Which Pioneer AV unit do you have and why?

[Shackleton]

I think the 5000 and 6000 also have detachable "faces".

 

You don't have to update the nav data anually. I find that the roads where I travel don't seem to change that quickly so I will update every few years. I do think they ought to offer cheaper updates though.

No sorry thats incorrect!  The only model with a full detachable face is the AVH-4000NEX

 

Agreed, You don't have to update the nav data anually.   You would only update the nav if you are in a newly built area thats adding roads otherwise its not an issue

[olevelo]

It's not just the roads though, it's the POI's. If you just want to search by address it's not a big deal though. I wonder if avicsync will include POI updates (or additional ones). One thing I really wish there was a way to do is push an address from my phone to the GPS.

[Shackleton]

It's not just the roads though, it's the POI's. If you just want to search by address it's not a big deal though. I wonder if avicsync will include POI updates (or additional ones). One thing I really wish there was a way to do is push an address from my phone to the GPS.

Great point I bet that car play will have that but its only compatible with iphone5

[ericvic]

No sorry thats incorrect!  The only model with a full detachable face is the AVH-4000NEX

On page 13 of the manual it talks about removing the detachable faceplate on the 5000 and 6000. Now the faceplate only consists of the buttons down the left side and not the screen but they do call it a faceplate.

[Shackleton]

Your right just the 5k and 6k but I dont really see the point on just removing that.

[lightz39]

The 8000 because if I'm going to spend a pile of money I might as well get the best.

[drenyce311]

The 8000 because if I'm going to spend a pile of money I might as well get the best.

same here. I'm with this guy. I wanna get the best and be the coolest kid on my block. Lol

[Shackleton]

4000 is the best VALUE IMO and has a remote and a removable face and it has the nav option for $320 if I want to add it for a total price est. $870 vs $1000 for the 8000

[Shackleton]

We need more votes I cant believe there are only 32 NEX owner on this forum

[drenyce311]

everyone else just trolls and reads 

[VBLUE42]

We need more votes I cant believe there are only 32 NEX owner on this forum

These units are expensive.

[Shackleton]

These units are expensive.

Which model? I think compared to other brands their competitively priced.

[drenyce311]

i just saw a youtube vid of the new Kenwood dnn991HD not bad. 

[tickerguy]

Unless it reads FLAC, will deal with a SSD on the USB input and handles sort order reasonably well I don't want it.

 

aptX on Bluetooth is nice, but the "movement" in these devices is AWAY from the feature set for actual media on/attached-to the device and TOWARD dependence on something else, like your cellphone.  That's may be ok for some people but the entire reason I have a stereo system (and not just a Bluetooth receiving device + amplifier) in my car is because I want it to function independently from my phone.

 

Among other things I often take trips where there is no cell reception or the performance for data transfer sucks badly enough as to be effectively unusable for anything more complicated than text messages or a voice call, so anything that relies on that functionality in the connected device is worthless.  I understand people like Spotify and Pandora, but reliance on those sorts of things for your music is IMHO nuts, never mind the fact that I really, really don't like the premise of being "connected" everywhere I go all the time, with these companies pinging my exact location and collecting it (and yes, they do -- look at the permissions the apps request when you load them.)

 

Pioneer has gotten quite close to excellence in this regard and nobody else is anywhere in the game, IMHO.  FLAC is a big part of it, although I'd like more bits in the DAC.  The 4000 (and I presume the rest in the line) has exceeded the threshold where I am bothered by the flaws in the source material -- that is, just as in my home I now hear them in my car.  That's good -- it tells me that I'm now into the area of diminishing returns and it's time to stop spending money trying to chase better sound quality, as the incremental benefits will be very small for the relatively large investments made.  While I'm not QUITE where I am with the near-field monitors at my desk (which I use to mix video soundtracks among other things) I'm in the same general ballpark and that's damn good for a car stereo.

 

Pioneer ought to add aptX to the Bluetooth codec list, and they also need to fix the sort order issue with the file browser.  Both of these are software changes and can be made as an update.  It would be nice to address the somewhat-jumpy scrolling behavior in the media browser, and support of playlists would be good too.  The latter is again a software issue; the former might be a matter of CPU exhaustion and if so there's nothing that can be done in the current iteration of devices, but I'd like to see a crack taken at that too.

 

One thing that's promising here -- these units run a hacked-up Android version which means it is possible to dump and hack on it, even if you have to do it with decompiled code.  I bet I can fix the media sort order issues, for example, in a few hours.  Right now I'm unwilling to JTAG my unit, but someone else has and as soon as there's a way to dump it to either SD or attached USB I'll be all over it since I ought to be able to test changes on my tablet. The sort order issue might be as simple as inserting one library function call, for example.

 

I'm happy with the 4000.  I'd like the nicer screen but not at double the price, and I have no real desire or need for nav in the head unit.  I don't need it often and when I do I have it in my phone; tying it to the car is IMHO silly.

[Shackleton]

GOOD points but I dont see FLAC as worth it  I grew up w records and can tell some sound better than their cd counter parts  i have converted some records to mp3 and can't tell a difference with the same equipment both sound the same to me converted to 256VBR mainly