RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7 + Amplifier installation

This unit is the RD4 or RD45 system, made by Continental.
Usually standard equipment unless another system is specified as an option. There are Single & Dual Tuner versions. RD45 features over the RD4: The RD45 has USB connectivity & integrated Bluetooth module supporting Phone & Audio Streaming.

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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Ok, so the Grey connector is the Powered one (GR) and 8406 on the wiring diagram. The other aerial White (BA) and or Red (RG) are 8404 and are not powered. I don't want to say try it and find that the powered one bricks the unit!
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by EDC5 »

Ok, thanks for checking.

So far I have tried the white connector on "active Aeriel" with poor signal

Now I am currently using the grey one on "Active aerial" As it gives better signal.

Maybe I should try the white one again but set the diagbox setting to passive? Maybe this causes the radio to do its own amplification and not rely on the external unit?

Not to be cheeky but do you know what the setting should be in a DS3 or something with only the one white connector?
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Yep, connect the white one in and set the option of aerial no 2 as 'passive' as that unit is the single tuner one. But you must leave setting aerial No 1 as 'Active'. This is the only value that must be entered here.
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by EDC5 »

Wow! And just like that I have crystal clear sound!

Many thanks!!!!
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by GiveMeABreak »

👍
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by EDC5 »

Just an update:

After much research I decided to install my own cable between the roof console and the RD45.

I gave up looking for the 'Hands Free Kit' component, decided that it would be too much work to dissassemble the entire dash.

In the end the A-Pillar trim came away easily enough to allow me to thread a cable behind the dash, I then used a nut extractor to grab it from the cavity behind the Monochrome screen trim, from there it was easy to pass to the back of the radio and to the roof console. The most difficult bit was soldering in the car.

But in the end it works well, and the cable I used is going to be much better than the stupid flat cable alread installed.

As a nice bonus, pressing the left stalk in activates Siri on my iPhone which is great!

Cheers for looking those diagrams up, the were useful at least for sorting out the antenna issue!
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Well done, cracking result! At least there's slightly more room in the X7 over previous models for this sort of thing!
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by EDC5 »

Yeah, its surprisingly roomy behind the dash to be honest, I didn’t lose too much skin from my knuckles!

Even changing the cabin air filter yesterday wasn’t as harrowing as first expected, so far so good with this car (touch wood)

I regret not taking any pics to make some sort of guide now, although I'm guessing most people upgrade to the nav based radios rather than the RD45 so it wouldn’t be entirely relevant.

Just one thing, in the diagbox pages there is an option to "de-install RD4" and another option to "install RD45". I haven't bothered to change any of these as everything seems to work ok as is... is it worth changing? maybe it informs the BSI about some setting or other?
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by GiveMeABreak »

That option is generally used to change ir install a unit and should be done to ensure it knows what is connected. Just always make a note of any existing values before changing. You can always put it back if it gets upset, but probably won't.
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by EDC5 »

Okay, cheers, I'll do that tomorrow.
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by mr_maras »

Dear collegues,
I am in long-term process of upgrading the Blaupunkt RD4 N2 to Continental RD45 unit (with only one, white aerial). I just installed new radio in the car, paired with telephone (iPhone 5S iOS 10.3.2) and used music streaming option. I was quite dissatisfied due to some noise scratches in high sound spectrum (opposite to the bass) when playing some rock songs. For example, when in the song we have a percussion sound, it is being kind of hm... deformed. I paired another device (Samsung Galaxy S3) and I have same effect. Did you have any experience with this kind of "sound inconvenience" when using bluetooth streaming? Thank you.
Best Regards!
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by GiveMeABreak »

The RD45 is not a brilliant audio system to be honest, add the issues with bluetooth streaming (signal interference) and the bluetooth profiles probably being newer on your phone than the head unit and it's not hard to see how the quality will suffer. Some here have changed their speakers as the best solution, short of a C5-specific Audio upgrade. See here:
https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... hp?t=50718
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by EDC5 »

In my experience, the RD45 seems OK so far, I'm using an iPhone 7 but the RD45 is from a new-ish DS3 (so it may have more up to date BT profiles?)

I haven't yet had any Bluetooth related issues and it seems to stream OK, no crackle etc. I prefer my music quite bass heavy so I probably wouldn't notice the loss of fidelity at high frequencies (could this not be corrected with the equaliser?)

I definitely intend to change the speakers in the future if I can muster the courage to take the door apart.....

Just one thing, I seem to remember different output options on the Diagbox tool for the RD45, is it possible to output line level audio for an amp?
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by mr_maras »

I performed some small trial. I used two songs to compare the audio quality between CD and Bluetooth streaming:
1) Infected Mushroom - Heavyweight
2) Rev Theory - Hell Yeah
When using CD player there is a brilliant music quality in comparison to bluetooth (source was Spotify Premium, best possible quality without equaliser). RD45 is playing significantly better than my previous device (Blaupunkt RD4). I would love to stay with my current (stock) speakers becouse they meets expectations when playing from CD. What is more, my Rd45 is probably coming from DS3 too. I will check that on the radio's label.

Regarding to Diagbox - I am still waiting for a delivery of my connection interface...
Best Regards!
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Re: RD45 questions + Microphone installation C5 X7

Post by EDC5 »

That’s very interesting, I have never actually played a CD in my RD45 :lol:

I would suggest comparing the Bluetooth quality to the USB quality, that way you are comparing two compressed audio sources instead of the uncompressed CD.

What audio settings do you have on the RD45, is loudness on? how about bass and treble settings? these are set separately for each music source.

I will try a CD soon and compare to the same song on USB.
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