My wife bought me a Nexus 7 tablet recently for my birthday. So I loaded it up with some music with hopes of playing it through my non-jbl factory head unit via the usb port. When I hook up the Nexus 7 there is no communication. The nexus charges but does not output sound. I can use bluetooth and it connects with the headunit. But when using bluetooth I seem to get some "skipping" in the music which I find very frustrating. My guess and it is just that is that the bluetooth signal is dropping out causing the skips. So I am hoping to find a solution to this. Has anyone else ran into this with either the Nexus 7 or any other android device? I have also looked into a mini headphone to usb cable. But the reviews on these seem to indicate that they do not work very well. Is bluetooth my only option short of replacing the factory unit? In the spring I do plan on upgrading my front speakers (doors and dash) and adding a amp to power them via a loc with the stock head unit. Thoughts?
Have you run all the updates on your device? My Nexus 7 had bad sound quality till I ran the most recent updates... As for output, have you tried running it through the audio output? Nexus 7 isn't very well designed to stream thru USB or Bluetooth.
Unfortunately Toyota/JBL seems to think the only thing that should use usb and interface with the car are iToys. My Android phone won't either, but my ipod does. I was able to stream over bluetooth with no issues (until I flashed a different ROM on my phone which seems to have broken that but I could get it back if I wanted). So now I run an aux cable out to the aux in that's inside my center console. This is the one recommended to me for the reason that it cuts out any hum: Amazon.com: Kensington Noise Reducing Car Audio AUX Cable for MP3 or SmartPhone, including iPhone 4S: MP3 Players & Accessories Do you have an aux in somewhere on your car?
I wouldn't blame Toyota. To the best of my knowledge, out of the box the N7 doesn't support sending audio via USB. If you're comfortable with some hacking, there's a thread on XDA about swapping in a kernal that has USB audio support here: XDA thread on adding N7 USB Audio Wouldn't try this if you haven't rooted/installed an alternate ROM before.
Good news for OP? There's an OTA update for the Nexus 7 rolling out right now that is supposed to address Bluetooth Audio stuttering. After the update hits your Nexus, try playing through Bluetooth again - maybe it'll work better? What's new in Android 4.2.2 FWIW, I play music and podcasts through Bluetooth from my phone running Android 2.3.7 all the time with no stuttering, but have never tried it with my N7.
According to this thread - Auxiliary input question | PriusChat It looks like my '12 base model should have aux in. When I get the chance I will run out to the car and look. Is it located right next to the usb port?
I would really like to try this because I think this will result in the best sound quality but I have never rooted anything before and it makes me nervous to think I could lock up the N7.
Cool. Yes, mine is next to the usb port. You have to read and learn a lot first. I rooted my first (and only) smartphone and I read about it for a month before getting up the nerve to do anything. Go for the aux cable first, then if the Nexus update makes it work you won't even have to root. In the meantime you can peruse the xda forum and see if you would want to give it a go. On another note, I thought I would share this that I just found, a mount for tablets that does not need any modification to your car at all. You just need to have a cd slot. I'm getting one for my car. I emailed the guy with questions but it seems to be the way to go for me since I'm unhappy with the whole stereo/navi unit in my car.
Thanks Going Red. I think I will start with the aux cable and eventually get up enough nerve to root my N7. Let mo know how you like that mount. I like the simplistic factor!
I won't be getting that mount. I'm such an idiot I let my excitement make me forget that I don't even have an exposed cd slot! lol. I have the navi version and it has to flip out to get to the slot. Man, I'm really getting screwed because I wanted a solar sunroof and I had to get the navi unit in order to get that. I have no idea why. Back to the drawing board. I really want to find a good solution so I can use a tablet instead of that damn PITA unit.
