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Dasaita Android Head Unit Upgrade

110K views 284 replies 48 participants last post by  Dr. Toboggan 
#1 ·
UPDATE: The latest model now includes the USB adapter, has HDMI and the screen is 9” instead of 8” in size.



They advertise this unit as having full stock functionality with both cameras and features. I can happily say that it is exactly what they say it is. I have a lot to say so read carefully if you are considering purchasing this unit. Hopefully I can help.

Brief rundown:
All the cameras work and the unit even retains the MPG and trip mpg history features. The unit also adds some features like graphical door ajar indicators. Plug and play with some configuration through a password protected factory settings menu. (password is 126). Steering wheel buttons work and are programmable. This thing is LEGIT!

Cameras:

With a little configuration they both work just fine. The Lane Assist camera has the distance lines programmed in to it so they display automatically. The reversing camera settings include options to show trajectory as well as a distance ruler too.

To properly route the signal for the Lane Assist camera in a USDM HRV EX I had to do the following:
"GO to Settings >Car >Factory Setting (password 126) >Other >Customer Version >Version 2"

In "Settings >Car >Extra Settings >Reversing Volume >On" or set the reverse volume to the desired attenuation. Otherwise as configured by the factory the audio will cut out when the reverse or Lane Assist cameras are active.

(The "Factory Setting" menu has a lot of other configurable options that are vehicle specific. Password: 126)


Installation:
The Dasaita is plug and play with a little common sense. Huge bundle of wires that will need to be zip tied and kept tidy, perhaps wrapped in foam to prevent rattling. Two harnesses did not plug in to anything, one with two green wires and a large gray plug and the other was a small blue DA plug (confirmed not needed by support rep.)

The dash trim pulls off easily and only 3 bolts hold the stock unit in to the dash. My first go around has me thinking that the new unit is intended to simply pressure fit in to the cavity where the original stereo came out. The original stereo's metal cage didn't fit the new Dasaita unit but I would prefer that it did. The Dasaita gets quite hot to the touch after a short period and a metal heatsink to the chassis would be preferred. I may end up installing a small fan to cool the unit.

GPS antenna: Even though my HRV is only an EX it still had a GPS antenna installed. It was directly above the stereo unit on a metal bracket with a short pigtail cable. I removed the original antenna from the bracket and installed the new Dasaita antenna in it's place. This worked out great and I had no trouble getting a fast and accurate GPS lock with google maps.

WiFi: get a bigger WiFi antenna. It made a big difference in speed and reception after I swapped it for one I had lying around. You either need an SMA Male Connector antenna or do what I did and cut a piece of short solid core wire to act as the center pin. MOST wifi antennas are SMA FEMALE so you won't likely have a Male one lying around.

USB: Included, but not shown in the product description, is one adapter labeled "Toyota usb adapter" which allows you to connect one of the units usb ports to the stock HRV under dash ports. Do yourself a favor and order a second one from Amazon to connect the second port. It won't fit perfectly but if you double check the orientation and just cram the plugs together it will work. Tested and verified.

HDMI: there is no HDMI, so the mostly useless port under your center console will be nonfunctional. I would be interested to see If one could obtain an additional USB port for this location to better utilize the Dasaita's third usb connection.

Speed and Responsiveness:
The specs seem to be true to the user experience, it is very responsive, fastest Android device I have ever owned. But then again I generally own 2+ year old phones anyway.

Sound quality:
Let me preface this by disclosing that I am an audio engineer and have spent the better part of a decade performing modifications to audio equipment to improve the audio path and quality on a commercial level. I have a very discerning ear, but I don't buy crazy expensive HI-FI equipment due to my practical nature and the law of diminishing returns. Great sound quality can be achieved without breaking the bank. Additionally, I have already upgraded the speakers in my HRV so I am getting the full benefits of a new headunit.

With the exception of Bluetooth (see below), the audio quality is where the unit has proven itself to me. The stock stereo has some terrible equalization profile applied to the audio at all times or the analog audio path consists of junk components. Having only has bass and treble controls you cannot correct the crappy audio quality in the stock hrv headunit. The Dasaita unit has a 9 point graphical EQ that can be set completely flat and is fairly transparent when cutting and boosting frequencies. My advice would be to mostly cut, not boost. For example if you want more bass, don't turn the bass up, turn the trebel down. This helps with headroom and Dynamics. I think that the unit produces great sounding audio to the speakers through the internal amplifier. However, like most internal amplifiers, the headroom leaves much to be desired. When you start turning up the volume to where the music gets "loud" the dynamic range is compressed and eventually starts to distort. This is true of most internal amplifiers of car head units. The great thing is that the Dasaita has proper front and rear RCA outputs for attaching a 4 channel amp and sub. I will likely install an amp down the road but the audio quality of the Dasaita will get me by until then for sure! The noise floor is a little bit higher than I would like, but only really a slight hiss that is noticeable when sitting still, when the car is in motion it is mostly masked by road noise. I guess I will find out down the road if this is the audio path or amplifier noise floor.

Bluetooth audio: I have not yet tested this unit with another Bluetooth audio device, but with my stock HTC One M8 the bluetooth audio streaming quality was COMPLETE GARBAGE! Unlistenable amounts of noise, crackles and distortion. Update: tested with an iPhone, same result. I will try different software.. So far this is my only gripe.

Software:
This is straight up ANDROID IN YOUR DASH! No restrictions, any app any time.
The stock music player is basically a proof of concept player. Download a better one ASAP.
The unit came preloaded with iGo Navigation which loaded up with French as the default language. I haven't put any time in to using this application because when I need to navigate I use Google Maps then Sygic Maps then Sygic Car Navigation (in that order of preference).
The stock launcher is junk but they do include a full licensed version of "Car Launcher AG" and I quite like it! Once configured it is a great dashboard interface.

Screen:
The 8" screen almost fills the entire opening on the dash, this is GLORIOUS! No more black bar around the screen! The screen is recessed in to the dash trim by a gloss black bezel. I get the impression that the angle was designed for right hand drive vehicles but it looks nice and clean. The color and contrast of the screen is great, so much better than stock.

Phone integration:
The provided apps and settings allow for making phone calls over bluetooth, but I haven't done much more than make a test call to check my voicemail.

I haven't spent a ton of time using the new unit so I may report back with updates as I become more familiar.
I would recommend this to anybody with an HRV and enough confidence to install it. VERY MUCH WORTH IT.
 
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#88 ·
Here is the link. If you want CarPlay, select it under the "color" option, presently it is $20 more. I'm not sure about the Android Auto option, ask them but it might be already installed since the OS on the head unit is Android. Also, remember to send them a picture of your head unit (radio/stereo) through the messenger on Aliexpress before you buy so they can match the wiring harness.

 
#90 ·
Don't give up on that Mekede yet. Call someone and tap on the microphone, then tap on the "MIC" on the head unit. Which one can they hear louder? If the "MIC" is louder then you have the wrong microphone installed. I had this problem with my Dasaita because I did not like the microphone that came with it, so I used another microphone that was the wrong one and had the issue you're describing there. I found out there there are different microphones for mono, stereo etc. and you have to get the right one. IIRC, there are TS, TTS, and TRS microphones. The Dasaita comes with a mono microphone (one black ring on the connection) and I put a stereo microphone (two black rings) and it done like you said. Anyway, try that before scraping the whole head unit.
 
#91 ·
Thanks for giving me some hope. Yes, the internal "MIC" definitely is louder if I tap on it compared to the external mic. The unit came with a mic (see attached photo) and I purchased another one off Amazon. After looking closely, they both have one black ring (mono?). Would you recommend I purchase a different mic?
32086
 
#92 ·
You should either use the one that came with it or get another, a correct one. The reason that the "MIC" is louder is because the external microphone isn't working, so it defaults to the internal microphone (which is junk). This was my same experience when I bought the wrong microphone. I learned, after some research, about the TS, TTS and TRS microphones but never could find that listed in the sale description; instead I only found mono or stereo. The one that I bought to replace the Dasaita microphone, because I didn't like the design, looks exactly like the one in your picture. That is the one that worked for me (link below).

 
#93 ·
I took your advice and tested two additional microphones, both mono. The first has almost identical specifications to the one you had linked and the second was recommended by a Reddit user for being a high quality microphone for a car headunit:

  1. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015KY5J7Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  2. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MYPPPE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Unfortunately, no noticeable improvement with either. The head unit is definitely mixing audio inputs from both the internal and external microphones and there is no setting to reduce, modify or disable this behavior. I don't know what else to try and I'm not comfortable enough to attempt at modifying the hardware, such as desoldering the internal microphone.
 
#94 ·
If it does it with the microphone that came with the Mekede head unit then I'd say something is wrong with the head unit. That's why I recommend the Dasaita head unit because they have the least problems and when it comes to any compatibility issues, Dasaita will work with you until it is resolved.
 
#95 ·
#97 ·
I posted some time back that my only complaint about the Dasaita head unit, other than the price being a bit high, is that at least once to a few times a week the CarPlay doesn't connect when I start the car* and that I have to restart the car to restart the head unit. I really didn't like putting the wear on my car for this just because the CarPlay didn't connect. The power button on the Dasaita, when pressed, will mute the sound but I recently learned that if you press and hold the power button then it will restart the head unit and the car doesn't need to be restarted in those cases when the CarPlay doesn't connect. So, now my only complaint is no more.

*CarPlay is connected to the Android head unit via the Zlink app
 
#98 ·
I’ve been thinking of upgrading to a dasaita head unit. How’s the response on it? Is the UI laggy at all? Just worried it won’t work the exl trim Bc of the extra wiring. However I have heard using a civic canbus would fix this. Just an expensive experiment is why I haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
@Antho if you search YouTube, there is a Dasaita channel and also you can search "PX6 head unit" and see some examples of the GUI.
 
#106 ·
These don’t bend, perhaps it can be changed in the settings as when I set it up there were different choices but this was my preference and I “set it and forget it”. I don’t like the kind that bend as it would only confuse me.
 
#108 ·
Somewhere in this thread I had reported that upon vehicle start up and when the head unit would boot up that there would be a “pop” sound from the speakers every so often. During that time, I had an iPhone X (10), but now I have an iPhone 12 and it doesn’t do that noise anymore. So, it must have been something with my phone.

I had seen this popping noise reported on other forums that included other cars with other phones. I can’t speak for them but in my case it was clearly a phone problem since I upgraded my phone and the problem went away.

I upgraded from an iPhone XS Max to an iPhone 12 Pro Max to be exact.
 
#111 ·
Well, the USA DST went back one hour and although the clock on my Dasaita and CarPlay (iPhone) did automatically adjust the time, the time on the Honda clock did not adjust and I see no way to adjust it myself. The owner’s manual says to use the (factory) radio to adjust the clock on the dash which obviously I can not do with my aftermarket head unit.
 
#113 ·
Wait one, I just realized that this "yellow light" problem started the day after I installed the LED ambient interior lighting (see post in link below), I may have very well created this problem myself. The electronics on these newer cars are far too complex for me to understand how everything works in conjunction with each of the other components. When I installed the LED ambient lights it may have messed up something in the electronics, perhaps the CAN-BUS, ECM, etc., something or whatever.

 
#115 ·
No, it’s always been white. In fact, the yellow will periodically temporarily change back to white but only for a moment. It (white) is also the only color that does this problem with the power button. If I choose any other color than white, they’re all the same. I don’t think that this problem is coincidental that it began the day after I installed the LED ambient lights, I think I messed up the head unit myself.
 
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