USB Car Audio...While Charging?

[Fortified Ookami]

I'm not 100% if this is the most appropriate category for this thread, as it's a question that kind of overlaps a few topics. Sorry if It's been asked before; it's kind of difficult to search for because the related keywords aren't really unique/specific enough.

 

Anywho. I (like many people) love jamming out to my favorite tunes while driving, and having playback controls on my steering wheel and dash is IMO one of the best quality-of-life things to happen to cars in recent years. But also I use GPS a lot, and I usually keep my phone plugged in via USB-C to the 12v cigarette lighter.

 

This causes a dilemma: either I suffer from the slight loss of quality from streaming over Bluetooth, or I deal with playing music over an AUX connection that doesn't support my steering wheel/dash playback controls (and still might not sound as good as the USB, depending on the DAC in my phone vs. the DAC in my head unit).

 

So, my question is: is there any way that I can get the best of both all 3 worlds and have fast charging from my 12v accesory outlet while still maximizing audio quality and accessibility? 

Edited June 15, 2018 by Fortified Ookami
"Aux cable" as opposed to "aux connection" implied that the cable itself caused incompatibility

[Huntsman]

Sorry, I am a bit confused about your problem statement. Let's work through this step by step.

 

Just some questions and assumptions:

1. I assume the audio playback happens at your phone. And the audio is somehow routed to your car's audio system.

2. You car's steering wheel and dash playback controls controls your phone's audio playback. For this, some sort of connection needs to happen between your car and your phone. From your description, I presume that it is USB?

3. If your phone is already connected to your car via USB, why is there issue with using GPS while playing music? Is it due to insufficient charging current?

4. Have you objectively tested the audio quality of USB vs Bluetooth?

 

I'm guessing that your problem is #3, in which there are no easy solution. This is because USB can only be of one mode at a time (data mode vs fast charging mode). But your phone is technically charging while you're connected to the car via USB anyway, just not in the fast charging mode you're expecting.

 

However, due to your car's USB port is probably never designed with charging in mind, it would not support the current capability of even a normal non-fast charging port. In this case, the only thing you could do is either change to a head unit which supports high current charging at USB port (yes, those unicorns exists) or DIY a high current charger into your head unit's USB port. But note that both solutions will still NOT charge as fast as proper fast charging.

[Zodiark1593]

Unless you have dumped a not insignificant sum of money into your car audio, Bluetooth will probably be just fine. Just give it a try and see if it will be sufficient.