lexus997

ANYONE HAVE A GOOD EXPERIENCE WITH A HEAD UNIT THAT OFFERS BLUETOOTH AUDIO STREAMING AND HD RADIO?


I recently installed a Pioneer DEH-X9600BHS but the Bluetooth connection would intermittently "buzz" while streaming audio from my iPhone 6. The "buzzing" was quite annoying. It was intermittent, but it happened regularly.


I called the place that I bought it from and they exchanged it for a 2nd one. Unfortunately, the second Pioneer DEH-X9600BHS had the same intermittent "buzzing" problem.


I called the place again and decided to try a Sony MEX-GS810BH. The Sony Bluetooth worked flawlessly, but the tuner had problems:

1) Analog stations would come and go - local stations that I never had a problem with before in any vehicle

2) HD Radio signals come and go - it would not hold the HD Radio signals well


The Pioneer had a great tuner and would pull in HD Radio stations without issues, but it had Bluetooth issues. The Sony was the opposite.


I sent the Sony back and now I am contemplating what to do. I thought that my requirements were simple:

1) Bluetooth streaming audio
2) HD Radio
3) 4V or more preamp output


I had a Pioneer DEH-X9500BHS (the previous model) in my previous vehicle and it worked fine with my iPhone 5 using iOS 8. I should have removed it from that vehicle before I sold it.

rxonmymind

I have the Kenwood 691HD and some of the problems you listed was attributed to the actual phone rantjer than the head unit. Not all though.
HD station reception on mine are OK. When they do come in it's beautiful. However, not all stations have made an investment in hd as their is a conflict of radio waves interference with analog and even their very own towers. Boost hd and loose analog. Also the royalties associated with it using HD are exorbitant.
On Bluetooth PHONE I found the first unit to be defective after having it work fine the day before. Swapped it out the next day for a new one and the second one started to have the same issues until I figured out that the system required only ONE of two the other being my wife's to be the main/ alpha in the head unit. THEN hers second.
On Bluetooth MUSIC streaming my Amazon program was the culprit. I found this out through painful trial and error and took a week to figure out. None of the online streaming service be it Spotify, Google play, Sky FM would play any longer than five seconds without interruption. Stutter then play, stutter again and would do this about 9-12 times a song making it virtually useless to listen to music. Even music directly IN the phone bit cloud based. So after a hard reset and putting programs back on their one at a time I noticed that Amazon MP3 had used up 1.5 GB of data in the five days I had it. Red flag. I hadn't even used their MP3! Even though I have unlimited data I dislike waste. So I jettisoned that app. Guess what? I was able to play every online music service after that! Woooohoo! My only theory is that the Amazon app was interfering with the others by constantly "pinging" back to the mother ship about my phones status. Basically mining data and your habits. Once that was gone my hu worked flawlessly.

Oh and it has 3 5v gold preouts.

Overall I'm VERY happy with it as I now 90% of the time listen to music online. CD quality is outstanding as well as the many, many acoustic tweaks one can make to it via the internal DSP. I was a Pioneer guy for all my life. No regrets changing up.

lexus997

I am contemplating the Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X998.


My iPhone 6's Bluetooth works just fine with my wife's Acura OEM radio and it worked fine with the Sony MEX-GS810BH. Thus, I ruled out the phone being the issue.


The Bluetooth audio streaming app that I mainly use is Rhapsody. I use iHeartRadio maybe once every 2 months when I travel out of town. The only time I noticed the "buzzing" with the Pioneer DEH-X9600BHS was with Rhapsody and I did not attempt using iHeartRadio with it.


The Pioneer DEH-X9600BHS had a very good tuner and the HD Radio tuner was very good in my opinion. The Sony MEX-GS810BH tuner was a problem - dropping local stations that I have never had a problem with.


I will have to make a decision soon ......... too bad the Pioneer does not use Sony's Bluetooth guts, and then it would have a great tuner and Bluetooth.

lexus997

I should have a new Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X998 next week to install and try.


My third Pioneer DEH-X9600BHS just got returned it still had issues with my iPhone 6. A few days ago a new problem appeared where it kept disconnecting the Bluetooth connection. That was more annoying than the intermittent "buzzing".


I sure hope that the Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X998 has a good Bluetooth engine and that the HD Radio works well too. I am also looking forward to trying out the integrated DSP functions such as:

• digital time alignment
• 13-band equalizer

Once I get the head unit sorted out, then it is time to install the power amplifier, speakers and subwoofer.