BUILT: Digital Factory Infotainment Integration for ELS Studio

[Ash @ S2i Audio]

Good questions, I'll address them individually:

1) T-Harness - right now, I don't have plans to continue development of this SKU. As the company has evolved in my mind and through feedback, the identity of S2i is really tied to digital integration rather than just being another harness manufacturer. This could change if there's an overwhelming community ask for a solo T-harness solution, but it's not the case right now.

2) Version that can work with factory amp - this is an interesting idea for sure and it sounds novel on its face, but the reality is that it would cost as much if not slightly more to manufacture because it needs to "grab" the factory digital signals an also pass them on unbroken to the amp. Then you have to choose which speaker signals to inject back in so the harness side of things would be more complex (= $$). None of this is technologically problematic, but the use case and argument for its existence starts to shrink really fast and just doesn't make a lot of business or user sense. There might be one or two people who would want this for every 100 who would just go full digital if anything at all.

The time alignment and phase thing is solvable, but it would add a layer of competency required by the installer to get right. Every little bit of added "expertise" required increases the friction of the device and makes it that much less appealing of a product to an end user.


That all said, the inquiries I'm getting the most about are the 2026 cars, and that is why I am putting A2B as the top R&D item in my pipeline. To answer your "why not 2026 cars" question: it's because in 2026MY Honda has added Google integration directly into the head unit almost as an OS, and for it to work it needs a high bandwidth bus, namely A2B protocol. Think of it as a more advanced CANBUS specifically for infotainment and audio. It will require a whole new product development for me to decode (basically starting from scratch) but once I do, I will be able to support these cars in exactly the same way as the current generation.

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[Victorofhavoc]

2026MY Honda has added Google integration directly into the head unit almost as an OS

I love android auto, but I detest automakers doing this. It's a very frustrating experience in other platforms (Volvo more than anything). Not just for audio, but for literally everything else. Sadly, with how most automakers are slow to roll updates (Honda being one of the worst), it means in a few short years the cars will be all too easily hackable again. Good for aftermarket, but bad for generally everything else.

I get why they're doing it... Same as the digital dash here, it's just cheaper for them longer term.

That said, with more os standardization across makes do you see yourself building for other platforms as well?

 

[Ash @ S2i Audio]

I'm with you. To me, AA is more than good enough and I'd rather see it developed further than full Google integration for the reasons you state. I get how full auto-level integration gives you things like voice control but I *hate* voice control for car functions. Give me knobs and controls please. I drive with the windows down anytime I can and the wind noise relegates voice control useless. having it as an option is fine, but removing buttons because it's there is a trend I loathe.

As for your last question, it's less the Google standardization than the massive adoption I'm seeing of A2B that will be an advantage for new product development. That said. A2B is a protocol and not a standard, so different automakers' control schemas will still be unique to them. So solving for Honda doesn't automatically mean you've solved for Tesla. But, the lessons learned from one should help incrementally with the other... it's just debatable by how much.

i'll know more when I dig deep into it...

 

[acurax]

So, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Android, or Chrome OS has been the underlying OS since at least 2024. How do I know? I know because I went into the settings menu found the build number and tapped it 7 times to enable developer options, which it did, but it also caused some issue with the backup camera and the only way to resolve that issue was to do a full reset of the audio unit back to factory specs. I did not attempt to connect my laptop into the USB port and bring up Android Studio, but it's possible I may have been able to dig into it a bit more. That said, I don't recommend trying that for yourself, but if you do be warned it may cause issues.

That's not to say something didn't change with 2026, just that Android/Chrome OS isn't new.

 

[Ash @ S2i Audio]

Whether or not that's the case (and I have no reason to disagree) the "Google Built In" feature set that Honda is including on the 2026 premium systems does a lot more than what the OS alone does. And that's what has necessitates the new communication bus that's relevant to this generation change in technology.

 

[acurax]

Whether or not that's the case (and I have no reason to disagree) the "Google Built In" feature set that Honda is including on the 2026 premium systems does a lot more than what the OS alone does. And that's what has necessitates the new communication bus that's relevant to this generation change in technology.

Yeah, it sounds like they incorporated some custom components in to this build of the OS that weren't previously included, much like what is done with other Android/Chrome OS devices.

 

[Ash @ S2i Audio]

Hard to say one way or another without being on the engineering team whether it's just new APKs or much more fundamental than that. But it's pretty pervasive - I saw a video from china I think, showing the ability to control vehicle cabin temperature with voice commands on a new Honda model. That's more than just an app dropped into the build, obviously.

 

[acurax]

Hard to say one way or another without being on the engineering team whether it's just new APKs or much more fundamental than that. But it's pretty pervasive - I saw a video from china I think, showing the ability to control vehicle cabin temperature with voice commands on a new Honda model. That's more than just an app dropped into the build, obviously.

Yeah, being opensource it's not uncommon to have something that's included at compile time. That's one of the challenges when working with these OS' since they can also omit features included in the original build and, in some cases, substitute their own comparable feature in its place.

 

[goobax]

Any update with the helix conductor being possible? No biggie if not, I have the helix URC.1 on the way.

 

[Ash @ S2i Audio]

Any update with the helix conductor being possible? No biggie if not, I have the helix URC.1 on the way.

Thanks for the reminder! I'm going to look into it now. It should be feasible but since I don't have a helix test unit on hand you would need to verify the functionality (I will give you a wiring diagram to follow).

That said, since you mentioned the URC.1 on the way, what is your intended use for the Conductor - just for bass volume control or more than that (I had assumed the latter).

 

[crash1340]

Good questions, I'll address them individually:

1) T-Harness - right now, I don't have plans to continue development of this SKU. As the company has evolved in my mind and through feedback, the identity of S2i is really tied to digital integration rather than just being another harness manufacturer. This could change if there's an overwhelming community ask for a solo T-harness solution, but it's not the case right now.

2) Version that can work with factory amp - this is an interesting idea for sure and it sounds novel on its face, but the reality is that it would cost as much if not slightly more to manufacture because it needs to "grab" the factory digital signals an also pass them on unbroken to the amp. Then you have to choose which speaker signals to inject back in so the harness side of things would be more complex (= $$). None of this is technologically problematic, but the use case and argument for its existence starts to shrink really fast and just doesn't make a lot of business or user sense. There might be one or two people who would want this for every 100 who would just go full digital if anything at all.

The time alignment and phase thing is solvable, but it would add a layer of competency required by the installer to get right. Every little bit of added "expertise" required increases the friction of the device and makes it that much less appealing of a product to an end user.


That all said, the inquiries I'm getting the most about are the 2026 cars, and that is why I am putting A2B as the top R&D item in my pipeline. To answer your "why not 2026 cars" question: it's because in 2026MY Honda has added Google integration directly into the head unit almost as an OS, and for it to work it needs a high bandwidth bus, namely A2B protocol. Think of it as a more advanced CANBUS specifically for infotainment and audio. It will require a whole new product development for me to decode (basically starting from scratch) but once I do, I will be able to support these cars in exactly the same way as the current generation.

Ahh I didn't know they went to A2B on the 2026s, that makes sense that it would require some re-work.

The question/proposal I had about just tee-ing off the factory signal, as I would love to use it, would not require any re-injection of a speaker signal back into the harness, it would be more of just tapping the signal and volume controls to send back to an aftermarket DSP, and new wiring would be run as needed to each individual driver that is installed from that point. Basically just a tee-off of the factory digital signal and volume control without involving any of the stock speaker wiring, if that makes sense. It was an idea I had thought about, mainly for adding a subwoofer without dealing with the entire system replacement OR having to deal with the stock amp EQ/crossovers and frequency rolloff. Perhaps?

I guess I'm also realizing now that having a stock amp dealing with the mids and highs and most of the midbass and an aftermarket amp dealing with just the bass, but having two almost arbitrary gain levels would not be great for integration, and I don't know how they could be matched. Maybe there's some way to tap not only the digital signal for audio but also front speaker output as some sort of gain reference? I'm just talking out of my ass here I have no idea how any of this actually works

 

[ABPDE5]

How many active amplified channels does the stock system have? Are the front and rear door setups independent or in series?

 

[Ash @ S2i Audio]

On the ELS equipped Integras: 16 speakers and 12 channels.

The parallel speakers are the front upper door mids + a pillar tweeters, and the rear door woofers + tweeters. The rest are independent.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

On the ELS equipped Integras: 16 speakers and 12 channels.

The parallel speakers are the front upper door mids + a pillar tweeters. And the rear door woofers + tweeters. The rest are independent.

Does your add on allow for any channel control/normalization or is it just intended for an aftermarket amp?

I really don't like the els, but I also really don't want to go through the hassle of replacing all the speakers and finding stuff that fits appropriately. I suspect the drivers aren't horrendous since certain volumes seem to be okay, but I think the eq is awful and like you said, the scaling...

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Ahh I didn't know they went to A2B on the 2026s, that makes sense that it would require some re-work.

The question/proposal I had about just tee-ing off the factory signal, as I would love to use it, would not require any re-injection of a speaker signal back into the harness, it would be more of just tapping the signal and volume controls to send back to an aftermarket DSP, and new wiring would be run as needed to each individual driver that is installed from that point. Basically just a tee-off of the factory digital signal and volume control without involving any of the stock speaker wiring, if that makes sense. It was an idea I had thought about, mainly for adding a subwoofer without dealing with the entire system replacement OR having to deal with the stock amp EQ/crossovers and frequency rolloff. Perhaps?

I guess I'm also realizing now that having a stock amp dealing with the mids and highs and most of the midbass and an aftermarket amp dealing with just the bass, but having two almost arbitrary gain levels would not be great for integration, and I don't know how they could be matched. Maybe there's some way to tap not only the digital signal for audio but also front speaker output as some sort of gain reference? I'm just talking out of my ass here I have no idea how any of this actually works

If I'm understanding what you're asking, I believe a high current input amp would do what you're asking. They essentially allow the factory wires to plug in and then it scales the power up and down with the factory scaling, but then you further adjust at the aftermarket amp for (typically) additional power.

That said, the limit is still the factory scaling sucks. However, if you're typically at one or two consistent volumes (and most of us probably are), you'd just set those the way you like and compromise the rest...

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