Need help with Brainiac mk2 tablet audio and backup camera
 

Hello everyone,

Recently purchased a 2010 370z 40th anniversary and the previous owner installed a brainiac mk2 kit on it. Has some major issues with it. For starters, the audio only comes out one side and when I took the car back home after buying it both stereos were functional but after that only the right side produces audio. In addition there is a annoying white noise when nothing is playing which is also an issue. I am a audio file at least when it comes to headphones so I want good sound quality and am willing to put the money in. As of right now I just want to use the Bose speakers and fix everything and then consider upgrading them potentially. For now just a amp/dac to solve the dirty audio issue. I need help figuring out what the issue could be and how to wire everything up. This my first car but I’ve built many computers in the past so it’s familiar but also different. Also, I need to figure out how to wire up a backup camera, which one to buy, and the best mounting placement. Lastly I need a better way to access controls on the tablet other than gestures, is there a way to use steering wheel controls? If you have read all the way through thank you for your time and one last question, is it even worth it? Is there better double dins out there? I do like the look but honestly I wouldn’t care about it if there is a better one. I would appreciate any and all help.

Thank you!!!

I am guessing you have the electronics add on? I got rid of the electronics and just got a powered USB hub and get power from the 12v lighter on the passenger footwell. On mine the audio jack on the tablet used to go directly to the amp, now I use a AudioQuest Dragonfly usb audio stick for the output to the amp.
As far as a backup camera, your pretty screwed if you want it on the tablet. It is possible but options a limited and not great. I was able to get it to kinda work with an EasyCap USB 2.0 Capture Card and a typical backup camera and the app "USB Camera - Connect EasyCap or USB WebCam". But I threw all that out because by the time the tablet booted, the app loaded, the camera connected, and finally the video displayed I could have been where I wanted to go. Solution, I wanted a dash cam anyway, was to get a rearview mirror dash cam and back up camera in one, any 100-150 dollar one would be good, mine was a VanTop brand but they are all the same as far as I can tell. As far as steeringwheel control input, ugh. There is a way but it isn't easy. You need to take the resistive inputs and wire it up correctly to this, RcJoyCon CPJexc or CPJexr types should work, and connect that to the USB hub. It can be programed to receive resistive inputs like those from our steering wheel and be programed to give usb keyboard outputs. So you can have your volume up key work just like a USB keyboard with a volume control. Its a S.Korean board and has no documentation that I could find to help. I have two boards slightly different but haven't put in the effort to figure out how to get it to work, but it should.
Talking with Brainiac was while very polite, unproductive, they offer no solutions besides "others are able too so it is supported".

Audio
USB Power Hub
USB Power
USB Drive 70C temp
Mirror
Resistive input USB keyboard Out
There is a way to get around the steering wheel controls, simple get a Bluetooth device with a pause/play/next and mount it within reach their are a few battery power ones thy make for cars and bikes that should work well.
Bluetooth Buttons

Thank you for the quick and detailed reply. So I hope you don't mind but I took a look at your profile because your Z looks super nice. It says that you have a different head unit. Do you still have that one or are you using the Brainiac? I know other ones are easier to configure and setup so I could opt for that as well. I do have the electronics kit but just some questions. So you have tablet aux going to the dragonfly and then its plugged into the usb hub? Then the tablet is also plugged into the usb hub? Other than that it seems simple enough. The only thing that i see going for this tablet versus other head units is the look. What do you think about using it versus others?

Thank you again I really appreciate it.

I don't mind, I haven't updated it, I'll do that later. The tablet is sending audio data to the dragonfly via the usb-C port & hub. The dragonfly audio jack goes to the amp. This did not work through Workshop 12's electronics even though "it should" according to them, I have many guesses as to why but I don't know for sure. Yes your just pretty much buying a nice looking set of plastics from them.

This has helped me a lot. The RcJoyCon is exactly what I needed, but it's expensive.



I could never get audio and video working at the same time so i gave up on that effort. I tried multiple brands, but every time the video converter is inserted, my dac gets disabled so i gave up.

Hello..
I have a 2015 sport tech with bose etc... i installed this kit and it works great.

It does take some tooling behind the dash to get it running right. It sounds as if the previous owner wasnt sure of what they were doing.

First things first... to help you diagnose the issue, you will have to get the middle tablet plastics out and describe or take pics of what's going on in there.

The people who developed braniac have been " learning" their own kit as it evolves, so it takes someone with some knowledge or willing to learn w some patience as a major ingredient. '

If you are keen to work on it, PM me and I can walk you through some of it, once you have the radio section of the dash out.