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Headunit upgrade with JBL

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by TroyAndEddie, Mar 28, 2015.

  1. TroyAndEddie

    TroyAndEddie Junior Member

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    Has anyone upgraded to one of the Android headunits available on eBay or any factory-like headunit upgrade, and you have JBL? I saw the Rosen, but they nickel and dime you to death for nearly every add on. Actually, it's more like they $100 and $200 dollar you...
    I've seen all the easy upgrades for the non-JBL owners, but finding a unit that supports JBL has proven fruitless so far.

    **UPDATE**
    See my review of the radio below.
     
    #1 TroyAndEddie, Mar 28, 2015
    Last edited: May 1, 2015
  2. TroyAndEddie

    TroyAndEddie Junior Member

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    Well, thanks to the overwhelming responses... pause for sarcasm... ;)

    I took a plunge and ordered an Android radio from eBay and the corresponding JBL adapter. I should have it in the next week or two, and I'll post my results for everyone.

    radio.JPG radio2.JPG

    I went with an Android unit because I have experience with them from Avin, who made Android headunits for my previous BMW.
     
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  3. DumbMike

    DumbMike Active Member

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    Sorry for the lack of response, but I got nothing. I bought one of those Chinese knockoffs, but it's not for JBL.

    But I do have a question for you: Does your new HU display/read your texts for you? I saw a Fiat 500 with this capability, and hoped it would be available on aftermarket units.

    Mike
     
  4. TroyAndEddie

    TroyAndEddie Junior Member

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    I've seen that same option on recent Chevy models. It's an app-like feature that I've been scouring the Google Play store for. I've come across these that I'm going to try once I install my radio.

    Voice Text: Voice Text - Android Apps on Google Play
    Text by Voice: Text by Voice - Android Apps on Google Play
     
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  5. stavesacre03

    stavesacre03 Junior Member

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    Hey TroyandEddie, I am considering the same unit you purchased. Once you receive and install, do you mind giving a quick review of your thoughts with pros and cons? TIA
     
  6. TroyAndEddie

    TroyAndEddie Junior Member

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    I finally installed the radio, and like it very much. The JBL system works as it should thanks to the adapter. I've copied the review which I listed on Amazon to help others over there.

    JBL RADIO:
    I have a JBL-equipped 2010 Prius and had to purchase a separate adapter for $40, again via eBay. The correct adapter is KD-Z0002. DO NOT let them send you CS-Z0002. Make sure if you need this JBL adapter, you verify they send you the right one. These come from China and can take quite a while -- 3-4 weeks -- if they send the incorrect harness (like the did for me.) The audio quality is the same as the stock radio. BUT, the benefit of this radio is the EQ band is highly adjustable. Very nice. The front/rear fade doesn't work right, as expected, because of the intricacies of the JBL system; if you try to fade it to the rear, you get no audio from any speaker. Overall, the audio quality is outstanding and it gets quite loud, with ease. Volume level 1 on this radio is equivalent to Volume level 5 or 6 on the stock radio.

    WHEN INSTALLING IN A JBL-EQUIPPED CAR:
    Step 1: Before removing the stock radio, turn to FM and turn up the volume to level 45 (yes, 45.) Set Bass, Mid, Treble, Fade, Balance all to 0 (zero). Let that stay on for about 5 seconds, then turn off the radio, then the car. Now, you can remove the stock radio.

    Step 2: Install the JBL harness and the Android radio, but do not turn on yet.

    Step 3: VERY IMPORTANT: To prime the JBL system to work properly with the new radio do the following: Turn the car to 'ON' for 2-3 seconds, then quickly turn the car OFF. Do this step 2 times in a row. (Note: you may not see the radio screen turn on. That's okay.)

    After you complete these steps, your JBL system is properly primed and ready to go! If you did not do this, you're audio playback will sound like crap. You will notice a huge difference. I pulled these instructions from the Rosen JBL adapter install.

    APPS:
    All but a few apps work on the radio -- Sygic GPS Navigation, ESPN Radio, and Verizon Messages+ do not work. That first one is big pain for me, and I'm working with Sygic to get that resolved. Otherwise, my apps installed fine and work just great. Google Maps, Google Search and all other system apps are not nearly as slow and choppy as my previous 4.2 radio. In fact, they work quite smooth. "OK Google" does crash every time I attempt to use it, but you can still Voice Search when you use the mic button on Google Now or the keyboard. Strange. Overall, apps are much smoother than a 4.2 radio.

    BLUETOOTH:
    Connected to my Verizon LG G3 quickly. All my contacts and call logs loaded right away. The internal mic on the radio is absolutely, positively terrible. No better way to put it. My caller could not hear me even at full yell. They told me they could barely hear me. Just connect the included external mic, which worked just fine. I mounted mine to the left of the clock buttons.

    STEERING WHEEL BUTTONS:
    Good news, bad news. The steering wheel buttons work and you can fully customize them within the settings menu. The upside is they work. The downside is the Next/Prev track buttons only work in the system apps (i.e. Music, Radio, Bluetooth, Video, etc.) Those buttons do not operate in Pandora, Spotify, VLC, Google Play Music, or any other user-installed music or video app. An annoyance for sure, since my last Android radio had no issues with this. The Volume and Mode buttons operate within every app.

    BRIGHTNESS:
    The screen brightness only slightly dims when I turn on the headlights. (To make this work during the install on JBL, connect the orange illumination cable to the green unlabeled cable.) So, I installed the Screen Filter app for nighttime driving. Works great. Alternatively, you can swipe down the notification panel and just lower the brightness that way. The screen does dim quite well doing it that way; I just prefer using the filter app. As for daytime driving, it's plenty bright with great visibility in nearly every sunny condition.

    The physical buttons. ...oh, the physical buttons. Well, they are blue. As you know, the Prius interior lighting is green in most places. You cannot change the color of the physical buttons. Also, get to know where the buttons are at. The lighting on the buttons is very dim, and therefore difficult to see clearly at night. My biggest peeve about this radio.

    WIFI/Hotspot:
    If you've ever owned an Android radio, you know the wifi is not super strong. This is about the same. Not better, not worse. Consistently OK. Download speeds rarely exceed 15Mbps. If you're connecting to your home wifi to download apps, maps, or whatever... get close and leave the car on. It'll be a while.
    Hotspotting my phone works, when it wants to. Sometimes it can be finicky with connecting, but I honestly think that has more to do with this stupid Lollipop upgrade on my phone than anything with the radio. I say that because the radio picks up my house wifi every time, without fail.

    OTHER:
    The radio startup time is 20-30 seconds. It's not super fast, but by the time I backup out my driveway and start to pull off, it's coming on. If you turn off the car for any longer than 10-15 seconds, you'll have this startup wait.
    The code to access the Factory Settings menu is 126. Don't get carried away messing with too much stuff in there.
    Haven't tried using the DVD function, but the video player (video files) works great.
    I did install a backup camera, and plugged in without issues. The image can be best described as SD (standard def), but a BIG plus is the image is very visible at night.
    It reads my 128GB hard drive just fine - and best of all, it plays back FLAC files!

    OVERALL:
    It has it quirks, namely with the steering wheel track buttons and the dim physical buttons. But overall, this is a solid radio with outstanding audio quality and I can enjoy all my music apps front and center on my drive. And I'm so very glad that it works with my JBL-equipped system without issues!

    I'm sure I missed some points, so I'm happy to answer any questions.
     
    #6 TroyAndEddie, May 1, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2015
  7. stavesacre03

    stavesacre03 Junior Member

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    TroyAndEddie, thanks for the review and tips--much appreciated! I took a plunge and ordered this same head unit. Regarding the backup camera, can you describe the steps and specifically what gets connected to the head unit?
     
  8. TroyAndEddie

    TroyAndEddie Junior Member

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    It's very straightforward. The wires on the back of the radio are labeled for the 2 required camera cables. One wire is the yellow A/V cable, the other is the power wire.
     
    #8 TroyAndEddie, May 4, 2015
    Last edited: May 4, 2015
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  9. stavesacre03

    stavesacre03 Junior Member

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    Excellent, thank you. I hope to have everything hooked up soon.
     
  10. stavesacre03

    stavesacre03 Junior Member

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    I have my unit connected and almost everything works great (with the caveats you named in your review)! Only real issue I have is while using bluetooth mic everyone says I echo and their own voice echos as well. Any ideas? I have the mic mounted on the steering column.
     
  11. TroyAndEddie

    TroyAndEddie Junior Member

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    Sorry for the late reply, I'm not subscribed to this thread.
    I mounted mine on the A-pillar where the pillar meets the headliner, after trying it near the clock buttons. I used a cable extender to make the length, since the mic cable is quite short. It reduced the echo quite well.
     
    #11 TroyAndEddie, Jul 27, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2015
  12. tangokim

    tangokim Member

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    Hey Troy, you should try to flash your rom to fix those annoying issue like steering wheel don't skip on third apps and giving you tons of other options . I might have the same unit but non jbl n I like it a lot with the new rom. Give that a try to see if u like it. You can always flash back to stock if u like too. Good luck
     
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  13. ncases

    ncases Senior Member

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    How do you reverse it to stock? I wanted to flash a rom from xda but needs a stock one just it came I screwed up and most of the time I do.
     
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  14. kc5dlo

    kc5dlo Active Member

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    Tangokim, any chance you could start a thread showing step by step how to lash the rom? I have the exact unit as yours and am experiencing the same static problem. I am pretty new to android and don't understand the updating process.
     
  15. electrontechnik

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    Where do I get the KD-Z0002 adapter? Based on what you said, I can't find it anywhere on the internets.
     
  16. ja7777

    ja7777 Junior Member

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    Does the backup camera autoswitch on when you put it in reverse? Thanks.
     
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  17. Jaydoc

    Jaydoc Junior Member

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    Hi

    I bought a Prius III 2010 with JBL. The car does not have a backup camera or navigation. I am interested in buying the Pumpkin 4.4 Head unit along with a backup camera and the JBL adapter. Could anyone suggest a reliable vendor for me to purchase these things from?

    Thanks
     
  18. GeorgeM269

    GeorgeM269 Member

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    Can the stock hands free mic be used with this head unit? or a second mic is the only option?
     
  19. Coqui

    Coqui Junior Member

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    I would also love some answers to these questions. I have the JBL radio, CD changer/Nav and the touchscreen stopped responding to touch. I would have no way of changing the fade on my speakers or anything like that, no idea if this kind of upgrade would work. Would really appreciate some feedback to not just mine but the other questions asked before me.

    From a bit of reading around the android head unit threads, it's seems like you can connect the microphone that comes with the car. Not exactly sure how though myself.
     
  20. DG Bear

    DG Bear Junior Member

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    canbus prius 2 s-l1600.jpg

    Does anyone know if the "CS-Z0002" adapter includes the cables shown in Pumpkin picture (see attached picture).

    I am working on a car with the JBL option... I am missing the power (also know as the ISO) cable to Pumpkin W0642 radio. The CS-Z0002 JBL canbus option shows the back connector that goes to the radio and the two white connectors that go to the car. If this option includes this wiring I think that's all I need.

    I have tried many times to get a clear answer from Pumpkin customer service but it takes many days to get a response and each response leads to more questions.

    This is the Toyota JBL Canbus Decoder Box for the Pumpkin W0642 Prius Navigation Radio. This is the older "Windows CE" (not Android version) of the radio.

    Additional Reference: ebay listing for the "CS-Z0002 Toyota JBL Canbus Decoder Box For Car GPS DVD Player Stereo Radio Unit"

    CS Z0002 Toyota JBL Canbus Decoder Box for Car GPS DVD Player Stereo Radio Unit | eBay

    Additional Reference: Listing for the Pumpkin Radio CS-W0642
    8 Inch Win CE 6.0 Car Stereo Head unit for Toyota Prius (2009-2013) 2 Din support DVR 3G DVB-T Steering Wheel Control - Pumpkin

    Thanks in advance