Easy Bluetooth A2DP car solution

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Klipspringer

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#119264 26-May-2013 16:25

Hey Guys.
Wanting to install a quick A2DP Bluetooth solution into my wifes car so that she can play her music from her iphone and take the occasional call.

So far I have been looking at these.

GRIFFIN HandsFree BlueTrip Bluetooth w/Aux In 4 iPhone & Smartphones

and

Belkin A2DP Bluetooth AirCast

Anybody had experience with these products or can recommend something else?

Cheers

eXDee

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#825617 26-May-2013 17:12

Just between those two, i'd lean towards the belkin due to the Griffin not having an apparent charging port.

I've seen a few nice cradle solutions out there but they dont use bluetooth, eg
http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=511963

Klipspringer

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#825841 27-May-2013 09:15

eXDee: Just between those two, i'd lean towards the belkin due to the Griffin not having an apparent charging port.

I've seen a few nice cradle solutions out there but they dont use bluetooth, eg
http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=511963

Cheers. I was actually leaning towards the griffin. Less wiring ...

But just not sure about the voice quality due to the microphone being inside the charging unit itself. That said the car lighter is in the center of the dash so it may work. There is also another USB port in the car which can be used for charging.

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#825848 27-May-2013 09:34

I got this: XtremeMac InCharge Auto BT, 10W which is iPad compatible as well. https://www.xtrememac.com/en-US/products/chargers/incharge-series/incharge-auto-bt/

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paulspain

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#825886 27-May-2013 10:43

The belkin is actually quite good (a friend installed one recently). Though they prefer to use a wired headset for making calls due to the better quality.

My personal preference is just to swap out the head unit in the car for one with full bluetooth capabilities. Some include a wired mic to sit near the sun visor and you have an excellent (and safe) solution. Cost is typically between $200 - $300 installed.

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ajobbins

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#826022 27-May-2013 12:16

What kind of car does she drive? Does it have a standard DIN/Double DIN slot?

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Klipspringer

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#826139 27-May-2013 13:14

ajobbins: What kind of car does she drive? Does it have a standard DIN/Double DIN slot?

Audi A3, big double DIN radio with steering wheel integration, so its going to be a bit too complicated replacing that. There is already Bluetooth OEM with an aux plug, USB in the glove box. It works pretty well but there is just no A2DP for music streaming.. And that's her pain..

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ajobbins

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#826149 27-May-2013 13:17

Klipspringer:
ajobbins: What kind of car does she drive? Does it have a standard DIN/Double DIN slot?

Audi A3, big double DIN radio with steering wheel integration, so its going to be a bit too complicated replacing that. There is already Bluetooth OEM with an aux plug, USB in the glove box. It works pretty well but there is just no A2DP for music streaming.. And that's her pain..

There certainly are options where you can replace the factory unit and still utilize steering wheel control, but seeing as the vehicle has everything but A2DP, that sounds a little extreme.

No factory upgrade or firmware update option available?

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trig42

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#826154 27-May-2013 13:20

You can replace the headunit with one with Parrot/A2DP etc.

I just did it in my Nissan and used: http://www.amazon.com/Axxess-ASWC-1-Universal-Interface-Connector/dp/B00B4PJC9K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369617436&sr=8-1&keywords=awsc1 to interface with the steering wheel.

I did it with a Pioneer Mechless (Single Din) MVH-355BT - it works flawlessly - Bluetooth works fine, as do the steering wheel controls.

It will cost more than the solutions above, but it will do everything. JB have a double Din Pioneer BT unit for $244: http://www.jbhifi.co.nz/car-sound-gps-navigation/mp3-cd-tuners/pioneer/2-din-cd-usb-mixtrax-btooth-sku-30131/

Klipspringer

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#826169 27-May-2013 13:28

ajobbins: but seeing as the vehicle has everything but A2DP, that sounds a little extreme.

Thats exactly what I told the missus. Apparently its easier to not have to remember to plug the iphone into the Aux.

ajobbins:

No factory upgrade or firmware update option available?

Thanks, did not even think of that. Will see if there is any type of upgrade available as I think it will be a bit better than replacing the entire unit.

ajobbins

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#826198 27-May-2013 13:43

My girlfriend drives an older (late 90's) Ford. She takes the odd call in the car, and was often doing so by using the phones speaker phone on her lap. She was also using one of those headphone jack to cassette tape adaptors to play music through the factory head unit (yuck).

I saw a JVC unit on sale here for AU$129 which did Bluetooth and A2DP, so I figured I would replace her factory unit with this. Best idea ever.

Took me literally about 15 minutes to install. I purchased 2x Aerpro wiring harnesses from Super Cheap. 1 that matched the cars factory radio harness with an ISO harness at the other end, and 1x ISO to JVC hardness.

I just took the old unit out (30 second job) and unplugged the factory harness. The JVC unit came with it's own mounting sleeve that fit perfectly in the single DIN slot and was secured by little tabs. Once that was in (1 minute), I just connected the 2 harness I had to the factory connector and the new JVC head unit, plugged in the radio antenna and the JVC unit just clicked into place.

Turned the car on and everything worked straight away. The biggest job was positioning the Microphone for phone calls. I ran this down the drivers A pillar and under the dash to where the head unit was. I was able to access the back of the head unit from under the drivers side (just) to plug in the microphone to the head unit (Was a short cord out of the head unit that I was able to feed down to an accessible point). That part was maybe a 10 minute job.

Now she has safe hands free calling and A2DP audio. It sounds really good too. The head unit even will pair two phones simultaneously - which i quite useful when we are both in the car. I can be driving at use the blue tooth for calling, while she control the music streaming over A2DP from her phone.

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Klipspringer

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#826244 27-May-2013 14:05

How does the A2DP audio compare to CD audio and just the radio?
From what I understand the quality is really good? Is the difference between A2DP and an AUX cable noticeable?

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trig42

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#826251 27-May-2013 14:08

The A2DP is the feature I love most about mine.

Sure, the hands-free calling is good, and seems to work fine (I haven't heard a call placed from my car so do not know about the audio quality of a phone call from the POV of someone I'm calling) but the A2DP means I can just leave the phone in my pocket and play music without looking at the phone. I just plonk it on shuffle and use the wheel controls to change tracks if one pops up I don't want to listen to.

ajobbins

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#826277 27-May-2013 14:22

Klipspringer: How does the A2DP audio compare to CD audio and just the radio?
From what I understand the quality is really good? Is the difference between A2DP and an AUX cable noticeable?

Audio quality is great. Haven't listened to a CD in a long time, but I'd say quality is as good. Same applies to AUX cable. Certainly better than stereo FM radio.

The A2DP stream is digital, so I assume the signal isn't going analogue until it gets to the head unit output, which probably helps with quality. It's also nice to be able to use the controls on the stereo (her car doesn't have steering wheel controls) to move between tracks etc, and the track details appear on the screen of the head unit.

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mclean

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#826374 27-May-2013 15:35

There's a good review of car-kits here: http://bluetooth-car-kit-review.toptenreviews.com/. The car-kits generally have far better features for phone use, plus they have the advantage that you can easily change cars. The downside is that while they can stream music it's not through the car's audio system.