RonS Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Is the mic sold with the CK3200 available as an invidual sale? Looking at the tech specs of the CK3200, I can't find a model number for "just" the mic. This might be a good alternative. It is for the CK3100, but I doubt there is much difference. http://www.autotoys.com/x/product.php?productid=19257 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Projeckt Mayh3m Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 This might be a good alternative. It is for the CK3100, but I doubt there is much difference. http://www.autotoys.com/x/product.php?productid=19257 It probably won't make much difference, but I'm pretty desperate to get this working now. For $17 and change I might as well give it a shot. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
amp3d Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 It probably won't make much difference, but I'm pretty desperate to get this working now. For $17 and change I might as well give it a shot. Thanks. make sure to keep us posted Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hdtvjeff Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 I'm desperate too with my z120BT. If I buy a parot mic, can i just cut the head off the existing pioneer mic and splice the new one in? Is swapping out the pioneer stock mic with an aftermarket one the issue to improve bt quality with an avic z120bt? If the mic is the issue, why would Pioneer supply an inferior mic? Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Projeckt Mayh3m Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 My iPhone 4 started having hardware issues. Some sort of short inside the phone. The Apple store replaced my phone under warranty. So I restored my iPhone from a backup and paired it to the Pioneer. It "seems" as though my call quality has improved. I called my office and left myself a minute long voice message and to my surprise, I could actually understand myself when I played it back. For some background information, I've had my AVIC Z120 for about 7-8 months now and the BT has been pretty much unusable. I've tried two different mics (both Pioneer AVIC issued mics), I've tried various locations, I've jacked up the BT gain on my phone before pairing, yada yada yada. The quality still isn't "great", but at least it is usable now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
consequential Posted April 27, 2011 Report Share Posted April 27, 2011 I gave up using my AVIC-Z120's BT several months ago after hearing not one person could hear me clearly. I've just ordered the Parrot mic located below and will post my test results once installed. http://www.parrotshopping.com/us/p_parrot_item.aspx?i=203437 Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mcov Posted May 13, 2011 Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 I have bought the z120bt and every accessory for my wifes car 6 months ago. This is the first time I have bought any Pioneer product, I had been using Kenwood. I will never buy another Pioneer product! If I had not spent 2500$ for the the gear and install, this POS would be ripped out. The call quality of your voice to the caller is the worst I have ever heard. The VR for the iPod never has worked. The user interface for the unit it self is lacking usefull features. The touch screen is subpar at best. Sorry to rant, its just I have to hear this thing every time my wife calls from the car! I would suggest if anyone is considering buying this unit to really look close if you want all the features to work properly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Agent Jones Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 I gave up using my AVIC-Z120's BT several months ago after hearing not one person could hear me clearly. I've just ordered the Parrot mic located below and will post my test results once installed. http://www.parrotshopping.com/us/p_parrot_item.aspx?i=203437 Thanks! how did this mic work out for you? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rrolff Posted June 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 The call quality of your voice to the caller is the worst I have ever heard. The VR for the iPod never has worked. The user interface for the unit it self is lacking usefull features. The touch screen is subpar at best. I'd love to hear from those trying new mics - in the past, no one has shown any real improvement - but it would be nice to know if it helps... The VR stuff *should not* work - for the same reason that others can't hear you (poor mic)... Personally, I like the user interface of the 120 - much nicer than the 110... I would've swapped mine out last month (had it sold on Craigslist) - but then saw that hacks are getting close. This is the only thing that stopped me from buying the new Sony... If we ever get the ability to add WinCE programs (and changing the GPS software to something like Garmin/iGo), that to me makes up for the dreadful BT call performance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
consequential Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 Hi all, Sorry I haven't got back to this thread in a while. So I installed the parrot mic located here: http://www.parrotsho...m.aspx?i=203437 There's basically no difference in audible quality on my listener's end...they still can't hear me. I have it posted on the driver's visor. Anyone have any luck elsewhere? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scharnhorst Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 Have you tried on the steering wheel column? Also I found directly in front of me on the visor a good spot as well. Hi all, Sorry I haven't got back to this thread in a while. So I installed the parrot mic located here: http://www.parrotsho...m.aspx?i=203437 There's basically no difference in audible quality on my listener's end...they still can't hear me. I have it posted on the driver's visor. Anyone have any luck elsewhere? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
torbach1 Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Hi Everyone: Interesting thread. I've had the opposite in terms of call quality. I've found that once I'm in a call, the Bluetooth works very well. People say they hear me more clearly than ever before (prior to the Pioneer, I had the upgraded VW Bluetooth module in my current car, a 2010 GTI, and prior to that I had Infiniti Bluetooth in my M45x and G35x - my wife has an '07 Merc ML350 that I'm also paired to). However, the voice command/controlling the unit by voice is where I'm having issues with the 120BT. It never understands me the first time, and I always have to go through the 'I want to make a call' UI, which means it takes me about 5 mins just of frustration using the voice control just to get a single call going or to get navigation info into the unit. Have others seen any improvement in the unit understanding their voice commands by moving the mic or any other methods? Were the earlier Bluetooth issues that you guys were referring to perhaps fixed in the firmware update v2.003? Thanks Tamir Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RonS Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Hi Everyone: Interesting thread. I've had the opposite in terms of call quality. I've found that once I'm in a call, the Bluetooth works very well. People say they hear me more clearly than ever before (prior to the Pioneer, I had the upgraded VW Bluetooth module in my current car, a 2010 GTI, and prior to that I had Infiniti Bluetooth in my M45x and G35x - my wife has an '07 Merc ML350 that I'm also paired to). However, the voice command/controlling the unit by voice is where I'm having issues with the 120BT. It never understands me the first time, and I always have to go through the 'I want to make a call' UI, which means it takes me about 5 mins just of frustration using the voice control just to get a single call going or to get navigation info into the unit. Have others seen any improvement in the unit understanding their voice commands by moving the mic or any other methods? Were the earlier Bluetooth issues that you guys were referring to perhaps fixed in the firmware update v2.003? Thanks Tamir Do you have "VR Beep" turned ON? See pg 163 in Z120 manual. I normally have it OFF because I found the beep annoying. But somehow I turned it on. The manual is unclear on the porpuse of this. It seems to cause the HU to beep when it is ready to accept voice input. What I noticed while this is ON is that there is a longer than expected lag between the end of the HU prompt message and the beep. Which makes me think that without this audible cue, we often start talking before the HU is ready. So VR commands might get chopped off at the beginning. This is just a hunch. I am not sure if the delay is also present when "VR Beep" is turned OFF. BTW, really glad to hear that your mic quality is good. Most of the time we only hear about problems. Where is your mic mounted? How far from your head? I'm assuming that a GTI isn't an exceptionally quiet vehicle, so some ambiant noise is also present. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
torbach1 Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Actually, I had a call right after I posted this message and was told by a colleague that they were struggling to hear me. So I called my wife and she said that she was hearing a lot of engine noise in the background. Since I've only had this installed for about 2 weeks, maybe I was too quick to say that the quality is good enough? I don't know for sure. I'm going to test it out a bit more this evening and see. My mic is installed in the center area above the mirror. I sit a moderate distance from the steering wheel - I'm 5'8", so not very tall, and therefore not that far away from the mic. I have the unit currently beeping every time I start VR to tell me that I can start talking, so I think that unfortunately won't resolve the issue. I thought for a while that perhaps this unit just takes time to 'learn' your voice, but it looks like it doesn't learn at all.... I'll update you guys on the quality of the calls a bit later today. I'm going to call and leave messages on my voice mail while I'm driving at various revs to see what I sound like. I'll try it with two different phones just to see if it makes a difference since a lot of times BT quality is determined by the pairing of a particular phone with a particular BT head unit/module. Cheers Tamir Quote Link to post Share on other sites
torbach1 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Ok, so I went for a drive and called home while I was driving to leave a voice mail so that I can hear what I sound like later. I left a long message, first with the car at a light, but AC on full blast (completely unintelligible), then with the car at the light with AC power down to regular (partly intelligible but sounds like I'm in a fish tank), then with the car driving, revving high, medium, low, etc. (revving high - completely unintelligible - everything else - hard to understand). Overall I'm extremely disappointed with the quality now that I've heard it myself. In fact I don't think this is an improvement of where things were with my previous head unit (the stock VW RNS 510) at all. I definitely can't use this for any work meetings going forward... Cheers Tamir Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.