2008 Chevrolet Corvette 7" Android Tablet Install

Thanks for the videos SDB_FTW and build log. Very useful and well done.

I'm pretty sure there are some kernels available now (at least for the Nexus 7) that allow for OTG devices + charging to happen with a Y cable. This paves the way for DAC usage for android carputers which is exactly what has been holding me back. I'm just trying to figure out a good DAC for a car. I'm not very good with the power considerations around running a DAC in a car (noise, etc...). Any suggestions?

I also hadn't considered the microphone situation while using a DAC. I imagine using a mic via the 3.5mm would be off the table at that point. I'm thinking a permanently powered bluetooth mic might make sense?

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Originally Posted by brutog

Thanks for the videos SDB_FTW and build log. Very useful and well done.

I'm pretty sure there are some kernels available now (at least for the Nexus 7) that allow for OTG devices + charging to happen with a Y cable. This paves the way for DAC usage for android carputers which is exactly what has been holding me back. I'm just trying to figure out a good DAC for a car. I'm not very good with the power considerations around running a DAC in a car (noise, etc...). Any suggestions?

I also hadn't considered the microphone situation while using a DAC. I imagine using a mic via the 3.5mm would be off the table at that point. I'm thinking a permanently powered bluetooth mic might make sense?

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Thanks for the compliments. :rock:

Yeah, I saw a few forums that mentioned y-cable capability. At that point though, I came to the conclusion that any additional sound quality that provided would be lost as soon as my car was started (my car is LOUD). I'm sure that by the time I buy a vehicle that has a quiet enough interior cabin to take advantage of the sound quality of an external doc, someone will have made the process a breeze! :)

As far as an external DAC is concerned, I can't really provide a suggestion without knowing all about your setup and what would suit you. For example, for my setup, if I had a digital output from my tablet, I'd definitely buy a Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.3 because it has digital input, and allows for a completely active 4-way crossover network, which I require. You may not though, so the 3Sixty.3 might be a bit overkill for you. Basically when it comes to DACs, the sky is the limit, depending on how much you want to spend. The most popular are the Audison BitONE, 3Sixty.3, and the JBL MS-8, but there are many more. My main suggestion would be to stick to external DACs that are designed to go in a car, such as the ones I mentioned. I don't know how well a "home dac" would do in a vehicle full of EM interference.

With regard to external mic functionality, I'm not sure if the tablet would support the built in mic connector while using an external DAC or not. It's hard to say without actually testing it.

Also, you might be careful in your tablet decision if you are going the route of USB OTG. Last I read, the Nexus7 doesn't even fully support the OTG protocol, while the Galaxy Tab2 does.

Look into APT-X technology as well (LINK). Most new tablets coming out are starting to support the technology, and it would allow you to use bluetooth to wirelessly stream up to 24/192 quality audio to your amplifiers via a APT-X dac such as THIS ONE. The equipment is pretty expensive right now, but it's a new protocol, so I'm sure the prices will go down in the new future if/when the protocol catches on.

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Originally Posted by SDB_FTW

Thanks for the compliments. :rock:

Yeah, I saw a few forums that mentioned y-cable capability. At that point though, I came to the conclusion that any additional sound quality that provided would be lost as soon as my car was started (my car is LOUD). I'm sure that by the time I buy a vehicle that has a quiet enough interior cabin to take advantage of the sound quality of an external doc, someone will have made the process a breeze! :)

As far as an external DAC is concerned, I can't really provide a suggestion without knowing all about your setup and what would suit you. For example, for my setup, if I had a digital output from my tablet, I'd definitely buy a Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.3 because it has digital input, and allows for a completely active 4-way crossover network, which I require. You may not though, so the 3Sixty.3 might be a bit overkill for you. Basically when it comes to DACs, the sky is the limit, depending on how much you want to spend. The most popular are the Audison BitONE, 3Sixty.3, and the JBL MS-8, but there are many more. My main suggestion would be to stick to external DACs that are designed to go in a car, such as the ones I mentioned. I don't know how well a "home dac" would do in a vehicle full of EM interference.

With regard to external mic functionality, I'm not sure if the tablet would support the built in mic connector while using an external DAC or not. It's hard to say without actually testing it.

Also, you might be careful in your tablet decision if you are going the route of USB OTG. Last I read, the Nexus7 doesn't even fully support the OTG protocol, while the Galaxy Tab2 does.

Look into APT-X technology as well (LINK). Most new tablets coming out are starting to support the technology, and it would allow you to use bluetooth to wirelessly stream up to 24/192 quality audio to your amplifiers via a APT-X dac such as THIS ONE. The equipment is pretty expensive right now, but it's a new protocol, so I'm sure the prices will go down in the new future if/when the protocol catches on.

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I currently have an all alpine R series system with a INA w910 head unit. MRX-M100 sub amp and MRX-F30 amp for the speakers. The head unit sounds pretty great with the burr brown DAC, but usability feels like you're working with something from 1999, hence my strong desire to switch to an android tablet.

APT-X sounds like it might be the easiest solution although the number of 7 inch tablets using it is low. Also it sounds like APT-X lossless can sometimes fall back to "near lossless" levels if bandwidth is hurting for the bluetooth connection. The DAC you linked to seems limited in its output. How would I run RCA out to both the speaker and sub amp?

Tablets with digital out seem limited. None of the top tablets for car installs really seem to have native HDMI (you need to use MHL). You then would need to convert HDMI to spdif and I'd be worried that after all the silly conversions (mainly the MHL) you would be left with some transcoded signal. Do you have any experience around this?

Thanks for the link and the input SDB. Ill keep my eyes open for an OTA update to jellybean but I bet it probably takes a while until we get it if its only in france now. For now, Ill have to live with widgets that are 2 tall instead of 1 until I bite the bullet and try cyanogenmod.

I wanted to get started with my project this week since I had thursday and friday off for the holiday, but of course a snowstorm rolled into us here in Ohio on Friday and while it didnt drop much, it was in the 20's which makes for a cold day in the car fiddling with things. Hopefully it warms up next weekend or Ill have to come up with a new plan to warm things in the car up while I work. Originally they had called for temps in the 50's like we had on wednesday. I guess I can work on my design some more until next weekend and get my supplies in order. Im definitely looking forward to getting going and now Im getting all sorts of ideas in my head like upgrading my speakers and whatnot. Oof.

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Originally Posted by brutog

How would I run RCA out to both the speaker and sub amp?

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I would run the APTX dac's output to a good 2way crossover unit such as THIS ONE. It's always better to apply your low/high/band pass filters at the preamp level, so that you're only amplifying the desired signal. It uses much less power, and helps to minimize noise as well. Most amplifiers amplify the signal BEFORE they apply the on-board filters, which is why I don't like to use them. Plus, simply "splitting" the APTX dac's output to two amplifiers would divide the signal power between the two.

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Originally Posted by brutog

Do you have any experience around this?

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I do not. I didn't go too far down the road of trying to get a digital signal from the tablet since I bought the Tab2 which doesn't (yet) offer it.

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Originally Posted by yanky

Thanks for the link and the input SDB. Ill keep my eyes open for an OTA update to jellybean but I bet it probably takes a while until we get it if its only in france now. For now, Ill have to live with widgets that are 2 tall instead of 1 until I bite the bullet and try cyanogenmod.

I wanted to get started with my project this week since I had thursday and friday off for the holiday, but of course a snowstorm rolled into us here in Ohio on Friday and while it didnt drop much, it was in the 20's which makes for a cold day in the car fiddling with things. Hopefully it warms up next weekend or Ill have to come up with a new plan to warm things in the car up while I work. Originally they had called for temps in the 50's like we had on wednesday. I guess I can work on my design some more until next weekend and get my supplies in order. Im definitely looking forward to getting going and now Im getting all sorts of ideas in my head like upgrading my speakers and whatnot. Oof.

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It may be only in France for right now but it shouldn't take long to get to you. Remember that most of the reason these updates take forever to get to US devices is because of the Carrier (Verizon, AT&T, etc.), not the manufacturer. Since the Tab2 doesn't have a carrier, you get updates straight from Samsung, so it should be a fair bit quicker.

Also, your volume slider being 2 icons in height still boggles my mind. Check out the screenshot below. That's a picture of the volume widget on the stock Tab2 ICS rom, and it's only 1 icon in height. Can you provide a screen shot of yours? I'm curious where the disconnect is.

Attachment 68054

You know, youre right, mine looks like your screenshot. I was reading the description of it wrong when it said "2 x 1" and interpreted that as 2 high instead of 2 long by 1 high. Oops. Still though, the one in your video was a much thinner pinstripe of a volume bar instead of the big chunky bar that your screenshot shows and thats what I was hoping for when I installed the widget. It must have been something to do with cyanogenmod.

Also, glad to see another Skrillex fan :)

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Originally Posted by SDB_FTW

I would run the APTX dac's output to a good 2way crossover unit such as THIS ONE. It's always better to apply your low/high/band pass filters at the preamp level, so that you're only amplifying the desired signal. It uses much less power, and helps to minimize noise as well. Most amplifiers amplify the signal BEFORE they apply the on-board filters, which is why I don't like to use them. Plus, simply "splitting" the APTX dac's output to two amplifiers would divide the signal power between the two.


I do not. I didn't go too far down the road of trying to get a digital signal from the tablet since I bought the Tab2 which doesn't (yet) offer it.

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Thanks for the suggestion on the equipment. I'm definitely not a car audio buff. I'm a headphone guy.

I keep running into road blocks with the build. I'm dead set on having a jellybean rom but it seems like anything with apt-x support (samsung galaxy tab 7.0 plus or 7.7) both will not get jellybean. If I go with CM10 it seems that I will lose apt-x. Back to the drawing board on a bit perfect HDMI -> SPDIF -> DAC solution.

I have an Asus Prime Infinity 10" that I actually have 1 part of the project working on. I can mount a 2TB exFAT hard drive and play FLAC off of it. This tablet does have an HDMI out so maybe this tablet would be good...other than the fact that I think fitting it in my 2012 Hyundai Sonata would be hard.

I really love this is installation, thanks for sharing.

I'm interested in the power switch button you installed: could you explain me how it works?
(I'm a noob so a wiring schema should be perfect :sad: )

Hey mods, where did my reply go? I replied a couple days ago and it never got approved...