Can 2017 owners review new stereo/touchscreen

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by imnotsureaboutbrz

So here's the one thing that gives me the most grief. and please try this for yourselves.

I have an iphone 7 and regularly listen to music via Pandora, which means I have to be plugged in. Which isn't a huge inconvenience. But what is...

When I get in my car for a short trip and don't want to go through all the hassle. Is that the HU defaults to what you were last using.. so while its 'trying to connect to my phone/pandora' to the phone, the source button on the head unit is disabled so you can't select FM until the HU gives up on trying to connect.

I recently discovered that the only way around this is to hit the source button on the steering wheel and wait (what feels like longer than it should) for it to switch the head unit to BT audio and then you can use the HU source button to get to FM...

And I know what you are thinking why not just use the steering wheel button to get to FM... Well you have to click though BT audio<AUX<AM1<AM2<then you get FM1, but as laggy as the HU is I miss FM1 every time...

LOL

[spike021]

It's definitely not great. I also can't plug in my phone to charge and use the radio at the same time as GPS directions from Google Maps. That really pisses me off. I can try going to my phone and changing audio out to Bluetooth but then it's like it gets stuck in USB line-out mode.

But I didn't buy the car for the center console. It works well enough for music or listening to baseball games on the radio even if it's clunky as hell.

Like off topic but have you ever listened to a baseball game during dusk driving this car down a mostly traffic-free highway? Bliss, guys. Bliss.

[katai]

I connect my iPhone to car via Bluetooth. The issue I have is the song title on Spotify doesn't change after the first song is played. Anyone have this same issue?

[imnotsureaboutbrz]

Originally Posted by willimusk

Scrolling through the sources with the steering button is a PITA, I agree, and I wish I could edit the scroll selections to just the sources I care about.

Funny you say that since the STARLINK system in my wife's '15 Outback you can reorder the sources...

[willimusk]

Originally Posted by imnotsureaboutbrz

Funny you say that since the STARLINK system in my wife's '15 Outback you can reorder the sources...

Hmm. Maybe I have to dig a little deeper. That would be nice.

[~el~jefe~]

the radio has a lot of things one can do with it. I think it is great. I am just beginning to learn about it. I am not a fan of SXM radio, aside from talk shows. The music is severely compressed. HD radio is many times higher quality. Sad how they did this to make it less expensive for the company. It has some rare oddball stations though which is cool and interesting. I might get it for a year, not sure. The rest I signed up for. I wish they made a car with shortwave radio tuning and HAM bands.

[tacos]

Originally Posted by imnotsureaboutbrz

So here's the one thing that gives me the most grief. and please try this for yourselves.

I have an iphone 7 and regularly listen to music via Pandora, which means I have to be plugged in. Which isn't a huge inconvenience. But what is...

When I get in my car for a short trip and don't want to go through all the hassle. Is that the HU defaults to what you were last using.. so while its 'trying to connect to my phone/pandora' to the phone, the source button on the head unit is disabled so you can't select FM until the HU gives up on trying to connect.

I recently discovered that the only way around this is to hit the source button on the steering wheel and wait (what feels like longer than it should) for it to switch the head unit to BT audio and then you can use the HU source button to get to FM...

And I know what you are thinking why not just use the steering wheel button to get to FM... Well you have to click though BT audio<AUX<AM1<AM2<then you get FM1, but as laggy as the HU is I miss FM1 every time...

you can also just press the audio knob on the right side of the head unit, and that will take you to the source screen, then select FM or whatever

[JonRZ]

Originally Posted by katai

I connect my iPhone to car via Bluetooth. The issue I have is the song title on Spotify doesn't change after the first song is played. Anyone have this same issue?

Yes, it only displays the first song when it connects via BT but it won't change after that.

[JonRZ]

On an additional note, the speakers suck BUT - in Spotify, I feel like I've remediated this quite a bit by going to the equalizer settings in Spotify and turning it to the 'Bass' setting. Really wakes them up!

[ktulu7]

Wow, so the head units still aren't any cooler than the BeSpoke upgrade one I had in my '13 FRS eh? Actually it didn't have a lot of features, but for the things it did do, it did them well. The sound quality wasn't A+, but I didn't expect it to be. It got the job done while I kept the car sideways.

[imnotsureaboutbrz]

ok, so I accidentally found a work around for my Pandora issue. So to use the in dash pandora app you need to plug your iphone in. But if you have your favorite station already playing (or it was the last music source) on your phone, you can listen to pandora with BT Audio! The sound clarity is not 100% versus plugging it in, and you can't change your pandora channel through the HU.

But it is much much faster to just get to the music. You don't have to worry about plugging the phone opening the app on the phone and waiting for the starlink app to sync. As soon as the car picks up your phones bluetooth you can jam.

[Seasaw]

Originally Posted by SubieSyncro

As I weigh the option of buying a used BRZ and updating the stereo with new Apple Carplay model and a backup camera vs. putting out a little extra cash for the improvements in the 2017 model, I’m wondering how the revised multimedia touch screen system is working.

I’ve read such bad reviews of the 2013-16 units, that I’m a bit skeptical about the 2017 version.

What I really want is a backup camera, to stream audio from my phone, and to be able to mirror my smartphone screen to the touchscreen so I can use Google Maps or whatever. I DO NOT want to subscribe to Subaru’s Starlink service and pay a continuing additional fee.

Can you do that without subscribing to Subaru’s service?

On Subaru’s 2017 BRZ website it says that with the MySubaru app you can access your car remotely, access lights, horn, locks etc. Does anyone know if this works without a subscription?

Can the lucky owners of the 2017s give us a review?

The head unit on the 17 units is bearable. However, this head unit is probably on the lower end of infotainment and functionality from what I have experienced.
Some problems that I have ran into:

1.) BT audio will display the details of ONLY the first song you play, or not even at all. This bothers me a little bit, but luckily I can get past it.

2.) BT audio will sometimes disconnect: I have only had this problem a few times, usually when starting the car. If anyone can help fix this, that would be great

3.) BT audio will sometimes lag: You will then be listening to a x2 speed of the song, somewhat creepy. I have not found a way to fix this but I dont encounter it often.

4.) Audio will lower on its own with regardless of the speed volume option being turned off: I have seemed to fixed this, but that is because I turned off the sound equalizer as well.


But from your standpoint and what you are looking for get from the head unit, this will preform to your standards as far as back-up camera and streaming music from your phone. The screen mirror I haven't tried to attempt or even the GPS on the screen; I am planning to replace this in the future.

[~el~jefe~]

Originally Posted by spike021

It's definitely not great. I also can't plug in my phone to charge and use the radio at the same time as GPS directions from Google Maps. That really pisses me off. I can try going to my phone and changing audio out to Bluetooth but then it's like it gets stuck in USB line-out mode.

But I didn't buy the car for the center console. It works well enough for music or listening to baseball games on the radio even if it's clunky as hell.

Like off topic but have you ever listened to a baseball game during dusk driving this car down a mostly traffic-free highway? Bliss, guys. Bliss.

I use all my apps while it is charging. What is going on with your setup?

[~el~jefe~]

Originally Posted by JonRZ

On an additional note, the speakers suck BUT - in Spotify, I feel like I've remediated this quite a bit by going to the equalizer settings in Spotify and turning it to the 'Bass' setting. Really wakes them up!

I took off all the enhancers and set the EQ to flat. I agree the base up is a bit of a help at lower volumes especially. I keep it all zeroed out as a rule. The sound is actually not bad. I have heard louder, more punchy audio setups that were stock, but for flat settings, it actually reproduces sound quite well. The speakers are the weak link, definitely. A simple AMP and change out a few speakers, and disconnect the ones not swapped would be alike a 450 dollar cost probably and an enormous difference. I have learned that the right 2 speakers is much better than than filling all the speaker slots, so long as they are good quality and the amp is ok.

I am comparing the sound output to a small JBL studio monitor setup i have in my bedroom. The sound is unusually accurate from the headunit, it just is lacking amperage and better speakers.

I try very hard to not replace a head unit. NYCity, they steal stupid parts and most often break windows to get aftermarket radios out. Stock headunit + OEMAudio for $1500 is my ultimate goal this year. Fancy fancy