12 inches using 1x4s, then sealed them all up and added 1.25 pounds of poly fill, which should "simulate" an increase of ~30% in my box's volume. This leaves me at 2.18 cubic feet for my volume, so when I rework the math with the new volume and port size, my new box should be tuned right around 31 hz. I've built PLENTY of sealed boxes, but this will be the first ported box I've played with in a very long time...something like 12 years, lol. That said, the math adds up that it should sound good, but we'll see. If it doesn't sound like I'd like it to, I'll probably break down and build a ported box sometime this summer. Right now I have $15, some scrap wood, and some polyfill into this box so we'll see how it turns out tomorrow!

[Booba]

It's in! Sounds GREAT! I might try and get a bit more low end out of it, but the Hush Mat will help with that soon. I gotta say, this is the best sounding 4 ohm, 250w (RMS) sub I have ever heard. I've typically used dual voice subs so I could wire them down to a lower impedance so they could get a lot more power, this is the first single voice coil sub I've ever decided to use on a permanent basis. This weekend I'll rearrange the amps and such, so the trunk will be done (other than the sound deadening).

[Booba]

Today was a good day. I upgraded the Op amps in the crossover to Burr Browns, and basically tinkered with the stereo all. I still have some alternator whine, but I think I've narrowed it down to my RCAs. I changed out the tl082CN op amps for some Burr Brown OPA2604s on the front and OPA2228s for the rears and sub. 1 word. Holy****ing****. That is all. Both me and my dad were pretty speechless at the difference is made...He's a studio engineer and we've both recorded, edited, and mixed down numerous CDs. He's still building custom preamps for studio recording, these are Pro Audio Op Amps. Once I get this alternator whine taken care of I'll be one happy camper, lol. Everything sounds warmer, bass is punchier, mids and higher are clearer, overall it was just a fantastic upgrade, all from 9 little chips, lol. I installed sockets for the Op amps just in case I decided to change them out, which I might swap out the 2228s for more 2604s some day if I can get my hands on some. I spent about 30-45 minutes fixing bad solder joints that the factory had on this thing, they were terrible at best.

 

Pics:

[Booba]

I went ahead and upgraded all my RCAs to Livewire and Monsters today. Hey, every little bit counts. Oh yea, I finally installed the back-up camera. It's pretty freakin cool, right when I put the car into reverse the head unit pops over to the backup camera. Music continues to play, but I can change it to mute during revers if I want. Pic and video:

[Booba]

Picked up a new dash bezel at the JY yesterday to modify for the double din. Turns out i don't need to do any cutting (guess I shouldn't have cut the old one), but I did need to fill the sides in a bit. I sanded the entire bezel down with 220 then wet sanded 320 then 400, then glued in in some back and filled it in with some epoxy. It was starting to smooth out when the rain started, so I decided to put another layer of epoxy down and get it as smooth as I could. second layer is drying for a few hours now, then I'll sand it down. Hoping to paint it metal flake gunmetal, with lots of clear:

[Booba]

Double post....

Edited April 14, 2014 by Booba

[Booba]

No pics, but it is ready for paint, I was rained out last night and today it was too cold and too humid to paint, so it'll pick up tomorrow. I did get one coat down to show any imperfections and the color is AWESOME. There were 2 imperfections, but they're fixed now.