Installing single board computer in place of head unit in mt new car.

[Donanon]

I'm selling my carolla and part of the deal is that the sound system goes with it, which gives me a chance to start from scratch and apply what I have learned from trial and error and reading the posts of those who know whats what. The first thing I have decided is that I am tired of the limitations of head units and will not be installing one but will instead install a single board computer. display and extension to attach a 1TB hard drive from Khadas:

https://www.khadas.com/vim3l

https://www.khadas.com/product-page/ts050-touchscreen

https://www.khadas.com/product-page/m2x-extension-board

I'll fabricate a composite enclosure for mounting either into the dash or on top of the existing head unit in my new car when I buy it. I've been in touch with a few people who have used SBC's in their cars and they all say that they will never go back to an after market head unit...so I think I'm on the right track.

[BigAl205]

That 5" screen will look awfully tiny, being the size of a standard cell phone display. You might consider a 7" pre-mounted display like this https://www.mo-co-so.com/Double-DIN-...lil-669-dd.htm

[Donanon]

That 5" screen will look awfully tiny, being the size of a standard cell phone display. You might consider a 7" pre-mounted display like this https://www.mo-co-so.com/Double-DIN-...lil-669-dd.htm

Yeah that crossed my mind before I bought the Khadas display but I will only be using it for large font format 'Currently Playing Track' and 'Time' display so I think it will be okay for my purposes...but if it turns out I hate it because it's too small I'll grab a 7" display and replace it. Lot of options out there which is nice.

[tacofox]

I see they also have a daughter board with RCA outs and a Hi-Fi DAC. is there any reason you chose not to use this as well?

https://www.khadas.com/product-page/tone-board

[Donanon]

I see they also have a daughter board with RCA outs and a Hi-Fi DAC. is there any reason you chose not to use this as well?

https://wwwT.khadas.com/product-page/tone-board

The DSP I will be using (MINIDSP 8X12 DL) accepts SPDIF and/or Toslink input which the VIM3L can output so I will have a 1 cable connection and no RCA'S required while the DSP DAC will handle conversions.

[DIY Audio Guy]

I will be watching this closely. My head unit is starting to show its age (Pandora no longer auto-connects over Bluetooth) so an upgrade needs to happen. I was looking at head units and realized I only stream from my phone, so I was thinking of going with an iPAD dash. But this sounds like a much more exciting adventure!

edit: it looks like that board has a GPIO input-output header. If so then the possibilities are endless. Temperature sensors, proximity sensors, HAL effect sensors, piezos for door chimes... Run it through a relay to turn on amplifiers, lights, fans. Pretty much anything you can imagine. I have a raspberry pi that has just been sitting, I think I need to dig it out!

[Donanon]

I will be watching this closely. My head unit is starting to show its age (Pandora no longer auto-connects over Bluetooth) so an upgrade needs to happen. I was looking at head units and realized I only stream from my phone, so I was thinking of going with an iPAD dash. But this sounds like a much more exciting adventure!

edit: it looks like that board has a GPIO input-output header. If so then the possibilities are endless. Temperature sensors, proximity sensors, HAL effect sensors, piezos for door chimes... Run it through a relay to turn on amplifiers, lights, fans. Pretty much anything you can imagine. I have a raspberry pi that has just been sitting, I think I need to dig it out!

Yup, when I decided to bin my plans for an aftermarket head unit in my new car I first had a look at RB pi and found a few example of that SBC being used as a car PC, then after a bit of stumbling around I hit on the Khadas and it was love at first sight. The GPIO header was the clincher, in my install I'll be using a rotary encoder for hard wired volume control as well as a wireless remote, back up camera, etc. etc. The VIM3L supports twin displays so I might put a small monitor on the back for passengers. I'll be powering the SBC from a 12voltDC to 12voltDC
buffer which will be energized by the main audio system relay. One thing I've noticed is that Khadas technical support seems to be a bit spotty but there are folks on the Khadas forum who are very helpful and knowledgeable.

The great thing is that the car PC set up will play just about any music file in existence and outputting via SPDIF to a DSP there is one less conversion cycle. Also if you are into watching video in your car the SBC plays it in high quality. IMO the days of head unit manufacturers dictating what one is allowed to play on their devices and making new technology available in tiny incremental steps is coming to an end...well at least for me it is.

[Alabaster]

I am thinking of a similar set up on my next vehicle. Keep us updated on this.