Help Navigation Through Speakers?

[BimmerM3]

I used Google Nav earlier today and realized something that would be great, if possible. I would love to be able to get the GPS to speak through my car speakers instead of the phone speaker. I have an after market stereo (Pioneer DEH-4100UB... incase it matters) and can use my phone to play music through my speakers when it is in USB mass storage mode. Is there any way, whether through settings or a hack that will allow the GPS directions to be played through the car speakers?

 

[Hrethgir]

I have my phone connected to my radio via an RF adapter plugged into the headphone jack. Anything that will play through the headphones will then play through the speakers. I use the GPS nav and Pandora together sometimes, works fine, Pandora pauses when the Nav app has directions to say.

 

[Deleted User]

Your stereo has a front AUX input. Just buy a 3.5mm male to 3.5mm male stereo cable and plug it in, switch to the AUX input, and all of the audio from your phone will come out of your speakers.

For only $2.14 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 6ft Premium 3.5mm Stereo Male to 3.5mm Stereo Male 22AWG Cable (Gold Plated) - Black | 3.5mm Audio M/M Cables

 

[BimmerM3]

So if I use a 3.5mm cord will phone calls come through the speakers? Or would i need an external mic because I have a feeling that having something in the headphone jack disables the phones mic.

 

[faber78]

I have my phone connected to my radio via an RF adapter plugged into the headphone jack. Anything that will play through the headphones will then play through the speakers. I use the GPS nav and Pandora together sometimes, works fine, Pandora pauses when the Nav app has directions to say.

do the same thing. works good.
also awnser phone calls through the speakers and just talk toward the mic....works fine.

aux cord should do the same. (think someone said that already).

 

[faber78]

So if I use a 3.5mm cord will phone calls come through the speakers? Or would i need an external mic because I have a feeling that having something in the headphone jack disables the phones mic.

nope, mic works fine. just awnser like normal. hold the phone a couple feet from you and talk. persons voice comes out speakers. works great.

 

[BimmerM3]

Wow, I'll have to try that. Only downside is all the chords running around my front seat now... but its worth it.

 

[faber78]

Yeah, I like it. Phone can be charging and you aren't holding it to your head with charge chord, just right in front of you and talking

 

[BimmerM3]

Is the audio coming out of the headphone jack of any lower quality than the micro USB port? Because i know the only way to get CD quality sound with an iPod is to use the 30pin dock connector. Because currently I listen to my phone on my radio through the USB cord which also charges it but if I use a headphone cord i would probably only use that.

 

[faber78]

hopefully someone else knows the awnser to that one^
im in a work truck and it works well for me, but its no nice audio system....

 

[Deleted User]

The headphone jack is the analog output of the digital to analog converter (DAC) in the phone.

Thus, it's going to vary by phone.

I have found the Droid X headphone output to be very good on some expensive headphones.

If you're not getting "CD quality sound" out of the iPod headphone jack, there is some kind of problem to address. ALL sound is output by a DAC to allow it to be played by speakers, where the DAC is located is the only difference.

If you have a high end audio system with a high end DAC, it may well be better than the DAC in the X but the only way to get around that is if your system will play MP3 files on a mass storage device... and then you won't get your phone calls.

How do you guys think people are listening to and judging $200, $300, or even higher, headphones?

It's possible that there's some kind of interference on the AUX input for your stereo, I guess. I bet for things like a work truck, the limitations are in the speakers, though.

 

[faber78]

Oh yeah, the truck is the downfall. Good enough for me though.

 

[Aggie12]

Just FWIW. I throw my phone up on my car mount on the windshield and hook my phone up to the speakers. When on phone calls people can hear me just fine and thats probably almost 3 ft. If not 2.5.

 

[mahers]

I use the 3.5mm cord as well, but I also have my BT headset hooked up. When a call comes in, the call goes to the headset, but music plays through the car speakers (and pauses when you're on the call). Love it.

 

[karma2burn]

I use the 3.5mm cord as well, but I also have my BT headset hooked up. When a call comes in, the call goes to the headset, but music plays through the car speakers (and pauses when you're on the call). Love it.

Ditto.

I had a non-smartphone buddy in my car this weekend and I had my droid hooked up to my dash mount and I was just using power amp to play music which he thought was pretty cool. Then a call came in and I answered on my bluetooth headset and it paused the music and he thought that was really cool. I was driving him home (he just moved in with his fiancee and wasn't exactly sure how to get to her house from where we were at the time) so I hit the navigation, spoke her address, and it immediately found it and started routing us there while pausing the music when it needed to give a direction. He was pretty blown away at the end if the ride.

Just funny how certain things I take for granted now can be really impressive to people who don't have the same technology.

 

[Dabitz]

Check out this mount, it's only $20 shipped. The same one is on Amazon for $45 but here is ordered directly from the manufacturer.

HANDS FREE Motorola Droid X Car Mount! CD Cell Dock Kit

I have my phone hooked up to my car radio via bluetooth. I love playing Pandora on my way back and forth from work, not to mention Google Nav.

 

[Waxon12]

I know that Nox has been working closely with Android to sort of synergize the listening experience with these bad boys http://tablets.engadget.com/photos/nox-audio-admiral-touch-hands-on/ but the rest of their stuff is also pretty cool too. I got a pair for christmas last year and they've been working really well when I use them with my phone.

 

[BimmerM3]

The headphone jack is the analog output of the digital to analog converter (DAC) in the phone.

Thus, it's going to vary by phone.

I have found the Droid X headphone output to be very good on some expensive headphones.

If you're not getting "CD quality sound" out of the iPod headphone jack, there is some kind of problem to address. ALL sound is output by a DAC to allow it to be played by speakers, where the DAC is located is the only difference.

If you have a high end audio system with a high end DAC, it may well be better than the DAC in the X but the only way to get around that is if your system will play MP3 files on a mass storage device... and then you won't get your phone calls.

How do you guys think people are listening to and judging $200, $300, or even higher, headphones?

It's possible that there's some kind of interference on the AUX input for your stereo, I guess. I bet for things like a work truck, the limitations are in the speakers, though.

Today was actually the first day that I used a 3.5mm cord to listen to my music instead of the USB cable and I noticed quite a big difference in sound quality. Which I assume would be the same with an iPods headphone jack. Now this may not be the case with everyone's stereo system or head unit. I don't see why the lower quality audio would be caused by my head unit either because it's barely a year old. I do have aftermarket speakers and subwoofers, which is where I can tell the biggest difference. The bass output from the 3.5mm jack hardly compares to the USB and I have to turn it up almost 2 times as loud in order to get the same volume and bass. I just thought this was an interesting observation.

 

[faber78]

if the lack of bass is your only complaint, and the actual quality of the sound is o.k.; you should be able to use a different media player with bass adjustments, or like in liberty there are other options you can adjust sound with before it leaves the dx.

 

[Outlaw71]

I also use a 3.5 mm jack, and I also have an aftermarket stereo system complete with a Kenwood double din head unit, MB Quart separates (front and rear), dual 12 inch subs, and Precision Power amps driving all of them. I don't have a USB port to compare the sound coming out of it or the audio jack, but it just doesn't make sense to me why there would be a cut-off in bass out of the jack? I know the HDMI out carries a discrete bass channel, but the USB? I've never heard that before.

The only direct comparison I have is from my DX to the actual CD's I play. And when I play CD's I don't notice a difference in bass output. Sure CD's do have better sound quality as their bit rate is up between 900 and 1200 compared to around 320 (the highest bitrate I can usually find on Music Junk) out of the DX.

What I find when it comes to NAV however is that when I'm playing music, the woman's voice on Google NAV is higher than the level my music plays, and I can't seem to find a way to turn her down separate from the music. 'Media' volume seems to control the both of them.

 

[Raw Dodge]

What I find when it comes to NAV however is that when I'm playing music, the woman's voice on Google NAV is higher than the level my music plays, and I can't seem to find a way to turn her down separate from the music. 'Media' volume seems to control the both of them.

Next time your using the nav system,hold the phone while she is talking,hit the volume rocker,and on the dx screen the volume for navigation system will pop up....quickly adjust her voice down a few notches while shes talking....you can only access this volume while she is talking....having navigation on isnt enough.....

 

[BimmerM3]

I also use a 3.5 mm jack, and I also have an aftermarket stereo system complete with a Kenwood double din head unit, MB Quart separates (front and rear), dual 12 inch subs, and Precision Power amps driving all of them. I don't have a USB port to compare the sound coming out of it or the audio jack, but it just doesn't make sense to me why there would be a cut-off in bass out of the jack? I know the HDMI out carries a discrete bass channel, but the USB? I've never heard that before.

The only direct comparison I have is from my DX to the actual CD's I play. And when I play CD's I don't notice a difference in bass output. Sure CD's do have better sound quality as their bit rate is up between 900 and 1200 compared to around 320 (the highest bitrate I can usually find on Music Junk) out of the DX.

What I find when it comes to NAV however is that when I'm playing music, the woman's voice on Google NAV is higher than the level my music plays, and I can't seem to find a way to turn her down separate from the music. 'Media' volume seems to control the both of them.

Sound quality obviously differs between every sound system. I had just always heard that you could get better quality sound out of an iPods dock connector so I assumed that would be somewhat similar to the X, with the USB port. There is an obvious difference in size between the iPods 30pin connector and the X's micro USB port, so technically my theory could be completely wrong. Although, it could simple involve my head unit and how it handles the Auxiliary input compared to the USB input. I will have to test it more tomorrow, but as of now the songs I have played show lower quality through the headphone jack.

 

[firetruck41]

FWIW, I notice that if my phone is in the Motorola car dock and being charged by the usb port, the audio coming from the 3.5mm audio output has noticeable interference, if I unplug from the USB, the audio is pretty good, with just a hint of occasional background "interference".

 

[Winning, duh.]

I bought the cable to connect my Droidx from its headphone jack to the aux input on the faceplate to my car stereo. I have an 02 Kia Spectra sedan, with the factory speakers it came with, though am upgrading them to an inexpensive non-component set, cause I blew one rocking my music too loud ^_^.

I've found that I can hear a bit of interference while listening to Pandora from time to time. I do not have a car charger, and didn't have any other electronic devices in the car. I changed the input from aux to cd, and it went away- and returned again when I put it back to aux. I tried unplugging the phone, and playing Pandora through its speakers, as well as listening to it with headphones while in the car- both fine. The interference was gone. Huh.

Unplugged everything, restarted the Droidx and Pandora, plugged the whole mess back together, and dangit, the sound was back. It was weird, too- it sounded kinda like high pitched "popping" and "hissing" noises, like and old vinyl record being played does, sometimes. Shame, 'cause even with my basic speakers, the music sounded great! I'll just have to wait and see if it goes away with my new speakers installed. Still, weird! A bit comforting to know I'm not the only one experiencing this, heh!

I'd love to be able to play music via Bluetooth on my car stereo...even though a wired connection probably sounds better, that dangling cord drives me bananas, getting in the way while I'm shifting gears! Aaagh!

I don't really use headphones much anymore, with the car and all, so I just swiped my bf's old iphone earbuds. Works just fine, if a little funny-looking. I'd love a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre, or some nice Bose headphones, though.

 

[dirkbonn]

I have a Jabra SP700 and it connects via bluetooth to my X and then connects to my car radio via FM. (You just have to pick a FM frequency that has no stations broadcasting) I put my X in the motorola car dock and everything now come through my cars radio speakers. GPS directions, phone calls, etc.

And.... no cords, unless you want your Droid X to be charging. Then you have one cord going to the cigar lighter.