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Electronics | Audio | NAV | Infotainment Anything related to in-car electronics, navigation, and infotainment.


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Old 12-21-2018, 04:28 PM   #29
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Originally Posted by Go Frogs View Post
If Clarion is contracted out to provide Subaru HUs, they agreed to a spec and price. Unless updates were written into that contract, Clarion doesn't have to do squat to make their units/HUs perform better as long as all contract obligations were met in the design.

I think this issue is rampant through the auto industry, from a technology standpoint, not including Tesla who sends vehicle updates over the air.

Imagine your car HU/Infotainment getting as many updates as your phone over the first 3 years of its life. The downside is you would be at the dealer every 6 months, which can be good or bad, depending on how you accept it.

Very few manufacturers offer post sales support on infotainment systems. You are stuck with the factory design shortcomings until you decide to change the HU itself or the manufacturer is forced to make a firmware update on newly released cars and makes the update available for cars already sold with similar equipment.

Mazda, as of recently, is guilty of this with their MazdaConnect system offering firmware update #59.X from #55.X or #57.X on certain HUs that administer a certain fault or performance problem, assuming the car comes back to the Mazda dealer.

Personally, offering updates to already sold cars is a great way to get people back into the dealer and establish a rapport with the customer, whether they are the original owner or the 2nd/3rd owner. And service after the sale, sells cars as much as the new car itself. Too bad this logic is lost in the current automotive environment.

Manufacturers are required to have parts available 10 years after a car's production, but the same thing isn't true for updates to the software inside.


hope the work arounds remain positive.
Firmware updates are presumably done by putting the new firmware on a USB flash drive, plugging in the drive while the car is off, turning on the car, and waiting for the update to finish.

There's no reason why the firmware couldn't be distributed on a web page and consumers could update their own head unit firmware. This is what happens with firmware updates for other devices like wifi routers and AV receivers. And, I assume, third-party aftermarket head units that are better supported.

But you're right, without some kind of legal obligation, of course these companies aren't going to be motivated to fix performance problems with head units like these.

I agree that that's shortsighted but for a different reason. Rather as an incentive to get customers back into the dealership, I see that as a mitigation for frustrating customer experiences. I mean, it's just a stereo, not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but these "infotainment" units are becoming more and more important to people. Even in the mid-2000s, Ford used Windows CE for their head units for a while and they experienced a record number of car returns under lemon laws because it kept crashing and otherwise eff'ing up. Before I bought my BRZ, I read a review of a Toyota 86 that had nothing but praise for the car except that half the review was negative because the author was constantly furious with the infotainment unit. So it clearly matters to a lot of people, just not to the point where any of these companies are literally forced to do anything about it.
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Old 12-29-2018, 05:06 AM   #30
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My 6.2” factory head unit is giving me the shits over the last couple of days. It only connects to my phone (iPhone 6s) after a couple of cycles of rebooting the phone and powering down the head unit.

Then when it does connect, it’s gotta play something, so it plays the first song on the thing. I’m a little over Take on me, by ah-ha. I mean it’s a great song and all, but every time I drive out the driveway?

And never mind actually trying to choose an album to play using the head unit. The user interface might be able to cope with ten or twenty artists, but I’ve got more than that just under “a”.

Bloody hopeless. Everything else I own works flawlessly with my phone. I think i’ll prioritise swapping something in with CarPlay, as every CarPlay car I’ve driven has just worked.
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Old 12-29-2018, 10:40 AM   #31
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...I’m a little over Take on me, by ah-ha. I mean it’s a great song and all, but every time I drive out the driveway?.
I use an iPod Classic in my car that has about 5,000 songs on it (fits nicely in the pocket next to the USB port and is black so you can't see it from outside the car). Even directly plugged in, every once in a while my headunit and the iPod decide it needs to start over. My first song is "Dancing Queen" by Abba.

I share your sentiment.
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Old 12-29-2018, 12:51 PM   #32
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My 6.2” factory head unit is giving me the shits over the last couple of days. It only connects to my phone (iPhone 6s) after a couple of cycles of rebooting the phone and powering down the head unit.

Then when it does connect, it’s gotta play something, so it plays the first song on the thing. I’m a little over Take on me, by ah-ha. I mean it’s a great song and all, but every time I drive out the driveway?

And never mind actually trying to choose an album to play using the head unit. The user interface might be able to cope with ten or twenty artists, but I’ve got more than that just under “a”.

Bloody hopeless. Everything else I own works flawlessly with my phone. I think i’ll prioritise swapping something in with CarPlay, as every CarPlay car I’ve driven has just worked.
Yeah CarPlay would clearly be better... it's disappointing that the car doesn't come with CarPlay on all models when many other cheaper cars do... although there IS an argument that it might be a cost-saving measure since I imagine that Apple does charge a licensing fee for CarPlay. :/

It might have been lost in a flurry of posts above, but the way I deal with the delay in connecting via Bluetooth is to start playing a song/podcast on my phone when I get in the car. It plays via the phone's speakers, then I start driving to where I'm going, and after a while the phone connects to the stereo and it switches to the stereo. So everything goes as expected except the podcast is playing from my phone in my pocket for ~30 seconds, which is stupid, but I've gotten used to it.

If the stereo isn't connecting at all then I'd would ask Subaru to replace the head unit under warranty. I doubt they would give you the option, but MAYBE they'd be willing to put in the 7" unit with CarPlay instead, to solve the problem... ?
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Old 01-08-2019, 01:28 AM   #33
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The base HU in the 13' is way worse.
You know, I always figured the 2013 base HU was a piece of junk too, but I tried streaming BT audio last weekend and it worked like a charm. Connected instantly to my phone (Moto X4) on startup too.

I didn't even know the HU supported BT audio streaming to be honest.
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Old 01-08-2019, 08:46 AM   #34
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First thing I always do when I get in my car is plug my phone in. Bluetooth audio is horrific, and frankly every stereo in any car outside of the luxury realm is on the poor side.

Subaru's are known to be even worse. It just comes with the territory.
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Old 01-08-2019, 07:39 PM   #35
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First thing I always do when I get in my car is plug my phone in. Bluetooth audio is horrific, and frankly every stereo in any car outside of the luxury realm is on the poor side.

Subaru's are known to be even worse. It just comes with the territory.
I tried plugging my phone into the stereo but didn't like it for some reason... is it possible you can't use the stereo's phone functionality when an iPhone is plugged in via USB?
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Old 01-16-2019, 08:10 AM   #36
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I tried plugging my phone into the stereo but didn't like it for some reason... is it possible you can't use the stereo's phone functionality when an iPhone is plugged in via USB?
I do it all the time. Now from what I've seen about the actual head units issues, I would not be shocked if the one you have has some sort of idiotic screw up that wouldn't allow it. Different years seem to have different software, which have different idiosyncrasies, but the basic gist is that Subaru has never included a stereo in their vehicles actually worth having. If you have a free day it probably wouldn't hurt to drive by the dealership and talk to them about it, I am sure someone there has some sort of way to beat them into relative submission. If you actually like reasonable sound quality and music odds are even a mid tier aftermarket head unit will be both vastly superior sound quality wise and easier to figure out.
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Old 01-16-2019, 04:37 PM   #37
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I do it all the time. Now from what I've seen about the actual head units issues, I would not be shocked if the one you have has some sort of idiotic screw up that wouldn't allow it. Different years seem to have different software, which have different idiosyncrasies, but the basic gist is that Subaru has never included a stereo in their vehicles actually worth having. If you have a free day it probably wouldn't hurt to drive by the dealership and talk to them about it, I am sure someone there has some sort of way to beat them into relative submission. If you actually like reasonable sound quality and music odds are even a mid tier aftermarket head unit will be both vastly superior sound quality wise and easier to figure out.
My wife's 17 Impreza has the upgraded, top of the, bestest of the best, super-duper, extra $5,000,000,000, ultra great, optional 10" HU in it. It has been back to the dealer 6 times because it just stops working or there is a recall on it. About 10% of the time when you start the car it freezes up on the load screen just to decide to reboot 30 seconds before you shut the car off at the end of the drive. The phone connects or not like some electronic version of Deal or No Deal. Sometimes it decides it is 1 PM (no other time always 1 PM) at 6 PM (always 6 PM) and all in all is the simply the biggest piece crap electronic device I have ever dealt with. And I have dealt with some pretty crappy electronic devices in my day.


I have never once had any issue of any kind with the stock Pioneer unit in my 14 FRS. Not a single hic up.
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Old 01-17-2019, 01:11 PM   #38
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I do it all the time. Now from what I've seen about the actual head units issues, I would not be shocked if the one you have has some sort of idiotic screw up that wouldn't allow it. Different years seem to have different software, which have different idiosyncrasies, but the basic gist is that Subaru has never included a stereo in their vehicles actually worth having. If you have a free day it probably wouldn't hurt to drive by the dealership and talk to them about it, I am sure someone there has some sort of way to beat them into relative submission. If you actually like reasonable sound quality and music odds are even a mid tier aftermarket head unit will be both vastly superior sound quality wise and easier to figure out.
Cool, I'll try plugging my phone in via USB again sometime then.

As for sound quality, I have no complaints. The stereo factory defaults have a TON of sound post-processing. No wonder people complain about the sound quality. Once you turn all that s**t off, I think it sounds fine.

Specifically, for the 6.2" head unit, I would say make sure the graphic equalizer is flat, turn off the "Sound Restorer", turn off the "Volume Smoother", turn off the "Virtual Bass", and make sure the "Vocal Image Control" point is the same location as the overall balance point.
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Old 01-17-2019, 02:18 PM   #39
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well yes it does appear you aren't getting it if the headunit is already this aggravating this early in the relationship lol. in that whole thread we warned you this car is literally about driving, most everything else is pretty shitty even compared to a typical compact/midsize sedan as toyota and subaru spent the bare minimum for non driving related features. either way, it is very simple and affordable to replace the headunit...
Come on now.. every head unit in these cars have always sucked. Waiting to listen to audio without frustration isn't really that crazy of a thing. I forgot how terrible the HU was until I drove my new-to-me brz off the trailer. It is worse than every head unit I've had in any of my cars for at least the last 8-9 years.
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Old 01-17-2019, 02:39 PM   #40
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Come on now.. every head unit in these cars have always sucked. Waiting to listen to audio without frustration isn't really that crazy of a thing. I forgot how terrible the HU was until I drove my new-to-me brz off the trailer. It is worse than every head unit I've had in any of my cars for at least the last 8-9 years.
ok but when did I ever say the HU was good? Still a silly thing to cry over, I was way too busy enjoying the ride the first few thousand miles on both my twins, screw listening to a half baked sound system, whereas OP was already worried even before buying his twin
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Old 01-17-2019, 02:58 PM   #41
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ok but when did I ever say the HU was good? Still a silly thing to cry over, I was way too busy enjoying the ride the first few thousand miles on both my twins, screw listening to a half baked sound system, whereas OP was already worried even before buying his twin
That's cool that you don't care about the audio. He does. It doesn't mean he enjoys driving the car any less. I certainly enjoyed driving my first one (need to fix the second one..) but that doesn't mean that I don't understand his annoyance with the terrible stock HU.

It was no reason to call him out. And as pointed out, Subaru didn't overlook the HU because this was a drivers car. The crappy HU is used across their brand. Subaru is just shitty in some areas.. this is just one of them.
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Old 01-17-2019, 03:14 PM   #42
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I use an iPod Classic in my car that has about 5,000 songs on it (fits nicely in the pocket next to the USB port and is black so you can't see it from outside the car). Even directly plugged in, every once in a while my headunit and the iPod decide it needs to start over. My first song is "Dancing Queen" by Abba.

I share your sentiment.
That is funny. My classic iPod in my truck does the same thing. Not sure if it Dancing Queen but it always starts with Abba. Now I have to go back and check to see what song.
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