DIY Car radio from "old Smart phone" - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: ZaXaZ
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2015, 11:51:31 am
content: Hey all.new to the forum but long time viewer on youtube.the other day i got a idea.i have for a long time want a touchscreen radio for my car, but man they are expensive, and if you add gps well that only makes thing crazy in price. so i got the idea to use my "old" sony xperia z1. just using the mini jack don't give the quality i want and its not mounted or anything.in my car is already a amp and speaker setup with subwoffer, the amp have a 6 Channel input.2 for front speakers 2 for back speakers and 2 for the sub, so mini jack converted will leave me lacking 4 channels and a Y- splitter is not a useful option. im told that after android 5.x.x they support sound from usb i believe this is called DAC.I have asked the "god" of google but end up with nothing.is what i want to do possible, if yes do i need to make it all my self? or is there a pre made solution?i have a little to non understanding of electronics, i can do very simple stuff, and have a basic understanding of power but thats more or less it. i can how ever build small kits from detailed instructions and have done so from a age of 8 (give or take a few years)any information or help is greatly appreciatedRegards ZaXaZ aka Andreas

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 14, 2015, 11:56:07 am
content: so you want a usb to audio converter ? you also need your phone to be outputting 5.1 suround audio data that the converter can interpret......To be honest particularly in a car this surround business is bollocks, just connect all the left channels to the left pin of the headphone socket and then connect all the right inputs to the right pin of the headphone socket.

author: ZaXaZ
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2015, 12:11:41 pm
content: True that one way of making it happen, but not the quality way witch i'm looking for

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2015, 12:29:14 pm
content: Quality is pointless in a car unless you are listening to a quiet orchestral piece, parked up in a remote location. If you are on the road, road noise will dominate unless the volume is high enough to cause problems with body panels resonating. Also poor speaker locations and the large areas of acoustically highly reflective glass make even simple stereo marginal, with very poor separation.

author: ZaXaZ
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2015, 01:08:00 pm
content: well there is a Different on getting the most crappy solution you can get or as good as it gets. and to split 1 single channel to 3 sounds like crap,you will be better of with a hone on speaker. witch is why i asked for help to the solution i talk about.it´s fine that you think its over kill, but hey not your money or time.also i am educated auto mechanic and belie me there is a world apart from standard car stereo to some HQ stuff.and no you don't have to be in a remote location listing to some kinda orchestral piece, and no it don not need to be high enough to cause problems with body panels resonating. the only cars i have come across with body panels resonating, is when a 18 yea old kid thinks he i knows all in the world and gets the biggest and baddest and loudest system to throw in to the cheapest car with full plastic interior, if you get a car buy just of okay quality there will be little to non problems with resonating sound, and if there is it´s so easy to correct.i can recommend that you look in to how much time some car manufacture spends in placing speakers so they are placed perfectly unless its a safety hazard. i know the V.A.G. grp is doing this alot audi even have B&O in some and it sounds amassing (even when its a radio program, and you are parked in a car wash witch is drying the car yes i have tested this)

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 14, 2015, 04:50:15 pm
content: You have stated that you know next to nothing about eelctronics and yet you want to shoot for the stars. All I can say is good luck with that one.A car is still the worse place for quality music no matter how much effort they put in. Most audio problems are of a mechanical nature not electronic.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2015, 08:35:00 pm
content: You may find the following project of interest:http://sound.westhost.com/project18.htmThis takes a standard stereo signal and generates the two rear channels plus a center signal plus a drive for a sub-woofer. Note that this is NOT a true 5.1 decoder but given that you're playing the boosted output from a phone in a car I doubt that you would notice. I run one of these decoders on my home cinema system and the results are very good.

author: mikerj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2015, 09:33:42 pm
content: Quote from: ZaXaZ on October 14, 2015, 01:08:00 pmAnd yet these same manufacturers have head units that just split each channel of a stereo signal to drive multiple speakers. I guess the effort they put into speaker placement was pointless if this makes it sound like crap?

author: ZaXaZ
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 19, 2015, 08:39:31 am
content: Quote from: German_EE on October 14, 2015, 08:35:00 pmSeems good. i don't need a 5.1 more like a 4.1 ;)tho it might be fun to add a center speaker just for funtho i still would love to use the DAC sins the usb needs to to connected anyway for power to the phone so that will be a little space saver of not having a jack in the other end

author: yamajason
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 22, 2015, 07:12:35 pm
content: I think this project has some cool potential to it, especially when a large screen tablet with HDMI output is involved.Start withhttps://source.android.com/devices/audio/usb.htmlthen search google for "USB Audio Interfaces" maybe that will help

author: tehmagicsmoke
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2015, 03:43:47 am
content: Don't know if this will help, but for about 5 bucks I think you can get a little wire that plugs into the mini usb charger and it has small electonics in it and ends in a 3.5mm or 2.5mm audio jack. These are made for headphones with a mic for calls, but their main func t ion is to remove noise/distortion on calls. If you are in southern oregon you can pm me. I have one that hooks up to standard mini usb then goes to 2.5 maybe 3.5mm jack, I would let you try it. Don't know if that helps, but hope it might.Other than using the charging port you are better off saving up and buying something new.

author: ZaXaZ
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2015, 08:56:31 am
content: Quote from: yamajason on October 22, 2015, 07:12:35 pmThis seems close to what i need.. tho its optical and not USB to analog with all the channels needethttp://www.ebay.com/itm/5-1-2-1-Channel-Stereo-AC3-DTS-Digital-Optical-Audio-to-Analog-RCA-Converter-/291493393575?hash=item43de5c34a7:g:AroAAOSwMmBVnd60