Found a Perfect A2DP Bluetooth Music Solution, NO AMI required!
#21
AudiWorld Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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These little music streaming adapters (Dension, XCarlink, Yatour, Grom etc) are a great bit of kit for USB and A2DP music streaming. And a cheap way to adapt bluetooth if your car doesn't already have it (or you have to have A2DP)
#22
AudiWorld Member
Just a quick update on this, got it finished and installed last night...and let me say WOW I think it's great! Sound quality is right up there and fantastic, ease of use since you just pair your phone with the Gateway is great.
My only current issue (which I just haven't had a chance to dig around with) is that I'm finding that the majority of the fuse ports seem to be constant-hot? I tapped into one swearing that it was ignition switched, but no go. So figured I'd swap it for the 12v cigarette lighter fuse...but turns out that's constant hot too!
Has anyone run into this or done anything similar? Mine is a 2006. Which fuse ports are ignition-switched?
Not that it's probably a big deal since I think the two components involved are pretty low draw (the AUDI MMI iPod Aux In Adapter Interface & the Blackberry Stereo Gateway) but ultimately I'd much rather have them ignition activated.
My only current issue (which I just haven't had a chance to dig around with) is that I'm finding that the majority of the fuse ports seem to be constant-hot? I tapped into one swearing that it was ignition switched, but no go. So figured I'd swap it for the 12v cigarette lighter fuse...but turns out that's constant hot too!
Has anyone run into this or done anything similar? Mine is a 2006. Which fuse ports are ignition-switched?
Not that it's probably a big deal since I think the two components involved are pretty low draw (the AUDI MMI iPod Aux In Adapter Interface & the Blackberry Stereo Gateway) but ultimately I'd much rather have them ignition activated.
#23
AudiWorld Member
Just a quick update on this, got it finished and installed last night...and let me say WOW I think it's great! Sound quality is right up there and fantastic, ease of use since you just pair your phone with the Gateway is great.
My only current issue (which I just haven't had a chance to dig around with) is that I'm finding that the majority of the fuse ports seem to be constant-hot? I tapped into one swearing that it was ignition switched, but no go. So figured I'd swap it for the 12v cigarette lighter fuse...but turns out that's constant hot too!
Has anyone run into this or done anything similar? Mine is a 2006. Which fuse ports are ignition-switched?
Not that it's probably a big deal since I think the two components involved are pretty low draw (the AUDI MMI iPod Aux In Adapter Interface & the Blackberry Stereo Gateway) but ultimately I'd much rather have them ignition activated.
My only current issue (which I just haven't had a chance to dig around with) is that I'm finding that the majority of the fuse ports seem to be constant-hot? I tapped into one swearing that it was ignition switched, but no go. So figured I'd swap it for the 12v cigarette lighter fuse...but turns out that's constant hot too!
Has anyone run into this or done anything similar? Mine is a 2006. Which fuse ports are ignition-switched?
Not that it's probably a big deal since I think the two components involved are pretty low draw (the AUDI MMI iPod Aux In Adapter Interface & the Blackberry Stereo Gateway) but ultimately I'd much rather have them ignition activated.
Having the Blackberry Gateway on full-time was in fact draining the battery, so I switched this over to one of the 3 ignition-switched fuse ports using the ATC add-a-circuit:
Once I did that, I just plugged the AMI MOST direct into one of the constant-hot empty ports to power that separately (it came with an inline 5amp fuse holder already wired in the hot, so it's fused downstream of where I tapped into the constant-hot).
So essentially the Blackberry Gateway is now ignition-switched (and fused), and the AMI MOST adapter is constant-hot (and fused). I don't expect the AMI MOST adapter to have any significant draw, so shouldn't be an issue (but if it is I can just put another ATC add-a-circuits onto one of the other ignition-switched fuse ports).
Can't say again how great I think this solution is, right from my iPhone I can one-touch play my music or stream Pandora right over bluetooth direct to the stereo and the sound quality is great.
#24
[QUOTE=twentysevenlitres;24466695]Tap your power from the cigarette lighter socket - it's closer and uses a 10A or better fuse - plenty of power!
Question:
How much alternator and EMI whine do you get in your bluetooth streaming? In the 07 A8 with the Gateway 500 (powering the BT unit off of the USB from the Gateway, it's pretty horrible)... Not sure if the interference is coming from the Bluetooth connection, the audio in jacks or the power source. Funny thing though, when you turn off the bluetooth on your phone, and the "BT gateway" is disconnected, it is completely silent, but connect it (to a galaxy S4 that has no issues with any other device) and if there is no audio streaming and you turn the volume up a little on the stereo, you can hear whine and pops. Give it some gas and the frequency of the whine rises in pitch (just like the old days when you hooked up a cheap amp in a car). As long as there is a loud "volume" of BT streaming, keeping the volume on the phone up the whole way, it isn't too bad, but if you play audio books or softer passages, it's horribly annoying. Annoying enough that I think I'd rather ditch the streaming BT and just put all my music back on a USB stick, but then of course I couldn't stream my 'TuneIn Internet Radio' from my phone... ideas? I was thinking of trying the car cigarette lighter USB to see if the issue is coming from the power that is currently feeding the streaming BT adapter in the glove box, or maybe it's just the location IN the glove box that is so bad... Not sure what that BT adapter is near in proximity, like engine computers and other cables...
Question:
How much alternator and EMI whine do you get in your bluetooth streaming? In the 07 A8 with the Gateway 500 (powering the BT unit off of the USB from the Gateway, it's pretty horrible)... Not sure if the interference is coming from the Bluetooth connection, the audio in jacks or the power source. Funny thing though, when you turn off the bluetooth on your phone, and the "BT gateway" is disconnected, it is completely silent, but connect it (to a galaxy S4 that has no issues with any other device) and if there is no audio streaming and you turn the volume up a little on the stereo, you can hear whine and pops. Give it some gas and the frequency of the whine rises in pitch (just like the old days when you hooked up a cheap amp in a car). As long as there is a loud "volume" of BT streaming, keeping the volume on the phone up the whole way, it isn't too bad, but if you play audio books or softer passages, it's horribly annoying. Annoying enough that I think I'd rather ditch the streaming BT and just put all my music back on a USB stick, but then of course I couldn't stream my 'TuneIn Internet Radio' from my phone... ideas? I was thinking of trying the car cigarette lighter USB to see if the issue is coming from the power that is currently feeding the streaming BT adapter in the glove box, or maybe it's just the location IN the glove box that is so bad... Not sure what that BT adapter is near in proximity, like engine computers and other cables...
#25
AudiWorld Member
[QUOTE=NottaBrat;24510601]
I'm running the Blackberry Gateway and get zero whine...that sounds like a bad ground situation. Where are you grounding the unit to?
Tap your power from the cigarette lighter socket - it's closer and uses a 10A or better fuse - plenty of power!
Question:
How much alternator and EMI whine do you get in your bluetooth streaming? In the 07 A8 with the Gateway 500 (powering the BT unit off of the USB from the Gateway, it's pretty horrible)... Not sure if the interference is coming from the Bluetooth connection, the audio in jacks or the power source. Funny thing though, when you turn off the bluetooth on your phone, and the "BT gateway" is disconnected, it is completely silent, but connect it (to a galaxy S4 that has no issues with any other device) and if there is no audio streaming and you turn the volume up a little on the stereo, you can hear whine and pops. Give it some gas and the frequency of the whine rises in pitch (just like the old days when you hooked up a cheap amp in a car). As long as there is a loud "volume" of BT streaming, keeping the volume on the phone up the whole way, it isn't too bad, but if you play audio books or softer passages, it's horribly annoying. Annoying enough that I think I'd rather ditch the streaming BT and just put all my music back on a USB stick, but then of course I couldn't stream my 'TuneIn Internet Radio' from my phone... ideas? I was thinking of trying the car cigarette lighter USB to see if the issue is coming from the power that is currently feeding the streaming BT adapter in the glove box, or maybe it's just the location IN the glove box that is so bad... Not sure what that BT adapter is near in proximity, like engine computers and other cables...
Question:
How much alternator and EMI whine do you get in your bluetooth streaming? In the 07 A8 with the Gateway 500 (powering the BT unit off of the USB from the Gateway, it's pretty horrible)... Not sure if the interference is coming from the Bluetooth connection, the audio in jacks or the power source. Funny thing though, when you turn off the bluetooth on your phone, and the "BT gateway" is disconnected, it is completely silent, but connect it (to a galaxy S4 that has no issues with any other device) and if there is no audio streaming and you turn the volume up a little on the stereo, you can hear whine and pops. Give it some gas and the frequency of the whine rises in pitch (just like the old days when you hooked up a cheap amp in a car). As long as there is a loud "volume" of BT streaming, keeping the volume on the phone up the whole way, it isn't too bad, but if you play audio books or softer passages, it's horribly annoying. Annoying enough that I think I'd rather ditch the streaming BT and just put all my music back on a USB stick, but then of course I couldn't stream my 'TuneIn Internet Radio' from my phone... ideas? I was thinking of trying the car cigarette lighter USB to see if the issue is coming from the power that is currently feeding the streaming BT adapter in the glove box, or maybe it's just the location IN the glove box that is so bad... Not sure what that BT adapter is near in proximity, like engine computers and other cables...
#26
[QUOTE=nathanwind;24510613]It was installed by a "pro"shop who specialized in this particular module, located in New Jersey I believe. My roommate actually had it installed. On USB, it's perfectly silent... I did just realize that it's ANYTIME I have it on BT.. Even disconnected... Just horrible whine and pops, like it's picking up the alternator and every relay click and motor noise... Agree that it could be a bad ground, but in which unit? I'd like to try isolating/powering the USB unit off my laptop as a test... just to see if the noise goes away, OR if the issue is the cable going from the BT adapter to the Dension unit 1/8 mini to stereo RCA I believe... I'm in PA so as soon as the weather gets above 40 degrees, I'll give that a shot !
#27
[QUOTE=nathanwind;24510613]I tried powering off the lighter, no change. As a note, as long as you're streaming a 'loud' bt source, such as pop or rock, you don't really hear the whine. Where it's most noticeable is classic or talk radio with silent parts in the broadcast. So I also tried to remove the 3 foot audio cables and replaced them with a set of 6" cables,thereby moving the BT adapter from the glove box to its new location, right next to the Dension box. Same noise.. Then I realized, the box is floating. It is not fastened or mounted to any metal part of the body, and so I don't know how well it is grounded. I've found that just because a unit has a ground wire and hot wire, does NOT mean it's properly grounded, and it might be that I need to affix the metal case to the body or even just run a separate ground to the external case. It's a bit too cold out to check that now, so I'll have to wait until it warms up a bit outside to mess around with it more...
#28
Which Blackberry gateway to get?
I see there are two Blackberry Music Gateways available, the older smaller one and the newer one that supports NFC (which I don't have). I do have the Dension Gateway 500 installed in my car, not sure if either one of these adapters will work with that. Any advice?
#29
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It just occurred to me, reading through this thread,that I already own 2 Homespot NFC/BT streamers (Amazon, $28). I used one on my home theater system to stream music from anyone's iPhone/Android device into my system. They work VERY well, and I believe they're very similar to the Blackberry gateway. They have RCA audio out, and are charged via USB. So as long as I can find a place to plug the audio cables into the A8, I should be golden, and my wife will be thrilled.
I'll try the AMI USB cable first, just to see what functionality is available with that from the S4, but if that's a nogo, I'll wire the Homespot in.
Jim
I'll try the AMI USB cable first, just to see what functionality is available with that from the S4, but if that's a nogo, I'll wire the Homespot in.
Jim
#30
AudiWorld Member
Just get the AMI to 3.5MM cable with the Homespot NFC/BT streamers and you should be fine. Something like http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-Music-Interface-AMI-MMI-AUX-3-5mm-audio-jack-Cable-/161204374909?pt=US_Adapters&hash=item2588878d7d should work fine. I did a lot of experimenting with these units and the Bluetooth V3.0, + EDR units sound a lot better.
Last edited by 05SilverA8; 03-18-2014 at 07:48 AM.