Programming the Pioneer Audio DSP in NAV GS400 NAV Cars
 

I did a little research into the standard Pioneer audio system in my 98 GS400 after being inspired by some of the posts on putting video on the NAV screen and after trying to improve the stock speakers. What struck me was that the front door bass reflex enclosure was very carefully designed all the way down to the grill that redirects medium frequencies and the ducted bass port sealed to the door. Lexus has put a lot of acoustic intelligence into even the standard audio system despite the “transistor radio” comments here ( I used to work in broadcast audio studios) . The replacement 4 inch speakers I bought had much smaller magnets and seamed to be similar quality, tarted up with glossy cones and little additional quality so I left the original in place for now after hours of experimentation. I’ll probably change them later, but I decided to focus on the electronics first.

I had hacked the Pioneer amp about 4 years ago (not recommended) to increase Bass gain and replaced the woofer for a Boston Acoustics high efficiency woofer with a cast frame. Despite my adjustments I was never happy with bass response and had the EQ set to near max with as a poor compromise to get more sub bass yet over-drive the door speakers.

Getting to the point, I researched the amplifier and came across the service mode for the Pioneer amp via the NAV system – there is a similar adjustment for the non NAV cars. Here’s what you do:

Get into the NAV diagnostics mode (covered in these forums before) - hold the Climate and Audio controls while switching the parking lights on and off 3 or 4 times. This must be done immediately after tuning the key on. The new step is:

• Once the diagnostics auto test completes, press the menu key on the touch screen, then hold the AM button for 5 second until it beeps.

• The display will now show “Audio”

• The TAPE button toggles through F, R and W for Front, Rear and Woofer. The UP DOWN button can set these from 0 to -80 dBs.

• The FM button toggles between P1, P2 and L, where P1 and P2 are equalizer frequency settings and L is the overall level from 0 to -20 dBs. I haven’t figure out what the equalizer setting do exactly.

• The setting appears to be non volatile so switching the ignition off keeps the values. I now have a system that is much closer to my preferences with the controls flat – always a good place to be. Happy tweaking.

For non NAV cars it appears that the diagnostic mode is set by pressing the CD key 3 times while holding down channel 1 or 6. Auto level or ASL must be on first. Then press the AM button for a few seconds or LW/MW button on some non US cars to get into the amplifier DSP mode. Note that I have no way to test this.

I also have no idea what happens with a DVD NAV car.

Of additional note is that the audio system has alls sort of features not used including MD, DAT, rear seat TV, rear control and adjustable length antenna depending on what FM frequency is used! These appear to be for non US markets. UK cars have a telescopic antenna.

nav diag
 

That was a very informational post. Do you know what spund changes you can get by changing the decible levels you talked about

Keith

I just found out a couple of days ago and I have not done much experimenting. What I did do was to set the Woofer to 0 (everything was found to be at 0). I then set the front at -8 and the rear to -6. That gets the woofer to main balance about right to my ears and is equivalent of an 8 dB woofer boost. I need to do more experimenting. I may also move all the gains down as only 50% of the volume control is used a very high volumes and most of the time it is moved about 20%. I’m not sure what this will do for noise or headroom.

The feedback is not instant as you have to switch the ignition off and listen then go back to diagnostics mode which is silent. The explanations I saw are fairly literal Japanese translations so it is not clear exactly what is intended here.

Another random observation is that the auto level control has a microphone monitoring cabin noise around 7 Hz.

Thanks for this post girvan! I just want to make it clear how to get into the settings on a NON NAV GS. I have the pioneer premium radio in my GS3. To get into the settings you need to press the CD button 3 times WHILE holding down buttons 1 AND 6. ( you can let go of buttons 1 & 6 now) Then you have to hold down the AM button for about 4 seconds. and you will get "AUDIO" on the display. Then you can just hit the tape button to toggle through F, R, W and just like girvan said now you can use the up/down button to change these settings. I just wanted to let everyone know that this does work. Thanks again girvan!

thanks for the tips.

I got the diagostic mode and audio stuff to work. Now just need to play with the settings.

I just tried this and it works!!
 

FYI - for my listening tastes, I put these settings:

F=13
R=13
W=0

Sounds great!

Anyone else try this??

Wow...sounds cool...good find....i guess i got something to fiddle with this weekend.

Thanks for sharing.

Hey I tried this but when I get to the Diagnostics screen its in Japanease:(

I have an 02 430 w/ Nav.

What do I do to get around this, or did you guys work with the Japanease and change the setting?


Thanks!

Nak. System
 

Any of this stuff work for cars with a Nak. system?



-edit- saw this in another thread, trying to do a advanced search to find it, any link?




-Taran

audio settings
 

I adjusted settings F 2 , R 2, W 0,

but what will happen if I changed p1, p2

is there a website where we can get this info - is it in a lexus manual somewhere ?

Thanks! Will try this tonight ;)

Re: audio settings
 

I did it and its awesome! Car shaked like crazy! :D

Setting:

CLICK ON TAPE
F: 13
R: 13
W: 0

CLICK ON FM1/2
P1: 5
P2: 5
L: 0

Just wondering does anyone know what the p1 and p2 do? My setting where reset after a emission test and I am going to redo the setting but was wondering is anyone knew that they do? I had kept them on 5 (setting in the above post) :uh:

Thanks :D

I will confirm this works on the LS. (yeah I noticed its an old thread).

However, before you press AM and hold it for a few seconds, the radio screen displays 1-190, I can also toggle between two different ones, wonder what they are for?

Also, what are P1, P2 and L stand for?

I just tried this on my 99 GS with the Nakamichi system and was unable to get into the menu. Anyone know the combination for these systems?

If someone could post the best setting for a stock GS audio system that woul dbe great.
Thanks!

whats the best setting for me, i got a 99 lexus gs300 with pioneer, and i listen to mainly rap and rnb

Word to Big Bird!!
 

I did the recomendations and WOW!! I won't have to spend money on buying awhole bunch of new equipment, maybe a new sub after I blow the factory one.

But, I spent about 4 hrs trying diff setups. This is what I got:

F = Front Volume with 0 being the highest
R= Rear with 0 blah blah blah
W=Woofer with you know.

Now the p1, p2, and L are diff. They adjust the frequency.
p1 = Bass frequency
p2 = Midrange to treble frequency
L = Level as posted in the first post.

Recomendations:
If you want audiophile type quality, leave it alone. Lexus paid pretty good money to have Pioneer adjust the radio to its premium quality, which gives a nice, smooth, natural sound (or as best as it can).

If you find the bass lacking, change the P1 to 2 - 5. I find 2 being pretty good. If you like bass, go with 3. If you go to 4 or 5, its entirely too much and overpowers the rest of the system. Remember once you adjust it, make sure you lower the bass volume on the regular setup. This compensates the bass in voice with the bass of drums or strings. Mine is set at: P1=3 and Bass level is at 3 or 4, depending on cd.

P2 is fine and should be left alone, at 0. But, If you want your mid's and high's to sound crisp, try changing it between 95 - 115. When you do this, you'll notice a difference, but your ears become fatigued real quick. After an hour of listening to a woman's pitch and brass instruments, you'll notice that you'll find yourself turning your radio off. If you wanna impress your friends and listen to rap, rock, or anything real loud - this setting is good for you. But, after a while - you'll change it. And, finding the best frequency and volume for midranges and highs are time consuming. Its one of the hardest things to adjust so the result will be warm and natural. Mine is set at: P2=0 and Mid level is at 4.

L, i left it alone and didn't play with it. Maybe i'll do it tomorrow to test and see if its truly a level for overall sound.

My setup is:
Bass - 4, P1 - 3
Mid - 4, P2 - 0
Treble - 6 or 7 (depending on music)

Now the F, R, W settings are just for volume. Its different then the fade option on the regular menu. Its tricky to explain, but its different. The most obvious option is that you can, theoretically adust the volume for the woofer (or adjust everything else so the woofer is louder). The ideal setup is to have your fronts louder than the back to provide an accurate soundstage. But, I find most people (including myself) want to hear the music balanced between the front and rear. I listen for soundstage and accuracy with home equipment and not mobile. You should adjust the fade level to hear every speaker at the same volume from where your head is positioned when driving. Since I'm tall (6'4"), my head at the driving position is a little behind the side pillar of the door (on a 2nd gen GS3), so I don't need much fade to the rear as some others might. With account for the volume of the sub, I have my set up as: F - 5, R - 4, W - 0. I changed it from F-7, R-7, W-0 because I found the woofer again overpowering. Ideally, you shouldn't be able to tell where the bass is coming from - it should blend well with the rest of the system. After all of the adjustments, I find this one provides a good sound for me, esp for the price (freeeeeeeeeeeeee :woot: ).

Music I tested it out with: some Joss Stone, Diana Krall, Will Downing, Alicia Keys (Unplugged), Floetry, George Michael, Lil Wayne, Slim Thug, and T.I. I know, I have an interesting selection. I'm from New Orleans - all my audiophile music got washed away! I hope this helps out.

Yep i did it!!!.....excellent mod. and i dont need to upgrade the speakers. Does anyone have any other settings?

CEO

Nakamichi
 

I find it hard to beleive the same type of hack doesn't apply to the Nak system. Isn't the head unit a Pioneer? :cry:

huh this is for the NAK system!

CEO

I read this thread again and the only references I see are GSs with NAV or nov-NAV with Pioneer. My 99 GS doesn't have an Auto level or ASL key. Am I missing something? If it's for the NAK system, why doesn't it work?

What mode does the HU have to be in when you start the hacking process?

Hey im sorry man...i must have been tired when i posted that. I was looking at NAK when i meant to put NAV.

CEO

This works for the Pioneer system hmnn?
what's the #6 button on it?

i bumped the wrong thread, i should have bumped this one.

BUMP. 01 gs300 stock non-nav....got to the p190 screen, had p190 CHEC, p360 OLD, p440 GOOD. Seems as though i found how to reset the codes...go to the one that doesn't say good...press 2, seek buttons until you find codes, hold 2 and it should say CLR with a long loud beep....still cant get to the audio settings though.


ASL and RDS were both on, held 1 and 6 pressed disc 3 times, held AM, no result.

bump this, cuz i wanna know how get it to work on non nav 01+ gs

Hey guys i think this just for us with the Navigational Systems....

CEO

Amazing post. Can't wait to try it at home after work.

There was a similar link for the non nav systems. It's been around for quite a while, at least 3 years.

Try it with aftermarket speakers. The stock ones are still junky. ML stock ones are junky too, despite all the hype.

Yep you will be pretty shocked....

CEO

does anyone know if this works on a 2001 Gs300 with the Pioneer system? With ASL on, I press CD (DISC) three times while holding numbers 1 & 6, followed by holding the AM button for a few seconds, and i get a "P190" on the screen, not "AUDIO". anyone else get this, did i do something wrong?

I know it's been a while but I tried this yday and got the same output P190, P360 and P440. I guess this is to diagnose faulty hardware. However, I did find this http://www.larsdennert.com/lexusis/radiodiag.pdf , hope this helps. I wish it did work and had the option to change radio settings. :cry:

Try it with the ASL off.

this just workd on my 99 GS3... hold down 1&6 and press CD 3times... you'll see P190... wait for beeps, then press and hold AM for a few secs... AUDIO, then proceed w/ L, R, W, P1, P2, & L respectively... I, like the original poster preferred everything set to "0" or "flat"

good luck

I only get the P190 code on my '04 GS3

ur on gs430
this guide is for gs400

^^ How different could it be.

Must not work on the Nakamichi system, because I go nothing.

not working on my 03 gs300 ML NAV :cry: