TL: Sony head unit allow crappy android phone dac to covert files?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 984
Likes: 63
Sony head unit allow crappy android phone dac to covert files?
I connected android phone to my new Sony head unit over USB. Sony allow crappy DAC in phone to convert digital file to audio instead of using very good DAC in head unit. Do yours head unit allow it. When I connect my sony mp3 player over USB to Sony head unit head unit use own DAC that have high quality and strength but shoot all command at my mp3 player. It seem to me like or or situation. If is phone DAC used you can control music from phone but if is Sony DAC used you have to control music from head unit.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 984
Likes: 63
To my knowledge, there are 3 main types of Android car USB audio:
1. Android device as storage device; car audio system as player - DAC - amp - speakers
2. Android device as storage device - player; standard USB DAC; car audio system as amp - speakers
3. Android device as storage device - player; car audio system as DAC - amp - speakers.

That guy sum it nice. I have situation - Android is storage device, player and DAC - amp. Sony car audio is - speakers. Would like Android storage device and player. Rest as car audio system.
My mp3 player is storage device. Rest is all sony head unit and sound is much better than from android but i'm missing controls at mp3 player.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/at...out-car-ll.jpg
Check link very nice graphic explanation.
1. Android device as storage device; car audio system as player - DAC - amp - speakers
2. Android device as storage device - player; standard USB DAC; car audio system as amp - speakers
3. Android device as storage device - player; car audio system as DAC - amp - speakers.

That guy sum it nice. I have situation - Android is storage device, player and DAC - amp. Sony car audio is - speakers. Would like Android storage device and player. Rest as car audio system.
My mp3 player is storage device. Rest is all sony head unit and sound is much better than from android but i'm missing controls at mp3 player.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/at...out-car-ll.jpg
Check link very nice graphic explanation.
Last edited by bbsitum; Sep 18, 2017 at 08:12 PM.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 984
Likes: 63
I found this
"TL;DRprobably All head units with AOA 2.0 support that on the market right now have a clicking/micro pausing problem.
Sorry for a late response, I had to do some research, as explained below.
Now its time for the good, the bad, and the ugly!
The Good: The head unit preformed as promised, it was simple plug and play to rout all audio from the phoneto the car speakers, matching Ipod via USB quality. Spotify, Youtube, Soundcloud, and even Maps navigation all worked.
The Bad: Every 5-30 seconds there is a quick high pitch clicking sound accompanied by a micro pause of the audio of about a quarter of a second. This clicking only happens with a constant audio stream such as a song, not with something brief such as a Maps navigation direction, nor when the phone is plugged in without any audio being streamed. Sometimes I would get lucky and the audio would be perfect for a couple minutes, once even for a couple songs. But when it does happen, the clicking is quite loud and high pitch and with micropause it is easily noticeable during a normal song. I had 3 friends come listen to my "new setup" to ask them how it sounds, and all 3 of them noticed it. Unacceptable for an audiophile such as myself, so i did some research and conducted some experiments.
The Ugly: I devised a way to easily notice and keep track of the clicks. I played a low constant tone of a 40hz sine wave at high volume which made the abrupt high pitch clicks very loud (and annoying) in contrast to the low constant tone, and it made the micro pauses very obvious due to the interruption of the bass. With my phone I would hear random clicks every 5-30 seconds. I then tested 5 different android phones with various ROMs and about 10 different usb cords and many combinations of them. Clicking was reliably random. I changed kernel settings on some of the phones to see if the cpu performance was effecting it. I tried various apps such as sound about and the pioneer music app. Nothing changed.
I then went to an electronics store that had 8 head units available in store that supported Android Open Accessory 2.0. all hooked up for listening and ready for testing. There were 3 Pioneers, 2 JVC's, and 3 Kenwoods. ALL of them had the clicking problem. The Pioneers were the worst: the most frequent and loud clicks, followed closely behind by the JVC's. The Kenwoods, had clicks every 30 seconds to 2 minutes, and were about 40% less loud. I suspect that with the Kenwood head unit the average person might not be able to detect the clicking and micro pauses during a normal song, but I know i could in my high end system, especially after all this nonsense i would be passively listening for it.
Conclusion: I suspect that there is either a fundamental problem with Android Open Accessory 2.0 that causes the clicking, or the stereo manufacturers are cutting corners somewhere, or maybe some incompatibility issue with the software. I just don't know. I tried to do more research but I have found nothing online about this specific issue."
Entire those smart phone - head unit connections are evidently still in baby stage. And dac in phones are joke. Control of playing in head unit is joke too albeit DAC is excellent. Solution? Probably high end mp3 player with high quality DAC and strong amplifier. Phones are nowhere near to work good in this and will not be good for decade or more.
"TL;DR
Sorry for a late response, I had to do some research, as explained below.
Now its time for the good, the bad, and the ugly!
The Good: The head unit preformed as promised, it was simple plug and play to rout all audio from the phoneto the car speakers, matching Ipod via USB quality. Spotify, Youtube, Soundcloud, and even Maps navigation all worked.
The Bad: Every 5-30 seconds there is a quick high pitch clicking sound accompanied by a micro pause of the audio of about a quarter of a second. This clicking only happens with a constant audio stream such as a song, not with something brief such as a Maps navigation direction, nor when the phone is plugged in without any audio being streamed. Sometimes I would get lucky and the audio would be perfect for a couple minutes, once even for a couple songs. But when it does happen, the clicking is quite loud and high pitch and with micropause it is easily noticeable during a normal song. I had 3 friends come listen to my "new setup" to ask them how it sounds, and all 3 of them noticed it. Unacceptable for an audiophile such as myself, so i did some research and conducted some experiments.
The Ugly: I devised a way to easily notice and keep track of the clicks. I played a low constant tone of a 40hz sine wave at high volume which made the abrupt high pitch clicks very loud (and annoying) in contrast to the low constant tone, and it made the micro pauses very obvious due to the interruption of the bass. With my phone I would hear random clicks every 5-30 seconds. I then tested 5 different android phones with various ROMs and about 10 different usb cords and many combinations of them. Clicking was reliably random. I changed kernel settings on some of the phones to see if the cpu performance was effecting it. I tried various apps such as sound about and the pioneer music app. Nothing changed.
I then went to an electronics store that had 8 head units available in store that supported Android Open Accessory 2.0. all hooked up for listening and ready for testing. There were 3 Pioneers, 2 JVC's, and 3 Kenwoods. ALL of them had the clicking problem. The Pioneers were the worst: the most frequent and loud clicks, followed closely behind by the JVC's. The Kenwoods, had clicks every 30 seconds to 2 minutes, and were about 40% less loud. I suspect that with the Kenwood head unit the average person might not be able to detect the clicking and micro pauses during a normal song, but I know i could in my high end system, especially after all this nonsense i would be passively listening for it.
Conclusion: I suspect that there is either a fundamental problem with Android Open Accessory 2.0 that causes the clicking, or the stereo manufacturers are cutting corners somewhere, or maybe some incompatibility issue with the software. I just don't know. I tried to do more research but I have found nothing online about this specific issue."
Entire those smart phone - head unit connections are evidently still in baby stage. And dac in phones are joke. Control of playing in head unit is joke too albeit DAC is excellent. Solution? Probably high end mp3 player with high quality DAC and strong amplifier. Phones are nowhere near to work good in this and will not be good for decade or more.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 984
Likes: 63
Well in progress of forming flash drive. Only problem is HU do not resognize my folders that I make per name that I did. Again work better for forming folders as my mp3 player didn't allow me to delete songs. Flash drive work good already. Have only a few hundred songs to add.