Swapping out Pioneer for Kenwood to test mic & Bluetooth

[VBLUE42]

Yea just be aware there are issues with the Kenwood as well. Especially one as old as the 8120.

[cpkdude]

where's Doctor Who when you need a good old-fashioned phone box to make a call from

[Jer]

Yea just be aware there are issues with the Kenwood as well. Especially one as old as the 8120.

 

I had a DDX812 which was even older and had no complaints at all. This DNX-8120 has a LOT of features over the Pioneer plus I paid even less than I paid for the X920BT so I'm not concerned. It has Garmin and the hands free works... those are the two most important things to me and the two biggest shortcomings of the Pioneer unit. I don't care if it has the best iPod interface or the best voice recognition on earth because I don't use those and the two features that I do use flat out suck. I've had several Kenwood nav decks going back to the KVT-911D w/add on nav unit (retail value on the two was over $5k) when they first came out and have always had good luck. I had older Pioneer units and they were... eh. Alright but nothing to write home about. The nav was sufficient and the decks themselves seemed decent. That was when they had iGo which is night and day better than this excuse for navigation they have now. I got this one because of the deal and regret doing so now. Yours works for you and that's fine but I'm allowed to have a bad experience and from the sounds of it I'm not alone.

[Jer]

Welp, good news and bad news.

 

The bad news is that in Pioneer's infinite wisdom they utilized a 2.5mm mic jack in an effort to buck the industry standard. This means that not only was I unable to test the mic to rule it out as the problem but I had to pull the mic and run yet another mic behind me dash, up the A-pillar and across the head liner to the over head console. So there went some more time of my life and I can't even report if the mic was the issue or not. From the sounds of it though I'm not alone so if it is the mic then Pioneer is supplying bogus mics to save a few pennies which is just as bad as sending out faulty units as far as I'm concerned. Either way, I will never buy another Pioneer based on this experience.

 

The good news is my Kenwood is now installed and it's fantastic! Having to put up with this crappy X920BT unit for as long as I did gave me a true appreciate for all that the Kenwood offers over the Pioneer. I didn't have it in for too long to be thoroughly test differences but I was able to make a few phone calls to people whom I had called several times with the Pioneer unit to test out (I didn't dare call anyone I wasn't real familiar with as the call quality was offensive) and the feedback was unanimously positive. With the Pioneer the fastest I was driving was 35mph (windows up, no HVAC running) and even sitting still it was awful. I made three phone calls, all while moving and the people I called said it was substantially better than the previous (Pioneer) calls. The first even commented that it sounded like I wasn't even on a hands free (was just pulling out of my neighborhood so speeds were low) and the second one was a highway speeds (60mph+) and they also commented on how good it sounded overall. I even put the mic in the exact same location as the previous one to rule out as many variables as possible.

 

Conclusion: This Pioneer deck sucks. Who wants to buy it? lol

[VBLUE42]

Great. Now its time to head over to kenwoodforums.

[cpkdude]

I wouldn't be surprised that the 2.5 tiny mic and cable get damaged during installations more often than not. Save a few bucks on 6' of wire - lose it all when the customer returns the $700 unit.

Beancounters - geesh

[Jer]

Great. Now its time to head over to kenwoodforums.

 

That was the plan until I saw you were over there too.

[Jer]

I wouldn't be surprised that the 2.5 tiny mic and cable get damaged during installations more often than not. Save a few bucks on 6' of wire - lose it all when the customer returns the $700 unit.

Beancounters - geesh

 

The mic and cable appear to be roughly the same size as the Kenwood piece. I would say the cable uses the same caliber wire inside so I'm not sure where the cost savings would be unless it's just a cheaply manufactured mic which is quite possible. It just seems like a stupid idea to put a 2.5mm port on the back of your deck and utilize the same mic. I would say it's so one doesn't confuse the mic w/the audio output jack but the Pioneer doesn't even have one on the back like the Kenwood does. It uses the cables so of would be hard to mix those up. I don't understand it but in this economy I'm sure it was cost savings if even only a small one.

[cpkdude]

I wouldn't be surprised that the 2.5 tiny mic and cable get damaged during installations more often than not. Save a few bucks on 6' of wire - lose it all when the customer returns the $700 unit.

Beancounters - geesh

 

The mic and cable appear to be roughly the same size as the Kenwood piece. I would say the cable uses the same caliber wire inside so I'm not sure where the cost savings would be unless it's just a cheaply manufactured mic which is quite possible. It just seems like a stupid idea to put a 2.5mm port on the back of your deck and utilize the same mic. I would say it's so one doesn't confuse the mic w/the audio output jack but the Pioneer doesn't even have one on the back like the Kenwood does. It uses the cables so of would be hard to mix those up. I don't understand it but in this economy I'm sure it was cost savings if even only a small one.

 

well, it's good Pioneer doesn't make cell phones.

any idea why NO power would be getting through to my recently installed x920? Yellow and red connections, and external fuse on unit seem good.

[toptentwist]

I really think the issue is that the Pioneer (for reasons that made sense to someone at some point) turns up the microphone level when the volume is turned up... and turns down the microphone level when the volume is turned down.

 

 

I've played with this a lot by calling the answering machine in my house and I became convinced that the microphone is actually very good at picking up low level sounds... what seems to be causing the problem is if I talk too loud (or if what I believe is the invisible microphone level adjustment is cranked too high).

 

If you turn down the volume (which somewhat stinks because you want to hear the person at the other end of the call) and speak softly - the thing seems to work ok (not sure I would say it works well).

 

Try calling an answering machine and turning up/down the volume you hear audio on. The higher the volume the more likely the distortion. Setting it in the middle is a good start.

[cpkdude]

Interesting. I'll try that. so far the Bluetooth is acceptable in my car, a Mazda 3. there are times when it's a little garbled, but I have a cheap, four-year old nokia.