Database Users

Exec noisy car audio output when powered by car adapter

Having previously owned a IIs and having a standard usb cradle in my car run from a usb connectored "cigarette lighter adapter", I'm used to using my devices as a portable "car stereo". I even wired it up to replace my old crap car stereo, using a small "cheap boy-racer style" £30 stereo power amp under the dash. This has been great for the last year. I get in the car, dock the xda IIs into the cradle, plug in the headphone socket which is wired into the amp and hey presto, music - and tom tom prompts through the car speakers.
Recently I've been eyeing up the xda exec(JasJar/Universal) and after getting a second hand colleague to buy my IIis, decided to get the new device. Obviously the shorter battery life is a bit of a shock compared to my old one, but I was pleasantly suprised that
1) The audio output seems a better quality
2) The new device no longer needed a custom USB cradle plinth or gooseneck holder, ... I could place the "open clam" in the recess in my instrument panel, to the right of my speedo. Basically sitting just behind the steering wheel, which also solves the night-time reflection issues of a bright display.
Just one problem, I discovered that the USB sync cable supplied with the new device doesnt seem to enable charging to the exec when I plugged it into the 12Volt to USB adapter that worked with the XDA IIs that I wired into my dashboard.
So I decided to buy a new car power adapter for the new Exec, egged on by installing the great "mort player" which has an ideal "large button" interface on a black background which is ideal for use in the car.... and it doesnt forget the playlist like media player 10 seems to do each time you run it...
However, When the car power adapter arrived today, (from expansys)
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=125511
To my dismay it is very noisy! the audio output to my amp sounds great with just the headphone output to my mini under dash amplifier, but only on battery power. But when the adapter is supplying power, the audio output becomes "crackly" Any electonics boffins have any suggestions to remove the "noise" with capacitors, if so what type and where should I put them, on the audio, or inline with the cigarette power adapter dc input somewhere, or should I just send it back and try and source a better quality adapter?
Expansys also do 2 other models -
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=125969
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=125970
Does anyone know if these are as noisy as the other one? Does anyone else have a similar setup?
Thanks in advance
Derek

you have a ground loop. in america, we use negative as the ground, so be carefull with what I'm telling you (posative is ground in some countries).
What you need to do is run the amp and cigarette lighter off the same ground(s) and possibly the same feeds (supply voltage). Make sure you fuse the lines appropriately, or you might fry something.
I would suggest installing a secondary cigarett lighter outlet somewhere convenient (so you don't cross any other circuts in your car, and burn stuff out), and run it off the same points that your amplifier gets it's power. Fuse the new outlet with the appropriate fuse (should be 5 or 10 amps), and give your new setup a whirl. It's a cheap alternative for you to try (should be about $10 or 8 euro?)
Good luck, and remember, NOT MY FAULT WHAT YOU DO> TRY THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!

I agree with him ^
JAmes

Strangely - today the noise is gone... hmm... very strange...
perhaps it was a solar flare, or another explosion at hemel
or more likely - perhaps there was a loose connection somewhere!
Thanks for all the advice guys, I will certainly make sure I avoid any ground loops and ground the audio on the same physical connection as the car earth. I'll check this at the weekend when I have some daylight to work in!. I'll do this when wiring the new adapter in properly - I can't bear it hanging out of the lighter socket with the near the indicator stalk!
I can say the Exec is great device though... Its a far better solution for car audio - and no leaving an expensive hifi in the car to be stolen.
Hopefully someone else is inspired by this post to also use the device in this way. If you want plenty of storage for a full install of the tomtom uk map and loads of music, you'll be interested to hear that you can actually get a 2 gig card now from ebuyer for about £60!
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...vd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=103013
Cheers
Derek

This is very valuable info
interestingfellow said:
you have a ground loop. in america, we use negative as the ground, so be carefull with what I'm telling you (posative is ground in some countries).
What you need to do is run the amp and cigarette lighter off the same ground(s) and possibly the same feeds (supply voltage). Make sure you fuse the lines appropriately, or you might fry something.
I would suggest installing a secondary cigarett lighter outlet somewhere convenient (so you don't cross any other circuts in your car, and burn stuff out), and run it off the same points that your amplifier gets it's power. Fuse the new outlet with the appropriate fuse (should be 5 or 10 amps), and give your new setup a whirl. It's a cheap alternative for you to try (should be about $10 or 8 euro?)
Good luck, and remember, NOT MY FAULT WHAT YOU DO> TRY THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_(electricity)

FM Modulator?

I want to ditch my ipod.
Problem is, I drive for ~8 hours a day, and require music that doesn't suck (or sucks hard, depending on your taste). I have an itrip that plugs into the 12v cigar lighter plug in my work truck which allows it to charge my ipod and broadcast my music over any specified FM station I want.
Anybody know of a device that would do such a task for my tilt? Adapter maybe? Pinouts of both the usb plug and an ipod connector and a place to buy a male usb plug and female ipod connector? Thoughts? Hate?

You'd need to spend all nearly £20, but one way of doing it would be to get a 3 Way Mini USB - 3.5mm audio jack which allows you to charge the Kaiser while also having a 3.5mm headphone jack that you can connect to a new FM Transmitter (unless your current one can take 3.5mm and not just iPod) and it should all work like your current setup....
http://www.gpsforless.co.uk/product_details.php?id=9659
http://www.gpsforless.co.uk/product_details.php?id=10726
Or if you feel like spending a bit more money, you can get some decent bluetooth car stereos for around £150, and then play music in your car the same as playing it though bluetooth headphones, this is the route I went down after my car stereo needed replacing and the sound is alot better then the FM transmitter option. I went for the cheapest option - Sony MEX-BT3600U CD PlayerFree Store Fitting which hasn't caused me any problems and also doubles as a in-car handsfree kit.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...yrn_31371_crumb_31265-31371_topcategory_31371

Quite a few posts that you can tangent onto, such as http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=332164

Okay, I think I am going to have to pull something out of my ass for a solution. I knew about charging the phone while using a headset, which would be dandy if there was a way to power the fm modulator. But it was a nice kick to the mental process in the right direction. Thank you!
I have two units, one is a 1/8 inch modulator which runs on batteries. I hate it. The other is my ipod dingy, which does exactly for my ipod what I want to do with my phone.
I think what I am going to do is buy one of the headphone adaptors, and pull it apart to see if there is a way to isolate the power input and audio output, then either integrate a modulator using that power source, or find a way to splice it into my ipod's cable.
I am not going to buy a radio, I change vehicles every day and don't feel like paying for a fleet to all have fancy head units in them. Maybe my daily driver, but not every vehicle I would drive in a given month.

What I got was the following:
1. iPod FM transmitter that used 3.5mm plug & spans 88.1-107.9 freq's ~ $40US
2. mini USB 3-plug adapter - charging, 3.5mm audio out, mini USB for other accessories <-- IMPORTANT ~ $5US
3. 3.5mm speaker/mic cable ( to allow hands-free talking ) ~ $5US
4. 2 DC cigarette lighter splitter ~ $7US
5. MP3 player/Phone adapter that locks onto air vents ~ $9US
It sounds like a lot, but it works really nicely. lol. Plug the 2 DC splitter into your cigarette lighter to give you 2 DC "outlets".
Plug the phone's DC adapter into 1 outlet & the iPod fm transmitter into the other outlet.
Plug the phone's DC adapter usb connector into the first port ( left-most ) of the 3-in-1 adapter.
Plug the speaker/mic cable into the 3rd port ( right-most ) of the 3-in-1 adapter.
Plug the iPod fm transmitter's 3.5mm plug into the speaker/mic cable.
select a station w/ nothing but static... preferably static on BOTH sides... ie, if 88.3, 88.5 and 88.7 are all static-y, then 88.5 is your best bet for quality audio. set your iPod's fm transmitter to that station.
I got the fm transmitter and car mount from wal-mart & the others from eBay.

I use the Motorola T501, works flawlessly and I'd highly recommend it. I got mine for about $60 US

Brian:
For the high tech solution:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=250293443325
OR
http://www.semsons.com/2miusband3st.html
+
dual 12v accessory/lighter splitter
+
any lighter powered 3.5 mm FM Modulator of your choice
+
lighter charger
OT, are you in the Skyfire beta? If not, you should be. http://www.skyfire.com
Try "phelps8" beta code, to get in right away.
If you get into the beta, I might be able to get you into the alpha... (I was the fourth person to be accepted into the alpha) :-o
We should grab lunch sometime to swap apps. I'm sure there is an app or two I have on my "wimpy cdma little brother" of an HTC device that would benifit your signaless, ir-less, gsm'd htc. Maybe you even have a program or two I've never seen.

Protonus said:
OT, are you in the Skyfire beta? If not, you should be. http://www.skyfire.com
Try "phelps8" beta code, to get in right away.
If you get into the beta, I might be able to get you into the alpha... (I was the fourth person to be accepted into the alpha) :-o
We should grab lunch sometime to swap apps. I'm sure there is an app or two I have on my "wimpy cdma little brother" of an HTC device that would benifit your signaless, ir-less, gsm'd htc. Maybe you even have a program or two I've never seen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been in the skyfire beta since before you had a touchscreen, holmes. I stopped using it because I like opera more.
I am planning on going to help out airbox tomorrow with some lock situation he has. Maybe you should check our other forum. Aaron, Aaron, Brian, James, Marnie, Sean, and myself are going to be meeting up sometime next week to annoy Noy at work. I'll load up my microsd with some more files than I usually carry, just for you. <3

Anyone have one of these Motorola T501 bluetooth FM-Transmitters?
How is the sound for listening to MP3's? Any complaints?

jsd2 said:
Anyone have one of these Motorola T501 bluetooth FM-Transmitters?
How is the sound for listening to MP3's? Any complaints?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do , and the FM modulator built into it is the best I've ever used. It auto searches for good stations, and no pops, crackles, hiccups, nothin. I can't even tell the reduction in quality when streaming internet radio to it, to my car vs any other FM channel. I'd say it's at least FM quality.
Hooking your phone directly to your stereo with a 3.5 mm audio adaptor, is going to sound better no doubt. But I can bring this thing in a rental or someone elses car with me, and get my favorite internet radio or MP3's wherever I want.

I ordered one of these last week, it does the job.
http://www.buygpsnow.com/OnCourse-Ed-3-Powered-Mount-with-Integrated-FM-Transmiter-for-ATandT-Tilt--HTC-P4550TyTN-II--Kaiser__958.aspx

USB Front Port On Car Headunit compatible with Nexus S?

I was at the car stereo place and found nearly every headunit with a USB port in the front saying that it is compatible with an iPod or iPhone. Question is, have any of you guys tried hooking it up to a Android device? Does it charge? Will it fry my cellphone? I'm leaning towards a Kenwood headunit but just wondering if there are any precautions. Thank you

FastMhz said:
I was at the car stereo place and found nearly every headunit with a USB port in the front saying that it is compatible with an iPod or iPhone. Question is, have any of you guys tried hooking it up to a Android device? Does it charge? Will it fry my cellphone? I'm leaning towards a Kenwood headunit but just wondering if there are any precautions. Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be fine. I doubt it would damage the phone as most smart phones have similar power requirements/charging methods these days. The iPhone's cables are just normal USB cables with a special plug on one end and an Apple logo so they can charge more. Most things labelled "For iPhone/iPod" work just fine on Android devices.

Anyone with a USB port on their headunit using a Android phone?

My Honda has a USB port for the stereo. It does not allow the me to use the phone to control audio through USB as this is not supported like it is on iPod (same with any Android phone, has nothing to do with Nexus S in particular) but it does work in Mass Storage Mode and allows me to control audio through the head unit.
All of this is moot anyway as the best solution is to use a car mount and connect through the 3.5m stereo out to the AUX input. I can then not only use Last.fm and Navigation sounds through the stereo, but also phone call audio gets passed through. It's pretty much awesome and makes me glad I did not spend the extra $1200 on the in dash GPS/touchscreen head unit with bluetooth.

Faster Charging with Android Auto?

So, my 2014 Kia Soul ! got a new map update that included Android Auto. I love the functionality, but the Soul only outputs .5 amps to the phone and it isn't enough to charge it, I slowly lose a charge while driving, about 5 percent in my 47 minute commute. I've been trying to figure out a solution and think I may have based on this thread.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidAuto/comments/48e65c/way_to_fast_charge_with_android_auto/
if I were to get the same cable mentioned in there...
https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-3-Feet-Cable-External-Drive/dp/B0047AALS0
And then put a Micro USB to Type C adapter on the end, I'd get a faster charge and have Android Auto still work, right?
Anyone else think it's worth a try?
Got any other ideas?

I should update this thread, I got the cable mentioned, really good quality THICK cable. I hooked it up to 3 different chargers, it didn't make a difference at all. Guess I'll return it.
Anyone have any other ideas on how to increase the charging capability?

I'm also trying to work it out. Although I don't have Android Auto, I have a headunit which is AOA2 (Android Open Accessory, USB audio,) and has an apparent power output at 2A on the USB port.
With Google Maps and Play Music both on, I'm losing roughly 5% an hour driving.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA-Developers mobile app

Good to hear someone else is looking at this.
I'm trying to figure out how to hack the actual port on this thing to provide more power, you'd think we could do 2.4a, right? Or at least 2.1?

I use Pioneer unit avh-x8700bt and my phone is charging during using android auto. I use nillkin flat usb c cable. In fact 1 hour drive gives 14-15% juice. You can Google for this unit specs to check what are usb details.
Wysłane z mojego SM-T815 przy użyciu Tapatalka

I don't think you'll be able to get faster charging with Auto - since it has to directly plug into your head unit usb, the only thing you can 'get' is the output from it. Not like you're changiner the lighter adapter where you can buy ones with different outputs.

masi0 said:
I use Pioneer unit avh-x8700bt and my phone is charging during using android auto. I use nillkin flat usb c cable. In fact 1 hour drive gives 14-15% juice. You can Google for this unit specs to check what are usb details.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'm not going to swap to an aftermarket HU though, the one in this car is fantastic.
teh roxxorz said:
I don't think you'll be able to get faster charging with Auto - since it has to directly plug into your head unit usb, the only thing you can 'get' is the output from it. Not like you're changiner the lighter adapter where you can buy ones with different outputs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should have explained, in the Soul, the USB plug isn't in the head unit, it is an easy to remove module in front of the shifter. I've taken them out before for other modifications, and the wires are easy to access. I'm just wondering if there's a way to modify it there to output more power.

RED ZMAN said:
Thanks, I'm not going to swap to an aftermarket HU though, the one in this car is fantastic.
I should have explained, in the Soul, the USB plug isn't in the head unit, it is an easy to remove module in front of the shifter. I've taken them out before for other modifications, and the wires are easy to access. I'm just wondering if there's a way to modify it there to output more power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, it almost sounds to me like:
Buy a higher output cigarette car charger, rip it apart - but then you'd have to jump the electrical straight to the car + solder the usb connection to it and then remount it?

Yeah, I was leaning more towards that direction of thinking.

Any update?
Here are my ideas (view picture), though there are some possible problems I can't confirm. I'm currently using the 2017 Chevrolet Colorado 8" Mylink system and my phone is a Droid Turbo. I just ordered a wireless charger so I should be able to test that idea in a few days.
imgur.com/gallery/8HUKHTA

TysonRios said:
Here are my ideas (view picture), though there are some possible problems I can't confirm. I'm currently using the 2017 Chevrolet Colorado 8" Mylink system and my phone is a Droid Turbo. I just ordered a wireless charger so I should be able to test that idea in a few days.
imgur.com/gallery/8HUKHTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Number 2 is what I was looking into but I really hate trying to splice tiny wires like this.
I do agree that the end solution should be wireless, allowing us to use a quick charger of our choice and having a small USB Wi-Fi dongle that you can plug into your vehicles usb port.

Has anyone gotten anywhere with this? I can tell you that I have my Nexus 7 2013 Wi-Fi running in one of my cars with a Y-Cable. I have a 2.1 (actually QC2.0 but that doesn't matter,) charger plugged into the power side, and the data side goes into a powered USB hub. I actually intend to snip the power supply wires to the hub, so it can't drain the tablet no matter what.
I still ran into draining issues even after powering the hub, so I ended up using a cheapo microcontroller to keep the tablet charging for 20 minutes after the car goes off. This keeps the tablet topped-off. I'd be real curious if you could somehow trick a phone into quick-charging and data simultaneously.

Does anyone know of a working 2in1 USB C adapter in 2022?

Hi!
I have a 2nd hand 8 Pro arriving soon coming from a 1+6, I'm after a 2 in 1 USB C adapter that charges the device and outputs audio to 3.5mm jack at the same time for use in my car, I've had a look on the Oneplus forums but the search on there is useless (just brings up threads about people saying it stopped working 2 years ago) and no-one on there has answered my question so far.
I've tried a Bluetooth 3.5mm dongle before but the sound quality was pretty awful.
Does anyone know of an adapter that works correctly that can actually be bought in 2022 please?
Every one I've found recommended is no longer available.
Thanks!

I found one on amazon. If its bad give it back but its only 18€ anyway. 4.5 Stars from 800 Users.
Sound good enough imo.
JSAUX USB C Headphone Adapter and Charging​