Hey all. New to the forum here. I searched around a bit to see if i could find any answers to my specific questions but i didn't really have much luck. So far I like this head unit but I do have some gripes and some questions that maybe you guys can help me out with.

Gripes:

- I can't seem to figure out how to dim the screen for night time driving. I have the setting on "auto" (its either that or day time) but the brightness never seems to change and the GPS is blinding at night. The owners manual is pretty vague on this too, so...

- There's no easy access to the sub-woofer volume. I listen to a lot of different types of music from metal to techno and I need to be able to adjust that shit on the fly from song to song with out going through menus...

-I wish there was a way to change which frequencies the graphic eq adjusts... the highest frequency you can adjust is 10k. What about 12k or 15k or 20k??? Wtf man...

-No voice commands...

Questions-

-The Z140 had voice commands... Can I just install the Z140 software? Or would it be a major downgrade?

-Are there any apps out that help with any of these issues?

-Are there any mods/hacks that can help with this?

-I can communicate with Siri which will allow me to make calls and such via voice command but is there a way to activate siri without interacting directly with the phone?

Any input is much appreciated.

Echo that..

Also, what about adding a remote with out steering wheel controls.

I found that EQ on the radio was not that great with my sub either until I did auto EQ with a microphone hooked up.. All I used was a cardiod mic I have ffom my recording studio. Now i can switch to different EQ patterns set up after Auto was run simply .  

Questions-

-The Z140 had voice commands... Can I just install the Z140 software? Or would it be a major downgrade?

-Are there any apps out that help with any of these issues?

-Are there any mods/hacks that can help with this?

-I can communicate with Siri which will allow me to make calls and such via voice command but is there a way to activate siri without interacting directly with the phone?

No to all questions.

Not sure about the 150 but the 140 and earlier have an orange and white wire that connects to a +12 volt wire when headlights are turned on to activate night mode. There are a bunch of posts about installers failing to connect this wire (whomever installed my radio did the same thing so I am planning on fixing it). As far as a remote control there is an add on by PAC audio which will allow you to use a steering wheel mounted remote or a non mounted hand held remote.

Echo that..

 

Also, what about adding a remote with out steering wheel controls.

 

I found that EQ on the radio was not that great with my sub either until I did auto EQ with a microphone hooked up.. All I used was a cardiod mic I have ffom my recording studio. Now i can switch to different EQ patterns set up after Auto was run simply .  

I have several studio mics, including 3 dynamics and a condenser mic. How did you hook it up to the head unit?

Not sure about the 150 but the 140 and earlier have an orange and white wire that connects to a +12 volt wire when headlights are turned on to activate night mode. There are a bunch of posts about installers failing to connect this wire (whomever installed my radio did the same thing so I am planning on fixing it). As far as a remote control there is an add on by PAC audio which will allow you to use a steering wheel mounted remote or a non mounted hand held remote.

Ill have to open it up and see if he connected that wire... This is why I usually install things myself. People just don't give a shit when its not their own. Even if you're paying them. These external remotes... would they give easier access to bass control/settings?

I may consider just hooking up my old Alpine graphic EQ with bass level control. I'm going to have to cut open my dash anyway to move the head unit up higher because all the after market dash kits put the head unit in the stupidest place... Right in front of the shifter. Very inconvenient when driving as the shifter is obviously in the way.

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/attachments/2011-mustang-gt-tech/131001d1306293267-scosche-dash-kits-6-months-nothing-2010-10-30_18.27.29.jpg

I don't think the remotes can get that far into the menu to adjust bass settings etc. I don't have a remote (yet)

So, after a ton of research and talking to some experts, ive decided to go this route:

Im going to return my Pioneer head unit and go with the kenwood and the idatalink maestro that'll let me keep my factory voice commands and integrate directly into the kenwood reciever.

Just don't expect it to solve all your issues.

FYI I got the Kenwood dnn990hd and the sound was great the nav was awesome but the bootup time was horrible. It took at least 40 sec to bootup before you hear a sound. Then instead of showing the screen of the radio, for example, it went to the home screen. Now this might be the dnn990hd model but I didn't like. Sent it back and got a 150bh.just something to keep in mind.

No to all questions.

You can activate Siri without touching your phone. I do this with AppRadio Extensions.