PX5 USB Audio problems & finds discussion thread

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droc.noles

Senior Member
Jul 22, 2012
67
8
I've bought WIFI CONTROLL yet not tested; i've read that it has limited ability to controll volume (oh why!!!; this simple 'feature' would be perfect!)

you will need a remote control for volume in any case. Director or some other cheaper. The reason is practical as headunit is unlikely to control the wifi app volume directly - unless somebody has a a fix for this - it would be awesome!

Do either of you have a link to discussion that the Wifi Control module / app doesn't control volume from the app? I actually checked the Play Store on my Dasaita PX5 on Hal9k ROM to make sure the app was available to install (minimum Android 7), which it is - I went ahead and installed it. Clearly, without an actual DSP to connect to since I don't have either the DSP or the Wifi Control module (yet), I don't get past setup to even see if volume control is possible. A screenshot of the app directly from AF site seems to indicate that master volume control, as well as HEC control, should be possible:

WIFI-CONTROL-Volume-Control-jpg-pagespeed-ce-j-MFl-Ogv-I6-E.jpg


Well then -i don't understand why you have a problem with SQ.
I have DASAITA HU + HELIX DSP (.3 right now; previous was P6mk2). My devices are connected with RCA and SPDIF optical.
HU is connected via pream RCA with DSP's analog in (CH.1&2); i'm also using USB AUDIO via USB-to-SPDIF converter /XMOS XU208/; i'm not using HELIX HEC USB
analog connection is used for all except music (maps, phone connection, youtube); mainly for sound sources that have low quality.
i'm using USBAudioPlayerPRO for music. I have no pops, clicks, etc.; connection is stable; sound is clean and works up to 96/24bit (limited by DSP). my device is not recognized by HU as sound card (no android sounds) yet UAPP comunicates with it
For volume controll i'm using HELIX DIRECTOR (mainly digital; analog can be controlled by stering wheel)
another 'mod' i did is to disconect speaker cables and TDA7850 chip from motherboard (no static noise/hiss)

main cons i can think of:
i've red that UAPP can catch volume control from HU; i'm using BITPERFECT mode, so no volume controll via SPDIF;
-uapp is not perfect in usability

one more info:
i've checked parameters of PREAMP out; with maxed volume (+30) and 1kHz 0dB test tone i get aprox. +2,5V and clean sin wave. that's good!
my board is DASAITA MAX6 with ADAU1401 chip.

if needed i can make a video as proof

That test of the preamps with the sine wave is pretty cool! I'm not so much having SQ problems so much as I am limiting my Alpine amp's headroom. I can clearly tell that I can get louder / cleaner on nominal amp gains - especially if I added a quality DAC in between with stronger preamp voltage. Further still, I haven't yet gotten a subwoofer into the mix - from what I've read, these PX5 units have an even weaker preamp on the mono output.

When I use my Audioquest Dragonfly in UAPP, there is a setting for Hardware Volume Control (Left / Right channel vertical sliders) in the settings that allow for volume changes historically in my usage of the app. Do you not have the same option available in Bitperfect mode? I realize that your device is keeping the signal totally digital to send to your Helix DSP, so that may not be possible.

EDIT: I also wanted to add that Android, as soon as I hotswap my Dragonfly by plugging it in, shows a little headphone icon in the status bar over next to the wifi icon. Not sure what that is about; not sure also if any of you using USB audio see this icon as well?

as I recall I use 1.1 connection - it worked better than 2.0.
head unit is PX5 dasaita, main player is UAPP (disappointed from the practical side, as it cannot index my 4tb drive) , processor is 3rd generation DSP ULTRA
I am not sure that low output volume was "feature" of Hal9k roms , unit was already upgraded to hal9k 8.0 before being connected in the car.
unit is considered old - bought in 2018.

hopefully audiostage HEC would be the solution...

Noted on the 1.1 speed - if I end up going down the Helix path, I'll be sure to try that out. Without any timetable for the Audiostage module, I am left to come up with an alternative for now.

you will need a remote control for volume in any case. Director or some other cheaper.

The Wifi Control module also has a mini DIN port to allow the use of a URC.3 remote control, but I'd really rather avoid having a hardware knob somewhere in the car if I can avoid it.
 
Last edited:

Cavalier Condorelli

Senior Member
Nov 25, 2010
204
45
My Dac CM6631A is not recognized

Hi, despite what I originally thought I finally realized that my CM6631A chip Dac was is not recognized by my Daisaita MAX6 PX6 HU with Android 9 Hal9k 4.0.2 MOD.
To confirm this, here is my /proc/asound/cards content:


The same dac is perfectly discovered and working on my Android 9 samsung S8+ mobile phone.
These are the tests I already did:
  • used different usb cables
  • used all three usb ports with only dac connected
  • used an Y usb cable to provide more power
  • usb configured to 1.1 (Hal9k mod option)
  • usb in debug mode

Since it is a standard CM6631A dac, that I know it is supported as specified in first post, do I have to do something else to get this recognized?

Update: these are the kernel logs when connecting the device:

V/[ 1192.988440] hid-generic 0003:0D8C:0004.0001: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.00 Device [C-Media Electronics Inc. USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio] on usb-fe3c0000.usb-1.1/input2
V/[ 1192.987611] keychord: using input dev C-Media Electronics Inc. USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio for fevent
V/[ 1192.929242] input: C-Media Electronics Inc. USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio as /devices/platform/fe3c0000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.1/1-1.1:1.2/0003:0D8C:0004.0001/input/input3
V/[ 1192.909639] snd-usb-audio: probe of 1-1.1:1.0 failed with error -1
V/[ 1192.904968] usb 1-1.1: Manufacturer: C-Media Electronics Inc.
V/[ 1192.904958] usb 1-1.1: Product: USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio
V/[ 1192.904946] usb 1-1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
V/[ 1192.904933] usb 1-1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=0d8c, idProduct=0004
V/[ 1192.904884] --mtc ann 1-1.1 0d8c
V/[ 1192.807620] usb 1-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 5 using ehci-platform

It seems an incompatibility with the ALSA driver.
Please help me with any suggestion you might have...

UPDATE: I bought a different DAC the Topping D10s and I still receive the same error!!!!!
snd-usb-audio: probe of 1-1.1:1.0 failed with error -1
Please, do you have any idea?

Thanks.
 
Last edited:

droc.noles

Senior Member
Jul 22, 2012
67
8
Just an update for anyone intending to upgrade to Android 10 for the PX5 MTCD/E, USB audio support for Helix is not working.

Interesting - wonder if Malaysk's custom ROM is also affected? Was just reading up on potentially moving to A10 from Hal9k's A9 but not if A10 breaks USB audio for Helix DSPs. For the most part, UAPP runs pretty well on Hal9k's ROM; would be nice if USB audio out would work outside of that app. One of the more frustrating things about UAPP is that it tends to lose where it was at times, esp on longer sleep durations for my PX5 HU. Also, updating the app is a debacle every time - I usually have to uninstall / reinstall the app after attempts to update result in freezing the HU.

Really need Audiotec Fischer to release the Audiostage module...
 

kavatzoulas

Member
Jul 15, 2010
26
6
you can use the Hiby music player its more reliable than the usb audio player. px5 with hal9k e helix dsp.3 usb audio hd audio module

Inviato dal mio RMX2170 utilizzando Tapatalk
 

droc.noles

Senior Member
Jul 22, 2012
67
8
FWIW, the HiBy app has been shockingly stable as presented by user @kavatzoulas - outside of the UI being particularly poor on a PX5 10.2 in screen at 1024x600, the actual playback has been almost flawless, and seems to not hang up resources on my PX5 unit. Much improved over UAPP.
 

Cougarzzz

Member
May 17, 2021
8
1
Definitely will give this a shot - thanks for the heads up.
Hello. Any update on usb audio output and hal9k mod4? Im still trying to match my helix p six with director and usb hd modules and my isudar px5 radio. I upgraded from android 8 to android 10 but I cant see any option to enable usb audio output. It was working ok with uapp but somatimes audio was stopper for unknown reason. Hiby has no tidal support and ill like to use usb audio output for every app and as standard output for android. Any chance?
 

droc.noles

Senior Member
Jul 22, 2012
67
8
Hello. Any update on usb audio output and hal9k mod4? Im still trying to match my helix p six with director and usb hd modules and my isudar px5 radio. I upgraded from android 8 to android 10 but I cant see any option to enable usb audio output. It was working ok with uapp but somatimes audio was stopper for unknown reason. Hiby has no tidal support and ill like to use usb audio output for every app and as standard output for android. Any chance?
To be honest, I haven't tried any further with native USB audio after being tipped toward using Hiby - it does everything I need to it to do efficiently. Sorry I couldn't be of further help.
 

Cougarzzz

Member
May 17, 2021
8
1
user of a xtrons 706pl px5, rom Hal9k with helix dsp2 and direct connection with the usb audio hd module of the helix. i have also a second solution that use a diy usb dac/spdif converter.both of the solutions works great without any issues. i control the volume through the helix old controller, i have audio for music, video, internet streaming, youtube and bluetooth calls the only thing that you have pass through analog output rca is the radio fm that i never used ;)

i have not seen the option you can select usb 1.1 or 2 but i can understand why somebody would prefer 1.1 many usb modules dac/spdif converters suffering from hes/stops because they need more power the best solution is to use an external power using an Y cable. from the android 2din usb you give the signal and using the 2 input of the Y cable using an external power supply gives the power to the dac. ( solution used with my old nexus 7 tablet as audio device in car 4 years ago)

ps: the only problem that the output is low with the hal9k. rom but with the original rom the output is more powerfull without change anything to the helix dsp or the amp gain....i have not found any solution on this problem

Inviato dal mio FRD-L09 utilizzando Tapatalk
This seems the goal im looking for. I have hec hd usb helix, urc control for volume and sub,a p six dac/dsp/amplifier and an isudar mtce px5 4 32gb. I just installed android 10 but I can't find how to select usb audio output. Should I try hal9k mod4 rom based on android 9?
 

Cougarzzz

Member
May 17, 2021
8
1
user of a xtrons 706pl px5, rom Hal9k with helix dsp2 and direct connection with the usb audio hd module of the helix. i have also a second solution that use a diy usb dac/spdif converter.both of the solutions works great without any issues. i control the volume through the helix old controller, i have audio for music, video, internet streaming, youtube and bluetooth calls the only thing that you have pass through analog output rca is the radio fm that i never used ;)

i have not seen the option you can select usb 1.1 or 2 but i can understand why somebody would prefer 1.1 many usb modules dac/spdif converters suffering from hes/stops because they need more power the best solution is to use an external power using an Y cable. from the android 2din usb you give the signal and using the 2 input of the Y cable using an external power supply gives the power to the dac. ( solution used with my old nexus 7 tablet as audio device in car 4 years ago)

ps: the only problem that the output is low with the hal9k. rom but with the original rom the output is more powerfull without change anything to the helix dsp or the amp gain....i have not found any solution on this problem

Inviato dal mio FRD-L09 utilizzando Tapatalk
This seems the goal im looking for. I have hec hd usb helix, urc control for volume and sub,a p six dac/dsp/amplifier and an isudar mtce px5 4 32gb. I just installed android 10 but I can't find how to select usb audio output. Should I try hal9k mod4 rom based on android 9?
 

shdwkeeper

Senior Member
Jul 22, 2021
96
9
A little help here. I just got a new Dasaita PX6 hexacore 10.2" headunit for my 2013 Toyota Tundra with the factory JBL Amp. In order to get a USB Dac working where should I start? Can I integrate into the factory JBL, what equipment would I need and how do I put this together? Thanks for the advice.
 

Cavalier Condorelli

Senior Member
Nov 25, 2010
204
45

gwaitsi

Senior Member
Aug 3, 2014
144
9

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  • 6
    Happy New Year guys!

    1. All Rockchips headunits (rk3066/3188/3288/px3/px5) have a big problem with their DWC-OTG USB 2.0 controller kernel driver from Designware/Synopsys.
    This driver generates a huge amount of interrupts on usb bus (about 15000 per second under load and 8000 minimum without any use of usb devices). So any wide streaming devices like USB-DACs, USB-CAM, EasyCAP and others cannot properly function. USB-DACs on samplerates higher 44100 or 48000 Hz and bit depth higher 16 bit generate many pop and clicks in sound or just noise. All usb streams are very slow, even copying files from usb flesh to sd card.
    This problem is well known and it has the resolution - kernel driver needs to be patched.
    Here are some links:
    http://hwswbits.blogspot.ru/2013/09/dwc-usb-interrupt-spam-in-rockchip-socs.html?m=1
    https://www.google.ru/amp/s/ideechaniz.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/dwc-otg-drivers/amp/
    We have not kernel sources to patch it. Any open sources will not go because of many special functions of our HUs have been compiled into kernel. I wrote about this to SHEN ZHEN KLYDE ELECTRONICS CO twice, but no reaction (I have their HU).
    So you cannot play sound higher then 16 bit 44100Hz or 48000Hz. If you try 24 bit and/or 96kHz you can hear clicks and pops or just a noise. The first step to make the situation better is to get usb-dac/converter with only FULL-speed (12Mb/s) usb-reciever chip, like sa9023, te7022, pcm2704(6) (mono!) etc. Unplug all usb devices except usb-dac from usb. Note that wifi and processor's loads affect too. Edit /etc/audio_policy.conf to limit sr and bd to 44100 and 16 for usb_device section. If you want to use your high speed usb-dac you can try to find and use a full speed usb hub on ali or ebay.

    2. All android HUs for now have mcu and android boards inside. All apps like youtube, navigation, poweramp etc are sounding from android board and all of them can be routed to play through usb-dac using usb audio function of android. But dvd, bt hands-free, radio are located on and managed by mcu board. So sound from them does not going to/through android board. The only one way to get their sound on your car audio processor is connection of rca-outs and set processor to auto switch between analog and digital inputs by signal determination (helix dsp and many others can do that).

    3. The volume. The best way for SQ is to use the dsp's volume adjustment. Note for digital volume adjustment every -6bB from max level excludes 1 bit from effective bit depth. So you loose your sound quality (dynamic range) by digital volume adjusting on HU because you can only have 16bit output (see 1). But if you WANT to do it there is one difficult way - write your own app service to catch mcu's broadcast commands for volume adjusting and then send alsamixer's comnands to change usb dac volume same level (need to install alsa). I made it for rk3066/rk3188 HUs on petrows microntec headunit service. Hope this help https://github.com/petrows/RK3066-Headunit-service
    https://www.google.ru/url?sa=t&sour...MQ5YQBCCcwAA&usg=AOvVaw2W8hsXylKrMeQRC2R2mOVt
    This service also can send buttons presses to Poweramp, USB Audio Player Pro, Spotify, PCRadio etc. But it is for MTCB, not for MTCD HUs. I dont know a difference of Microntek services of this versions of HUs. So I cannot say will it work or not on MTCD.
    2
    I know that a lot of people here likes good sound quality and want to use USB DAC on their head unit.
    So I started this thread so maybe someone can come up with a solution to get rid of our USB Audio problems. :good:

    First of all, I have 3 different USB audio interfaces I tried on my MTCD PX5 head unit. I use these for SPDIF Coaxial output, so I can send a clean digital signal to my DSP (MiniDSP 6X8) spdif input.

    My USB audio devices:

    PCM2704 (Worst sound quality of the 3, but still good)
    CM6631A (Nice sound quality)
    SMSL x-usb (XMOS chip) (Excellent, best sound quality of my adapters)

    Here is my findings for each model so far:

    PCM2704 - With native Android USB Audio driver (MTCD Music player, Spotify, Google Music, etc) : Plays without any pops&clicks noises 44khz, 48Khz, 96Khz files (Thats good).. BUT only in MONO, so no stereo ! (That sucks.)

    PCM2704 - With custom USB Audio driver (Usb Audio Player Pro, Neutron, Hibby, Onkyo apps) : Plays perfectly 44khz :)audio files but CANNOT play 48khz or 96khz audio files, there is no sound. at all :crying:



    CM6631A - With native Android USB Audio driver (MTCD Music player, Spotify, Google Music, etc) : Lots of pops&clicks noises, cannot listen to this.. BUT output in stereo, plays 44khz/48khz/96khz files.

    CM6631A - With custom USB Audio driver (Usb Audio Player Pro, Neutron, Hibby, Onkyo apps) : Lots of pops&clicks noises, cannot listen to this.. Output in stereo, plays 44khz/48khz/96khz.



    SMSL X-USB Xmos - With native Android USB Audio driver (MTCD Music player, Spotify, Google Music, etc) : Lots of pops&clicks noises, cannot listen to this.. BUT output in stereo, plays 44khz/48khz/96khz files.

    SMSL X-USB Xmos - With custom USB Audio driver (Usb Audio Player Pro, Neutron, Hibby, Onkyo apps) : Lots of pops&clicks noises, cannot listen to this.. Output in stereo, plays 44khz/48khz/96khz.

    Good to know:
    PCM2704 is USB 1.1 full speed device, isosynchronous.
    CM6631A is USB 2.0 fullspeed/high speed device, asynchronous.
    SMSL X-usb Xmos is USB 2.0 fullspeed/high speed device, asynchronous.

    Also good to know: Android Marshmallow 6 Mono output USB Audio problem is a well known problem across multiple Android devices (Cellphones, tablets, etc.) So lets assume the mono output on the PCM2704 is "normal". What is not normal with the PCM2704 is that it can only play 44khz audio, no 48khz.

    First question that comes to my mind: Does the PX5 USB drivers/kernel has a problem with USB2.0 ?
    Another question: Does our PX5 firmware mess with the sample frequency (44khz, 48khz, etc) ?

    Thanks for any useful comment !
    2
    Congrats.

    And another surprise, BT is going through USB.

    Might not be good as I'm seeing 48/16 sources displaying as 96/32 on my Director.

    Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
    2
    https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=79357076&postcount=2849

    I jumped from stock to this custom ROM and android USB audio is working.
    1
    As you can see from my recent post history, I couldn't stay on stock Android 6.0.1 for long - I just had to test out something else. Ended up with Hal9k's ROM with OTAs - the 4.0.1 USB 1.1 speed fix seems to have transformed my test DAC (AQ Dragonfly) to usable, although not 100% without here-and-there interrupts. Still though, was a pretty transformative moment to hear a clean audio stream for the first time in literally years through the Dragonfly after applying the USB speed reduction setting in Hal9k's ROM.

    I am curious, since I'm considering making the leap to a Helix DSP - do you have your Dasaita PX5 set to USB 1.1 speed in Hal9k's ROM by chance? I'm trying to determine just how much you are seeing USB audio get interrupted if you've had to tweak to get a stable signal. I now have the 4GB / 32GB SOM installed in my Dasaita PX5, and I just wired up an Alpine PDR-V75 to the Dasaita analog RCA outs. I'm finding that the outputs are actually not all that noisy so far, but I can clearly tell that the preamp voltage is such that I could do far better. I'm able to completely turn the volume up to 30 and it is apparent that there is still a ton of headroom on the Alpine amp. Pretty loud and clear, but I know that if I had a stronger preamp voltage, I'd be able to achieve cleaner output at lower volume - this doesn't even account for the fact that having an external DAC would be a large step up from the Dasaita PX5 internal DAC.

    I actually emailed Audiotec Fischer to see when the Audiostage HEC module would be coming out; Doug Dobson with MSC America mentioned that there is no timetable at this point for release, so I'm now reconsidering the HEC USB Audio module. Your input might help me determine if it is worth it. I think I'm pretty well convinced that I'd want to do the Wifi Control module rather than Director, but only if it is not too cumbersome to deal with controlling volume within the app. I'd also be curious if you find a way to control the volume through the steering wheel controls / Dasaita hardware buttons. I think more than anything having a handle on volume as you first turn the car on, and while you are going down the road is the main thing - adjustments to the DSP itself is not really a reactionary, on-demand type of control - almost always you are going to be parked, taking your time when adjusting audio settings of the DSP itself.

    I'd also be curious if anyone has ever had any experience with this obscure DSP:

    https://phoenixgold.com/products/digital-signal-processor

    Doesn't appear to have much of a following, but does support USB audio (who knows how well on Android, however), as well as apparently wifi direct on some sources. 5V preamp outs, USB host for thumb drives - not sure how well that would work. Big deal breaker is not being able to have the DSP use client mode on first glance. I'd take 16bit/44khz audio via wifi if it were stable, but the DSP not being able to join an in-car wifi network is a pretty big deal. Also, there's basically no reviews on the unit anywhere (one bad Youtube video), and the app hasn't been updated in basically a couple of years. Still, I am curious about it.

    in short
    you will need a remote control for volume in any case. Director or some other cheaper. The reason is practical as headunit is unlikely to control the wifi app volume directly - unless somebody has a a fix for this - it would be awesome!

    as I recall I use 1.1 connection - it worked better than 2.0.
    head unit is PX5 dasaita, main player is UAPP (disappointed from the practical side, as it cannot index my 4tb drive) , processor is 3rd generation DSP ULTRA
    I am not sure that low output volume was "feature" of Hal9k roms , unit was already upgraded to hal9k 8.0 before being connected in the car.
    unit is considered old - bought in 2018.

    hopefully audiostage HEC would be the solution...