New infotainment in older car

ftm2008

has anyone replaced the an infotainment system with a new one.
was firstly looking at a new car but with another junior on the way i am looking at maybe a 3-4yr old car in 2018.
would be nice to get a new infotainment head in an older car such as the Bolero in an Octavia in say a 2014 version.
I mostly listen to Podcasts/Spotify while driving so would like the controls on the radio unit and not BT.
any idea of cost?

GustavoFring

If it was specifically the Octavia you’re looking at you can’t officially retrofit the MIB2 Bolero with Android Auto/CarPlay into a car with an MIB1 system due to component protection. There are a few hacks around this, mainly from Russia and Eastern Europe, but I don’t think there is anyone in Ireland doing it.

It came from the 152 models onwards really with the 6.5 inch screen if you were able to find one within budget. The other option is to go aftermarket but the cost of some of the better and more integrated systems would nearly pay the cost delta to a car that already had it.

ftm2008

disappointing ,, Octavia is not the only make/model i would be interested just using as an example.
do any make of car support this?
not thats it the primary reason but it is a feature i would like.

Nuw

If the car comes with standard dual-DIN (which most do tbh) you replace the original with something like this (just an exemple, there are plenty other options). It's basically an android unit that can do everything once you get it connected to the internet (through your phone for instance). Most of them can handle rear-cam input which can also be bought for not too much money or if the car you select has it. It can also broadcast the internet from your phone by creating a wifi network for the car, which passengers can connect to (can be quite useful if you have kids and a unlimited data plan). You can also get a facia piece of plastic to go around it so it looks like it was factory fitted...

GustavoFring

I think it is really only the last 2-3 years it’s becoming readily available. You should be able to get a solution to most cars aftermarket so don’t let it decide on the car.

ftm2008

sure thanks guys - my company ties me to iOS so ill take a look at the aftermarket ones.. was just hoping to keep the OEM version.

I have a cheap (250e) Chinese android in my golf and for the money I find it great.

There is a new unit to the market that supports android and ios by JBL but i havent found it for sale in europe yet.
Its the JBL legend cp100

info here

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-DuMGWu3hB6L/p_109CP100/JBL-Legend-CP100.html

MobileAudio

Most cars in car systems can be upgraded. I usually install Alpine or Pioneer. Alpine do some great car specific units with the Alpine Style systems which are unbeatable for quality, or normal Double Din sized units that will fit, same as all the leading Japaneses brands.

There is one specifically for the Skoda Octavia model...I wouldn't touch the Chinese android stuff. Remember an in car unit gets used a lot, pretty much every day and sometimes for hours on end so ergonomics and ease of use are No1. I find it funny that people spend 10-20k and more on a car yet put a Chinese Android unit in it....but at the same time have a top end Iphone or Samsung in their pocket !

MobileAudio

MobileAudio wrote: »

I find it funny that people spend 10-20k and more on a car yet put a Chinese Android unit in it....but at the same time have a top end Iphone or Samsung in their pocket !

I can assure you my car hasn't been worth 10k in several years and my phone is dirt with a cracked screen......

I've have jvc and Pioneer in the past before androids came about and found the firmware complete crap considering the price.
What's a good highend double din Android unit?
The Chinese one I have looks stock and always works but they are cheap for a reason and I'm not as fussy as I used to be!

Nuw

Had both Pioneer (or Sony, I don't really remember tbh) and cheap chinese, the cheap chinese took less time to boot up had much much more options and cost half the price... It's a no brainer really. I think the worst was the lag of the branded unit to display the rear camera... more than enough to render it being useless.

The only drawback I found with the chinese one is that the sound quality could be better (I'm guessing they use cheap-ish DAC for the sound output to the speakers) but in fairness it's still more than good enough for regular use and unless you spend serious money; you won't get very good sound from a car system anyway.

Nuw

Nuw wrote: »

The only drawback I found with the chinese one is that the sound quality could be better.

Agreed

I'm keeping an eye on the what the big boys have on offer but haven't seen anything that takes my fancy.

here is my unit in action

MobileAudio

BrownFinger wrote: »

I can assure you my car hasn't been worth 10k in several years and my phone is dirt with a cracked screen......

I've have jvc and Pioneer in the past before androids came about and found the firmware complete crap considering the price.
What's a good highend double din Android unit?
The Chinese one I have looks stock and always works but they are cheap for a reason and I'm not as fussy as I used to be!

Post wasn't aimed at you....just an observation from the enquiries I get. Of course not everyone will want to splash out on a top end unit for a cheaper or older vehicle.

Nuw wrote: »

Had both Pioneer (or Sony, I don't really remember tbh) and cheap chinese, the cheap chinese took less time to boot up had much much more options and cost half the price... It's a no brainer really. I think the worst was the lag of the branded unit to display the rear camera... more than enough to render it being useless.

The only drawback I found with the chinese one is that the sound quality could be better (I'm guessing they use cheap-ish DAC for the sound output to the speakers) but in fairness it's still more than good enough for regular use and unless you spend serious money; you won't get very good sound from a car system anyway.

I have never had rear camera lag on quality units, usually takes less then a second.

The sound from the Chinese stuff really is bad though. I have compared a couple beside an Alpine out of curiosity. And at the end of the day your are buying an audio product.

cruizer101

MobileAudio wrote: »

The sound from the Chinese stuff really is bad though. I have compared a couple beside an Alpine out of curiosity. And at the end of the day your are buying an audio product.

To be fair given your username I'm guessing you are into your audio equipment somewhat. For most the quality of audio in a car doesn't matter a huge amount so long as its not complete crap (and that really is subjective to the person). At the end of the day nothing is going to sound great in a car given the added road-noise and that. I'm sure there is a balance point but audio quality is one of those things of diminishing returns, past a certain point to improve quality costs a lot extra, and everyones balance point varies audio is very subjective. And sure it doesn't matter too much if it sounds crap when I'm singing over it anyway :pac:

Dravokivich

cruizer101 wrote: »

To be fair given your username I'm guessing you are into your audio equipment somewhat. For most the quality of audio in a car doesn't matter a huge amount so long as its not complete crap (and that really is subjective to the person). At the end of the day nothing is going to sound great in a car given the added road-noise and that. I'm sure there is a balance point but audio quality is one of those things of diminishing returns, past a certain point to improve quality costs a lot extra, and everyones balance point varies audio is very subjective. And sure it doesn't matter too much if it sounds crap when I'm singing over it anyway :pac:

You'd find most music producers will use a car for referencing recordings. A lot of music is heard on it day to day. You'd be a fool to discount it as something to target.

MobileAudio

Yes I am into my audio

And yes it is a subjective thing but everyone can hear the difference between bad and good audio, whether they are into it or not. Fact is most just haven't heard good, so think bad is normal.

cruizer101 wrote: »

At the end of the day nothing is going to sound great in a car given the added road-noise and that.

Have you heard a good aftermarket in car system......I don't mean loud I mean good.

JohnBoy26

cruizer101 wrote: »

To be fair given your username I'm guessing you are into your audio equipment somewhat. For most the quality of audio in a car doesn't matter a huge amount so long as its not complete crap (and that really is subjective to the person). At the end of the day nothing is going to sound great in a car given the added road-noise and that. I'm sure there is a balance point but audio quality is one of those things of diminishing returns, past a certain point to improve quality costs a lot extra, and everyones balance point varies audio is very subjective. And sure it doesn't matter too much if it sounds crap when I'm singing over it anyway :pac:

That is just not true and just because there is road noise doesn't mean you can't hear the difference. As mobile audio says alpine do excellent units that work well and sound great. I could not put up with poor sound quality tbh. Id rather spend the extra €€€ and get a decent unit.

Nuw

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

cruizer101 wrote: »

To be fair given your username I'm guessing you are into your audio equipment somewhat. For most the quality of audio in a car doesn't matter a huge amount so long as its not complete crap (and that really is subjective to the person). At the end of the day nothing is going to sound great in a car given the added road-noise and that. I'm sure there is a balance point but audio quality is one of those things of diminishing returns, past a certain point to improve quality costs a lot extra, and everyones balance point varies audio is very subjective. And sure it doesn't matter too much if it sounds crap when I'm singing over it anyway :pac:

That is just not true and just because there is road noise doesn't mean you can't hear the difference. As mobile audio says alpine do excellent units that work well and sound great. I could not put up with poor sound quality tbh. Id rather spend the extra €€€ and get a decent unit.

I see your point, but are you willing to spend 400 quids into an audio unit that will be used to listen to podcasts/mp3s that are massively compressed, like the OP? I'm not sure it's worth it, just me though and I completely understand that one would go with a 'proper' unit even if not used to its potential.

I think an audio system should be sized to the person's needs. The chinese unit I bought was to be used in a small car that would do short trips around the city listening to mp3s from a usb stick, or bluetooth from a phone... given that it performed better in terms of features and how quick it was to react compared to another unit that was twice the price, the sound quality came second.

OldMrBrennan83

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Nuw

Patww79 wrote: »

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Got mine from the dealer we bought the car from. They might be able to source one for you, let me know if interested I'll PM their details.

OldMrBrennan83

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Nuw

Patww79 wrote: »

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Yeah cheers, I never thought of dealers. Might even try my one (it's for a Ford). Is it an Android Auto unit as opposed to an Android unit?[/quote]
It's this one. With Irish/Europe maps for the gps app. But because it's full android unit, you can use whatever navigation app you want as you have the playstore available.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Nuw

PM sent

MobileAudio

Nuw wrote: »

I see your point, but are you willing to spend 400 quids into an audio unit that will be used to listen to podcasts/mp3s that are massively compressed, like the OP? I'm not sure it's worth it, just me though and I completely understand that one would go with a 'proper' unit even if not used to its potential.

A compressed file will still sound better being played through a better amplifier though ? same as it will by playing it through better speakers and so on. The amplifiers in these Chinese units sound very brittle, making compressed music even worse. Regarding the price your not spending €400.00 extra, you are paying the difference between an Android unit and a quality unit...so maybe 100-200 extra.....well worth it for the quality improvement.

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

There are plenty of Android Auto units available from all the leading brands.....Alpine, Pioneer, kenwood, Sony......etc etc

Nuw

My understanding is that the sound quality is only as good as the weakest link of the system (re)producing it, so if the file being played is highly compressed, no matter what system you'll be playing it on (provided it meets the basic quality standards), it will never be "good". 

The amplifying part of a system basically determine how 'powerful' the output will be, a good one will prevent saturation at high output (or when volume setting is high). The only way to 'improve' quality of a compressed file is to use some kind of algorithm to modify the signal before it is converted and amplified (again, as far as I understand, I'm no expert).

What matters here is the quality of the digital to analog converters (DAC for short), which intervene before the amplifier. I agree that the DAC used in a cheap unit are not the best and therefore are limiting the "quality" of the sound perceived by your ears. On the other end though, I don't think paying for good ones to listen to compressed file is worth the extra money you'd need to fork out (again just me). 

But yes, we do agree that at the end of the day, you get what you pay for and a cheap unit will not compete with any branded unit in terms of sound reproduction quality. And given that the use of the car might actually change over time, it might be a sound (pun intended) investment.

VW 1

BrownFinger wrote:

There is a new unit to the market that supports android and ios by JBL but i havent found it for sale in europe yet. Its the JBL legend cp100

Is there a way that you can get this shipped to Europe, site lists only ships in America. Or is there some alternative you can use to get it here, an equivalent of parcel motel or address wizard?

VW 1

VW 1 wrote: »

Is there a way that you can get this shipped to Europe, site lists only ships in America. Or is there some alternative you can use to get it here, an equivalent of parcel motel or address wizard?

I dont know but I would like to see and hear one in action :cool:
The Chinese one I have has canbus support which is cool.
It'll show you if doors are open or if your car has parking senors it'll tie it will display them on screen ,same for AC controls.

Waze is better for the car then google maps.
Waze is owned and run by google .

VW 1

I've arranged for someone who will be in the US to pick one up next week for me, I'll give you a shout when I've got it up and running!

VW 1

VW 1 wrote: »

I've arranged for someone who will be in the US to pick one up next week for me, I'll give you a shout when I've got it up and running!

Deadly.what car?
Pick up a reverse cam before it arrives.

VW 1

08 VW Golf. Not sure I'll get a rear cam, not too pushed on that.

Effects

BrownFinger wrote: »

here is my unit in action

Is that in a mkV? What unit it is?

Effects

Effects wrote: »

Is that in a mkV? What unit it is?

yea mk5 gti.
Looks like this particular one is discontinued.

Edit- I think this is it
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XTRONS-Android-6-0-VW-Golf-MK5-Car-Radio-Stereo-DVD-CD-Sat-Nav-GPS-WiFi-3G-OBD2/252486555321?hash=item3ac95f16b9:g:2XAAAOSwTM5YtRnf


The make is xtrons.
It was plug and play except the reverse cam but the cam switches on from the canbus system so no hacks needed.
also the steering wheel controls worked straight out of the box.
I paid £185 for it 14months ago.
The newer ones look better.I bought from ebay seller caraudiocity

MobileAudio

Nuw wrote: »

My understanding is that the sound quality is only as good as the weakest link of the system (re)producing it, so if the file being played is highly compressed, no matter what system you'll be playing it on (provided it meets the basic quality standards), it will never be "good". 
.

Yes this has always made sense as you are starting with a good source and then amplifying it. A better amplifier will still improve the sound quality though.

VW 1 wrote: »

I've arranged for someone who will be in the US to pick one up next week for me, I'll give you a shout when I've got it up and running!

JBL make some reasonable stuff but keep in mind being a USA spec unit the tuner might not work here. They also do not use RDS in the USA. These are probably some of the reasons its not available this side of the pond yet.

VW 1

MobileAudio wrote:

JBL make some reasonable stuff but keep in mind being a USA spec unit the tuner might not work here. They also do not use RDS in the USA. These are probably some of the reasons its not available this side of the pond yet.

Thanks for the heads up!

BrownFinger wrote:

The make is xtrons. It was plug and play except the reverse cam but the cam switches on from the canbus system so no hacks needed. also the steering wheel controls worked straight out of the box. I paid £185 for it 14months ago. The newer ones look better.I bought from ebay seller caraudiocity

To save the uncertainty of buying and not being able to do anything if it doesnt work out, this may be a better option for me.

Looks like a good system and pretty cheap, is there any reason not to go with this, essentially all I want is a unit that can connect to my phone via usb/Bluetooth to play music and use Google maps. From what I read on the specs it will do both those things plus calls/dvd etc?

MobileAudio

MobileAudio wrote: »

JBL make some reasonable stuff but keep in mind being a USA spec unit the tuner might not work here. They also do not use RDS in the USA. These are probably some of the reasons its not available this side of the pond yet.

North American FM broadcast channels are on the odd 200KHz frequencies: 99.5MHz, 100.1MHz, etc. In Europe, channels can be on any multiple of 100KHz, even or odd.

But

In the youtube video for the JBL he punches in the frequencies on a key pad so it should be ok,but I dont know.

Only complaint on the Xtrons unit is the FM reception,I believe this is down to the radio app.
But I cant find another radio app as they are hardware specific (i think).
Dont get me wrong you can listen to the radio but in certain spots is should autotune a little but it doesnt .
So I could drive from dublin to cork and it would be fine the whole way but I drive down the belgard road I have to manually switch to a stronger frequency.

I have the phones hotspot on and use spotify most of the time anyways.

MobileAudio

BrownFinger wrote: »

In the youtube video for the JBL he punches in the frequencies on a key pad so it should be ok,but I dont know.

Yeah hard to know. The Alpines have direct tune also and although you can enter any frequency number they will not always work.

ftm2008

So i ended up getting an 131 Smax as another junior expected...
this has the 6000cd model ,, disappointed that it does not have a2dp .
looking at optiosn for an aftermarket radio and been ios user then carplay would be my preference
Pioneer SPH-DA120 which is prob the cheapest of all carplay options and seeing if it would be worth it

with this option would anyone know if
the steering controls would work for would a can bus interface be needed?
the oem radio has the oval faceplate so an aftermarket been rectangular plate maybe required?

the phone stalk i dont care for, the volume controls i would def want
i dont care for the visibility in the dash display

tossy

Recently fitted one of the pioneer SPH DA 120 in my 08 car and find it great. spotify works a treat, apple maps isn't great (we all know that) , siri works perfectly for making calls, reading and dictating messages.

Nice unit tossy,
Its a shame they don't make right hand drive versions of these with the buttons on the right.
My Chinese one has an option to have the volume knob on either side but obviously the label still stays the same (vol/tune).
On another note I figured out that my radio has different region settings,
I had complained about the radio reception being dirt but switching regions from Europe to eastern Europe has made it 10 times better.
It now tunes in increments of .05 as apposed to .20
Cant believe it took me 14/15 months to figure it out

tossy

BrownFinger wrote: »

Nice unit tossy,
Its a shame they don't make right hand drive versions of these with the buttons on the right.
My Chinese one has an option to have the volume knob on either side but obviously the label still stays the same (vol/tune).
On another note I figured out that my radio has different region settings,
I had complained about the radio reception being dirt but switching regions from Europe to eastern Europe has made it 10 times better.
It now tunes in increments of .05 as apposed to .20
Cant believe it took me 14/15 months to figure it out

To be honest with the steering wheel controls i never touch the unit to change volume, i only touch the home button for and the screen itself for apps.

OldMrBrennan83

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tossy

This is a good one stop shop for a fitting kit Pat

https://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/

You will get everything you need for your car including Facia adapter in one package.

VonZan

Recently installed one and while it was a bit of effort it wasn't so bad in the end. I had to buy an adaptor for the antenna and install a capacitor to stop the android infotainment from resetting every time you start the car. There isn't much room in the A4 for all the cables behind the unit but it just about fits even with the GPS locater attached to the metal plate behind. The reversing camera and microphone are decent quality and work well.

VonZan

Patww79 wrote: »

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Pat, did you order this unit yet? Usually with these you should be ordered a fascia adapter, a harness adapter and an antenna adapter. What sort of car are you looking to fit this in?

OldMrBrennan83

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VonZan

Patww79 wrote: »

It's our of stock on Halfords so I can't order it to see what the adapter and facia are. I'd love to have got them to just fit it too.
I phoned the place in the UK mentioned above too but they just said everything was generic, not that they were specific to the car. Mine is a 2012 Kuga.

For all of Halfords faults they're great at saying for X car and Y unit, you need A, B, and C.

Just check your power, audio and antenna cables and it should be easy enough to pick up adaptor kits on eBay.

easyvision

Does anyone know if its possible to upgrade to apple car play in a 2015 Golf GTD (non bigger screen version), not sure if it is, but if it is, how much roughly? i see it has the voice button on steering wheel

Cheers

Kevin