Re: Jay's 2015 Mazda 6i Touring build thread
Check to see what you get the Gladen Aerospace DSP for. I don't know much about it right now but I do know it looks pretty promising as far as specs go. If you guys are dealers for Focal/Mosconi then I imagine you can get a pretty good deal on the Gladen piece, even though I imagine it's not going to be cheaper than the Helix DSP.2.
Re: Jay's 2015 Mazda 6i Touring build thread
Looking forward to seeing this.
Re: Jay's 2015 Mazda 6i Touring build thread
Well, after running a tablet in my last car for a few years, I decided it really wasn't worth it. Especially after I put a Pioneer 4200NEX in my GF's Jeep.
My tablet runs on Android 4.4, and in order to run Android Auto you need at least 5.0. When it got cold, I'd have charging issues that usually required me to remove the tablet from the car and charge it in the house to knock some sense back in to it.
When I recently upgraded to my '15 Mazda 6i Touring, I was quite happy with everything about the car except the audio system. It had a lot of features I wanted (BT hands free, read/send SMS messages, Pandora integration, etc) but they were all integrated very badly. One thing I never liked about having a tablet was that with a Samsung Tablet and Motorola phone, there was no simple way to allow me to make and answer calls from the tablet...so I decided to go with a Pioneer 4100NEX for myself. I picked it up pretty reasonably from a co-worker who also got a new vehicle, and he isn't changing his radio, so he didn't need this anymore. With a firmware update, it's essentially the same as a 4200NEX.
Now, The last few years, my GF and I do some roadtrips...and this radio can do Apple Car Play and Android Auto. You have to use specific USB ports for each, however. I'm really into factory integration...but this car only had one USB and an AUX port in the center console, and there is some issue using any of the few pieces that are supposed to retain the factory USB port. So, I did a little research and found out the Axxess Interfaces (Metra) makes a piece called the AX-FDUSBAUX. It is intended to replace a knockout on Ford vehicles, and gives you 2 separate USB ports, an AUX AND an HDMI. I picked on up on Amazon. I opened up the hole in the center console where the factory ports were, and put this in it's place. Let's start there...
Here's my collection of parts:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...pswjkgyz19.jpg
Factory USB/Aux
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...psffha3diy.jpg
Measured, and marked for cutting.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...pswpnkzxvw.jpg
Hole cut.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...psncpbtgnv.jpg
New panel in place.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...psa6ysritl.jpg
Harness Tesa taped, and run along the passenger side of the console.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...psn7l4dl47.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...psjq3g62hg.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...pshezl9dhc.jpg
One snafu, tho. I ordered an 18" extension for the HDMI cable, and 3 foot USB extensions...The HDMI came up about 8" short. I don't plan to ever use the feature, but I'll probably order a 3' extension just because.
The reason I wanted to have both USB ports accessible, is because I use an Android phone and she has an iPhone. This way whoever is driving can just plug their phone in and go. She's used to Car Play from her Jeep anyway.
I guess this is the first official "build" post in the thread. lol
Jay
Re: Jay's 2015 Mazda 6i Touring build thread
The HU came with a Microbypass which lets me avoid having to trigger the parking brake before I can get into certain menus and/or set destinations for Nav, etc.
I picked up the Dash kit, wiring harness and antenna adapter for $20 on eBay, and also got a Metra (Axxess) AX-MAZCAM-6V which allows me to retain the factory camera, and comes with a piece so I can feed it 6V like it wants to see. I also got 2 3' USB extensions, 1 18" HDMI extension and used one of my leftover 3' RCA's for Aux. No idea why the pic in the above post is upside down.
I picked up the PAC SWI-RC from work, even tho it doesn't officially support this car, it works with some others that use the same radio. It's also easier to manually program than the Metra (Axxess) ASWC-1. That might come into play later if I attempt to integrate the i-Drive style knob in the center console.
Anyway, here's the obligitory "Installed" pics of the radio.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...psno0mls2k.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...pskeirtq8x.jpg
Get to try it out more tomorrow. The lack of steering wheel controls will suck for now, but at least it came with a wireless remote.
Jay
Re: Jay's 2015 Mazda 6i Touring build thread
Righteous! Lookin good Jay!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Re: Jay's 2015 Mazda 6i Touring build thread
Well, the SWI-RC didn't work properly. I think I'm going to return it and pick up a Maestro SW.
Edit: Ordered. lol
Re: Jay's 2015 Mazda 6i Touring build thread
Jay, do you have a link for that dual usb/hdmi? My reason for wanting that is the same. I have an android and my wife has the iphone. I did a quick search but, couldn't find it. However, I'll search again later. Thanks
Re: Jay's 2015 Mazda 6i Touring build thread
Re: Jay's 2015 Mazda 6i Touring build thread
Re: Jay's 2015 Mazda 6i Touring build thread
They also have an AX-GMUSBAUX that is shaped a little differently. Depending on you application, it might fit better.
Also, I saw in one of the reviews someone said it didn't work with CarPlay...I'm going to check it when my GF and I go to breakfast in a
little while, but it worked fine with Android Auto.
https://www.amazon.com/Axxess-AX-GMU...=ax-gmusbaux-3
I love that the seller outright stole the pic from SonicElectronix. lol...also the GM one is available in a -3, and -6 (3' cables and 6' cables, respectively) Something I didn't find with the one I used. I got an 18" HDMI extension and it came up short but fit fine.
https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Extens...on+cable&psc=1
Jay
Edit: CarPlay worked, but I had to go into phone settings and switch the USB input back to USB1.