megacrazy

Fit and finish is good. No gaps or otherwise weird stuff.

Get a unit with built in CarPlay at the lowest possible price from one of the vendors established to sell the authentic product (mekede, road top etc). The units are built to be disposable so expect to upgrade when a new one comes out. More expensive ones will give you better support, which you won’t need as all info is in this thread and many other spots.

The OEM displays are very good quality. They are 800x480 with built in brightness sensors.

conmee

Thanks megacrazy!

Navifly (a Mekede sub-brand I believe) has the Android 11 8+256 in the $555 range which is only a $90 difference from the Joyeauto CarPlay unit. Leaning toward Android and screen swap due to the extra capabilities of the Android unit.

Also, although I'm not a strict audiophile (I do keep all music in ALAC/FLAC format), it looks like with Joyeauto's module that the only audio output is via analog 3.5mm and no way to incorporate an external DAC if I'm not satisfied with the audio quality. I currently use an iPod Classic via MMI connection in glovebox, and I change the EQ on the iPod and leave the OEM Bass/Treble set to flat and it's pretty good sound (I notice some subtle details playing CDs directly that I don't hear from the iPod - mainly jazz/classical, so not sure how good the iPod connection is but it's good enough for me/Ozzy/Crue/Van Halen - if Joyeauto is equivalent to iPod output I'll be satisfied). At least with the Android unit, based on what I gather from this thread, I can incorporate a DAC using the Android unit's USB connection if I'm looking for the best audio. I might just try the Joyeauto module first as it's less work to get it going, check if audio is acceptable or not. If not, return and get the Android unit. Decisions, decisions...

Lorne Greene

I noticed the gaps when I installed the unit and have not noticed it since checking back in on this thread.

As for the unit, its been flawless, no strange issues or software glitches.

tmakt

Hey all,
I just picked up a 2007 S65 that has the android unit already installed. My issue is the bluetooth audio and speakers - if I am streaming music from youtube via bluetooth it sounds like the speakers are blown. If I go back to regular FM - they sound fine. I already played with the treble, bass, and soundlogic on/ off settings. Any ideas?

conmee

Spent the evening installing and configuring the Joyeauto CarPlay module. So cool to see CarPlay on the OEM screen. Very sharp, looks great. Not as sharp as the Android unit’s 1920x720 obviously (the GLB loaner I had last week has the same 10.25” 1920x720 screen and sure does look sharp and bright), but at driver seat distance CarPlay really looks good and makes the car feel a bit more modern.

I’m no audiophile. But I do have all 1000+ CDs of mine in ALAC format. And I use a 160GB iPod Classic connected to the MMI 30-Pin Apple connector in the glove box (2013 S550). I have the volume on the iPod set to 50% and the EQ set to “Rock.” On the head unit, I have Treble 0 / Bass 2 / Balance+Fader centered / Logic On. The sound is CD quality, great range/depth/clarity/volume. I sometimes think I can hear a tiny bit more nuance playing CDs directly in the head unit, but by and large, really happy with the iPod Classic sound.

Unfortunately, the CarPlay module is a noticeable step down in audio quality. I fiddled with the audio settings (on the CarPlay module you can select with/without Loudness boost, with/without Subwoofer, tried EQ settings and so on), but sounds little better than 128kb mp3 in my opinion. I’ve read that other folks don’t hear a difference in quality using the CarPlay module but I hear a difference with mine. I plugged the module directly into the 3.5mm jack in the glove compartment and that made no difference to the audio quality.

So for fun, I dug out my iPhone 6S (I just knew the 3.5mm headphone jack would come in handy some day), put some music on it and plugged it into the 3.5mm jack in the glove box and it sounded as good as the iPod. Great range/volume/etc. I had the volume set to 50% on the iPhone as well and it just sounded so much better than the CarPlay module playing the same music from the same iPhone.

I’ll either just stick with the OEM hardware and use my iPhone and a Magsafe mount for those times when I need the more up to date maps. Or I'll give the Android unit a shot and run audio through USB->DAC->3.5mm. Have to give it some thought over the weekend as I didn’t really want to take the dash apart and replace the screen.

If audio quality isn’t a big concern to some folks, I do recommend the Joyeauto solution as it takes advantage of the built-in Mercedes screen, is less complicated to install than an Android screen replacement unit, and the CarPlay interface works well and the album art looks great.

amgs63dxb

+1 on the audio quality downgrade here, unfortunately. Android seems a bit better, but not as good/clear and crisp as the OE hardware (e.g. when playing CD or even a ripped track from HDD). But to be honest, this is really not the issue when you are cruising over 50km/h when road noise covers up any sound deficiencies you normally hear when the car is stationary and the engine is off...

One distinct difference between box and Android screen is the implementation of knob controls:

The Android is weird when it comes to the integration with the OE control knob: you can still "scroll" left/right between icons when in native Android mode or when in Carplay/AA, but when you try to switch display segments in Carplay/AA mode, it just does not work as expected. So when your google maps is showing, you cannot simply press "right" to move over to the Spotify app (or switch the google to spotify without pressing the screen)... it's not a big annoyance, since it's a touch screen, but it is something that box users don't have to struggle with. Also, 1 in 5 times, the knob does not work at all until you switch back and forth between OE and Android mode... (press back 3 secs for OE mode, touch the screen to go back in). Never happened to me on the box.

On the positive note, Android unit has the "next/back" controls implemented, when you push/pull the knob forward/backward - this allows for the music controls regardless of the place you are within the interface - to get to the next song in the player you are currently using simply pull the knob towards you... Box does not have this up&down thing implemented, but instead allows to naturally switch between split-screen apps (left/right) and scrolling navigating to controls you look for by simply scrolling and confirming the selected control by pressing it down...

Neither box nor android allows for full left/right/up/down map scroll when using google maps... which is a shame. Android is clearly winning here since you have the touch.

Having said that - my choice is always to go with Android with NTG3, and stick with the box for NTG4+. I had W221 and W216, both equipped with two different generations of 10.25" screen (android 10 - post 399 and 422 and recently newer unit with Android 11 in my late CL), and for E and CLS and W222 I decided to go with the box, mainly because I don't mind the small screen (which TBH on W212 and W218 looks cute when fully implemented - screens here).

Lorne Greene

When I installed mine using the 3.5mm MME adapter in the glove box I noticed a downgrade in audio quality. I put my Bluetooth adapter back in and it sounds great. So I can use CarPlay but the phone will output it’s audio via Bluetooth to the adapter in the glove box.

megacrazy

There is a noticeable drop in sound quality with CarPlay or Bluetooth regardless of the system you’re using. Comes as no surprise here. The DAC with the android unit with the correct settings will give you most of the OEM sound back but still not 100%.

Personally I see no value in CarPlay if you can have a fully fledged Android system running natively on a large screen and using the car’s GPS antenna. The physical part of the install is a breeze compared to other cars. The only downside is the software which requires a lot of tweaking to get right. I suggest everyone with the unit install FlowUX as that works a lot better than the crappy stock launcher.

conmee

Completely agree. I guess I was just being a bit lazy and hoping there was a "quick" solution that met all my needs and still used the OEM display. But the audio quality is a deal-breaker. And true, there is some road noise, but as W221 owners can attest, it's quiet enough in the cabin at 80mph down I-5 from Seattle to Lake Tahoe that I can still hear a difference. Also important that you mentioned using the car's GPS antenna. I've noticed a few times driving about that the vehicle position jumps around a bit using the phone GPS. The OEM navigation/antenna is much more smooth/consistent (curse MB for not providing up-to-date map data for the W221!).

I'm going to give the Navifly/Mekede Android unit a shot. Even though I mentioned my OCD might get the best of me with the small gaps noticeable in the photos above, if I had to choose OEM+subpar audio or Android+some small gaps, looks like I'll go with the latter.

conmee

Just noticed this today. So true. Any time I use Apple Maps or other mapping app, I've had to "scroll" to north/south/east/west to choose the direction to move the map. Unlike the OE navigation. Does the Android unit accept two-finger dragging or pinch/zoom of the maps directly on the touchscreen?

When I was driving a GLB loaner for four days, it has a large trackpad with haptic touch features in place of a control knob that I really just didn't like using (obviously I'm used to the W221), but found myself more comfortably just relying on the touch interface. It may be the case that I end up using touch for the most part when Android unit is running.

megacrazy

I keep reading about gaps. Not sure what you guys are doing but there should be no gaps. Granted this is in a 216 but if you’re having gaps, you need to double check your install.

conmee

Thanks for those detailed photos. That install looks great. I'd be perfectly happy with that install.

conmee

How have you setup your system, MC? I am planning to buy the Android unit, add a 256GB SD card to it loaded up with all my ALAC/FLAC files, and just play music directly from the unit v. BT/wifi streaming. Do you use a data-only SIM in the Android unit so you can use streaming services directly on the Android unit or do you stream from phone? I'd like to use the Android unit for all navigation and music/video playing from Android storage, and keep my iPhone synced to the OE system for calls. And just not bother with CarPlay at all. Is there a need to use the little external speaker that comes with Android unit? I don't envision a scenario where that would be needed. The only time I might use the OE system for audio would be AM sports talk. And in that case, unlikely I'd need to hear anything from the Android unit.

megacrazy

I am using a DAC which makes the Android sound passable. However I find myself using the OEM system with an SD card for music, mostly because you can control it from the instrument cluster. CarPlay is terrible for music, if you ask me, and too laggy and annoying overall.

I use a hotspot, as it seems to get better reception than the android unit, plus it came be used with other devices.

I have a Bluetooth Puck installed but lately I simply use my phone. Hey if I can talk on the phone on the Autobahn I can do it here haha.

The speaker comes in handy if you want to play music from the OEM system while navigating on Android. I did not install mine at all. You can just keep an eye on the directions.

So to recap, music from OEM, phone via Bluetooth puck and navigation via Android. To be fair, I also have nav on the HUD so you might want to install the extra speaker.

conmee

After spending hours trying different settings on the Joyeauto CarPlay module (instead of spending quality time with family), I finally got audio quality to 90% of OE/iPod quality. Out of the box, the CarPlay module sounded like 128kbps MP3s played on cheap speakers and wouldn’t take much volume to start encountering distortion. After adjusting numerous settings, the sound from the CarPlay unit now sounds quite good, it’s just that the OE/iPod combo still sounds better.

For those that don’t want to read everything that follows, with these settings most music ranging from hip-hop, old school rap, electronic, 60s/70s/80s rock, grunge, classical, jazz are enjoyable at nearly any volume using CarPlay. I lean toward a little more low end, tastes may vary.

Source: iPhone 12 Pro using only ALAC (Apple Lossless) music files. Music Settings (EQ=Flat, Sound Check=Enabled)

OE Unit: Audio|Sound Settings (Treble=0, Bass=+3, Balance=Centered, Fader=-3 to the rear, Logic7=On)

CarPlay Unit: Connect to OE unit using 3.5MM jack in glove box. Volume Settings (Master Volume=30, Individual Volumes=8). EQ Settings (Loudness=ON, Subwoofer=OFF, EQ “Custom” Profile: 60Hz=0, 150Hz=-3, 400Hz=-4, 1Khz=-3, 3Khz=-1, 7Khz=1, 15Khz=3, 20Khz=-2). For reference: The CarPlay unit Master Volume max out at 40 and the individual volumes max out at 10. The EQ bands have a range of +12 to -12.

——

Using all ALAC files and a few AAC files (256kbps/CBR/44.1) for comparison on an iPhone 12 Pro. Phone music settings have “Sound Check” enabled and EQ set to flat, but didn’t notice that these settings made any difference when using CarPlay. I couldn't tell any quality difference when using Wireless CarPlay or connecting to the CarPlay module USB connection. I also couldn’t tell the difference between Apple Lossless and AAC (256kbps/VBR/44.1) source so either Apple Lossless is downsampled on the way to the CarPlay unit, or it really is difficult to tell the difference between lossless and a good AAC file. Or the differences don’t come out on the OE system. Or I’m old now and most of this doesn’t even matter to my ears…

My first focus was to get rid of all distortion when listening to bass-heavy tracks. Daft Punk, Will.I.Am, Kanye, some 80s old school rap (Run DMC, Hashim, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, NWA, Beastie Boys, Sir Mix-A-Lot) all produced a fair amount of distortion even at moderate low levels. So started out with all default/flat settings and worked my way from there to eliminate excessive bass and distortion. My thinking is that if I could get all these tracks to sound good at high volume, the other genres should sound acceptable.

* Started by putting OE unit to flat treble/bass centered balance/fader and kept Logic7 ON as turning it off had no effect in terms of eliminating distortion

* Set CarPlay module Loudness setting to ON. When set to OFF, volume is much, much lower than OE. With Loudness ON, CarPlay is on par with OE volume (I didn’t encounter huge swings in volume going from CarPlay to OE with Loudness set to ON - CORRECTION: This evening there was a HUGE increase in volume level when switching from CarPlay to iPod audio, not sure how I missed it last night). And distortion was present regardless of Loudness setting.

* Set CarPlay module to flat EQ profile (called Standard). This still resulted in low end distortion. I then created a custom EQ profile with each frequency band set to absolute minimum (-12 for all frequency bands). This eliminated distortion but also reduced volume quite a bit. Turning off the Loudness setting didn’t produce the same effect, as Loudness disabled didn’t eliminate distortion, but dropping all EQ frequency bands to minimum with Loudness enabled did eliminate distortion. So with Loudness enabled and custom EQ profile set to minimum across all frequencies, distortion was eliminated, but volume was very low.

* Lowering only the bass frequency bands to minimum (EQ Standard profile) would eliminate distortion with hip -hop, old school rap, modern masters that crank up the bass, remastered rock, etc, but standard 80s rock and classical sounded hollow and no bottom end. Given the variety of music I listen to and the variety of mastering from 60s to present, I’m amazed the OE/iPod sounds as good as it does across a wide range of music.

* I then lowered the CarPlay module master volume from 40 (Max) to 30 and all the other volumes (nav, siri, etc) from 10 (Max) to 8. Reducing Master Volume and CarPlay Media volume settings helped quite a bit with removing distortion.

* Next I went back to the CarPlay EQ and listened to music using Standard (Flat) profile and more of the music sounded good but still some overbearing bass on some songs. Most of the predefined EQ profiles introduced distortion or just sounded hollow except the Classical profile (surprisingly). It sounded very good if a bit too bright and lacking some midrange. I created a Custom profile based on the Classical profile presets and adjusted the low end frequency bands down to make bass reasonable and dropped the high end bands a bit to take some off the brightness of the high frequencies. Finally getting better.

* Went back to OE and kept treble at 0 and pushed bass up to +3 to help fill in some missing midrange and pushed the fader toward the rear -3 to help with the high end frequencies in the front seats that are sometimes too bright/tinny/overbearing. At this point, with all above settings, and a EQ custom profile, I’d say I’m in the 90% as good as OE/iPod sound quality now.

After all the trial and error, what I believe is needed to get to that OE/iPod sound out of this CarPlay module (at least for me) is probably better electronics and an EQ in the CarPlay module that has double the frequency bands or at least double the mid range frequencies. The OE/iPod just sounds more consistent across entire frequency spectrum. I’d say the OE/iPod sound is fuller/warmer if that makes sense. CarPlay sounds like it’s missing some midrange and I don’t have enough frequency bands in the CarPlay built-in EQ to improve the midrange to my liking. It’s not a huge difference, but audio just feels more well rounded from the OE/iPod.

On a 1-5 star scale, here’s how I’d rate the music I’ve tested so far. Keep in mind, none of the music matches the OE/iPod audio quality but comes quite close in some cases. “Five Star” on CarPlay is equivalent to a “Four Star” rating on the OE system if that makes sense. Five Star meaning CD Quality (at least perceived CD quality). Four Star meaning “near CD Quality.” Three Star meaning “near CD Quality” but recorded volume is lower unlike modern “wall of sound/pronounced bass” productions, starting to sound a bit hollow due to weak midrange from CarPlay. Two Star meaning roughly average MP3 quality. One Star meaning 128kbps MP3, hollow, tinny, weak low end.

Five Star: Hip-Hop, Smooth Jazz, Dance, Electronic, Classical, 80s new wave, some remasters, some modern productions. I played Daft Punk, Santana, Bob James/David Sanborn, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Justin Timberlake, Duran Duran, AC/DC (Highway To Hell remaster), Pink Floyd (DSOTM, Wish You Were Here, The Wall), Led Zeppelin IV, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, Grieg, Chopin (most classical are 80s-90s recordings, Chopin from 2000s) all sounded great.

Four Star: Lots of 80s pop music, some 80s rock, progressive rock, some jazz. Most 80s pop music (Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince), Rush, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Steely Dan, sound very good, but the recorded volumes are lower than modern recordings so have to push up the volume a bit more and start to notice the weak midrange. The same music with OE/iPod sounds fuller/warmer and volume difference isn’t as noticeable with OE/iPod although it is still noticeable. Nevertheless, this music sounds quite good.

Three Star: I love 80s rock and metal, and most of the non-remastered 80s rock/metal (and alternative/grunge) music lands here which is unfortunate as I love Van Halen, Ratt, Ozzy, Motley Crue, Scorpions, Def Leppard, you get the idea. The weak midrange/fullness is evident with this music. Van Halen is particularly disappointing on a few albums. I have the 2000 remasters and they are definitely better than the original releases, but Diver Down in particular never had very good bottom end sound. VH I, VH II, and Fair Warning sound the best. 1984, WACF, and Diver Down sound acceptable but weak midrange. For instance, Hot For Teacher double bass drumming sounds “full/fat” on OE/iPod and can feel the entire frequency range of the bass drum kicking you in the butt with OE/iPod, but on CarPlay, the bass drum sounds a bit thinner and further away. All the Sammy stuff sucks, not just because I’m a DLR fan lol, but the production is not great and all the Sammy era albums suffer via CarPlay due to poor production and weak midrange (Sammy era albums deserve a remaster). It’s interesting, when I listen to Motley Crue’s Shout At The Devil or Theatre of Pain original releases, they are Three Star, but the same albums remastered are Five Star. So there is a lot of production/mastering variety that causes this genre to be hit or miss. Def Leppard’s Pyromania sounds a bit thin, but their follow-up album Hysteria sounds much better, neither are remastered. Again, a testament to how good the OE/iPod handles a wide variety of music that even when playing a substandard production through OE/iPod, it does a great job making them sound better. In general, if I go in and move the OE bass setting from +3 to +5, it improves the bass and midrange for this tier of music and brings most of it up into Four Star territory. So if I select music that sounds a little thin, I just go in and adjust OE bass. But have to remember to drop it back down when listening to bass heavy music as anything over +3 on the OE bass setting starts to introduce a little distortion at moderate volume levels.

Two Star: There are only two albums out of about sixty I tested that fall to this category. Van Halen’s 2012 release “A Different Kind of Truth” and Cage the Elephant’s debut album. Both of these albums suffer from that “wall of sound/loudness” production that makes it hard to sound good no matter what you do. They simply sound “muddy/muddled” and poor separation/dynamic range. I recall when A Different Kind of Truth came out. All us old school fans were excited to hear DLR and EVH back together again. But the production is simply horrible. Even on the OE/iPod, these two albums require me to turn the bass down (like Bass set to -2 or -3 on the OE unit) for them to sound listenable. There are other albums that are overly loud but fall into the Three Star range and aren’t annoying to listen to. But these two albums, if I ever want to listen, I have to go into the OE sound settings and adjust bass down accordingly.

One Star: Nothing. Out of the box, all audio from CarPlay fell into this category or maybe Two Star at best. Thankfully, none of the music I tried out after the settings above falls into this category anymore.

Final note: I am still leaning toward getting the Android unit and using a USB->DAC->3.5MM setup. But for anyone trying to get better audio out of the Joyeauto CarPlay module, I think the above settings are at least a move in the right direction and I no longer feel completely dissatisfied with the purchase, at least music is listenable. Unfortunately, even after continued adjustments, still can't make many of my favorite 80s bands sound good compared to OE/iPod quality. For audiophiles or just picky people like me, Joyeauto's CarPlay module audio quality likely to disappoint overall when compared to the OE system.

megacrazy

Thanks for the super detailed post. It’ll let people know what to expect and how to make it better.

joeshannon095

Great contribution! I'm going to give this a try. I've gone the same route as you. Started with the Android unit but it felt too aftermarket and was glitchy. Could've been user error. The Joyeauto is much more "OE+" however the sound quality is lacking. I'm going to give your settings a shot and see how much of an improvement it makes.

conmee

I've been playing with the settings for a few days. I feel if I spend a few hours tweaking settings I have to give my hearing a rest for a day or so as eventually the settings all sound the same except for big changes. Anyhow, I have dialed things in a bit more, but still not where I'd like them. Kremersino and the guys at Integrated Automotive UK sell a unit similar to Joyeauto and they tout having a "DSP" for superior sound. The Integrated Automotive UK site even claims they use high quality Japanese components so I may give that a try. But I think the best solution for me will ultimately be the Android unit USB->DAC->3.5mm.

I really wanted to determine if the 3.5mm input simply sucks or if the source device plays a part. Turns out, if I plug my iPod Classic into the 3.5mm jack I get the same near CD quality audio that I get when I have it plugged into the 30-pin connector. So that tells me that the 3.5mm jack can supply audio quality I'm happy with if it has a high quality source. That's why I think Android screen replacement solution may be my best bet. I also tried plugging in my iPhone 6S and iPhone 12 Pro to the 3.5mm jack and the 12 Pro sounds marginally better with all Music settings the same on both devices. Not sure if it's just newer components or if there's a different DAC in the Lightning-to-USB dongle I needed to use on the 12 Pro v. using the 3.5mm jack in the 6S. At any rate, the iPhone 12 Pro audio quality when connected to the 3.5mm jack falls in between the Joyeauto and the iPod Classic audio (this was a bit surprising because I thought I'd get the same audio quality from all Apple devices, but iPod is definitely better than either of my iPhones).

It also seems that Apple CarPlay will only support lossless via wired connection according to what I've read from Apple online. Despite the fact Wifi bandwidth is capable of lossless. I didn't notice any difference when using my 12 Pro with the Joyeauto connected to USB or via WiFi. So I'm convinced the weak link isn't the iPhone, isn't the CarPlay connection (USB v. WiFi), isn't the ALAC files, but the Joyeauto components.

I've made some minor adjustments to my settings from my previous post:

:

• I used my iPhone 12 Pro with ALAC files connected to the USB. This also doesn't appear to make a difference for audio quality, but there is a bit less lag switching between songs/artists.

• I also set the iPhone 12 Pro EQ to Off on the phone and turned off "Sound Check" as that drops the volume on louder recordings but didn't make a difference when going through Joyeauto. At any rate I didn't want the phone doing any equalizing or volume adjusting. I just wanted a default audio stream coming from the phone.

• I turned on the Subwoofer setting in Joyeauto just because. It doesn't appear to make a difference, but I turned it on. I also kept the Loudness setting selected as well. Without it, you have to really crank the volume and if you accidentally switch to an OE audio source, would probably destroy speakers or hearing or both. I really dislike the difference in volume between Joyeauto and OE system. And what is annoying is that the iPod Classic when connected to the 3.5mm jack doesn't have the same huge swing in volume (I have the iPod set to max audio output which only affects the 3.5mm, the iPod volume is consistent with the rest of the OE sources when iPod is connected to the 30-pin connector and adjusting the iPod volume makes no difference to volume level when connected via 30-pin, it's in line with the rest of the OE source volume levels).
• For the AUX sound settings, I have Treble=0, Bass=4, Balance=Centered, and Fader=Centered. By dropping the high frequencies in the EQ, I was able to keep fader centered and can "feel" a little more bass/mid in the doors middle of the car.

• I decided to try to mimic the EQ "Rock" profile of the iPod/iTunes/Music as that gives me the best mix for the music I mainly listen to. The iPod only has 8 bands to adjust (just like Joyeauto) but iTunes/Music has ten. So I aligned the Joyeauto EQ settings as seen in the attached screen shot (black circles are the Joyeauto EQ frequencies and the settings). I started by by dropping all frequencies on the Joyeauto EQ to -12 and adjusting up.

As of last night these are the settings that sound best to me. And I think I'm done with messing with Joyeauto and will likely make a decision on Android+DAC solution this week.

Bottom Line: The best way I can describe the difference between my iPod (30-pin connector) and Joyeauto is that with Joyeauto I'm missing a lot of "thickness/bass" in the middle of the car. When I play Van Halen's Hot For Teacher as an example, I can hear the drums from the front and I can feel the subwoofer from the back, but it's completely missing the fullness/pounding of the bass drums from the middle of the car. As such it makes a lot of rock music sound weak. Not sure how else to explain it. (Note: I also thought lack of mids/lack of audio oomph from the middle of the car might be a function of the EQ profile I'm using. But even if I push up the mid frequencies in the EQ, I don't get the missing fullness, higher mid settings just start to muddy the audio or make it harsh to listen to. It's as if the OE unit does something to "fill out" the audio, but doesn't apply that same magic to Joyeauto's audio. I thought perhaps it was Logic7 doing some magic, but turning it on or off doesn't make a huge difference with Joyeauto audio quality. I lose the separation and surround effect with Logic7 off, but whether on or off, I don't gain the audio fullness that's missing from Joyeauto).

For reference, with these settings, play Daft Punk's "Give Life Back To Music" or any song really from their Random Access Memories album. This album sounds great via Joyeauto. The production/mastering was made for Joyeauto. Also play Rio from Duran Duran's Greatest Hits which sounds great as well. Then play Highway To Hell or If You Want Blood (You Got It) from AC/DC's remastered Highway To Hell album. It sounds very good but already noticeably not as full as from the iPod, but I'd even be happy if all rock sounded like this from the Joyeauto. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon sounds great as well. Money sounds very good but again the fullness that I hear from the iPod is starting to be noticeably absent. John Coltrane, Dave Sanborn, Herbie Hancock, Grover Washington Jr, most smooth jazz from 90s/00s sounds pretty good as well. But then take just about any rock or grunge tune and it sounds weak/hollow with highs and subwoofer but missing the entire midrange. Perfect example as I mentioned above, Hot For Teacher. Play that from CD or iPod and then from Joyeauto and it's night and day difference. Nirvana is nearly unlistenable because the highs are too bright and the drums sound a bit distant even though I can "feel" the subwoofer bass, Dave Grohl's drumming just doesn't have the impact it should have from Joyeatuo. Play Nirvana from the iPod and it sounds much fuller with great separation between the loud-soft-loud sections of Smells Like Teen Spirit (or most of Kurt's songs actually).

If someone has the Kremersino or Integrated Automotive UK units, would be interested in some in-depth review of those units' audio quality. But I have a feeling they'll be in the same neighborhood as Joyeauto and the best alternative to iPod/CD would be the Android replacement unit with external DAC.



P.S. Regarding navigation of the Joyeauto CarPlay interface. I think I already know what the answer is, but how (if any way) do I toggle over to the far right scroll option so I can search artists albums by letter instead of endlessly scrolling 1000 albums using the COMAND knob? Unless I ask Siri to play something, it takes forever to get to Van Halen for example. And I tried using the keypad but it didn't seem to do anything. Besides the audio quality, this lack of ability to quickly jump to artists (other than with Siri or playlists) is another deal-breaker (at least Android has touchscreen input). While I was testing various songs the past two weeks, I'd simply navigate to different songs using the iPhone since Joyeauto CarPlay was not efficient at all.

baeza

I have an "old" Android 9 10,25" UI2 screen. One of the first ones. It works great, even using Google assistant!
In Spain, the traffic regulation has changed recently and it is forbidden touching the screen while driving.
Do you know any way to assign a car button to go to the HOME screen? When you are using Command Radio/Audio there is no button to go back to the home screen.
THANKS.
PS: I have tried "Touch study" app in the hidden menu but it does not seem to work.
PS2: Any idea of how to remove the DASBOARD and SWITCHOFF buttons from the home screen?

regiment1

Honestly, I do not like Logic7 for any source in almost all cases. Particularly for anything originally mastered in stereo, or worse yet HiFi. I just leave it off all the time.

I really appreciate what you've done here, though. It's great information.

Lord-of-Vodka

Chinese？

Lord-of-Vodka

which kind of phone r u using bro， it's so ****ing distinct.

Acemanor

did u find out where that harness go i need to know also do your battery keep draing after install

baeza

Where's the mapping menu? I can't find it.

conmee

Funny you mention that. There are some 1980s rock albums that sound better than the remasters done in the 1990s. Ozzy Osbourne's original issue Bark at The Moon and especially The Ultimate Sin albums sound better than the 1995 remasters in my opinion. And that got me experimenting with a lot of 1960s-1980s album oriented rock with Logic7 turned off. The sounds is punchier and cleaner with Logic7 off in these cases.