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Aftermarket with OEM Mic

Discussion in 'Prius c Audio and Electronics' started by Kri77777, Mar 12, 2018.

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  1. Kri77777

    Kri77777 New Member

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    Hey Everyone,

    I've been browsing through and trying to see if anyone has been successful in using the built in mic with an aftermarket head unit.

    My girlfriend wants to update the head unit in her 2013 Prius C two. I can't blame her - that unit is terrible to use. It would be nice to get something Android Auto or at least full touch screen.

    However, the one thing that is amazing is call quality and as far as she is concerned using the built in mic is a must because it picks up so well. We put an after-market Kenwood in my Scion xB and the mic on it is awful and won't mount right anywhere. The Prius C - perfect. She doesn't want something wired around the car, or sticking out, or that doesn't pick up, so basically the built in mic or nothing.

    I'll be doing the installation myself, and while I have done a couple of head units, I'm not great at these kinds of things. So my question is, does anyone know how to get the mic to work / has anyone actually done it?

    I've browsed around on Reddit and here and haven't found much promising. For example, Stock Bluetooth Mic Integrated Into After Market Stereo | PriusChat discuss it and shows that there should be pinning in the harness for it, but no one there seems to have completed it. The few cases that have said they've done it are not well documented.

    Any help is appreciated.
     
    #1 Kri77777, Mar 12, 2018
  2. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    I found a link elsewhere that gave some useful info. It looks like it is possible to bypass the stock mic amplifier and reroute the raw mic output down the factory harness to the radio area, then splice them into your head unit's connector at that point. This sort of thing is usually consistent through an entire manufacturer so despite these instructions coming from a Tundra board I've already found that at least some of the info is a dead match for my Prius, and I haven't checked it all yet.

    We just got the prius a couple of days ago and there is a new head unit on its way to us now, so I hope to validate this procedure within a few days. It really looks like it's going to be 4 individual wire splices to solve this problem.
     
    #2 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, May 13, 2018
  3. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    I forgot to update this thread until just now.

    I did the modification described in my earlier post- I bypassed the amplifier and fed the OEM microphone directly to the aftermarket stereo.

    It didn't sound great. So instead, I modified the housing slightly and installed the aftermarket microphone in place of the OEM one. So in effect, it is aftermarket mic --> OEM wiring through the car to the dash --> aftermarket deck.

    Sound quality was vastly improved after I did this. My wife likes using Siri via carplay on this deck, and it seems to understand her perfectly.
     
    #3 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Jul 14, 2018
  4. Bill Reid

    Bill Reid New Member

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    Did you keep the stock mic amplifier in-line when you did this? Do you mind sharing the links you researched? I'm in the same boat.
     
    #4 Bill Reid, Nov 25, 2019
  5. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    I gutted the stock microphone. The mic, amp board, everything. I just used the mounting cage to hold the Sony mic that came with our deck. Mind you, this whole assembly is the size of a matchbox.

    I haven't saved the urls but it was from the toyota Tacoma truck forum.
     
    #5 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Nov 25, 2019
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