Android Unit on fiesta MK7

[axorazor]

Hello everyone,
I would like to install an android car radio in my 2012 fiesta, not so much for having the color display, the touchscreen or the possibility of seeing videos but to change the main unit and have better sound (I have installed quality Speakers, I have soundproofed the doors and installed an amplifier, but there is a background noise, which also increases with the engine revs and having tried with 2 different amplifiers, I have to assume that it is the fault of the car's head unit).

The problem is that Chinese sellers are not very clear about compatibility; for the fiesta from 2013 onwards there should be no problem, but I have a 2012.
I would like to keep the vehicle information messages (such as for open doors or climate controls), I would also like the steering wheel and fascia dashboard controls to work; if it could also work the bluetooth would be great! (I have a sony car radio, the one with black fascia, with usb and bluetooth, no synch).
Among the various I contacted is Witson, but they were unclear and contradictory about compatibility; one employee told me that it is compatible, another told me that it is not compatible.

is there someone here on the forum that can help me, maybe someone who has more information or who has installed one?

Thanks

 

[runamonk]

I can't give you any advice on replacing the head unit but after installing a lot of amps and radios (I am an old *****)  I can tell you that interference whine is normally related to ground. You could try a ground interference/power filter; They do help, I would also recommend double checking your ground, possibly finding another location to ground.

 

One more thought as well, if it was an issue with the head unit you would have hear the whine before installing the amp.

[axorazor]

57 minutes ago, runamonk said:

I can't give you any advice on replacing the head unit but after installing a lot of amps and radios (I am an old *****)  I can tell you that interference whine is normally related to ground. You could try a ground interference/power filter; They do help, I would also recommend double checking your ground, possibly finding another location to ground.

 

One more thought as well, if it was an issue with the head unit you would have hear the whine before installing the amp.

Hello. Thanks for the reply.
as for the ground, the first amplifier was a pioneer plug & play connected to the standard radio (so the ground was taken directly from it) and there was the rustling. Now I have connected a new amplifier (better, from the hertz) and the ground is connected directly to the chassis, and the noise remains.

As for the filter, I'll try that first instead of changing the radio directly; but I have little hope that this will work. next week my electrician will give me one and I'll see if it works.

you know, it's frustrating after doing some hard work to soundproof the doors, choosing quality components (and paying for them) and then having that damn rustling.

[liamstears]

Hey bud, would like to chime in if I may

If audio quality and compatibility with stock is your goal I'll tell you now to scrap the idea of an Android head unit, don't get me wrong I have an Android head unit and I love it but for audio quality it's not going to be the best option, also compatibility is not the best either, generally it all works but it's a pain and takes a lot of tweaking and still not everything will work 100%

For quality you want something like an Audio control LC2i for 2 channels and a sub, LC6i for 6 channels or LC7i (best option) for 6 channels and sub and use this with your current stock system or alternatively something like the Audison Bit Ten/Bit One

These options will give you the best sound quality and as you will still be using your stock system you retain all stock options etc

Hope this helps

[axorazor]

3 hours ago, liamstears said:

Hey bud, would like to chime in if I may

If audio quality and compatibility with stock is your goal I'll tell you now to scrap the idea of an Android head unit, don't get me wrong I have an Android head unit and I love it but for audio quality it's not going to be the best option, also compatibility is not the best either, generally it all works but it's a pain and takes a lot of tweaking and still not everything will work 100%

For quality you want something like an Audio control LC2i for 2 channels and a sub, LC6i for 6 channels or LC7i (best option) for 6 channels and sub and use this with your current stock system or alternatively something like the Audison Bit Ten/Bit One

These options will give you the best sound quality and as you will still be using your stock system you retain all stock options etc

Hope this helps

Hello,
as for the audio quality of your android, is it still better than the standard radio?

what's wrong with compatibility?

I have a 4-channel Hertz amplifier, two-way front and rear coaxial hertz "cento" kit.
the sound performance is fantastic, without any subwoofer the bass is very powerful, you can hear it in the diaphragm.
the only problem is that rustling, if I lower the gain of the amplifier decreases, but obviously I lose in quality and at low volume I have no bass.

I can hear the rustling even when the car radio is off, obviously less.

[liamstears]

8 minutes ago, axorazor said:

Hello,
as for the audio quality of your android, is it still better than the standard radio?

what's wrong with compatibility?

I have a 4-channel Hertz amplifier, two-way front and rear coaxial hertz "cento" kit.
the sound performance is fantastic, without any subwoofer the bass is very powerful, you can hear it in the diaphragm.
the only problem is that rustling, if I lower the gain of the amplifier decreases, but obviously I lose in quality and at low volume I have no bass.

I can hear the rustling even when the car radio is off, obviously less.

Problem with audio quality is the same as your having, constant "noise" is there that you can always hear, it's not bad but it's there but you can't go wrong really they are good units just not "audiophile" quality sounds but still pretty good. I did get mine without DSP though, it may be worth getting one with DSP as they are suppose to be better

Compatibility it's just small things like ford "My Key", there is no way to program it on Android head unit, factory alarm system (if fitted, mainly on ST's) there is no way to disable interior sensors, the lights on the buttons around the headunit don't seem to light up unless manually turning them on in the settings app (this could be a settings issue that I haven't worked out yet)

Also not all headunits are the same, older ones tend to be built upon "MTCE" chipsets/internals, newer ones are built using "CSN2" chipsets, the new CSN2 chipsets don't allow you to program any of the steering wheel or dashboard buttons so only preprogrammed buttons work (I only have the basics, volume, skip tracks, pause and a few others)

[axorazor]

7 minutes ago, liamstears said:

Problem with audio quality is the same as your having, constant "noise" is there that you can always hear, it's not bad but it's there but you can't go wrong really they are good units just not "audiophile" quality sounds but still pretty good. I did get mine without DSP though, it may be worth getting one with DSP as they are suppose to be better

Compatibility it's just small things like ford "My Key", there is no way to program it on Android head unit, factory alarm system (if fitted, mainly on ST's) there is no way to disable interior sensors, the lights on the buttons around the headunit don't seem to light up unless manually turning them on in the settings app (this could be a settings issue that I haven't worked out yet)

Also not all headunits are the same, older ones tend to be built upon "MTCE" chipsets/internals, newer ones are built using "CSN2" chipsets, the new CSN2 chipsets don't allow you to program any of the steering wheel or dashboard buttons so only preprogrammed buttons work (I only have the basics, volume, skip tracks, pause and a few others)

what brand is yours?
I have considered witson and belsee, both have dsp.
regarding compatibility, do the steering wheel controls and the buttons on the radio's dashboard work well or not?

(sorry i don't speak english, i use google translate to help me)

I don't have my key, with the radio buttons I can set on or off the ambient light on the front glovebox and from the standard display I am given information on the open doors, or when the key battery is empty, or the automatic climate control settings, or when I press the power button in position 1, it says to lower the clutch to start the engine.
in the end they're not even very "technological" things, but I wouldn't want to miss these few information messages as well.

have I misunderstood, or do you have the constant rustling too?

[liamstears]

No problem. I will use basic English.

Rustling - yes. Yes I have constant rustling too. Rustling is low. Rustling is not too bad.

My brand is Elanmey. Nearly all Android units are made by Klyde. They then get rebranded and called Wilson or belsee or Elanmey but nearly all work the same and all use same firmware.

Steering wheel controls and buttons on radio dashboard. Yes they work BUT not all buttons work. Basic functions work.

Yes you will get all information messages on the screen just like you have said, all these messages are working.

Hope this helps

[axorazor]

15 minutes ago, liamstears said:

No problem. I will use basic English.

Rustling - yes. Yes I have constant rustling too. Rustling is low. Rustling is not too bad.

My brand is Elanmey. Nearly all Android units are made by Klyde. They then get rebranded and called Wilson or belsee or Elanmey but nearly all work the same and all use same firmware.

Steering wheel controls and buttons on radio dashboard. Yes they work BUT not all buttons work. Basic functions work.

Yes you will get all information messages on the screen just like you have said, all these messages are working.

Hope this helps

you have a 2014, from 2013 onwards I know that there are no problems with car messages; mine is 2012 and (at least I knew this until a year ago) these messages were not read.
it seems to me for a different can-bus code, I don't know. 

my rustling increases with increasing volume and with increasing engine revs. it's really annoying, I'll try first with an anti-disturb filter. but I doubt to solve the problem.

[MusicalChris]

On 10/30/2019 at 9:33 PM, axorazor said:

Hello everyone,
I would like to install an android car radio in my 2012 fiesta, not so much for having the color display, the touchscreen or the possibility of seeing videos but to change the main unit and have better sound (I have installed quality speakers, I have soundproofed the doors

 

 

Hi Axorazor, i noticed you mentioned you have soundproofed the doors of your fiesta, just wondered how far you went with this?  did you take the internal plastic door panel off as well?  i have buzzing from my 2011 fiesta drivers door but cannot do anymore sound deadening without taking the whole door apart, have done the door card and behind the speaker, also reached in behind the panel and stuck some to the back of the outer door panel.

Regards

Chris

[axorazor]

4 hours ago, MusicalChris said:

Hi Axorazor, i noticed you mentioned you have soundproofed the doors of your fiesta, just wondered how far you went with this?  did you take the internal plastic door panel off as well?  i have buzzing from my 2011 fiesta drivers door but cannot do anymore sound deadening without taking the whole door apart, have done the door card and behind the speaker, also reached in behind the panel and stuck some to the back of the outer door panel.

Regards

Chris

Hi, so I didn't remove the inner door panel.
I slipped the arm into the speaker housing hole and covered the sheet metal in  lenght up to half a door or a little more, and in height up to twenty centimeters from the window frame.

I also covered the sheet metal part at the bottom and side of the door, where the speaker is; and also the part of the inner panel of the door, behind the loudspeaker.

then I covered the outside of the inner panel as best as I could and especially in the area where the speaker is located.
I also covered the back of the door panel, and after soundproofing it with bitumen sheets, I put the sound-absorbing sponge, the one with the pyramids

now when I close the doors, they have a greater weight and make a sound that looks like a different car door; because originally they are very light and vibrate a lot.

I used for the external panel a bitumen tape of a brand called Geko. it is an aluminum coated bitumen adhesive, it costs much less than the sheets of soundproofing material specific for cars but it is excellent.

I used stp silver sheets for the rest, and I used stp silver and then geko tape on the sheet behind the speaker.

yours is a buzz coming from the speaker, or something moving in the door?

 if you hear it from the loudspeaker it is that and perhaps it should be replaced; at that point it is better to soundproof first.

 

 

[axorazor]

Hi, I have an update on my situation.
I tried with an anti-noise filter  (30A) on the amplifier, and I didn't succeed; then I tried to apply a 5A anti-noise filter on the wiring I installed behind the car radio (phonocar, not to cut the original cables and to get iso plugs) and I didn't have any effect.

But I gave another test. I disconnected the iso of the amplifier Speakers, and I connected the wiring ones in order to "reconstruct" the original line of the Speakers and exclude the amplifier.
the rustling persisted!

obviously before installing this adapter cable (when I had already replaced the original speakers) I had no noise.

I am attaching a photo of the cable used.
I installed it to avoid cutting the original cables to connect the amplifier with hi-level.
but at this point I think it is better to make this cut, if it is precisely the wiring that creates rustling.
As you can see from the image, the cable creates ISO plugs.
those of the power supply have connected them together, otherwise the stereo is turned on but nothing is detected (cd / aux / radio / bt / usb nothing). I also tried to cut the negative (because it is a sort of duplicate) but nothing, always rustling.

Does this mean that it is the adapter wiring that I used to create the rustling noise? or am I wrong?

Does anyone know the colors of the fiesta speaker cables? because it seems to me that they are not the standard ISO colors. thanks

 

[runamonk]

Maybe the problem is the soundproofing you installed?

[axorazor]

1 hour ago, runamonk said:

Maybe the problem is the soundproofing you installed?

I do not think so. the soundproofing is of the simple material that covers the sheet metal of the doors and the internal plastic panels; there was also with the original sound system, and I didn't have these problems.

Moreover, the noise is clearly heard with USB and bluetooth (which have a single control unit connected to the car radio) and when the car radio is turned off, while with cd and radio it is not heard. so I think it's a wiring problem. I await your opinions.

[runamonk]

Can you get a recording of the sound you're hearing and post it on here? That might help.

[Static]

Sounds like your radio is picking up interference from the Bluetooth/USB module. Had an issue in the past similar to this and was resolved with a ground loop isolator. Also have you tried grounding the whole system back to the negative battery terminal? If it's interference you are getting, it could be from the chassis grounding.

[axorazor]

15 hours ago, Static said:

Sounds like your radio is picking up interference from the Bluetooth/USB module. Had an issue in the past similar to this and was resolved with a ground loop isolator. Also have you tried grounding the whole system back to the negative battery terminal? If it's interference you are getting, it could be from the chassis grounding.

I tried with an anti-noise filter first on the amplifier and then on the car radio, with no results.

I didn't try to put the car radio on the negative of the battery, also because I had not removed the radio from the dashboard.

Do you say it is wrong to try to connect the IN and OUT of the amplifier's Speakers directly to the original car cables that connect behind the car radio?

in the end, there is currently only that phonocar adapter wiring as an intermediary between these cables and the original ones.

[axorazor]

hi everyone, I finally had time to take the car to a specialist in audio systems. after 2 days of investigation he found the source of the problem. it is the usb / bluetooth module that creates the hiss. now I don't know what to do, should I try to take another used module on eBay or should I replace the central unit directly with an android one?