Sub in car stops working with android auto

[jsmith21896]

My son has a Samsung A50, when he connects to his android auto via a cable, the sub stops working, however it works fine when using bluetooth. Any ideas?

 

[Mike Dee]

What is the Sub?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Subwoofer?

 

[jsmith21896]

Yes, subwoofer

 

[B. Diddy]

Is the subwoofer part of the factory-installed system, or is this all aftermarket?

 

[jsmith21896]

Is the subwoofer part of the factory-installed system, or is this all aftermarket?

It's aftermarket. Kicker amp and sub with Alpine head unit.

 

[B. Diddy]

It's a 3.5 mm aux cable? Maybe it's a problem with the head unit's aux jack.
@mustang7757 is a car whiz, so maybe he might have some idea about aftermarket stereos as well ...

 

[mustang7757]

Sounds like bad head unit , what about other things plugged into the usb port of the unit ?

 

[jsmith21896]

Sounds like bad head unit , what about other things plugged into the usb port of the unit ?

I plugged my phone in to see what would happen and everything seemed to work with my phone (S10e). I was using Pandora and he was using Spotify. The head unit is a Alpine ILX-407.

 

[Mooncatt]

Have you checked the bass output on the main speakers? If you have any crossovers set, you'll need to disable them first. When an aux jack gets dirty, it's common for the bass notes to drop out. Checking the bass on the main speakers would help determine if it's really the sub going out, or something further up the line, possibly to the phone itself.

 

[jsmith21896]

Have you checked the bass output on the main speakers? If you have any crossovers set, you'll need to disable them first. When an aux jack gets dirty, it's common for the bass notes to drop out. Checking the bass on the main speakers would help determine if it's really the sub going out, or something further up the line, possibly to the phone itself.

Android Auto works with a USB port, I chatted with Crutchfield support, they suspect his phone could be set to mono, I'll check that when he gets home. It worked fine with my phone.

 

[B. Diddy]

Also see if any EQ settings on the phone are turned on. If so, try turning them off.

 

[Mooncatt]

Android Auto works with a USB port, I chatted with Crutchfield support, they suspect his phone could be set to mono, I'll check that when he gets home. It worked fine with my phone.

If the subs are hooked up properly, they run in mono anyway because bass is omnidirectional and you don't need stereo separation. I love Crutchfield, but that answer makes no sense. I don't use Android Auto, but I'd still look into cleaning the USB port. I know many phones output an analog audio signal via USB-C, so could still be debris in it messing it up.

 

[jsmith21896]

If the subs are hooked up properly, they run in mono anyway because bass is omnidirectional and you don't need stereo separation. I love Crutchfield, but that answer makes no sense. I don't use Android Auto, but I'd still look into cleaning the USB port. I know many phones output an analog audio signal via USB-C, so could still be debris in it messing it up.

The dirty USB port makes sense because the sub worked via bluetooth and not AA, I would think any audio setting would apply to both bluetooth and AA interfaces and the sub did work with my phone via AA. I'll report back, thanks.

 

[mustang7757]

Also try different usb cables , sorry cant chat much to go over things little busy at work , ill check up again later see how its going

 

[jsmith21896]

Must have been a dirty port, I blew it out and it works now, thanks for the help guys.

 

[Mooncatt]

Glad you got it working again.

 

[mustang7757]

Must have been a dirty port, I blew it out and it works now, thanks for the help guys.

Glad to hear that
Didn't realize one phone worked and other didn't.