My Take on the AVIC-Z1 DEFECTIVE Bluetooth

[DataAve]

It seems that when you call Pioneer, they say [quote] what Bluetooth issue? [/quote] and/or [quote] lower the volume [/quote] to reduce the echo in the same breath. When I had first called Pioneer with the "echo issue" I had called from a land line and they never heard of their Bluetooth causing problems. Fair enough. Then I had called back from the Bluetooth from my F-150. I had gotten the same technician...it was funny listening to him trying to understand what he was trying to say over the echo. You could tell he was having a hard time.

What gets me is that they are still flooding the market with these junk Bluetooth issues, knowing full well there are problems. There are 2 reasons for me to have had to buy this unit, the Nav system and the Bluetooth. I really can't complain about the Nav system (it can be improved though – but all in all, the one of the best Nav systems out there) but the Bluetooth is unacceptable. It's funny how they put all that safety crap in the Nav/DVD system - where you can not view a DVD while driving, the boot screen where you have to agree with those ridiculous terms (they should add in those terms, use our Bluetooth at your own risk) and some of the features (buttons) grayed out. I will tell you this though, it is illegal in the State of New York (where I am from) to be on the cell phone while driving – you must use hands-free. With the echo issue, it forces you to pick up the cell and bypass the DEFECTIVE Bluetooth feature in the AVIC-Z1.

So, being the law abiding citizen that I am, I must pull over to the side of the road, so I can have an audible conversation with a client on the other end and visa versa. It is an accident waiting to happen. WAKE UP PIONEER!!!

[needspeed]

I have two Z1s and I think we should call CS and bombard them with poor quality BT calls until they get the message.....Steve

[digxrayguy]

OK - I agree, let's flood them with complaints. I sent a message through the web site today. My Z1 is about four weeks old and I'm still getting to know the system and I'm very pleased but the BT does suck big time. I had a Parrot CK3100 prior which was great and here in California, Jan. 1 2007 we have a simlar law coming into effect that NY has. Has to be hands free. We paid fot BT, it should work but I can't conduct business on the existing system. All others, please call or email Pioneer. If anyone has other ideas, please pass them on.

Thanks all,

Digitalxrayguy

[djmixmac]

So isnt the problem the MIC? not the Bluetooth?


I'm thinking the callers hear echo from their own voice because the MIC is OVER-sensitive and is picking up the callers voice from the Car's speakers.


Has anyone tried blocking the MIC partically with something? like black electrical tape?

[DataAve]

It has been done. Everyone has tried everything. The bluetooth is totally useless. :twisted:

[whtcrxghst]

Not that is has anything to do with bluetooth, but you have until July 1, 2008 in California

[quote name="digxrayguy"]OK - I agree, let's flood them with complaints. I sent a message through the web site today. My Z1 is about four weeks old and I'm still getting to know the system and I'm very pleased but the BT does suck big time. I had a Parrot CK3100 prior which was great and here in California, Jan. 1 2007 we have a simlar law coming into effect that NY has. Has to be hands free. We paid fot BT, it should work but I can't conduct business on the existing system. All others, please call or email Pioneer. If anyone has other ideas, please pass them on.

Thanks all,

Digitalxrayguy[/quote]

[Agro]

I wonder if you can use a better mic?
maybe a noise canceling mic?

I think Pioneer knows about this and have to be working on a resolution. It may take time and may end up being a totally new bluetooth unit, but it may also be a software update. time will tell.

until then we wait....

[djoker04]

I posted in another thread for someone to pm me with there number and they did. MHYDE71! we talked on Sat and this is what we did.

1st we focused on the Phone. I have a Nokia E62 (Cingular) He has a T-mobile Dash. With our phones we can change the profiles. You can change the settings for when it connects to a BT device. I renamed mine Car Kit. (Changing the name does not make a diff) Using info from another thread he adjusted his phone to be at a lower volume before pairing.

2nd he reset the BT in the car and started from scratch. He had the Z1 vol level at 3 or 4. At this time I was occupied at my daughters Basket ball game. At 1/2 time I called him and he told me according to his Wife the sound was much better.

After the game we talked on my way home (He was in his car driving and I was in mine (using BT thru my D1).

I heard him clear with no echo at most points and then ONLY the last word was there a small Echo and I mean Slight. During the conversation he was fine. As I fooled around with the Vol then things would change from good to bad. As he adjusted his, same result.

My thoughts on this is MIC Placement (He drives 02 Pathfinder mic Behind steering wheel) When I moved my mic lower in angle to see if it would effect anything he said it sonded a little diff but not much.

Type of phone!! This is definately a factor (big or small dependes on the phone)

I will say this. I have a feeling a diff Mic will make a diff. I bet that mic is the primary mic for the Voice Nav and not originally for the Phone Kit. Somewhere I read someone used a Parrot Mic for their system and it was a big diff. Get a hold of one and see if that helps.

The lower your phone VOL is and the higher the car sys is then you should be able to cancel out most of the echo. If you here it only at the end of the caller talking that should not be a problem. Also if the caller is using a vol controlled phone have them turn theirs down some and yours up or Vice Versa. I did not think of that but yeah Pioneer might have dropped the ball or their Testing and developement dept did not think of the MIC for NAV and MIC for BT would cause problems.

Yeah you guys spent some loot on the Z1 so you have every right to Complain but taking time to try and get the best of what you have until PIO comes up with a solution would be your best bet.

Good luck!!

K

[djoker04]

I posted in another thread for someone to pm me with there number and they did. MHYDE71! we talked on Sat and this is what we did.

1st we focused on the Phone. I have a Nokia E62 (Cingular) He has a T-mobile Dash. With our phones we can change the profiles. You can change the settings for when it connects to a BT device. I renamed mine Car Kit. (Changing the name does not make a diff) Using info from another thread he adjusted his phone to be at a lower volume before pairing.

2nd he reset the BT in the car and started from scratch. He had the Z1 vol level at 3 or 4. At this time I was occupied at my daughters Basket ball game. At 1/2 time I called him and he told me according to his Wife the sound was much better.

After the game we talked on my way home (He was in his car driving and I was in mine (using BT thru my D1).

I heard him clear with no echo at most points and then ONLY the last word was there a small Echo and I mean Slight. During the conversation he was fine. As I fooled around with the Vol then things would change from good to bad. As he adjusted his, same result.

My thoughts on this is MIC Placement (He drives 02 Pathfinder mic Behind steering wheel) When I moved my mic lower in angle to see if it would effect anything he said it sonded a little diff but not much.

Type of phone!! This is definately a factor (big or small dependes on the phone)

I will say this. I have a feeling a diff Mic will make a diff. I bet that mic is the primary mic for the Voice Nav and not originally for the Phone Kit. Somewhere I read someone used a Parrot Mic for their system and it was a big diff. Get a hold of one and see if that helps.

The lower your phone VOL is and the higher the car sys is then you should be able to cancel out most of the echo. If you here it only at the end of the caller talking that should not be a problem. Also if the caller is using a vol controlled phone have them turn theirs down some and yours up or Vice Versa. I did not think of that but yeah Pioneer might have dropped the ball or their Testing and developement dept did not think of the MIC for NAV and MIC for BT would cause problems.

Yeah you guys spent some loot on the Z1 so you have every right to Complain but taking time to try and get the best of what you have until PIO comes up with a solution would be your best bet.

Good luck!!

K

[zakpeters]

Well, after 7 months of having the brutal echo issue, it is finally fixed. My pioneer dealer just got in a new update CD for the echo issue that installs proper noise cancelling in the Z1, and so far everything is fantastic!! The Ducati Boy circuit still works well after the update.

On the maps front, they know that there is a map "out of date" issue, as with the Z1 they went with TeleAtlas instead of their usual NavTeq map provider, but they said that there will be no update on the maps until at least Q2 in 2007. Oh well, at least the damn echo issue is fixed.

Ask your Pioneer dealer for this update disk...my dealer happens to have a friend who is the main technical manager for navigation products and got the disk directly from him....and he installed it for me.

[whtcrxghst]

They only use Navteq for their portable piece so thats no explaination for the bad data. The avic series has always been teleatlas

[LeonPhelps]

[quote name="zakpeters"]Well, after 7 months of having the brutal echo issue, it is finally fixed. My pioneer dealer just got in a new update CD for the echo issue that installs proper noise cancelling in the Z1, and so far everything is fantastic!! The Ducati Boy circuit still works well after the update.

On the maps front, they know that there is a map "out of date" issue, as with the Z1 they went with TeleAtlas instead of their usual NavTeq map provider, but they said that there will be no update on the maps until at least Q2 in 2007. Oh well, at least the damn echo issue is fixed.

Ask your Pioneer dealer for this update disk...my dealer happens to have a friend who is the main technical manager for navigation products and got the disk directly from him....and he installed it for me.[/quote]

Steal the disk from your dealer, then post the fix here :lol:

[vigil]

Heck yeah!! Who's an installer or dealer on here that can get us the CD, find out how we can get the CD, or post an image of the update so we can burn it and load it ourselves?

[bdmpastx]

I just called them on this and they said that all the CD was doing is lowering the volume on the phone which sounds like a bunch of BS to me. How in the hell is a CD going to lower the volume on my phone? I mean really. How much of an idiot do they thing we all are? There has to be more to it than that. They also said that the CDs were not being released in the US yet. They said it may be a few more weeks. So if someone could get the CD and make an ISO of it, that would be great.

[woodman171]

I just read about the CD upgrade issue, i'm in Canada so it'll be worth a try to check my dealer for it, although i don't imagine it will be any different here than in the US.
As far as resetting the unit and reinstalling the BT, do i have to completely clear the whole unit and if so, how do i remove and save all music uploaded in the hard drive? Or can i just reset the BT settings independantly?