AUX input and steering wheel controls


Recommended Posts

I'm pretty sure the answer to this question is that it can't be done, but I'll ask anyway!

 

I have a Mazda 2 1.3 Tamura with an aux input and steering wheel controls. I also have a Kinivo BTC450 Bluetooth-AUX dongle so I can play music from my phone through the car's speakers without having to connect the AUX cable to the phone. Good times. However the steering wheel controls for next/back don't work on either the bluetooth adapter or connected directly with the 3.5mm cable. Bad times.

 

From what I've gathered and assuming, it's a limitation of the 3.5mm AUX input that means it can't do this. A lot of the topics from sites I've read have dated back several years, so I was wondering if there's been any improvement on this?

 

Edit: I know this can be worked around by buying an aftermarket stereo, but this just isn't worth the cost for me. It's just something that would be nice to have.

4 minutes ago, Human.Online said:

Bluetooth usually can carry the back/forward commands.  But it sounds to me like your connection is really 2 connections - one to bluetooth and then another onwards to 3.5mm?

Yeah, that's correct. The Bluetooth device itself does do the skipping and play/pause commands, as it's communicating directly with the phone. Just would have been nice to control it from the wheel!

35 minutes ago, Jim K said:

You're SOL controlling next/back/etc with the steering wheel. The aux jack is just carrying the R/L audio ...  no way for it to send commands.

What do you mean SOL?

 

That's what I was thinking about it only sending audio and not able to send data/commands.

4 minutes ago, Jim K said:

Sorry.  SOL - Sorta outta luck.

 

:)

Ahh, no problem, thanks anyway.

 

After all my years on forums, I've never come across SOL! That's weirdly a nice surprise!

1 minute ago, Human.Online said:

3.5mm can carry commands - has done for years, but it simply isn't - and I think that's because in reality you are daisychaining two different connections.

Even if I rule out the Bluetooth and simply use a 3.5mm - 3.5mm cable connecting my phone directly to the cars AUX, it still won't work.

unfortunately with your current setup you're most likely out of luck getting your steering wheel controls to work

 

you say aftermarket stereo is out of the question because of price but how constrained are you?

 

even cheap aftermarket stereos have bluetooth on them now so you may be able to get your desired results for cheaper than you would think with an aftermarket stereo

 

Here's a couple examples from the UK Amazon

Bluetooth Car Stereo, LUCKYDIY Digital Media Player

Favoto Car Stereo Bluetooth Car Radio

 

there are a lot of others too; here's the search results if you'd like

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Car-CD-Tuners-Entertainment/b/ref=sn_gfs_co_auto_3030791_1?ie=UTF8&node=3030791&pf_rd_p=fbc2c1b6-2251-489a-8aca-248160102d2f&pf_rd_r=ACJPPC4606FB92N6HX9K&pf_rd_s=ce-subnav-flyout-content-8&pf_rd_t=SubnavFlyout

 

48 minutes ago, Daedroth said:

Even if I rule out the Bluetooth and simply use a 3.5mm - 3.5mm cable connecting my phone directly to the cars AUX, it still won't work.

most 3.5mm aux jacks in stock radios are just basic jacks and don't support smart controls unfortunately :/

39 minutes ago, Human.Online said:

3.5mm can carry commands - has done for years, but it simply isn't - and I think that's because in reality you are daisychaining two different connections.

Right. I was mostly referring to what you'd find in a car. I'm not aware of any car which had a Smart-Aux (my made up term...haha).  With respect to other 3.5 jacks which carry commands...I believe those are per manufacture ... in other words I do not believe there is a standard. I could be wrong.

 

Anyway, car Aux's would just be carrying the R/L.

  • Like 2

if the radio had bluetooth capabilities to have the phone connect directly to it, the steering wheel controls would function.  There would be no way for steering integration would work through the aux connection, most of those types of connections are one way.  There are exceptions as headphones can create a feed back from a button push that would cause the device to do something (raise volume, lower volume, mute...I think at some point there was a skip as well).  

 

I think you are better off getting a vent mount so that you can control your phone without holding it.

  • Like 2

Thanks for the replies. Like I mentioned, I do have a Kinivo BTC450 (which has now broken and I've ordered the BTC480 as a replacement) and it's mounted just near the stereo system on the central dash. I have no issues using the play/pause/next/previous buttons on the device itself, it would have just been a nice thing to have.

16 hours ago, Brandon H said:

unfortunately with your current setup you're most likely out of luck getting your steering wheel controls to work

 

you say aftermarket stereo is out of the question because of price but how constrained are you?

 

even cheap aftermarket stereos have bluetooth on them now so you may be able to get your desired results for cheaper than you would think with an aftermarket stereo

 

Here's a couple examples from the UK Amazon

Bluetooth Car Stereo, LUCKYDIY Digital Media Player

Favoto Car Stereo Bluetooth Car Radio

 

there are a lot of others too; here's the search results if you'd like

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Car-CD-Tuners-Entertainment/b/ref=sn_gfs_co_auto_3030791_1?ie=UTF8&node=3030791&pf_rd_p=fbc2c1b6-2251-489a-8aca-248160102d2f&pf_rd_r=ACJPPC4606FB92N6HX9K&pf_rd_s=ce-subnav-flyout-content-8&pf_rd_t=SubnavFlyout

 

most 3.5mm aux jacks in stock radios are just basic jacks and don't support smart controls unfortunately :/

I know I can get a cheaper stereo, but I'd also have to buy a replacement fascia for the dash to make it look half decent. Plus I have the Kinivo Bluetooth device that does what I need. It was just something that would have been good to get working if I could. I've spent this many years without when using my phone, so I can continue as is!

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • UK funds £60M AI labs to challenge US tech dominance with open-source models by Paul Hill The UK government has awarded £60 million to Oxford University and University College London to help keep the country in the AI race by focusing on open-source, low-hardware alternatives. This is in stark contrast to the expensive, closed-source, and high-hardware-requirement models being created in the United States and elsewhere. The money will be shared among two new academic research labs over six years to help them redesign the fundamental mathematics and architectures of AI to help the UK reduce its reliance on a handful of US tech firms. Commenting on the development, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said: Initially, the government planned to fund just one lab with a £40 million investment, but with this update, two labs will now get access to a larger pool of funds. The labs are expected to invest in the top AI researchers at every career stage, with £2 million per lab being set aside for hiring at least ten doctoral students. The government hopes that this will grow the UK’s talent in the field of AI. The labs are also expected to work closely with the leaders in British AI research, such as the Alan Turing Institute and UKRI’s AI research hubs. This will allow the various teams to collaborate and create new solutions faster than they could alone. This development is pretty interesting for a number of reasons, chiefly that it could create a long-term challenge for US tech firms if these labs successfully scale these open-source architectures that bypass the proprietary ecosystems. It could also give British businesses and public sector organizations access to AI features without paying high licensing fees to foreign providers or needing to invest in specialized server infrastructure.
    • If I were them, I'm gonna hold out until the prices of these semiconductor parts normalize. $1,049 for a ~5 year old hardware is DoA, more so for gamers. On a deeper note, if Steam Machine is priced like this, we are soo effed up for the next gen Xbox console and PS6. With great AAA titles releasing at the end of the year, this just creates more demand...and more tears for me. Lol.
    • I suspect one reason its hard to justify subsidising is that it's not a locked down device like a traditional console is. In this climate sadly if it was a "good deal" you'd get people hoarding them for anything but gaming. The Lenovo Legion Go 2 with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme is £1300 here ($1720) for some context on how other SteamOS like devices are now priced. I got the older Z1 Extreme model for £300 with a dock, just shows how insane prices have got recently.
    • If you have an account with any of Meta's services, you technically have an account with all of their services. You may not use it, but it exists.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      dorf went up a rank
      Rookie
    • First Post
      mike_rumble earned a badge
      First Post
    • Dedicated
      tuben earned a badge
      Dedicated
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      449
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      180
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      93
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      87
    5. 5
      neufuse
      67
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!