Aftermarket Head units question

[jets]

Overdue. I thought I'd report back after having installed the Android GT6-CAR as it is known. Very slick unit and very fast OS. Although it tricks everything into displaying it is Android 11 it is really version 10. Not a big deal but at least all the hardware specs are accurate. It has a screen resolution of 1200 x 1920 and it is very bright and responsive. The video Autotec has up on their YT channel is my truck.

Volume control and mute on the steering wheel is retained while voice control and track up and down is lost. I am trying to find a solution but because of the way it activates AUX input and feeds sound to the factory system I think the track up and down get ignored. The AUX audio source is 'analog' so no need to system to accept the commands. There may be a way to force the system to listen to those commands but haven't figured out how to do this.

Sound quality is very good with only a minor and almost undetectable hum when no sound is being played. Listening to music I can barely notice a difference but it is not dead silent like plugging in a flash drive and listening through GM intellisync system. Once in a while mild static can be heard; kind of like when using headphones on analog systems. It has to do with the aux jack having the 3.5mm jack plugged in. If the factory computer could be reprogrammed to force the aux channel open at all times without using the physical jack I would bet the static would be eliminated completely. Sunny at Autotec told me some guys did this but didn't know exactly what was done. If you can shed some light on this please chime in.

This unit is a slave device and has ZERO outputs so adding an amp through this is a non starter. Essentially it piggybacks onto the factory system and provides an app that emulates the truck to display and control the original screens and functions through the 'Console' app. It does a great job of it though. While listening to radio (or anything through factory system) through the Console in the background another app can be run (one that doesn't play sound) like Google maps and steering track up/down will function and display in the instrument cluster so fairly good.

When using reverse the screen pops up with the factory video feed and it takes an extra second or so than it used to. Overall no difference. The climate controls all work perfectly and all the hard buttons are neatly tucked at the bottom and I think it is great. The only thing that is irksome is the climate temp knob for both sides is on the passenger side but whatever the soft buttons can do it all. The rear climate controls all work as expected.

For now this brief overview will have to do. I am going to do a video and walk through all the details soon covering all the things the other videos never seem to cover. If you have any questions let me know and I will answer them and maybe using them as talking points in the video. I took a few photos but not as many as I'd hoped. The evening I got it installed I was pressed for time and had other matters I was dealing with so some things I forgot to take photos of or ask about.

Cheers

 

[rick1024]

hows it sound

 

[jets]

hows it sound

It's sounds great playing music. The phone sound quality through carplay is not as good, I am going to install the external microphone next week to see if that improves. The built in mic is behind a tiny hole by the fan control knob. Worst case bluetooth can be connected directly to the Intellilink system and that for phone calls.

I am going to see if the dealer can tweak the BCM to force enable AUX input regardless of the dummy plug. I really think that affects the occasional pop/static heard at low volumes from time to time.

 

[CMoore711]

I will say it looks bad ass. Too bad it’s not quite plug and play.

I'm curious to see if there are software updates or additional hardware options you can add to fix and regain some of nuances you've noticed so far.
- function of steering wheel buttons for voice control and track up and down.
- Analog AUX source
- Almost undetectable hum when not playing any music or sound source. (Which I know the exact sound you're talking about and your reference of headphones in old analog systems was spot on). This would probably drive me nuts though.

This unit is a slave device and has ZERO outputs so adding an amp through this is a non starter. Essentially it piggybacks onto the factory system and provides an app that emulates the truck to display and control the original screens and functions through the 'Console' app. It does a great job of it though. While listening to radio (or anything through factory system) through the Console in the background another app can be run (one that doesn't play sound) like Google maps and steering track up/down will function and display in the instrument cluster so fairly good.

This is interesting... So there's no outputs to add an aftermarket amplifier to this head unit?

So you're saying the track up/down buttons work to navigate through the Google Maps app, but do not function for track up/down for the audio source while listening to music? What app on the radio are you using for music?

Question: Do you have the factory rear entertainment package with ceiling mounted DVD screens? If so, did this head unit maintain function and video source option for the rear entertainment screens?

 

[jets]

I will say it looks bad ass. Too bad it’s not quite plug and play.

I'm curious to see if there are software updates or additional hardware options you can add to fix and regain some of nuances you've noticed so far.
- function of steering wheel buttons for voice control and track up and down.
- Analog AUX source
- Almost undetectable hum when not playing any music or sound source. (Which I know the exact sound you're talking about and your reference of headphones in old analog systems was spot on). This would probably drive me nuts though.



This is interesting... So there's no outputs to add an aftermarket amplifier to this head unit?

So you're saying the track up/down buttons work to navigate through the Google Maps app, but do not function for track up/down for the audio source while listening to music? What app on the radio are you using for music?

Question: Do you have the factory rear entertainment package with ceiling mounted DVD screens? If so, did this head unit maintain function and video source option for the rear entertainment screens?

No there are no outputs from the GT6 and this is a good thing because of how it integrates onto/into the factory system. Essentially it is another source to the factory system so if there were outputs they'd only be supplying a signal for audio it generates and none of the factory SiriusXM, Radio, etc.

At the moment the steering wheel up/down only controls factory functions like Radio presets or a USB stick plugged in with audio tracks or video files. If a phone is using wired carplay connected to factory USB ports they will work as normal. Next week I am going back to get a harness installed that I'm told will allow Up/Down control for anything the GT6 is playing so I'm eager to see if that works.

The hum is not really apparent and it really has to be listened for.

I do not have RSE. All that would remain intact anyway but again, it would only be visible using the Console app that displays whatever the factory screen displays.

Update regarding handsfree call quality:
I discovered that while using wireless Carplay connected to the GT6, I could simultaneously have a bluetooth connection to the factory Intellilink. When a call comes in or an outgoing call is made it uses the factory bluetooth and microphone but Carplay functions as it would if the call was made though the GT6's interface. Therefore perfect call quality is retained while using this system.

Big caveat though and it sucks; while the iPhone is connected to Intellilink and Wireless Carplay music from GT6 is played though factory Bluetooth (lower sound quality) rather than through wireless Carplay which has a higher bandwidth and better quality. For most people this is perfect if they are used to playing music via bluetooth with the factory system. For me, I am hoping the external mic will improve the call sound quality directly through GT6.

 

[blackelky]

No there are no outputs from the GT6 and this is a good thing because of how it integrates onto/into the factory system. Essentially it is another source to the factory system so if there were outputs they'd only be supplying a signal for audio it generates and none of the factory SiriusXM, Radio, etc.

At the moment the steering wheel up/down only controls factory functions like Radio presets or a USB stick plugged in with audio tracks or video files. If a phone is using wired carplay connected to factory USB ports they will work as normal. Next week I am going back to get a harness installed that I'm told will allow Up/Down control for anything the GT6 is playing so I'm eager to see if that works.

The hum is not really apparent and it really has to be listened for.

I do not have RSE. All that would remain intact anyway but again, it would only be visible using the Console app that displays whatever the factory screen displays.

Update regarding handsfree call quality:
I discovered that while using wireless Carplay connected to the GT6, I could simultaneously have a bluetooth connection to the factory Intellilink. When a call comes in or an outgoing call is made it uses the factory bluetooth and microphone but Carplay functions as it would if the call was made though the GT6's interface. Therefore perfect call quality is retained while using this system.

Big caveat though and it sucks; while the iPhone is connected to Intellilink and Wireless Carplay music from GT6 is played though factory Bluetooth (lower sound quality) rather than through wireless Carplay which has a higher bandwidth and better quality. For most people this is perfect if they are used to playing music via bluetooth with the factory system. For me, I am hoping the external mic will improve the call sound quality directly through GT6.

Hope it works out for you i had something similar in my ram but, I never liked the sound quality compared to say an alpine or sony unit

 

[jets]

Hope it works out for you i had something similar in my ram but, I never liked the sound quality compared to say an alpine or sony unit

Right now sound through Wireless Carplay is just as good as one could ask for. I did a split screen playing the same ALAC file from local USB on GT6 vs Wired Carplay to factory system and I could barley hear a difference. I even asked another person to do the Pepsi challenge same result.

Edit: Wireless Carplay (uses Wifi) has enough bandwidth to play lossless audio so same as listening to local usb

 

[jets]

BIG UPDATE HERE

I have been able to enable steering wheel controls for Track UP, DOWN, and Siri using Wireless Carplay today. I was also able to figure out that phone calls can be exclusively set to use the factory bluetooth and microphone while keeping the audio from any music or media from the iPhone playing through Wireless Carplay and the GT6 OS. After replying to this thread I got to thinking about IOS automations and other things and I was shocked when it worked.

These steps must be done while your iPhone is connected to both the GMC Intellilink AND the GT6 unit. I wasn't able to figure this out before because of this!

1. Open shortcuts app and tap the Automations tab at the bottom and tap + at the top right create a new Automation.
2. Tap Bluetooth.
3. Tap on Devices and select both GMC Intellilink and GT6-CAR or whatever you may have renamed it. I renamed mine to 'Yukon'
4. Tap +Add Action.
5. In the search box look for Change Playback Destination and select it.
6. "Set playback destination to iPhone" will be displayed; tap iPhone.
7. A menu will appear; tap Carplay.
8. Go back to the previous screen and tap Done.
9. Shut off the vehicle and wait a few minutes for everything to shut down and turn off the radio.
10. Start the vehicle.

At this point the steering wheel controls work on the GT6 ONLY for the Carplay app for any media it can play just like Factory! But what about phone calls?

1. On iPhone open the Settings app.
2. Tap on Accessibility/Touch/Call Audio Routing.
3. Tap and select Bluetooth Headset.
4. Profit.

Now any calls in or out get forced to your high quality Factory Bluetooth for phone calls and everything else plays though Wireless Carplay with the best possible quality. This can be confirmed by locking the phone and during phone calls the widget wil display the BT icon on phone calls and the Car icon when playing any media!

Keep in mind the additional steering wheel harness will (hopefully) restore UP/DOWN for other Android media apps playing on the GT6.

 

[WooDoggie]

Dammit. I went down the rabbit hole with this head unit business.

14.4" Screen. Newest version is a lot faster than the old one many negatively reviewed. However, I do know most people can barley manage to use a phone let alone install something like this.

It appears to have RCA line outs and this unit directly interfaces with the factory stereo so I suppose this would be the next best as far as a clean output signal...

I'm contemplating this Rabbit Hole as well, so would you be kind enough to provide your insight?

What stock vehicle features don't work? (Balance, Fade, SWC, etc.)

How does the Bezel color/material match the car?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[jets]

I'm contemplating this Rabbit Hole as well, so would you be kind enough to provide your insight?

What stock vehicle features don't work? (Balance, Fade, SWC, etc.)

How does the Bezel color/material match the car?

Thanks,
Dave

I have been busy so I haven't updated. SWC has been restored with the harness they installed. However, if I connect to Factory bluetooth up/down swc for apps that are not carplay don't work. Balance fade etc all work as they should it's just that my specific audio setup I have no front/rear fader.

The bezel is painted a golden color that matches the stock accents well enough that it doesn't bother me. The stock accents have the brushed sort of texture, this is just painted and looks good to me.