Custom hidden mic bracket for aftermarket head unit
 

So, I bought a Kenwood head unit to replace the factory system because I *REALLY* like wireless AirPlay and was disappointed to find there’s no way to interface with the factory mic. GPS? Yup. Camera? Yup. Steering wheel controls? Yup. But no goddamn mic adapter.

There’s plenty of writeups on how to locate and route the wires for an aftermarket mic in the factory location in the overhead console so I won’t get into that. What there *isn’t* is a decent bracket to hold those mics in the factory location.

Until now, lol.

I’m constantly in awe of the quality of some of the hacks here, so I had to bring my A-game. I took everything apart and thoroughly measured it all up and came up with a solid solution that isn't janky or cobbed together...

Overhead console with the factory mic:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...529a6f4055.jpg

My 3D printed brackets, fresh off the printer. I designed them as open as possible to make sure the side facing mic openings weren’t obscured, and the upper mic bore is ovalized to give it a little spring pressure and hold on to varying diameters better:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...37c23d977c.jpg

Fitted in the console:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...266d75b96b.jpg

Fitted to the mic (sorry for the dark pic, I did this after work tonight):
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2d2bdd7ee7.jpg

Mated up (again, sorry it got dark after work):
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2dd454ae55.jpg

And reassembled. The blue isn’t visible without the flash and the mic is perfectly centered in the opening:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...90c5e575ce.jpg

Seems to work great. Everyone I called said I sounded clear and not muffled. Siri works as well as ever (faint praise, at best).

It’s designed around a Kenwood mic, but should work for any mic with about a 0.525” outside diameter. PM me if you want the STL file to print yourself. I wouldn't recommend printing this on an FDM printer as many of the cross sections have to be fairly thin to make it all work. I have an SLA machine, and that works pretty well. I'm sure you can get one printed at any of the online places.

Josh

Awesome write up with the custom mic mount!

I like it.

Awesome! Mine just sits on the headliner and I've been wanting to move it to the overhead console.

Innovative, useful and well written. Five stars.


And an extra star because I had no idea where the factory mic was and now I know.

Glad to see a 3d printer making something other than toys.

Question tho. Do you ditch the factory mic? Why not just drill out the factory housing for it and hot glue the new mic in. Then all you have to do is snap it back in.

Neat project tho. Maybe you should make a black one so you can't see it through the vent. It bothers my OCD.

Yeah, I the factory mic is in a big ol' pile of parts I've taken off the car modifying it, lol. It's a rectangular box with a hinge in the middle so it would probably fall apart if you drilled it. And I wanted a design that wouldn't obscure the lateral pickups on the Kenwood mic.

Plus, I just like designing and making new stuff. (It's my day job too, lol)

You can't actually see the bracket at all once it's installed unless you specifically shine a light into the openings. Either that, or I ran out of black resin for my printer, lol. Pick one. ; )

Ran mine in the same spot for my Alpine ILX-F309FRN, works perfect.

Got mine in. I had to wrap tape around my Pioneer mic because it wasn't large enough to fit in the hole heehee but it worked out fine. I also used tape as straps to make it more secure. It looks a million times better. @Dr. Monkeypants

so uhhhh where can I get the plans for this? or do you sell these?

Same question here! I do not have a 3D printer, but see myself needing one of these.

Not to be a mooch, but would you be willing to post the .stl for this?

Anyone with the file and a printer want to sell one ?

What head unit did you go with? Pics of your setup would be great too!!