The $43 Galaxy S3 + Car Stereo Upgrade for WaaaY better sound quality! USB-DAC Audio

EDIT/UPDATE January 2013: The USB-DAC option is now working for AOSP based i9300 and North American phones!

Here is my thread on how to get it working for Liquidsmooth (cm10.1 clone) on my AT&T S3:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2116877

---------------------------------------------------------

EDIT/UPDATE 02/12/2013 --- This USB-DAC functionality also now works with the Xylon AOSP ROM after the JackNorris patch:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=37925178#post37925178

Also, LiquidSmooth thread is closed now due to the team breaking up. But a new thread will likely be opened soon as the ROM is still being developed by the new Liquid team.

---------------------------------------------------------

EDIT/UPDATE 2/28/13 for North American S3's (not sure about Euro S3):

CZ Eddie said:

For the 4.1.X AOSP ROM's, only LiquidSmooth and Xylon work. If you can find them anymore. All stock based/rooted ROM's work.

LiquidSmooth ROM never skips, it had flawless audio performance. But you lose the headphone jack on LiquidSmooth. And the 4.1.X Xylon ROM was a WIP ROM with various bugs.
The 4.1.2 LiquidSmooth ROM was fantastic. Never once had any cd-skipping type sounds. Sounded excellent and was a flawless, bug-free ROM. Perfect if you didn't need the headphone jack, which was the only issue. BUT, I can't find that ROM download anymore. I have a nandroid and if someone bugged the hell out of me, I might be talked into uploading it. But it was a nandroid from a dirty flash so I can't guarantee it will work perfectly.

Stock ROM's skip sometimes when initially connecting audio and also when taking calls or other events occur. Otherwise they work great.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

---------------------------------------------------------
ORIGINAL THREAD TEXT BELOW:
---------------------------------------------------------


So, you're like me and you want to use your North American Galaxy S3 with your car stereo to stream Pandora, play MP3's and listen to your phones Navigation directions.

But, Bluetooth obviously sucks for so many reasons.
And the USB analog audio output has too many clicks/clacks and otherwise degraded sound.

So what do you do? You're an audiophile (or a wanna-be like me) and NEED better, cleaner sound!
Well, here is how you can get near audiophile quality sound from your GS3 to your car stereo.


1) Purchase an external USB DAC (digital to audio converter). This takes your phone's digital audio and cleanly converts it to analog audio for your car stereo to handle.
So why don't we just use the phone's internal DAC? Well, because it's a cheapy, crappy sounding Yamaha DAC. Samsung cheaped out on us! So we're using a BETTER DAC instead.

I bought the Behringer UCA202 USB DAC for just $30 shipped.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160904879602?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649


2) Now you need to get the digital audio out of your phone and into the external DAC! And you also need to make sure your phone still charges! So I bought this USB-OTG cable that has a charging adapter. It's just $10 shipped:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160912100776?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649


3) And then you need a dual-RCA to 3.5mm cable to get the analog audio from the DAC into the Car Stereo! I used one similar to this $3 shipped one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-FT-3-5mm-...=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item2a134140b0



And so what are the results you ask?

HOLY MOLY!
Not only is the audio quality MUCH improved, but the sound is so CLEAN now. No clicks, burps, or any other weird background noises. Just straight CD quality background silence.
Even my GPS voice sounds prettier. hahah
Bass is tighter and deeper. Highs are more revealing. Everything is so much better that a novice could tell it sounds better.

And yes, GPS navigation works perfectly. If I'm listening to Pandora or an MP3 and my GPS needs to talk, then my music will go several db quieter and GPS will speak up, then afterwards the music will automatically go back to full volume.
UPDATE EDIT: Google Maps voice gets cut off when it starts talking, if I'm not already listening to music. When music is playing, then Google Maps voice talks perfect. But if nothing else is using sound, then I think Google Maps doesn't force its voice out enough and the first part gets cut off. This could have been a one-day deal or other issue. I need more time with it.

Also, one thing I hated about Bluetooth was everytime I turned my car off for just a minute, when I would power it back on the Bluetooth would not consistently reconnect. Well, this USB-OTG has been very consistent for me so far. Music just picks back up where it left off at and is fairly quick to do so.

Cons? Well, I haven't tested hands free calling yet. But I'm told it doesn't work with this USB-OTG to DAC configuration. Maybe there is a bluetooth solution for that. I dunno? And AOSP does not yet support DACs.
UPDATE EDIT: Bluetooth hands-free works perfectly when I'm using the USB-OTG to my DAC. I'll add pics & info below.
UPDATE EDIT: Once in awhile, my cheapy DAC gets weird sounding when I first start up music. Like a CD player skipping. I just stop and start the music again and it's fine. Or it quickly goes away on it's own. Doesn't happen very often though.
UPDATE #2 EDIT:*I flashed a new ROM today and everything has been 100% flawless so far. That last ROM had lots of weird issues.

Pros? Freakin everything.

Pics are below.


Here is the DAC and the USB-OTG cable:


This is how you configure the DAC. You can probably also use the headphones output instead of the stereo RCA, but I didn't try it.


I wired up my USB-OTG cable to my iBOLT dock. It comes up through my dash defrost vents.


This is what the three connectors on the USB-OTG cable look like:


Here is the DAC being wired up. I taped up the non-used RCA's to prevent anything bugging with them.


I wrapped up the DAC with DUCT tape.


Hid it behind my dash.


Here is the USB-OTG cable with my iBOLT dock.


The car stereo w/audio cable attached. Some car stereos have the 3.5mm connector in the back. Or a dual-RCA input. I'd prefer one of those to have a cleaner install. Maybe someday I'll upgrade my car stereo.


And here is the finished product. My S3 docked, charging and outputing beautiful digital music!




LINKS:

How to make your own USB-OTG cable with power:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1828032

List of compatible DACs:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/1320#post_9038046

The official Galaxy S3 sound quality thread (TONS of info!!!):
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1633685&page=2


UPDATE EDIT:
Here is how you get Bluetooth hands-free calling working. I tested it today. Started listening to music via PowerAmp through the USB-OTG to DAC to my car stereo which was set to the AUX input. Then I accepted an incoming call. My car stereo automatically switched to Bluetooth input on it's own and I could hear/talk over bluetooth to the car stereo/speakers without any problem. After disconnecting the call, my car stereo automatically went back to AUX input and my USB-OTG/DAC music resumed playing nicely.

So here are the steps.

1) Connect your phone to your car stereo via Bluetooth.

2) Click the "settings" button next to your Bluetooth connection in the phone:


3) Put a checkmark in "Call Audio" and de-select "Media Audio".


4) When you accept a call on your phone, click the "headset" button and all audio will be played over your car speakers and your voice will be picked up by your hands-free microphone.
My next step is to figure out a way to get TASKER to automatically select "headset" when I'm in my car.



EDIT:
Here is my new dock and new cable solution. Just one single cable down under my dash.

Great post and very well put together but there a couple of things

1) doubt pandora is of audiophile quality
2) most people won't hear a difference since most don't have super expensive speakers in their car
3) the amp/dac you have has 2 ANALOG outputs (rca and headphone) and 1 digital output (Optical cable)....since you're using the analog output.... its been through an amp already.... then your stereo amps the signal again.... so technically you're amping an already amped signal. If you want to notice a difference use a line out/digital signal to ur stereo.

http://www.headstage.com/USB-DAC-Cable/USB-DAC-Cable-with-35mm-Mini-Plug-75cm-30::10134.html

would be the perfect solution..lineout.... small.... don't need to hide anything, and take it with you inside ur house and use it for the receiver at home also.

But if you want something with analog, lineout and portable.... i'd go with an E7 from Fiio... need to buy a 10 dollar adapter for the line out.... but for about 80 you can listen to it from ur s3 or computer straight to ur headphones via analog. use the line out adapter to hook it up to ur car stereo or home receiver. so best of both worlds.

CZ Eddie said:

I like how AUX and the connection I'm using now, all connect instantly. I hate waiting even a few seconds for Bluetooth to connect. And the occasional handshake problems drive me nuts.
But I looked into this solution. Kinda expensive for me. Is it really $250?

Does handsfree calling still work for you?
Do you get full bitrate or is there any compression going on (before the DAC) like with normal bluetooth?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

1. I picked this Bluetooth headset for a reason. I went through 3 different brands before finding this. It is PERFECT for the job. It powers on and off with the ignition key of the car. Upon me turning the ignition key it powers my wireless charger and the Bluetooth. This activates my Tasker script which turns on phone bluetooth and then connects to the car Bluetooth. This occurs with 100% reliability. I have had it for 5 months now daily driving every day and it has not failed a single time. It connects in about 2 seconds. Upon successful connection the bluetooth announces "Device connected!" and starts playing music. To me that is no different than the AUX cable except that I don't touch a cable.
2. The audio quality is excellent. The headset supports APT-X which means really high-quality transmission. It transmits at 384kb/sec with APT-X claiming that 54kb/sec is equivalent to CD-quality audio. For reference, I have a fully upgraded car speaker system with 7 speakers and 470W RMS (940W Peak). It sounds wonderful.
3. I do not use handsfree calling. The reason is that if you see the pictures, the phone is at a perfect tilt towards the driver and right next to me (It's next to my shifter). Hence when someone calls I have always either put it on speakerphone or just pick up the phone normally (it is wireless afterall and makes it really convinient). I suppose if you want handsfree to work you can do so but I haven't ever tried. The headset itself DOES support it however.
4. I never said the price is $250. I will list the components and prices below for everything.
-Samsung BHS3000 Bluetooth headset ($35)
-SoundShocker Pro (Needed for volume)($60)
-Palm Wireless Charging Dock ($10)
-Palm Wireless Charging Circuit ($5)
-Neodimium Magnets ($15)
-USB Charging cables and car charger ($10)
TOTAL: $135 and this includes wireless charging. Without it, it will be $95.

Edit: Perhaps I'll put a guide on setting everything for those interested. Not everything is plug & play and your guide inspires me to do it.

by using the rca to headphone cable it automatically is in analog therefore not digital at all and all those conversions and amplifications can and most likely causes some signal degradation...it's kind of a round about way to get cleaner sound when your using low bitrate streaming music...

Nice writeup, it was an a-ha moment for me recently, that I should be using my Fiio E7 in the car. Haven't done anything about it like you have.

The next step is to take the digital out of the DAC and send it right to the digital input of a DSP, such as this:



That's what I'm talking about! Who needs a head unit?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII