Database Users

Head Unit with best audio quality

Hello, Im new here. Have always used an iphone. Only ever had a smasung s3 for a few months and was presently surprised by how solid android has become.
Anyways, I am looking to put a double din HU that runs android in my car.
I have ordered and used the Joying headunit 4.4.4 and it was great except for a few points:
1. Doesnt read address book from phone via bluetooth, needs to be imported.
2. SOUND QUALITY.... is not great. Not unbearable but barely passable in my opinion. And that is with the bc06 bluetooth. Running mp3s from the HU directly was slightly better/clearer. But I mostly stream audio from my phone, so I was not happy with the audio quality. I played around with the EQ and got it as good as I could and was slightly dissatisfied. Very boarderline.
3, UI is difficult to use in clutch situations. Would be nice if there was an app\overlay that would give me just a couple of high priority apps on screen within reach. Im sure this is easily done, didnt spend much time trying to get it to work.
I see that PUMPKIN is coming out with a unit that uses the parrot Bluetooth card that should bring the bluetooth audio quality up to max. Leaving the preamp to be the weakest link.
How are you guys dealing with this? And do you think I should spring for the pumpkin that will give me good BT quality? Also, are there any good EQ apps I could use to fine tune the audio to get maximize audio quality?
I really like the headunits that run android and cant live without all those other features but the audio quality really needs to be addressed.
Here is what Ive used:
(cant post links yet)
JY-UQ130 Joying
Here is what I want to buy now:
11-RQ0259E-US-A Pumpkin - only available on their site for now, will be on amazon soon.
Let me know what you think and if rooting it would help me get the most out out of the pre amp module.
I also have an external 2200 watt amp that I have in my car, so maybe I could tune that? IDK...
Thanks

glad i read this before buying the joying unit for my VW. looking for something with decent audio quality as well.

none exist at the moment, sadly. the only way to deal with the poor sound quality of these HUs is to buy an external DSP & use that to process your sound instead. minidsp 2x4 is the cheapest option to accomplish this ($100).

Hi,
I've just found MXTRON HU with dual ST sound processors.
Here is the website : www mxtron com

thekoter said:
Hi,
I've just found MXTRON HU with dual ST sound processors.
Here is the website : www mxtron com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still only dual core 8GB and only 4.2.2. The question is what do they mean with dual sound processors? Because the standard KLD has
dual sound processors too, sometimes with the brand ST.
---------- Post added at 11:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 AM ----------
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sithcommander66 said:
I see that PUMPKIN is coming out with a unit that uses the parrot Bluetooth card that should bring the bluetooth audio quality up to max. Leaving the preamp to be the weakest link.
How are you guys dealing with this? And do you think I should spring for the pumpkin that will give me good BT quality? Also, are there any good EQ apps I could use to fine tune the audio to get maximize audio quality?
I really like the headunits that run android and cant live without all those other features but the audio quality really needs to be addressed.
Here is what Ive used:
(cant post links yet)
JY-UQ130 Joying
Here is what I want to buy now:
11-RQ0259E-US-A Pumpkin - only available on their site for now, will be on amazon soon.
Let me know what you think and if rooting it would help me get the most out out of the pre amp module.
I also have an external 2200 watt amp that I have in my car, so maybe I could tune that? IDK...
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've bought that unit and the sound quality is not okay even if they are using parrot. The two microphones
are still in parallel with lower sound quality. It's equal to my modified KLD. I.e. no improvement.

Hisma said:
none exist at the moment, sadly. the only way to deal with the poor sound quality of these HUs is to buy an external DSP & use that to process your sound instead. minidsp 2x4 is the cheapest option to accomplish this ($100).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the sound quality like if you use an external DSP? Is it as good as a good car audio system, or is it just smoothing over the cracks?

Yes the sound quality is not great, the rca pre outs are super weak, i tested mine the pumpkin from amazon and the voltage is on like .8 VAC rca i bought a line driver and that got my voltage up to 4.2 VAC rca which now my bass hits like before.

tangoman99 said:
What's the sound quality like if you use an external DSP? Is it as good as a good car audio system, or is it just smoothing over the cracks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I still feel like something is missing. It is absolutely better, but a DSP can't generate frequencies the sources doesn't produce. So I still would prefer a HU from someone known to produce high quality audio. But the android units have all the features I want so I just go with it.

Hisma said:
Personally I still feel like something is missing. It is absolutely better, but a DSP can't generate frequencies the sources doesn't produce. So I still would prefer a HU from someone known to produce high quality audio. But the android units have all the features I want so I just go with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Darn it - I wish I'd seen the stuff on here before buying it.
I really notice the frequency cut off - it's like listening to a really badly chopped low bitrate mp3.

tangoman99 said:
Darn it - I wish I'd seen the stuff on here before buying it.
I really notice the frequency cut off - it's like listening to a really badly chopped low bitrate mp3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, huge disappointment to say the least. with the amount of time and energy I've put into my system, I'm still not completely happy w/ the results. I'm still learning how to tweak it, so I am certain I can get it to sound better, but I guarantee a high quality audio HU would not need near this much TLC.
Most probably don't notice missing frequencies, but a critical listener would. I own some high quality headphones, so I know what my music is supposed to sound like, and its just not there.
Think I'm going to add a line driver to my signal chain next, as the pre-outs are a measly 1V (and the DSP chops that signal up even more). Hope that does the trick.

Any point in doing 7floor's mod and using an external dsp or are they achieving the same end?

theoretically flattening the EQ should remove all custom audio processing, making 7floor's audio mod useless if you use an external DSP. However, b/c of how suspect these units handle audio, I wouldn't even be surprised if a supposedly flat EQ on a non-modded unit isn't really flat.
But yes, they are achieving the same end. Of course the internal DSP, even w/ the audio mod, would not be near as effective or give you as much control as an external DSP.

most of the time I read about sound problems, it is due to using Bluetooth. Is the sound still bad if you use Google Play on the actual head unit?

CadillacMike said:
most of the time I read about sound problems, it is due to using Bluetooth. Is the sound still bad if you use Google Play on the actual head unit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's my question as well.
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

It has taken me soundproofing, 3 sets of frontstage speakers (currently on my third set), an amplifier and a good subwoofer to improve sound quality in my car and a 7floor mod with these units. There is always something to improve in the sound in a car and I am leaning towards a decent headunit now. The radio tuner and sound quality on these units are its' weaknesses it is such shame as the OS is great.

I just read that with Android Lollipop it is possible to connect an external DAC via USB:
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Android-5.0-Lollipop-supports-USB-DAC-audio-devices-we-go-ears-on_id66399
Would that be an option to have better audio quality? Is there a USB-DAC which would be suitable for a car?

Pumpking as a new one coming out next month, apparently with a new DSP with better audio quality:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poAkdg6Y3Wc

nice find checksum. if the price is right I may pick one of those up to replace my current unit. I wonder what the pre-out voltage will be.

Do these devices have the same sound card? I need some of the apk of one to control sub vol on the Joying

I think that sound quality playing mp3's on these units is excellent.
On my Joying unit, while the bluetooth is not the best in the world, if you are playing mp3's off an SD with MediaMonkey, or PowerAmp it is VERY good.

Prepurchase ? Joying 2g 32gb sofia Audio EQ

Is the audio on the Joying 2g 32gb units good? i hear things that the EQ is terrible and only 3 band. Is this true or was this for the old units? I am debating between this joying unit in 10.1 or the px5 cpu units that just came out. I am a audiophile and was worried about audio quality and subwoofer output control. anyone that has these units can shed some light would be appreciated

megapimp said:
Is the audio on the Joying 2g 32gb units good? i hear things that the EQ is terrible and only 3 band. Is this true or was this for the old units? I am debating between this joying unit in 10.1 or the px5 cpu units that just came out. I am a audiophile and was worried about audio quality and subwoofer output control. anyone that has these units can shed some light would be appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of the box the EQ is really bad on all of the Chinese units. I've changed quite a lot of models in the past 5 years and all of them were pretty bad.
For that we have Viper4Android, that is an AMAZING piece of software EQ (probably more like an sound processor).
The unit has a separate Sub output control but I haven't tested it... don't have a sub in my car.
BUT
If you are an audiophile these units are not for you. As an audiophile you must have pretty high standards and I am afraid the sound quality of the cheap Chinese units will let you down. Don't get me wrong, for an average user like me, streaming most of the music at 128/256/320 kbps and has medium quality speakers the sound is quite good (with Viper4Android enabled) but It's an only 300$ piece of hardware.... you simply can't ask for more.
Yes you can mod them and maybe change the amp mosfet but you will not get to have audiophile quality out of it. If you get an good external USB DAC and pair it with an real sound processor and maybe with an good amplifier... maybe then you can get closer to a real audiophile solution.
Again, if you are the kind of guy that his cheapest set of headphones are in the 1000$ range or your speakers at home are 3000$ worth.... look somewhere else.

Change the amp chip with a Pioneer chip and the unit is bad ass

edit said:
Out of the box the EQ is really bad on all of the Chinese units. I've changed quite a lot of models in the past 5 years and all of them were pretty bad.
For that we have Viper4Android, that is an AMAZING piece of software EQ (probably more like an sound processor).
The unit has a separate Sub output control but I haven't tested it... don't have a sub in my car.
BUT
If you are an audiophile these units are not for you. As an audiophile you must have pretty high standards and I am afraid the sound quality of the cheap Chinese units will let you down. Don't get me wrong, for an average user like me, streaming most of the music at 128/256/320 kbps and has medium quality speakers the sound is quite good (with Viper4Android enabled) but It's an only 300$ piece of hardware.... you simply can't ask for more.
Yes you can mod them and maybe change the amp mosfet but you will not get to have audiophile quality out of it. If you get an good external USB DAC and pair it with an real sound processor and maybe with an good amplifier... maybe then you can get closer to a real audiophile solution.
Again, if you are the kind of guy that his cheapest set of headphones are in the 1000$ range or your speakers at home are 3000$ worth.... look somewhere else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for this answer... Maybe I chose the wrong wording. I do love quality audio but im not anal about sound. as long as i can adjust the mids highs and lows and for it to sound great not cheap hallow sounding. im used to 7 to 10 bands will i be able to get a true adjustment out of these with 7 band software? Ive seen the Pioneer upgrade just now but thats only for power output. Im currently wanting to install in my escalade with the stock bose amplified speakers. I will be adding 2 sundown 8 inch subwoofers in a tuned box and want to have full media from the unit. spotify music apps loaded music and vids

megapimp said:
Thank you for this answer... Maybe I chose the wrong wording. I do love quality audio but im not anal about sound. as long as i can adjust the mids highs and lows and for it to sound great not cheap hallow sounding. im used to 7 to 10 bands will i be able to get a true adjustment out of these with 7 band software? Ive seen the Pioneer upgrade just now but thats only for power output. Im currently wanting to install in my escalade with the stock bose amplified speakers. I will be adding 2 sundown 8 inch subwoofers in a tuned box and want to have full media from the unit. spotify music apps loaded music and vids
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pioneer chip upgrade is not just for power but also sound quality.

megapimp said:
Thank you for this answer... Maybe I chose the wrong wording. I do love quality audio but im not anal about sound. as long as i can adjust the mids highs and lows and for it to sound great not cheap hallow sounding. im used to 7 to 10 bands will i be able to get a true adjustment out of these with 7 band software? Ive seen the Pioneer upgrade just now but thats only for power output. Im currently wanting to install in my escalade with the stock bose amplified speakers. I will be adding 2 sundown 8 inch subwoofers in a tuned box and want to have full media from the unit. spotify music apps loaded music and vids
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your best bet with these units, if you don't want to buy additional hardware (sound processor, an external am with a fancy EQ) is to root them and install Viper4Android (that requires root). Viper gives you the ability to have a pretty good EQ and many other features to tune the sound to your liking. Like I said in my previous post the onboard 3 way EQ is maybe decent for some but I found it pretty poor. Viper was the only piece of software that could bring back the good bass that I was having from the original headunit of my Ford that was made by Sony (this time) and it was made specifically to drive the speakers to their best. Viper has feature that limit the bass not to overwhelm the mids , very usefull.
The DAC in the Joying units is decent and probably closer to good (for my ears and my car speakers) but don't expect audiophile quality out of it by any means. If I had to grade the amp+dac from 1 to 10 I would chose an 6 maybe 6.50.... 7 it's a stretch but maybe with many Viper teaks....
Your Bose sound system is definitely more revealing in therms of sound quality than what speakers put Ford in my car so after installing the Joying you might be a bit disappointing that I've gave the HU an 7
Sound quality is a delicate matter, what is good for some is bad for others.
The cheapest hardware sound improvement would be to change the amp chip (into the Pioneer one), I haven't done it for 2 reasons so I can't comment much on how big the sound quality changes...First I NEED to know that I am buying an genuine chip and not an fake one, ebay is full of them and you simply can't detect a fake, or test it somehow after you received it. The original from Pioneer is around 40$ and the ebay ones are from 2.50$ to 15$ that doesn't inspire me confidence.... and second, even if I have the soldering skills I don't have the equipment needed and finding someone with the proper skills and tools it's a bit complicated.
If you want to control the sub from this unit I read that it's not an good option but you have to look into it:
Read here, these people wanted more sound quality from this unit and they started to mod it : https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...ts/joying-2gb-sofia-headunits-common-t3577217

edit said:
Your best bet with these units, if you don't want to buy additional hardware (sound processor, an external am with a fancy EQ) is to root them and install Viper4Android (that requires root). Viper gives you the ability to have a pretty good EQ and many other features to tune the sound to your liking. Like I said in my previous post the onboard 3 way EQ is maybe decent for some but I found it pretty poor. Viper was the only piece of software that could bring back the good bass that I was having from the original headunit of my Ford that was made by Sony (this time) and it was made specifically to drive the speakers to their best. Viper has feature that limit the bass not to overwhelm the mids , very usefull.
The DAC in the Joying units is decent and probably closer to good (for my ears and my car speakers) but don't expect audiophile quality out of it by any means. If I had to grade the amp+dac from 1 to 10 I would chose an 6 maybe 6.50.... 7 it's a stretch but maybe with many Viper teaks....
Your Bose sound system is definitely more revealing in therms of sound quality than what speakers put Ford in my car so after installing the Joying you might be a bit disappointing that I've gave the HU an 7
Sound quality is a delicate matter, what is good for some is bad for others.
The cheapest hardware sound improvement would be to change the amp chip (into the Pioneer one), I haven't done it for 2 reasons so I can't comment much on how big the sound quality changes...First I NEED to know that I am buying an genuine chip and not an fake one, ebay is full of them and you simply can't detect a fake, or test it somehow after you received it. The original from Pioneer is around 40$ and the ebay ones are from 2.50$ to 15$ that doesn't inspire me confidence.... and second, even if I have the soldering skills I don't have the equipment needed and finding someone with the proper skills and tools it's a bit complicated.
If you want to control the sub from this unit I read that it's not an good option but you have to look into it:
Read here, these people wanted more sound quality from this unit and they started to mod it : https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...ts/joying-2gb-sofia-headunits-common-t3577217
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very good thank you so much for the detailed response. I am more the able to swap the amp chip as i build stand alone ecus for vehicles. I am just turned off that these units wouldnt put good items inside. What headunit may come out in the future that everyone is keeping their eyes on? I see other units with 7 to 10 band EQ settings on them that are cheaper. are those fake eq settings or just the same ole bs?

megapimp said:
very good thank you so much for the detailed response. I am more the able to swap the amp chip as i build stand alone ecus for vehicles. I am just turned off that these units wouldnt put good items inside. What headunit may come out in the future that everyone is keeping their eyes on? I see other units with 7 to 10 band EQ settings on them that are cheaper. are those fake eq settings or just the same ole bs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are cheap units for the average Joe. They need to sell many so the low price point is the key...
When it comes to the EQ all I can say is that my previous unit (Witson) had out of the box a 7 band EQ that was absolutely rubbish... Unusable... Major crap. Viper saved the day. So even if the hardware is decent/good, they are dragging it down with poor software.
Joying with the Sofia implementation it's the best unit that I have used so far.... With each year new units pop up but not all are decent and just a few get a good support from xda.

megapimp said:
very good thank you so much for the detailed response. I am more the able to swap the amp chip as i build stand alone ecus for vehicles. I am just turned off that these units wouldnt put good items inside. What headunit may come out in the future that everyone is keeping their eyes on? I see other units with 7 to 10 band EQ settings on them that are cheaper. are those fake eq settings or just the same ole bs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
funny thing is, some units that have more than 3 band EQ sliders (like 7 or 10), do bundle them in 3s anyway...you move one and the ones left&right of it move as well go figure....
i guess if one's not happy with the default output, there are 3 choices right now: replace amp, viper mod and 7floor hardware mod+custom EQ sw. That's pretty much the pinnacle of what can be achieved, sound-wise, on chinese units atm. Unless someone really skilled tears the thing apart and re-does pretty much everything down the audio-chain.
....4th option being always of course: stay away from chinese android HUs and get something else....like a Pioneer AVIC-series. U do the math and pro/cons on that..

Joying finally made a head unit with DIGITAL OUTPUT SPDIF!!!

So i was browsing through joyings new intel head units on their site with DSP. I found that all intel based joying headunits with their DSP now have a SPDIF coaxial output. This is a huge step for them since many of us been trying to use a USB DAC for toslink or SPDIF output.
A regular name brand HIGh res deck with SPDIF output runs over 1200$ . And their not even touch screen.
Joying finally woke up and did it, now us guys with fancy name brand DSP’s can finally send true digital coax output to them. I will be ordering one of theses units and not utilizing the dsp that is built in. Simply because i find that they are not there yet with their built in dsp’s for individual speaker functions. I have a nice audio control dsp that has a coax input.
Enjoy!

if u order it pls make some pics of android board and som

Subscribed... I'm thinking buying one. I found two version. 2/16 and 4/32 GB. What do you suggest? Enough the 2/16, or better the 4/32 version?

Depending on what your looking at doing with the unit. Im going all out with the 4gb of ram. I caught myself multitasking on the 2gb ram units (not joying) and the audio would studder sometimes.
Theses new joyings will change the revolution of car audio with this coaxial output!
Ill be able to listen to “tidal” app do get high lossless sound tracks right to my Audiocontrol 608 DSP via coaxial.
The only other way to do digital sound is an ipad or the highly priced sony unit at 1500$ for a single dine with no display?.

mahtew said:
if u order it pls make some pics of android board and som
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try and do so

Just ordered mine, but with 2.5inch curved IPS display. I will try to make a frame to fit my car.
I won't be using the digital out for now, I will try the RCA out first and see. I like the build in eq.
My last joying unit had hissing noise when not playing music, hope this one will be quieter.

Yeah. For the average user, their dsp seems to have eq front and rear independently. Which is nice.
You can also order a longer ribbon for their screens to locate the unit in a different area from their screens. This would probably help with the mold you want to make for your display.
If you have a high fidelity sound stage like me. : tweeter on an amp, mid ranges on a separate amp, woofers on another amp . Then rear stage on another amp, then all amps hooked up to a 10 ch output dsp to control each speaker independently.
The built in dsp is no good for me. But the digital output will be king to supply my external dsp with digital audio??

guimond47 said:
Yeah. For the average user, their dsp seems to have eq front and rear independently. Which is nice.
You can also order a longer ribbon for their screens to locate the unit in a different area from their screens. This would probably help with the mold you want to make for your display.
If you have a high fidelity sound stage like me. : tweeter on an amp, mid ranges on a separate amp, woofers on another amp . Then rear stage on another amp, then all amps hooked up to a 10 ch output dsp to control each speaker independently.
The built in dsp is no good for me. But the digital output will be king to supply my external dsp with digital audio??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did research some DSP (Thanks for the tip on youtube). I came up with the Rockford Fosgate DSR1 for $283, which was the cheapest of them all. I will wait and try out the build in DSP first before jumping onto this one.
I currently have an 5 channel infinity amp coupled with a pioneer monoamp for the sub.
I am also using component in front and coaxial in rear. I am using the crossover that came with infinity speakers for the front.
Not sure if I should connect the sub directly to the unit or leave it connected to the infinity amp. I will have to play around and see which gives better sound.

The rockford is a nice unit, i tried it out myself. I am not sure if it has a coaxial digital input. I forget.
Another thing i did not like was it does not have presets and their app is not too android friendly...(to be run on a head unit apk)
And i also forget if it has volume control knob...
This is why i went with audio control.

My head unit should be arriving by next weekend i hope . Then ill be gearing up to make a huge review video , based on audio quality and features and obviously the new spdif digital output!

Can you test the rcas as well and not just spdif? I'm planning on getting one myself but I will only go digital if the normal rca output is bad. Also can you test spdif to see if you can control the volume through headunit or steering wheel controls instead of using dsp volume knob? I guess if you could be as thorough with some of thr main feature(wifi, Bluetooth, 4g, sound quality from both outputs, camera input etc) that would be very helpful. I've never pulled the trigger on an android headunit because the lack of some features and poor sound quality but I'm almost ready to get this one. Which size did you buy?

I will for sure be doing exactly as you mentionnned above. I will also be using my oscilloscope to measure distortion in the rca’s. I had a eonon headunit and there was terrible noise in the rca’s and even more noise when a Hard drive was plugged into the usb ports. And more noise with my 360view camera hooked up.
I will be doing bench testing first then i will be moving to vehicle testing.

I bought the double din 10.1” headunit intel with 4gb ram and 32gb ssd.
Its going in my 1997 chev c/k1500 pick up. I have hifi audio in there . Ill be doing more upgrades down the road as well.

Sweet. I'm excited to see the results. I just hope it isn't a let down. I really want to go ahead and order one but if you're doing a review I'd rather wait. I've wanted an android head unit since they came out. I've even looked at building a raspberry pi or like rock pi and adding a screen but I just don't think I'd be happy with the results. These Android head units really have a lot of features but the sound quality has been the deal breaker for me. I asked JOYING what their rca voltage is and they always tell me they don't have voltage... Not sure what they mean but whatever. For all of our sakes I hope this one gets the job done.

Mine will be delivered tomorrow, but I wont be to test it out until next weekend since i will be out of town.
For sound, i will be using the rca going to my amp, not planning g on using a DAC right now.

Just make sure you tell us about it as soon as possible lol.

Just got mine yesterday, but what a disappointment, no digital audio out. Although I did order the one with the digital audio out.
I emailed them back, but they told me they are on vacation and will not return until Feb14 or something, but the lady said she will replaced it for me.
I just powered it on on my bench, so I have not been able to play with the audio in the car or the equalizer, will do so this weekend.
The 10.1 2.5D curved screen is nice though

checksum123 said:
Just got mine yesterday, but what a disappointment, no digital audio out. Although I did order the one with the digital audio out.
I emailed them back, but they told me they are on vacation and will not return until Feb14 or something, but the lady said she will replaced it for me.
I just powered it on on my bench, so I have not been able to play with the audio in the car or the equalizer, will do so this weekend.
The 10.1 2.5D curved screen is nice though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dang that sucks. It looks like it has the 4g dongle built in. Are you able to test that out?

Usually its under the yellow cap... instead of the yellow video 2 out, it will be a green rca. Take off your yellow caps.
My video should be on YouTube by tomorrow.
Everything you can ever possibly want in an android headunit is finally here. Crisp sound through the digital source and no noise or hiss on the rca’s .
Be patient i will post a youtube link shortly. Better grab popcorn, my vid is 1.5 hour long lol

guimond47 said:
Usually its under the yellow cap... instead of the yellow video 2 out, it will be a green rca. Take off your yellow caps.
My video should be on YouTube by tomorrow.
Everything you can ever possibly want in an android headunit is finally here. Crisp sound through the digital source and no noise or hiss on the rca’s .
Be patient i will post a youtube link shortly. Better grab popcorn, my vid is 1.5 hour long lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great news. Can't wait to see the review. Did you order model(JY-UO134N4G)? I want to make sure I get the right one when I go to order.

Avin Avant4 PX6 - VERY disappointed with Audio sound quality - help?

Hey guys,
I just finally installed Avin Avant4 unit in my E39 M5 and I am SO disappointed with the sound quality.
I got the dsp chip with it. (Yes, I've adjusted it, but its the unit components/build quality itself)
I previously had an old Pioneer Avic Z130BT - and have MB Quart components up front powered by JL 300/4 for cabin and a sub with JL 500/1. It sounded great.
I have a feeling the unit may be defective, but not sure if all of them are like this. In which case it is extremely disappointing.
I hear interference at random times, like when using the touchscreen. The carplay adapter sounds a TAD better, but not by much. The highs are just terrible and sound as if it is a poor connection (it is not).
Has anyone compared the PX6 with DSP chip to a Pioneer/Alpine/etc.
I love having the ibus functionality and carplay in one, but the audio quality is just terrible.
Perhaps there are some options? Otherwise I may have to resort to going back to regular double din, and I really don't want to because this one looks 100%.

bea5t said:
Has anyone compared the PX6 with DSP chip to a Pioneer/Alpine/etc.
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Click to collapse
Not the px6 yet. I have it but haven't installed yet. My px5 is still in there though.
I had a pioneer NEX4200 in my jeep which got replaced with a Kenwood 9903s, which got replaced by my present px5.
If you're strictly concerned with audio quality (out of the box) then you should go to kenwood or pioneer (I don't like Alpine... you pay too much for the name) because the audio quality is most definitely better. Now I say "out of the box" because you CAN make the sound better in these Chinese machines with external amps and sound processors (which I have done).
But I choose to spend additional money making the sound better on my Dasaita px5 because these machines offer FAR more flexibility than my pioneer or kenwood ever could be.
Hopefully I will have my px6 installed next week for further comparison but I can already pretty much tell you that my pioneer nex4200 or Kenwood will sound better. It's tough to beat the sound quality of today's traditional hardware based head units with a Chinese android unit.

I have JL 300/4 going to MB Quart (old school made in germany) components. The minute I plugged in the android and turned on some audio, even before touching ANY settings, I was already disappointed.
The "alive" sound is just gone. You can tweak the highs and EQ and loudness all you want, but its still polishing a turd.
Wondering if anyone has connected a proper DAC to these (but how would it work with front/rear/sub outputs?)

bea5t said:
I have JL 300/4 going to MB Quart (old school made in germany) components. The minute I plugged in the android and turned on some audio, even before touching ANY settings, I was already disappointed.
The "alive" sound is just gone. You can tweak the highs and EQ and loudness all you want, but its still polishing a turd.
Wondering if anyone has connected a proper DAC to these (but how would it work with front/rear/sub outputs?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah.... I was pretty disappointed in the beginning too. The sound was nowhere near as good as my kenwood, but I was determined to make it fly because of everything else these things can do.
I don't use the onboard amp. I use the front and rear rca outputs to a crossover which CREATES a new subwoofer channel which all (front, rear and new sub) is then fed to a signal processor (Axxess AX-DSP-X Digital Signal Processor) and then on to front, rear, and subwoofer amps.
I still get the odd screen noise to the speakers every so often but it's livable. The sound however is back up to par with my Kenwood.
I think that the big difference between the cheap chinese units and the more expensive ones is not so much the sound output. It's pretty much the same shallow audio across all these units. The difference is in how much processor and screen noise gets passed on to the audio. Some of these machines are just shielded better, with better pc board layouts so that noisy chips aren't near the audio preamps.
I would just absolutely love it if pioneer or kenwood built one of these android machines. It would be a killer machine. Pioneer/Kenwood audio quality mixed with the power of what is essentially an android tablet.

I pulled it out and put a new pioneer instead. The android is just not reliable and has its own quirks. No matter what the audio quality was just not there. Pioneer is levels beyond.
I put a android media player and running ibusapp off that with hdmi into the pioneer - anyone know how I can power the android media player using 12V constant, + ACC? - having the accessory wire send a signal to turn on/off so the android doesnt lose time settings?

Which ic amplifier is better?

Hello, I wanted to ask which ic amplifier would be the best for me for the car in terms of sound music,I have some doubts between the Tda 7851 or Tda 7838 or Toshiba Tcb001, by the way I have an external amplifier of kicker 250.1. Thanks!

adir 25 said:
Hello, I wanted to ask which ic amplifier would be the best for me for the car in terms of sound music,I have some doubts between the Tda 7851 or Tda 7838 or Toshiba Tcb001, by the way I have an external amplifier of kicker 250.1. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This depends on what you have right now. The most common hardware mod is TDA7850 with a 10,000 mf capacitor. Personally, I disconnect it from internal power altogether and drive it with a 17v-18v 10A power supply. Bear in mind that TDA7850 requires proper cooling so be ready to add additional heatsinks and a temperature-controlled fan (you don't want the fan to be on all the time, only when cooling is required). Example in the pics.
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...
If you have an external amplifier and it's good (at least 300 real Watts), then I would remove the internal amplifier chip altogether and instead optimize the hardware for using an external amp.
More info on the mod itself can be found here and here.

iceblue1980 said:
This depends on what you have right now. The most common hardware mod is TDA7850 with a 10,000 mf capacitor. Personally, I disconnect it from internal power altogether and drive it with a 17v-18v 10A power supply. Bear in mind that TDA7850 requires proper cooling so be ready to add additional heatsinks and a temperature-controlled fan (you don't want the fan to be on all the time, only when cooling is required). Example in the pics.
View attachment 5391107...View attachment 5391105
If you have an external amplifier and it's good (at least 300 real Watts), then I would remove the internal amplifier chip altogether and instead optimize the hardware for using an external amp.
More info on the mod itself can be found here and here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I understand, in the case that I have an external amplifier how do I optimize the hardware for using an external amp?

adir 25 said:
Ok, I understand, in the case that I have an external amplifier how do I optimize the hardware for using an external amp?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guides can be found here and here.
This will require the removal of the internal amp and soldering other components onto the motherboard

iceblue1980 said:
Guides can be found here and here.
This will require the removal of the internal amp and soldering other components onto the motherboard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Removal of the TDA power amplifier is not necessary, you could consider grounding pin 4 to place TDA7388 into standby and decouple signal inputs via 1k resistor to RCA leads for connection to external amp.
Another option could be to cut or lift TDA power supply leads. However, leaving the TDA in place will not affect audio.
Despite what the Russian mods suggest, soldering 1k resistors, carefully and supporting with a small amount of suitable glue is OK.

adir 25 said:
Hello, I wanted to ask which ic amplifier would be the best for me for the car in terms of sound music,I have some doubts between the Tda 7851 or Tda 7838 or Toshiba Tcb001, by the way I have an external amplifier of kicker 250.1. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is so little difference (other than being mostly counterfeit or knockoffs) between these Power Amplifier ICs there is no "best".
If you want a real and measurable difference, install an external power Amp.

marchnz said:
There is so little difference (other than being mostly counterfeit or knockoffs) between these Power Amplifier ICs there is no "best".
If you want a real and measurable difference, install an external power Amp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Real TDA7850 (properly cooled) powered by 17-18v supply with 10,000 mf cap, with proper power and grounding cabling with correctly configured Viper4Android will perform on a level where no external amp will be able to complete when it comes to price vs sound quality.
If you choose external amp then you'll need to throw in a DSP unit as well. All that will cost more than some are willing to spend.
YD7388 and TDA7388 are complete crap however.

iceblue1980 said:
Real TDA7850 (properly cooled) powered by 17-18v supply with 10,000 mf cap, with proper power and grounding cabling with correctly configured Viper4Android will perform on a level where no external amp will be able to complete when it comes to price vs sound quality.
If you choose external amp then you'll need to throw in a DSP unit as well. All that will cost more than some are willing to spend.
YD7388 and TDA7388 are complete crap however.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I got it, I have a dilemma between these two -

adir 25 said:
Ok, I got it, I have a dilemma between these two -View attachment 5392433
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of these are YT921xxx or Rockchip based type, so personally I wouldn't know how to do any modifications on any of them

iceblue1980 said:
Real TDA7850 (properly cooled) powered by 17-18v supply with 10,000 mf cap, with proper power and grounding cabling with correctly configured Viper4Android will perform on a level where no external amp will be able to complete when it comes to price vs sound quality.
If you choose external amp then you'll need to throw in a DSP unit as well. All that will cost more than some are willing to spend.
YD7388 and TDA7388 are complete crap however.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, the datasheet shows a different perspective, however goldern ears may vary. If you like it, that's great.

adir 25 said:
Ok, I got it, I have a dilemma between these two -View attachment 5392433
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said earlier, there's little to NO difference between the power amps they use, except that they're mostly counterfeit devices, so it's *luck of the draw* what you end up with.
If your concers are audio quality, these Chinese knockoffs are not for you. Also, doing misinformed things like running the power amp at manufacturer rated maximum supply and fitting a giant heatsink to in in hope of it lasting longer than a short period of time - won't help either. I had originally typed 'dumb', but realized that it's not polite.

Just to be super clear on this question: Which amplifier is better?
The answer is none.
The power amps used in these devices are all so close in terms of output power, the difference is insignificant.
Wanting quality Audio? The cheapest units are not for you, with the more expensive units not necessarily offering any better "quality".
Wanting power to drive your speakers/annoy - purchase external power amplifier(s).

marchnz said:
As I said earlier, there's little to NO difference between the power amps they use, except that they're mostly counterfeit devices, so it's *luck of the draw* what you end up with.
If your concers are audio quality, these Chinese knockoffs are not for you. Also, doing misinformed things like running the power amp at manufacturer rated maximum supply and fitting a giant heatsink to in in hope of it lasting longer than a short period of time - won't help either. I had originally typed 'dumb', but realized that it's not polite.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clearly you have not had any experience testing TDA7388 or YD7388 with true TDA7850-system described above side by side.
Only relying on datasheets is like trying to understand what sound will be like by reading datasheets of speakers...
Please refrain from confusing people who are most probably on budget, trying to get the best out of their Android Head Units.
Max conditions for any electronic device can be successfully applied with proper modding to support the output. They will not break.
Many times the shortfall is the cooling, not the power output capacity. And it's not "just heatsinks", it's an end-to-end temperature-controlled cooling system.
I will agree on that if you can afford a proper external amp and DSP, that that is a better choice. And many of these units can be optimized to deliver a respectable performance with external gear.

iceblue1980 said:
Clearly you have not had any experience testing TDA7388 or YD7388 with true TDA7850-system described above side by side.
Only relying on datasheets is like trying to understand what sound will be like by reading datasheets of speakers...
Please refrain from confusing people who are most probably on budget, trying to get the best out of their Android Head Units.
Max conditions for any electronic device can be successfully applied with proper modding to support the output. They will not break.
Many times the shortfall is the cooling, not the power output capacity. And it's not "just heatsinks", it's an end-to-end temperature-controlled cooling system.
I will agree on that if you can afford a proper external amp and DSP, that that is a better choice. And many of these units can be optimized to deliver a respectable performance with external gear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Testing, interesting.
How were the before and after tested and against which ICs.
No, reading IC datasheets is not "like trying to understand what sound will be like by reading datasheets of speakers".
One could however make cabinet and crossover decisions based on speaker datasheets, that is possible.
If at the end of the design, your speakers added some sort of magical sound to the reproduction, the calculations are in error and the design is a failure.
This discussion is however like comparing two cheap rubber bands and arguing one is better because you can stretch it further.
Since you mentioned speakers, running a speaker beyond xmax is analogous to operating the amp IC at its Vmax - impending failure.

marchnz said:
Testing, interesting.
How were the before and after tested and against which ICs.
No, reading IC datasheets is not "like trying to understand what sound will be like by reading datasheets of speakers".
One could however make cabinet and crossover decisions based on speaker datasheets, that is possible.
If at the end of the design, your speakers added some sort of magical sound to the reproduction, the calculations are in error and the design is a failure.
This discussion is however like comparing two cheap rubber bands and arguing one is better because you can stretch it further.
Since you mentioned speakers, running a speaker beyond xmax is analogous to operating the amp IC at its Vmax - impending failure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When data sheets clearly shows THD >10% and skyrocketing above 100W output. You don't need any test to know that it will not sound very nice powering 4-8 speakers and a subwoofer!
But it might sound ok with efficient stock speakers.
For undistorted power you need an external amp. But these units are rather noisy and garbage in equals garbage out...

Allan_Hun said:
When data sheets clearly shows THD >10% and skyrocketing above 100W output. You don't need any test to know that it will not sound very nice powering 4-8 speakers and a subwoofer!
But it might sound ok with efficient stock speakers.
For undistorted power you need an external amp. But these units are rather noisy and garbage in equals garbage out...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Subwoofer will pull the most amps which is why it's highly recommended to have an active sub, which let's face it - most car audio lovers will already have. Even a compact underseat subwoofer like Kenwood KSC-SW11 150W will make quite a difference even in an SUV sized vehicle.
A trimmed TDA7850 setup in a up to 8x (4+Ohm) stock speakers + active sub, will deliver some respectable results in combination with a properly configured Viper4Android.
With passive sub, I probably wouldn't bother as it would choke TDA7850 even with the suggested mod. Simple physics.
I tested a 4 × 4Ohm speaker setup with a midsize passive sub and it wasn't awesome. Was okay but barely.

iceblue1980 said:
Subwoofer will pull the most amps which is why it's highly recommended to have an active sub, which let's face it - most car audio lovers will already have. Even a compact underseat subwoofer like Kenwood KSC-SW11 150W will make quite a difference even in an SUV sized vehicle.
A trimmed TDA7850 setup in a up to 8x (4+Ohm) stock speakers + active sub, will deliver some respectable results in combination with a properly configured Viper4Android.
With passive sub, I probably wouldn't bother as it would choke TDA7850 even with the suggested mod. Simple physics.
I tested a 4 × 4Ohm speaker setup with a midsize passive sub and it wasn't awesome. Was okay but barely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock speakers have tiny motors designed for 15 RMS watts.
But if you want something better you need power. 50W is better and 100W is even better. But if you care about sound guality you definitely don't want 20% of the output to be distortion. So a tiny single ic amp is not up for the task.
So if you want cheap sound quality purchase a power amp. Lot's of nice used amps available for 100$. So that is the route I would recommend instead of trying to mod the internal amp.
But if anyone really want to spend their time modding I'm not stopping anyone...

Allan_Hun said:
Stock speakers have tiny motors designed for 15 RMS watts.
But if you want something better you need power. 50W is better and 100W is even better. But if you care about sound guality you definitely don't want 20% of the output to be distortion. So a tiny single ic amp is not up for the task.
So if you want cheap sound quality purchase a power amp. Lot's of nice used amps available for 100$. So that is the route I would recommend instead of trying to mod the internal amp.
But if anyone really want to spend their time modding I'm not stopping anyone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, getting an external amp will still require hardware modding of the cheaper Android Heads Unit for optimal output and you'll need to throw in a DSP unit to at least partially offset not having Viper4Android.
I think if you put it all together it'll make more sense than comparing watts and units/components one by one.
The sad part of it all is that no Android Head Unit, not even the most expensive ones can deliver any meaningful audio experience. I compared the sound quality of a $800 Android Head Unit and a $100 one and it was barely noticeable.
The newer Qualcomm Android Head Units come without internal amp but require almost no modding to deliver good output. Granted, these new units utilise the fibre connection so not really a fair comparison.
I'm actually using one myself with an external Harman Kardon setup - and it's almost good enough but I'm really missing Viper Still looking for a hardware alternative but it would require quite a stack of hardware... DSP, EQ, Dynamics FX unit etc etc..

iceblue1980 said:
Well, getting an external amp will still require hardware modding of the cheaper Android Heads Unit for optimal output and you'll need to throw in a DSP unit to at least partially offset not having Viper4Android.
I think if you put it all together it'll make more sense than comparing watts and units/components one by one.
The sad part of it all is that no Android Head Unit, not even the most expensive ones can deliver any meaningful audio experience. I compared the sound quality of a $800 Android Head Unit and a $100 one and it was barely noticeable.
The newer Qualcomm Android Head Units come without internal amp but require almost no modding to deliver good output. Granted, these new units utilise the fibre connection so not really a fair comparison.
I'm actually using one myself with an external Harman Kardon setup - and it's almost good enough but I'm really missing Viper Still looking for a hardware alternative but it would require quite a stack of hardware... DSP, EQ, Dynamics FX unit etc etc..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to have a 100$ android HU feeding 3 amps through a Dayton DSP.
At low volume the s/n ratio was quite bad, but at normal listening volume it wasn't bad and I could not hear it with the engine running.
So I would like to know what you think needs to be improved about the preouts and how?
What is dynamics FX and what do you miss from viper?

Allan_Hun said:
I used to have a 100$ android HU feeding 3 amps through a Dayton DSP.
At low volume the s/n ratio was quite bad, but at normal listening volume it wasn't bad and I could not hear it with the engine running.
So I would like to know what you think needs to be improved about the preouts and how?
What is dynamics FX and what do you miss from viper?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I normally test the sound in my workshop as I have different car speakers and home speakers setup so I will hear literally everything... Car engine noise is therefore not present.
The radio sound is not great but can be improved by removing a few internal bypass capacitors and changing some others to much more powerful ones. The radio sound is better on units with NXP radio chip that supports RDS but frankly I'd rather listen to DAB or Internet Radio as that sounds goes through the "normal audio channels".
There are ways of "cleaning up" the output from RCA's by modding internal components. I'm yet to test it but can tell you for sure that the RCA outputs are "noisy". I compared the audio quality of Kenwood and Sony pre-outs side by side with one of the $100 Chinese Androids, and at least in lab environment, the difference was noticeable.
Viper4Android is a as powerful audio processing tool as any piece of software can deliver on an Android. Coming from a studio recording background (used to be an audio recording engineer and composer), I see this as a complete tool to perfect the car audio by softening the bad and boosting the good.
Dynamics FX for example allows you to utilise compression of certain frequencies at certain volume levels so that no matter of how quiet or loud the overall volume is, you sound stage will be perfectly balanced. It's a bit like fluent EQ.
And there are a number of other modules that will allow things like adaptive stereo imaging, frequency boost, distortion prevention (I have pushed TDA7850 to it's limits with no audible distortion), noise cancelling, delays, reverbs - pretty much any studio effect you can think of.
It is a complex tool but once done right, it's really impressive.
To give you an example, it took me 8 hours to properly calibrate the sound in our previous car that had one if these Mediatek Android Head units (modded to the teeth of course). Using stock BOSE speakers and 1 underseat sub in a fairly large SUV, it was uncomparable with the stock amp setup. Yes I spent a month modding the unit itself but for $200 I paid for the head unit and any spare parts for modding, it sounded like a 20-30 times more expensive audio setup and the best part was that it was a powerful Android as far as head units go.