DogTaco

I had the same questions when I installed Sirius on my D2. I couldn't believe how bad the sound quality was - sounded like AM radio. I've been looking for the answer to the same question and everything I've heard thus far is pretty consistent...unfortunately what you're hearing is about as good as it gets.

 

On my unit the FM radio sounds night and day better than Sirius. I really can't even listen to the music stations but I'll probably keep the membership anyway just for the talk radio (added my unit to a buddy's plan for $6.99/mo). The other thing I had a hard time understanding was the interface - pathetic. I still haven't bothered to figure out how that thing works.

 

Sorry - wish there was a better answer!

I posted on the Sirius interface a while back...do a search for my name and you'll find it.

I am VERY dissappointed with the Sirius add-on to the D2. I like the programming on Sirius much better than XM's but the interface is absolutely worthless. There are basically 4 buttons you can use on the Sirius screen...present, band, seek up, and seek down...THAT'S IT! You can't pull up a screen of the categories to choose - you have to actually scroll through each one. You can't even type in a channel number...that's probably the thing that annoys me the most. So if you're listening to a program and they say "tune into Sirius 159 for more info" there is no way to do it unless you find the exact name of the station and the category beforehand in a program guide.

I still like the programming and the fact that I can listen to it non-stop on an 1100 mile road trip. I just can't believe a company as big as Pioneer allowed something this pathetic in their product line.

[quote name="sbkim"]Greetings and thank you so much for the great forum!

I just ordered AVIC D2 and am considering adding a DVD player to link in via AV cable. I spent last few days searching for an affordable DVD player to link with AVIC (not via proprietary cable) and I found nothing but no name brands (mostly on ebay). Can anyone recommend a good unit - I guess I can careless whether it's a high profile brand or not as long as it works well. So far, I've found brands like Boss, Audiovox, Pyle, offering standalone DVD player that might work with AVIC D2.

Your thoughts?

Thank you[/quote]

Hey sbkim,

Not sure if this helps but I just installed my D2 and had the same questions. I didn't want to spend the $500+ for the Pioneer 6-disc unit and didn't have another DIN space to mount a DVD player anyway so I went with an iPod instead.

There's another thread about the iPod video cable I bought...I got it off eBay for $50 and it charges the iPod while displaying audio and video. The way I look at it, an 80GB iPod Video can hold WAY more movies and music than a 6 disc changer and is much easier to manage. In addition, a company just released a DVD conversion program that allows you to transfer nearly any movie into iPod format for viewing on the unit itself or on another monitor.

Just a thought if you hadn't considered that!

[quote name="DogTaco"] [quote name="sportsfan21"]http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2204

Another thread on the crappy functionality of the Sirius tuner. You just told us why the XM interface is so good and the Sirius sucks:
[quote]However, that being said, if there's really no way to change the Sirius interface, XM might get another subscriber in the very near future.[/quote]

XM paid Pioneer so that XM has all the functionality so that people switch over to XM, like you are thinking about doing.

I agree with you on the RDS. My friends $100 cheepo stereo has it, whereas my $1500 nav system doesn't?!?! Thats just not fair :evil:[/quote][/quote]

And...If I have to listen to Howard Stern talking one more time about how he has single handedly brought 5 million listeners to Sirius and XM is dead I might go ahead and cancel Sirius anyway (not to mention the fact that I would at least have the option of the extra XM traffic and weather features).

Anyone know if I can replace the Sirius tuner with the XM module and use the same cables?

[quote name="sportsfan21"]http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2204

Another thread on the crappy functionality of the Sirius tuner. You just told us why the XM interface is so good and the Sirius sucks:
[quote]However, that being said, if there's really no way to change the Sirius interface, XM might get another subscriber in the very near future.[/quote]

XM paid Pioneer so that XM has all the functionality so that people switch over to XM, like you are thinking about doing.

I agree with you on the RDS. My friends $100 cheepo stereo has it, whereas my $1500 nav system doesn't?!?! Thats just not fair :evil:[/quote]

Thanks...gave that thread a read and doesn't look like I'm alone. That's really too bad that they went so bare-bones with the Sirius interface. I was hoping I was doing something wrong - I just can't believe something like that could even make it into production.

Quick update here...

Finally got the D2 installed last week along with the Sirius tuner and the iPod interface cable mentioned above in this thread (this one [url=http://cgi.ebay.com/5G-Video-iPod-Pioneer-AVIC-D1-AVIC-D2-AVIC-Z1-AVH-P7800_W0QQitemZ200035631178QQihZ010QQcategoryZ58350QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem]http://cgi.ebay.com/5G-Video-iPod-Pione ... dZViewItem[/url]).

I just posted a brief review of the Sirius tuner (not overly impressed) but wanted to give some feedback on the iPod video cable as well. First of all, Tommy at MBTech was AWESOME to work with and comes VERY highly recommended. I had a bit of a time crunch with the install and contacted Tommy 2 days before I needed the cable. He was very responsive and worked with me to have this thing out to me the following day by next-day service and it arrived about 2 hours before leaving to the shop - excellent service from an eBay merchant.

The tech that installed my system (Newport CA) did an EXCELLENT job as well (PM me if you need an installer and I'll give you his contact info) and he knew exactly what to do with this cable. The results? Better than I had anticipated. The cable is great - very high quality and looks like a genuine iPod accessory. The iPod charges while in use and the video feed is excellent. I don't have the iPod Video yet but I did test this with my 60GB iPod photo and it's PERFECT. It's a bit odd to be watching a photo-slideshow to music while in your [i]car[/i]. I can't wait to get my hands on an 80 GB iPod Video and start the car-movie collection.

For anyone looking for a charging iPod alternative to the Pioneer accessory - definitely give this a look. You can't actually control the iPod through the deck but the photo, video, and charging features are a great convenience.

Thanks to all the help on this forum I finally got my D2 installed along with the Sirius tuner and iPod hookup (I'll post about the iPod cable in another thread).

I'm working on a full review of the entire D2 system but was wondering if I could first tap the Sirius knowledge base here to see what's up with my tuner.

All in all, I love the satellite radio feature. Driving 16 hours from CA to Denver in the middle of the night through nothing but desert and having crystal clear reception the entire time is incredible (didn't even need to use the iPod). However, the interface through the D2 is [b]absolutely pathetic[/b]. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong...if anything...and the manual has all of 2 pages dedicated to the Sirius tuner. I was expecting there to be some sort of channel "guide" or listing on the screen of the D2 that would allow me to access the different categories by simply pressing that button (i.e. news, comedy, rock, etc). [i]At the very least [/i]I was expecting to be able to enter a channel number with a numeric keypad...but it won't even let me do this (which presented a problem with the Sirius agent told me to go to channel 184 to activate...and I couldn't figure out how). In order to select a station you have to actually "seek" the [b]entire[/b] Sirius catalog (over 100 channels) until you find a channel you like and then set it as a preset. To make matters worse, you can't even change the names of the presets from "preset 1" to "Howard Stern" or something more easily remembered (something which even my late 80's receiver will allow). As a result, I actually have no idea which channels I even have on my sat radio because I really can't figure out where they all are. I can scroll through categories by pushing up and down on the joystick, but once in a category I really have no idea how many channels are in there unless I simply seek through all the channels until coming back upon the one I started on. Am I doing something wrong here? There MUST be an easier way here. What's up with all the channel logos I've seen on this forum? Are those reserved only for XM subscribers? Why the huge discrepency between the XM and Sirius functionality. My problem is that I want the Sirius programming but the XM interface.

The 2nd issue I have with the tuner is the sound quality...something I believe might actually be something wrong with my system. In my vehicle, the AM/FM radio sounds WAY better than the Sirius radio (that SuperTuner IIID really is amazing). The Sirius sound quality is somewhere between that of AM and FM whereas the terestrial radio quality is between FM and Digital. Anyone experiencing the same thing?

And just one more aside...no RDS on the radio? Come on...this is a $1500.00 system. At the very least give us the option to name the radio presets alpha-numerically!

Overall I'm still happy with satellite radio in general - as it gave me a variety of programming where no radio could ever be. However, that being said, if there's really no way to change the Sirius interface, XM might get another subscriber in the very near future.

Thanks Jason,

Only reason I wanted it is because it's free! I agree that Satellite is a better alternative and I'm looking forward to trying out the Sirius system.

Thanks for the help.

Are any of the AVIC units compatible with HD-Radio? I've seen this on a variety of newer inexpensive CD players but haven't seen mention of this anywhere on the Pioneer site.

Thanks for all the info - this is good stuff.

I assume there wouldn't be a problem using this adapter with a 3G or 4G iPod (i.e. without video)? I'm going to pick one of those up off eBay.

I ordered the D2 with Sirius just the other day. I'm going to get this cable from eBay...anything else I should order to be ready for install?

[quote name="quest"]I bought this. It charges and sends audio and video. Seemed like a good solution withg the pioneer unit beign so slow.

[url=http://cgi.ebay.com/5G-Video-iPod-Pioneer-AVIC-N1-AVIC-N2-AVIC-N3-AVH-P7500_W0QQitemZ200030071149QQihZ010QQcategoryZ58350QQtcZphotoQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem]http://cgi.ebay.com/5G-Video-iPod-Pione ... dZViewItem[/url][/quote]

That seems like a great solution - I wonder how it charges from the RCA jacks?

Have you received it yet? I'm curious to know how it performs!

Excellent info...thanks for the quick reply wratran.

I just placed the order for (2) D2's...one for me and one for my parents. I think the feature set on this unit is more in line with what we'll actually use.

How do you like the DVD changer by the way? Depending on what I find from the iPod Video - I might end up installing that as well.

Thanks again.

Thanks for the replies. I just checked out the Pioneer site and saw that the promo did indeed end on 9/4...sucks. I've pretty much settled on the D2 at this point.

wratran - couple questions for you if you don't mind...

* How is the quality when watching video off the iPod. I believe the iPod's highest resolution is 640x480 with 30 frames/second. Is the video clear and smooth?

* Using the video cable from the iPod to the aux inputs, can you listen to music off the iPod and still see the nav display (since there's a video feed off the iPod as well - does it default to a blank screen from the iPod)? Or is the nav display off anytime you use the iPod (not just when playing video)?

My plan is to do what you've done and then simply get a wired cigarette-lighter charger for the iPod. This solves all issues and gets me a 20-disc DVD changer in the form of an iPod for half the price of the Pioneer 6-disc changer...assuming it works as above.

Thanks for all the input!

First post here - great forum by the way.

I've been looking at a Z1 or a D2 for a while now and am going to order one or the other tomorrow. I really want the Z1 but the price difference is killing me (free install on the D2, free S1, etc).

Does anyone know if the D2 will play video from an auxilliary source while using the Navigation? In other words, can I hook up my iPod Video to the D2 using the Aux inputs and watch the video on the screen while using the nav functions?

I'm assuming from everything I've read that the D2 does not play DVD's...is this correct?

Thanks for any help!