For those with Burmeister and/or Bose systems, bear in mind that when you install an aftermarket head unit, you will need the appropriate fiber optic decoder (MOST) adapter. These add around 100 bucks to the purchase price. Some manufacturers include them with their units, but at additional cost (although less than $100 US).

All of the aftermarket Android-based head units I have looked at have two channel audio output, via RCA jacks. The adapter box takes this 2ch signal, converts it to a format that your amplifier can understand and then sends the signal to your OEM amplifier, which then sends sound to all your car's speakers.

A question sometimes arises along the lines of, "How will a 2ch output make use of all of the many speakers in my car?". Or, "Will I only get sound from two speakers?". The answer to this is that you will have two channels of output, left and right, (stereo) but distributed among all the speakers your car has. Those of us who have fitted these units, and also have an interest in sound reproduction, have not noted any significant loss of sound quality post-installation. @Santirx said he felt the sound was "indistinguishable" from OEM, and I would agree with him.

One potential drawback is the loss of the front-back fader as a consequence of the installation of the aftermarket HU and the MOST box. All your rear speakers will work, but you can no longer send all the sound to either the front or the back. Only the individual can determine the importance of this. My view is that in such a small (and fairly poor from an acoustics perspective) environment such as our cars, the loss of the fader is, well, no real loss. YMMV. The one exception I can see to this is if you have a larger Porsche, eg a Cayenne, and you regularly carry kids in the rear seats, you may want to send ALL the sound to the back

You will still have the same quality of sound from your OEM amplifier and speakers, of course, so you are not 'wasting' anything there by adding an aftermarket Android-based unit and MOST box.

My own view is that benefits of the aftermarket head units (see above for my views on that) outweigh any negatives (perceived or real) wrt to sound quality. I have an expensive tube amplifier hi-fi system at home and have a lifelong interest in domestic music reproduction and I cannot say that I am in any way disappointed with the sound quality in my Panamera, compared with how it was before.

(My wife's Cayman only has the base sound system and in her car I think the aftermarket head unit actually improves the sound quality, but that may just be confirmation or expectation bias on my part. Suffice to say that she is delighted with the sound, which is all that matters to me since I encouraged her to replace the PCM 3.1 with something more modern).

EDIT: added for clarification.

As you move the fader control in the new HU towards the back of the car, the sound output from the rear speakers gradually fades to zero. With the fader set to all the way to the front, all speakers give full sound. As you move the fader towards the rear, the output from the rears fades, so it is still possible to bias the sound output towards the front of the car, if that is your preference.

 

Hmmm, so the fader is essentially useless. Interesting.

Guessing the equalizer, that many aftermarket HU come with, can and will compensate for that.

 

I’m looking for just to add a backup camera and this one is from Canada. Looks like Isudar but advertised with “less complicated wiring” which I hear is a plus.

https://www.gtacarkits.com/product/w...911-2012-2016/

thoughts?

 

It's not totally useless in the sense that you can still use it to bias the sound towards the front if you so wish, but it is pretty useless if you want to send all the sound to the back, as you might do with kids in the car. In my wife's Cayman, the fader is pretty useless even in the standard car configuration, since there is essentially no rear space at all. I could make a theoretical case for the fader in the Panamera, with its rear seats, but in reality 90%+ of the time, there is nobody in those seats anyway, so it's academic. Cayenne and Macan owners might sometimes want it I guess.

Now the equalizer is a different animal altogether. In all the units I have seen, there has been a good EQ function. In mine, I have 48 band adjustment and several presets, and it surpasses the standard PCM's crude bass and treble adjustments by miles. You really can fine-tune the sound to just the way you want it. Given a choice between the stock fader and the aftermarket EQ, I'd say there was no contest - the equalizer wins hands down.

 

Way, way overpriced IMO. The 'less complicated wiring' is, I think, a reference to the two-box solutions like the JoyeAuto*. The wiring for the GTA unit is going to be pretty much 100% the same as it is for the Isudar unit. I just watched their installation video and their board looks almost identical to the Isudar board, and installation is exactly the same.

IMO, there are no benefits of this unit over the Isudar, which is also much cheaper. I even wonder if they are using an Isudar board?

With regard to adding a backup camera, the installation procedure will be exactly the same for either unit, so if it was my money, I'd be choosing the Isudar.

* With the 'two-box' solutions like JoyeAuto, there is the added complication of installing an additional control box (as well as the board inside the PCM). The extra box has to be wired into a power source - eg a fuse tap from the car's fuse box - and then into the new board's wiring harness. This adds the complication that I assume GTA mean. This type of solution also means you have to find somewhere to fit the additional box, which in some cars can be tricky in itself. These two-box solutions have been largely replaced now by the 'single board' solution, which has all of the same functionality and, as GTA suggest, is easier to install. This is what the additional box looks like (with a human hand for size reference - the box isn't tiny).

 

I'm in Toronto and I used this one. It was easy, it does work great, but as Zed has observed, it's more expensive and probably not justifiably so. I can confirm installation is simple as long as you're comfortable opening up the PCM.

 

Zed,

1)I installed the unit..Yay. I am getting a very light static that I only notice when the car is off. Its on regardless of setting and only when volume is on...does anyone else get that? If not - any troubleshooting to fix it?

2) I tried to install that FM adaptor and it does not seem to fit the back of the new unit unfortunately for me... not a huge deal.

 

I purchased this one on amazon.


However - I saw another one posted on this thread - that perhaps does fit.

 

Good job on installing it!

I've read something similar to this before, but I can't remember where, nor if there was a solution offered. Also, when I installed the unit in the Cayman, I experienced the same thing. It was very quiet - a sort of rustling sound. I ignored it at first, while I continued the setup of the unit. Oddly, it went away on its own within the first day of use. That is so weird. I hope this happens with your unit too. The obvious thing to think is that something is picking up electrical interference, and normally I would pull the unit back out, rearrange all the wiring and try again. This was going to be my troubleshooting path, but then the noise just stopped all by itself. If it persists in your car, I suggest you pull the unit, move all the wires as much as you can, check all connections for tightness/proper installation, and see if that fixes it. Especially look out for power wires in proximity to audio wires and move these where you can. Also check that all grounds are good.

EDIT: It could also be a 'dirty' contact on the volume control itself. Try rotating it a few times to see if this clears it - this may be what happened with mine and I didn't spot it at the time. The contact can't really be 'dirty' as it's a brand new unit, but they may have used some sort of compound on the contact strip to prevent corrosion during storage/shipping, and this may wear off all by itself after a few rotations. Just speculation on my part though. But there has to be a reason it 'fixed itself' (which always worries me).

That's a bummer. That is two now that don't fit. There has to be an adaptor but finding it is not easy. I might make my own if I can find the right plugs and connectors. I haven't had much incentive to try to remedy this since my wife uses TuneIn or Replaio for radio, which seem to meet all her requirements. Also, she only ever uses Android Auto, which means that if she uses the built-in radio, she will have no way of controlling the radio without exiting AA, changing stations, volume etc, then reopening AA. This is way too much hassle for her (and me!). The inbuilt radio function is great if you don't use Carplay/Android Auto and run everything directly from the HU. I sometimes do that but mostly I too use Android Auto as it is just so convenient. We both get all the radio stations we need (and a million others as well!) from one of those two apps, and both work directly with AA (and probably Carplay) so they are real easy to use. We just set all our favorite stations and hit whichever we want at the time. Also, with Google Assistant/Siri, we can just say something like, "Play Greatest Hits radio on TuneIn" and it opens automagically.

 

That first one is the first one I tried, which I can confirm does not fit. The second one is the one sitting on my workbench waiting for me to find a good reason to test it. It looks like it might fit (but so did the other one!). Only one way to find out

 

Hey guys,

Lots of talk about these systems again.

Id like to point out a few things.

isudar, nmaudio, gtacarkits etc are the same thing (clones). id always go the the source (isudar).

In dash pcm replacements always have high quality screens (gloss). to fit in the dash with the larger panel they do move the vents, and those vents DO NOT move enough air in the cold and hot times of the year. you literally lose about 75% of air flow. This has been proving to be a no go for people up north and down south. that being said, I do like the wide screen look in the Panamera.

Mr12Volt option, my option, ill always state as the best option because i, like most people, prefer the oem look, dont mind the screen. Once installed i dont really "touch" the screen often enough to need the newer screens higher speed (SOME, NOT ALL are faster). The additional box does not require any crazy wiring and most installs can be done in about an hour from when you open the car door!!!

If you purchase from me, I am running a fall sale that drops the Mr12Volt unit price to $485, You can use code "toys" to get a free install kit, and correct standoffs so you can get everything installed the day you receive the unit.

 

Thanks for the help! I will try that when I order the new FM antenna - I will try to install in the next few days and report back.

Also has anyone figured out an easy way to toggle to Carplay or creating an app or button rather than trying to drag the top section down to select it?

 

Somewhere in the settings you can select Zlink to start automatically, This means that when you get into your car and the phone connects automatically via BT, Carplay will start a few seconds later. In our cars, by the time we have got the seat belts on, made ourselves comfortable etc, Android Auto (in our case) is already running. No intervention needed. You may have to go into the secret factory settings menu - I can't remember where the setting is.

 

I figured as much - thanks for confirming it.

This is true for the widescreen installation in my Panamera. But for the direct PCM replacement options in the 911, Cayman etc, no vents are blocked or removed. I find that in my Panamera, the airflow is restricted from the two (new) centre vents but of course all the other vents in the car still work. If you live in Arizona or Alaska, it may be a problem - here in the UK it definitely isn't

What I liked about the installs I did in my Panamera and my wife's Cayman is that pretty much the entire OEM look is retained, but upgraded. The Panameras a year later than mine have the 12 inch wide screen display, and the unit I put into the Cayman looks so much like the PCM that only real Porsche fans would realise it's been swapped out. But yeah, the big benefit of the Isudar-style installation is that the OEM PCM is retained, for those who want to keep their car 100% stock, with that 'old school' look.

 

For your application, I’d go with Mr12Volt if you value audio quality, which seems you do since you have Burmester. Any other solution will be suboptimal.