Bluetooth on Advent OGM-1: Feedback?

wottenad · December 20, 2011

Since we've sold a fair amount of these units to users in this forum, I'd like to ask for some honest feedback from those that are using the Bluetooth daily.

In my experience, the Bluetooth section is as good as any we install, but we only get to use them for a short period of time, then they are delivered to customers and we don't hear about their performance unless there's an issue, and so far there have been VERY few issues, so it looks like it's doing well.

What I'd be interested to know (and the Advent engineers as well), is what type of phone you're using, how easy it was to pair, whether your phone book synced as expected, how often you use the Bluetooth, if you use A2DP (audio streaming), where you mounted your microphone, and how you'd rate the Bluetooth for voice quality on calls and sound quality on music streaming.

Hopefully, by doing this we can get a consensus of what phones work best (and worst), where to mount the mic to get the best performance, and how you rate the overall Bluetooth experience with this deck. If you have any feature requests, throw them out there - they may not happen, but we can ask... :- )

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

Walt

PS: For what it's worth, I use an HTC Incredible 2 (Android), and it's flawless on this phone - it pairs immediately, syncs my phone book, sounds perfect on voice and music, and I almost always mount the mic at the front of the headliner near the rear view mirror. As I've said over and over - this is about the best Bluetooth experience we've ever had.

aesalazar · December 21, 2011

I am running mine with an Android - Samsung Galaxy S2 on AT&T. When connected, it works well. I have probably 200--300 contacts and they all sync flawlessly.

I mounted the mic on top of the steering wheel thinking it might be better having it so close to my face but wonder if it would be better served mounted on the mirror. Audio quality is ok - hard to expect high quality with doing a speaker phone in a moving vehicle.

I used AD2P often with Pandora mostly and it works great. Be nice to get some more feedback on the OGM screen but I am not sure how much can be done with the technology.

I will tell you about one issue. Every few days my phone will stop syncing with the OGM. I will get in, start it up, and everything is fine. Then I am driving along and all of a sudden I will get a message on the OGM saying Bluetooth Disconnected. I usually have to reboot the phone and the OGM to get them to talk again. My first phone with the OGM was an older HTC Tilt2 running MS Windows Mobile 6.5. It never showed this problem so I assume it has something to do with the S2. I have tried redoing the partnership but that didnt seem to make a difference. Kind of annoying but figured there wasnt much I could do about it.

Thanks for taking the pollWalt, nice to know they are interested in feedback. Any word on a new firmware?

Ernie

barnyard · December 21, 2011

I've only had it in for a day now, but I'll give my impressions.

I have an HTC Nexus One, also an Android phone. I have the mic mounted in the same location as you.

Pairing was easy, and contacts came across no problem.

Bluetooth streaming sounded MUCH better than the Rosen it replaced, but I still have something funny going on with the right channel, which I'm assuming is either the mid and/or tweeter's polarity is reversed(CDT CL61A).

Not being able to switch tracks with the SW controls kinda sucks!

This is kinda nitpicky, but the actual A2DP screen is, for the lack of a better term... boring? I'm new to A2DP, so is it possible to send song info or album art over A2DP?

Something weird was also happening. At high volume, the "Brake" light on the IP would blink on momentarily, and randomly. Not sure what's up with that?

I had a 12 minute call with the wife on the way home, and she immediately started complaining about background noise... I turned the mic volume down, and she said it sounded better, but was obviously having trouble hearing me.

On my end, she sounded very robotic, but understandable.

All in all, I'm happy with my purchase, as most of this can be addressed with software.

barnyard · December 22, 2011

Today I decided that I'd rather use the factory Bluetooth for hands free because the sound quality is better, and it's just integrated better with the truck. I figured this would be as easy as going to the Bluetooth options for the Advent, and un selecting "phone". Unfortunately when I do this, it totally drops the Bluetooth connection to the Advent. I tried every way I could think of to get it to work, do I gave up. I'm pretty sure it's not the phone because I was able to do it with the Rosen, although streaming music would skip and stutter if I had it connected to both the truck and the radio. Any ideas?

wottenad · December 22, 2011

Today I decided that I'd rather use the factory Bluetooth for hands free because the sound quality is better, and it's just integrated better with the truck. I figured this would be as easy as going to the Bluetooth options for the Advent, and un selecting "phone". Unfortunately when I do this, it totally drops the Bluetooth connection to the Advent. I tried every way I could think of to get it to work, do I gave up. I'm pretty sure it's not the phone because I was able to do it with the Rosen, although streaming music would skip and stutter if I had it connected to both the truck and the radio. Any ideas?

Don't have any answers right off, but I'll pose the question to the right people...

rvaz722 · January 13, 2012

I purchased the OGM-1 back in October. Installed it immediately and Love it. I use(d) the bluetooth feature daily and have my iPhone 4S connect to the unit automatically. I have been having problems lately with the bluetooth picking up my voice. The phone connects, I can use the AD2P feature and play music, and I can access my phone book and initiate a call, but the the mic is not picking up my voice. I have been trying to figure out whats causing this as it is not everytime. Some days the system works perfectly. I even went as far as pulling the unit out and double checking the mic connection (which was good).

Walt please let me know your thoughts on this. I was about to contact you directly when I saw this post. I cant determine if it is a bad mic, a problem with the iPhone 4S, or something with the bluetooth function on the OGM-1.

Edit: Forgot to mention that when the unit does work, callers state that they hear me loud and clear. I have the mic mounted above the rearview mirror (as suggested).

CPD1670 · January 13, 2012

I have the iPhone 4 and it works Flawlessly. Mic is placed behind rear view mirror (as recommended). I would like to see more info on the AD2P screen and the ability to use the steering wheel controls to answer calls.

Doug_Scott · January 13, 2012

Today I decided that I'd rather use the factory Bluetooth for hands free because the sound quality is better, and it's just integrated better with the truck. I figured this would be as easy as going to the Bluetooth options for the Advent, and un selecting "phone". Unfortunately when I do this, it totally drops the Bluetooth connection to the Advent. I tried every way I could think of to get it to work, do I gave up. I'm pretty sure it's not the phone because I was able to do it with the Rosen, although streaming music would skip and stutter if I had it connected to both the truck and the radio. Any ideas?

Are you trying to establish two bluetooth sessions, to two different sources on one cell phone? You may find that the phone is not "powerful" enough to properly support two bluetooth sessions.

barnyard · January 14, 2012

It's one connection, but in Android I have the option to connect to the Advent as either or both.

RAK80 · January 15, 2012

I have the iPhone 4S paired with the Advent unit and so far its performed flawlessly. Everyone on the other end of the call has said that it is loud and clear and I can hear them just fine. Works better than the Pioneer unit I have installed in my DD. I wish the Advent was available for an HHR.

wottenad · January 15, 2012

I purchased the OGM-1 back in October. Installed it immediately and Love it. I use(d) the bluetooth feature daily and have my iPhone 4S connect to the unit automatically. I have been having problems lately with the bluetooth picking up my voice. The phone connects, I can use the AD2P feature and play music, and I can access my phone book and initiate a call, but the the mic is not picking up my voice. I have been trying to figure out whats causing this as it is not everytime. Some days the system works perfectly. I even went as far as pulling the unit out and double checking the mic connection (which was good).

Walt please let me know your thoughts on this. I was about to contact you directly when I saw this post. I cant determine if it is a bad mic, a problem with the iPhone 4S, or something with the bluetooth function on the OGM-1.

Edit: Forgot to mention that when the unit does work, callers state that they hear me loud and clear. I have the mic mounted above the rearview mirror (as suggested).

A few things to consider:

If you haven't updated to the new firmware for the OGM-1 (10-28-11), you should.

Also, since you're on an iPhone, do a total hard reboot of the phone on a regular basis. We've seen them get funky when they haven't been rebooted for long periods of time.

You should also remove the phone pairing from the truck and the truck pairing from the phone to force them back to square one, so to speak.

I'd wager that the combination of these steps will cure your problem...