Installed Xtrons iq80A3AL (review & findings)

[ltl_nmo]

I just got my A3 Premium Plus and so in love but the RNSE was so outdated I knew the first thing was a headunit update. Doing all the research and talking to several leading memebers on here, I went with the iq80A3AL which is the 6gb RAM 128gb Storage version.
The GOOD:
Installation: One of the easiest things to wire up. I got the line converters from Xtrons, a Fakra adapter for the GPS, a dual Fakra adapter for the Antenna, and an Anti-Glare film. This thing has so many features it's silly. I recommend doing all the wiring outside of the car then pull out the factory unit then just plug into quadlock. Made it way easier to work with all the wires. I'm definitely going to be slimming down the harness though.
Speed: The unit is amazingly fast. Boot time is only a few seconds. Literally. Navigating through each app is so fast.
Connectivity: Haven't had any trouble with dropouts using CarPlay. I have the WIFI antenna attached under the MMI box because it was easy to hide there and like the idea of being able to easily remove.
Brightness: Some people complain about the brightness at night but you can just download a brightness app or better yet a launcher that has more control over brightness levels (which is what I'm sorting out)
Sound Quality: The sound quality in terms of fidelity is exactly the if not better than the RNSE from my findings. I'm still sorting through the DSP to fine tune it though. I use PLEX to play my FLAC library and it sounds really good. I depinned the Bose on #7 and the sound was ok but didn't sound like I was getting as much bass from the sub so I put it back. If you ever need a depinning tool I highly recommend a hair bobby pin and just grind down the end to make it a little sharper. I might try and depin the Bose amp again to see if I notice a difference. I'll be doing more tweaking to this to get the best results.
Aesthetics: I added an anti-glare screen to it which makes it very OEM looking. It does make it a tad blurry but I don't really care too much. This took all day to trim the film perfect but I highly recommend using a very sharp blade or just scissors.

The BAD: (HELP section)
Volume Fluctuation: The audio level/volume randomly rises and drops by about 4db. I'm still waiting on the antenna adapter so hoping that maybe this is causing interference and adding to the signal somehow. I'm also planning on simplifying the wiring and depinning the unnecessary wires and cleanly wrapping others with cloth tape to hopefully get some distance between the cables. If this doesn't solve the issue then I'm kinda out of ideas. If anyone else has had this issue let me know.
Aesthetics: The plastic surround is a touch shinier than stock plastic. Planning on removing this bezel and spraying it with plastidip to match. If anyone has a better color match let me know.
Fitment: the unit is kind of wobbly. It does have clips but they aren't super snug. I plan on adding foam tape like @jay_rs3 recommended and hopefully that makes it feel a bit more solid and less wobbly.
Handsfree: trying to route my OEM mic to the mic In on the XTRONS but looked at the stock quadlock and nothing is in Mic In + and - pins. Anyone have any input on how to wire this up. Pretty new to this car but it had/has the RNSE/BOSE/Handsfree calling package. Am I looking in the wrong place for the OEM Mic wires? Where does the OEM mic end up connecting to?
Illumination: the panel LED's do not dim with the illumination wheel. Pretty sure this is controlled via CANBUS but not really sure how to wire that up. Looking for suggestions.
OBDEleven Connectivity: OBDEleven won't appear on the Devices list in the app nor does it appear in Bluetooth devices. I kinda have some leads on why this is the case but this is bugging the hell out of me. I'm going to be contacting customer support and see what they recommend. I saw someone on YouTube pairing it up to an Android Unit so I'm sure it's possible. Anyone have any recommendations for solutions?
Overcomplicated wiring: While its super easy to just snap a few of these connectors together there are alot of things not plugged into anything. This bothers me and wondering it I'm losing functionality because of it. The entire C: Ext Control Connector is not plugged into anything.

Overall if these things get sorted out I would highly highly recommend the unit. Please let me know if you have any suggestions on solving these minor issues.

 

[ltl_nmo]

Doing some research and think that the erratic volume up and down has something to do with Bose AudioPilot as of This thread. Also that Bose pin 7 won't do anything on the headunit since it's not being triggered anyway. So I'm going to try changing coding in OBDeleven to stop AudioPilot or disconnecting the onboard Bluetooth module altogether or disconnecting the Mic and seeing what works best to solve it. It only occurs when the car is idle or going slow. When at a constant speed it stabilizes at one volume which leads me to believe the volume is trying to be adjusted automatically which throws off the signal to the amp which creates an even more noticeable fluctuation.

Also some things I notice is that CarPlay directions or notifications will stop the music audio instead of lowering the volume on it. I'm sure there is a way to change this but can't figure out how. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

I feel like I'm being really critical and anal about the details but if I can get these all sorted out and posted so everyone can make this upgrade with all the issues sorted because there isn't a great solution to modernize the nav and audio functions of the vehicle thusfar.

I'm also planning on adding a reverse cam with the Q7 retrofit using the OEM cam. It looks like there is a signal cable via FAKRA and another Power Cable. Is there anything that would prohibit direct wiring this to the XTRONS unit? Thinking of just using a FAKRA extension to the Unit then wiring the power to the Rear Camera ACC or Reverse Camera Control Camera. Not sure which one would do the trick yet to turn on the camera during reverse and provide proper power.

I also depinned the CVBS IN 1 & 2, Video Out RCAs, and SIM card slot to simply the wiring some more as well.

 

[ltl_nmo]

Lots of progress on the XTRONS.

Volume Fluctiation Solved: it was the AudioPilot. I removed the AP mic in the dome and it resolved issue. Going to do the pin 6-24bridge when I’m installing reverse cam to eliminate the 3 beeps on startup.
More Simplification: I have now removed a good chunk of things that simply won’t be used. I only plan on staying with the Bose system so don’t need sub out or the non canbus connections. Also, if you use the Line Out Conversion kit you don’t need any of the Speaker In RCAs. Attached is what I’ve removed thus far.

BOSE Pin 7: I took one of the ground wires that are spliced into the main ground to the XTRONS unit then put it into the second quadlock and put the B connector into that Quadlock. This ground wire also had two other grounds spliced to RCA’s that weren’t being used. Now pin 7 is Grounded. I think it sounds much cleaner.

XTRONS Wrong Wiring: when I would be in DSP and adjusting balance for the front it was opposite. Looking at the line level converter harness I noticed the FR and FL wires were in reverse order. Red wires should be on top going to connector C.

OBD ELEVEN: Still no joy on connectivity on Bluetooth. Wip

Reverse Camera Install: I have the OEM trunk handle from a Q7 and camera on the way. Ordering a FAKRA extension and the VW/AUDI connectors to make a harness. Coming off the XTRONS main harness is a Orange and Black cable labeled Reverse-IN. This wire sends a 12v signal when in reverse which I will be using for Power. I’m trying to think how I want to make a harness for the ground and power so it looks very OEM.

Overall this thing is banging. You just have to put in a little work looking at the diagrams. I plan on simplifying even more and putting eliminating the line level harness altogether and making it all on one harness to eliminate the bulk.

 

[ltl_nmo]

Navigation Volume Solved: CarPlay volume as well as standard Nav volume is all controlled in the Settings>Car>Navigation. Turn Switch to Mix for Music volume to lower. Play around with mix settings. I put mine to -10 on the mix.

 

[ltl_nmo]

HU Harness & Rear Cam Connector Completed: Finished tidying up the wiring behind the head unit. I ran the Bose 7 ground wire from the RF Filter board and cut a small hole in the case to match and it came out nice. Then wired up the reverse cam connector to the harness and cloth taped it to match OEM. Came out super clean. I will be designing a holder for the impedance converters and Canbus decoder that will move them to just above the empty space above the XTRONS body because if the impedance converters get close to the HVAC panel electronics it starts picking up a lot of RF. When I do that I will also run some better wiring, make some better RCA’s, and replace the crappy female RCA terminals in the impedance converters. Attached are pics of the work.

Waiting on reverse cam and remaining connector to arrive in a few days to finish making the harness’, pin the connectors, and run the wiring. I’ll be bridging 6&24 at the amp as well during this time while I’m back there.

 

[rabbit85]

Great job my friend. I have xtrons unit (PSD80A3Al) for audi a3 (bose), and i connected only the main plug from the unit with RCA's. I didn't receive in the package the RF filters. The sound quality is very good, except the background hissing noise when i touch the display, or the volume is low. Also in the subwoofer i hear the voice, not only bass sound. Did you resolve these problems? I would like to know where did you get the home screen dedicated for audi, it is awesome!!!

 

[ltl_nmo]

If you don’t have the impedance converters you will definitely get noise. I am about to upgrade my converters to Kickers to get a better signal to noise ratio. You could do the same but it takes a little bit more than plug and play. I highly recommend getting the converters to eliminate the whine and hiss. You have to order it separately. I also recommend to pour some hot glue over your AudioPilot mic in the upper dome or disconnect it.

Not too sure how to get rid of the voice but it probably has a lot to do with not having the converters. Also might need to use some proper EQ. In the DSP I have mine with the Loud mode in with the sliders in the lowest position. Then I have the Filter on and set to 100hz. This seems to filter out frequencies to the fronts and only send lower to rear and activates the Bose EQ to make only the lower frequencies go to the Sub. I’ll take pics of all my settings here in a minute.

To get the Audi logo and stuff I use Agama Launcher that you can use for free or full version paid in the Play Store. Then customize the colors to match everything in the Agama settings.

 

[ltl_nmo]

These are the DSP settings I’ve come to find sound the best for the music I listen to.

 

[rabbit85]

I see this version has an improved graphic. Also i see it displays the battery level. I'm convinced that these filters will eliminate the noise because i tried last week with one K-28 filter which is similar on the front speakers and the noise disappear, but the volume was very weak almost like headphones, and that little black box boost the volume. Thank you for your support and i hope I will handle it.

 

[rabbit85]

 

[ltl_nmo]

oh yea I see the PSD80A3Al runs a different firmware. I wouldn't know where to start on tuning this version. But I can say that if the volume is super low with the converters they should have a potentiometer to turn up the gain but you will get more noise as well.

To tune that I would probably turn all gains down to 0 then work from there to get the correct loudness you want then try and do some tuning to get the Sub to do only low frequencies. I don't know if this XTRONS unit has as much DSP ability though to do that.

 

[rabbit85]

I have got install the new harness. The noise when touching the screen dissappeared, also no whine noise from alternator, I forgot to mention. But now is some hiss noise when the volume is low. I thought the k-28 filters will solve this but there are simple balance filters between left and right. If I solder the RCA's cables then I will disconnect the AudioPilot the noise will be gone or will be lower?

 

[rabbit85]

Ok, I misunderstood. I figured out all connections, no RCA cables now. I see the BOSE pin no. 7 on your pictures, but where does it come from?

 

[ryan806]

I am having trouble getting another head unit connected to my A3 at the moment, after reading your write up the Xtrons unit looks decent.

My A3 has the Bose sound system, is it easy to wire up and get everything working?

Thanks

 

[rabbit85]

Yes, these xtrons units works pretty well on bose system. I don't know how other units behave with this system, but itself bose is a complicated factory system. Many users had problems with rear speakers on bose system when mounting aftermarket units. The wiring is not so complicated. Initially the unit came with a lot of RCA's wires connected in a plug between the android unit and the main plug of the car. The sound in this case was awful with a lot of background noise and alternator noise. After a while i wrote to xtrons in Germany. So they decide to send a plug with 2 impedance converters. After this i had to remove the RCA's type connection, so this connection will be no longer useful. After mounting the plug there is no alternator noise and i was able to adjust the power of the sound from the two adjuster screw from the filters. At the same time, along with adjusting the amplification sound, 98% of hissing sound from bose amplifier is eliminated, and the sound will be very clear, and the bass a little bit higher than the RNS factory unit.
RNS-E VS ANDROID

 

[rabbit85]

Update. After 2.5 years the unit died. Crashing and freezing when try to access bluetooth menu. Trying reset and worked about 1 week, then after, the problems come back. After this i will ignore the units with only 2GB of RAM. They are lazy and i think in time the stress would spread on other components of the unit.

 

[ltl_nmo]

Get the new version with the narrow screen. I just got it and it’s amazing. No sound issues. No adapters. Nothing. Just works

 

[Matt_E]

Get the new version with the narrow screen. I just got it and it’s amazing. No sound issues. No adapters. Nothing. Just works

 

[Matt_E]

Hi everyone. Very informative post. Do you know the Model number you say to get with narrow screen. Or do you mean a new single din version?

 

[ltl_nmo]

ia82aa3lh is the model. I did a write up on it here https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/xtrons-ia82aa3lh-review-findings.442210/

 

[rabbit85]

Get the new version with the narrow screen. I just got it and it’s amazing. No sound issues. No adapters. Nothing. Just works

Very interesting case of this model. Probably the cooling is better. Did you hear some voice in the subwoofer, besides the bass? In my case the hi-low filters are indispensable because of static noise and alternator noise. Please take care when you want to clean the climate system. The air vents are not properly sealed and there is a risk that the cleaning agent can reach into the unit and one major cause of the failure are high temperatures above the 80c. On the flat units the is a way to hang a 80mm fan by connecting it to the 4 pin usb (12v)
cooling android unit

 

[vrdubb02]

I have a question for you. How were you able to remove your previous headunit...I followed your write up and noticed that the unit didnt have the slots for the removal tool. I am looking at a unit that also does not have the slots so I wanted to know what kind of hassle I was going to have to deal with.