Do you use your phone as your main Audio source?

[TheTacoMan]

It would be quite cool to retro fit it into where the obc is and just have the radio space for gauges or specifically mounting the phone there.

[Northern]

I just have an old ipod that connects to an ipod connector in the glovebox for the cheesy Sony head unit that the PO put in the car.

I'm not a huge fan of the setup because everything about it sucks. I'm too lazy to ever bring the ipod into the house, find a cable, and new music on it. I do like that I can use the whole ipod as a playlist and skip by album or just play actual playlists off it.

I'd use my phone, but I find the standard music player on android really clunky.

There's probably better apps out there to use, but I haven't used bluetooth to play music since a few phones ago.
Not sure how it would impact battery life (couldn't be too bad on current gen smartphones)
I wouldn't use it if I had to pull out my phone every time I got in the car.

I would love a re-purposed OEM headunit for the "Hot Buttons" as I don't know what else I'd do with the space (maybe a storage slot?)

[StereoInstaller1]

See, what you are saying sounds exactly like I would expect lots of people to feel.

Thanks!

[LowR3V'in]

I got a tape/aux adapter because aftermarket stereos ALL look like
shit. Aux/tape sounds just fine using mp3.

Take a look at this. WHO thought "ok, lets go with this"?
You guys like the movie tron? R U in a riced out car show. Why the hell make all
stereos look more or less just like this?

[pbsun]

Yes this would be great to have. I haven't had the need for a CD unit for years and have just gone with a phone bluetooth spotify combo. Would like to use the radio space to mount my phone (some kind of universal mount) and just use the phones screen as my primary interface. Of course integrating an amp would be fine for those that don't care for a standalone amp however for those with amp/sub combos a bluetooth unit and the phone is all we need.

[Northern]

Take a look at this. WHO thought "ok, lets go with this"?
You guys like the movie tron? R U in a riced out car show. Why the hell make all
stereos look more or less just like this?
[pic]

Hard to believe, but that's slightly worse than mine. Same colours and everything, but that one has more of them.

[StereoInstaller1]

Yes this would be great to have. I haven't had the need for a CD unit for years and have just gone with a phone bluetooth spotify combo. Would like to use the radio space to mount my phone (some kind of universal mount) and just use the phones screen as my primary interface. Of course integrating an amp would be fine for those that don't care for a standalone amp however for those with amp/sub combos a bluetooth unit and the phone is all we need.

Thanks for the input! Yeah, we looked at the idea of doing something like that, possibly with a spot for the sub level knob and the volume knob and the 6 control buttons, sort of a uber-simple deck, as it were. We could add a simple AUX circuit as well, but I think 99% of everyone would be OK with just a single BT interface.

I don't think we will be making this be able to directly power speakers, but aftermarket amps are so cheap and so small, there is no sense in us trying to beat those guys at that game.

I figure too that we may be barking up a tough tree, turns out licensing is $8000 per year for the Bluetooth logo or a "limited" license is $2500 a year.

That may just put a complete stop to this for us, but once we get a prototype up, we will do a crowd funding deal, see if we can get the capital up to do this.

[Navarone]

Wow, that's pretty intense. Crowd funding is probably your best bet.

The other options are joining another company that already has the license or sell the product as a kit and people buy their own Bluetooth module and simply plug it in.

[StereoInstaller1]

Wow, that's pretty intense. Crowd funding is probably your best bet.

The other options are joining another company that already has the license or sell the product as a kit and people buy their own Bluetooth module and simply plug it in.

I wish it were that simple...the module is the size of a postage stamp and is surface mount, there is no plugging involved.

[Navarone]

What about finding something in the arduino world, or exbee, or um raspberry pi? I'm not too familiar with those, but know they exist.

I bet you could make some kind of snap in setup like laptop memory or the "shields" for the above mentioned project boards. They might even have dip packages for those boards so you can plug them into sockets like an IC or protoboard with .100 sip.

Anyway, if you're making a commercial product that you expect to sell thousands of then your way sounds the best. I think a well made, factory looking, mechless solution with great dac and high power built in amp will really revolutionize the market.

[golde30]

i have done a couple systems like this using a mix n match of parts available, usually for guys running gauges in place of the radio.would be nice to have it all contained in 1 unit, that could maybe hide in center console with a couple buttons for master volume, maybe some EQ as well.

[Garrick2007]

This would be really cool Luke. Nice to see people remembering the importance in audio quality. It really sucks that the new iPhones can not output HD audio currently, it was something i was really looking forward to, the specs were looking at 24/96. How perfect would that be. What device did you have in mind to work in conjunction with this setup? As you know i currently re-did my hole system, sounds great. The deck i bought was a few years old got it because aesthetically it fit my car the best and i thought it did everything. The bluetooth only does voice calling but not playback and also it doesn't work with any newer iPhones via usb. So i have this beautiful lcd deck thats aux only. Ready to resell. Your "HD Bluetooth interface" would really save me.

Having a analog sub and volume control would be really cool and as said above EQ but i know thats a hole other story. When listening to music at home or on a iPod i don't mess with eq 9/10 times. I believe in leaving the mix and mastered tracks the way they were intended to sound as long as the system is capable of playing it back that way but in a car things are different especially before i re-did my system but since then i rarely tweak unless I'm playing a song with a horrible mix. Whats your thoughts?

[guibo09]

I was exploring doing something similar myself. I currently have a block off plate and no deck.

I was thinking of adding a quality volume knob to it and a Bluetooth module behind. Then I would build an amp6 or amp9 from www.41hz.com into the stock amp housing. Simple and clean.

However, as crappy as FM could be, I still use it regularly and would like it back. If you find a way to repurpose the OEM radio, rip out the useless heavy tape deck section, keep the FM working, and make it output line level so you can use a proper amp, you have me as a customer.

So how would this work for stock radio? You would provide a service where we send in ours and you rebuild it? A diy kit?

[AndrewBird]

Why not just not use the bluetooth logo? Nothing stopping you from saying it is bluetooth but not suing the logo.

[Navarone]

He'd get sued.