DNX525DAB First Impressions

[Jelibeli]

I've just fitted a Kenwood DNX525DAB to my PFL Octavia II, and I thought I'd share some of my observations.

 

It was surprisingly easy to fit, although I did invest in a set of trim removal tools so I didn't damage anything.  I found routes through for most of the wires, and space to store the link harness, although I was surprised that the car was so well built that there wasn't anywhere to feed the USB cable into the glove box - I will have to drill & trim a hole through for that, but I was warned by another user's post that this may be the case.

 

There was no need to splice & solder wires - the kit has the complete wiring link harness, including CANBus interface & dual-fakra aerial connector, and it just plugs together (although a lot of the connections are tight).

 

The DAB aerial was also easy to fit, although it wasn't quite the one described in the instructions - just a single plastic piece to peel off, rather than three.  Getting the trim off the A-pillar and the centre stack, as well as removing the vents / cubby box to find a home for the GPS antenna, were all easy.  It fired up first time with no problems.

 

The touchscreen is sensitive & responsive, but sometimes just goes dead while the unit is doing something else - like reading the USB index for example.  It genuinely takes about three minutes before you can search by artist, album or genre - you have to make do with folder searches for the first three minutes, and I'm usually well on my journey by then, so I don't want to be distracted.

 

And the USB limitations are ludicrous.  My previous 1-DIN kenwood bluetooth unit (BT-60U) could handle whatever I threw at it (biggest I tried was 64GB USB), as long as I used my PC to create the kenwood index file first, and it responded pretty much straight away.  This one is limited to 255 folders, 255 files per folder and around 62k files in total.  The last limit isn't an issue, but I had to rearrange my library several times before I got below the 255 folder limit.  And this is with the kenwood index file created as well.

 

On to the navigation - my first attempt was a bit of a failure: First restaurant I wanted to go to wasn't on the POI list.  Then I tried to activate the TMC feature.  But I can't, because you have to phone Garmin and they don't answer at weekends, only during office hours when, funnily enough, I'm working & I can't call them.  The unit tells you to go the website to activate it, but the quickstart says you can't, you have to create an account, then phone garmin, then get access to the TMC part of the website to enter the code.  This is a bit crap to say the least - this is 2015, FFS!

 

I must say, even through the ten-year-old OE speakers it sounds absolutely awesome - far better than the non-MP3 Stream unit it replaced, and the DVD playback feature is fun, although I'm only buying blu-rays now, so that will go out of date quite quickly.  Having the blue 'navigation ready' bar at the bottom all of the time is annoying, especially when everything else is green to match the interior lighting of the car.

 

Overall, if I knew all of this before buying, with all the faff I would have to go through to get everything working and up-to-date (still not sorted TMC & update POIs, and I haven't tried updating the maps or speed camera database yet), I might have gone for a Chinese unit instead - at least I would have been prepared for the fiddling and messing around I would have to do, rather than have it happen unexpectedly when buying an OE-approved item.  I think I may swap back to using my phone for nav, and leave the head unit for music.

 

I'm disappointed, and for the price I expected something much, much better.

Edited 31 May, 2015 by Jelibeli

[vRSRG]

A really interesting write up. I was considering getting this Kenwood unit for my Superb........not so sure now. Have you got any photos of it in situ?

[Jelibeli]

I have some photos, but it's got the wrong surround right now.  I'm waiting for the right one from skodaparts.com - the order was placed with them a week or so ago, so it should be here soon (I hope).

[Jelibeli]

Another observation from using it this afternoon - the NAV volume is set at one, fixed volume which you can choose in the settings, but it doesn't follow the overall unit's volume.  If you set it OK for urban streets, it's far too quiet on the motorway.  And in my car (PFL Octavia II), the head unit's volume doesn't change with speed, but that may be a limitation of the car or the older CANBUS system, even though the Stream it replaced very clearly got louder as I went faster.

 

And reflections from the screen are an issue with the mounting position in the Octavia.  Looks very nice in a tunnel, though!!  To be fair, the Stream also had an issue with this.

Edited 31 May, 2015 by Jelibeli

[vRSRG]

Thanks for this. I'm now thinking I should stick with my Amundsen! I'm just frustrated by the small screen and lack of options......maybe I should be careful what I wish for!

[Jelibeli]

See if you can find someone with one of the chinese units to try out.  I'm sure I'll come to like the kenwood unit after I've finished getting everything set up that should really be automatic.  I've found a setting that may or may not give me the speed-related volume control, and I'll persevere with the TMC activation.  If you're thinking of getting the kenwood dealer-fitted, you may have fewer problems as they should set it all up for you.  I'm worried that I'm being a little too harsh, but I keep remembering the price tag, and then I think that maybe I'm not.

 

But then I have to remember that my car is pre-FL, and I think it's only recommended for post-FL cars, so maybe there are some integration issues.

Edited 31 May, 2015 by Jelibeli

[Jelibeli]

I've had a couple more days with it, so here's an update.  In Birmingham and on the M42/M40, DAB reception is good.  It's a bit 'kermit' inside the garage, and it drops out twice a day when out & about (in the same spots on the motorway, only in one direction).  The nav voice can be turned up by turning the knob when she's speaking.  The preset green matches the night illumination perfectly, but not enough of the display uses it in my opinion.

 

I'd love to be able to customise it a little more - mine came as a VW unit, but there are instructions for changing the start screen elsewhere in this forum.  Be aware that the screen proportions are not perfectly square.  The display is 800x480, 16:9 ratio, meaning the pixels are slightly wider than they are tall, by about 6.67%.  It is noticeable if you put a round badge on the screen.  The internal video scaling takes care of this for DVDs, so they look normal, but if you create your own start screen or background, be aware that you're going to have to make any badges narrower by 6-7% so they look right on the display.  My 240x256 skoda badge looks very slightly fat - it should have been 236 (or less) x256.

 

DVD playback is OK, but I had to figure out how to use the touchscreen to select menu items on DVDs - it doesn't default to this mode, I pressed on the screen for a few seconds until some message came up, then I could use the touchscreen for DVD menus.  Sound, as I said before, is awesome.

 

The setting that I thought would give me speed-dependent volume doesn't work, it just makes the sound even more expanded, punchy and, I'll say it again, awesome.  I'll try to remember what sound setting this was - I think it's something like 'drive enhance'.

Edited 2 June, 2015 by Jelibeli

[Jelibeli]

OK, a further update.

 

I've updated the main firmware (and Nav software), the DAB firmware and the Bluetooth firmware, and it has made quite a big difference.  The main operations don't really seem any different, but the DAB is much improved - it now seamlessly switches between FM and DAB - I no longer have dropouts in the digital signal, although I do sometimes get the same interference I used to get when I had an FM only unit.  However, the patches of no signal are much, much rarer now - places where I had interference or drop-outs in FM are covered by DAB, and vice-versa.  I don't know what it will do when I'm listening to Radio 5 (which I often do), but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough.  It also remembers the USB playlist a little better than it used to - when I attach a USB device for the first time, it still takes a few minutes to read & index everything, but once it has, it only needs to read the file list at the next start up, not re-index everything - as soon as the USB starts up, I've got access to the Artist, Genre, Album Name and Song Name categories straight away, without it having to re-index them every time.  It still takes 20 or 30 seconds to start playing USB (after the splash screen has gone), but the annoying extra wait to start choosing songs by artist or album rather than just file name has gone.

 

I've still got to figure out how to add POI to the nav - I've followed all the instructions I can find, at it says it's installed them, but they still don't show up on the map.  Next up is fitting the reversing camera (when it arrives), which should be fun.

[rbovenzi]

Hi Jelibeli

 

I have a DNX525DAB fitted in my car and agree with your comments. I read your last post that you successfully updated the main firmware (dnx ver 1.6.0 presumably?), I am trying to do the same using the kenwood zip file and using their rather inadequate PDF guide but the Update version is "greyed out" and cannot be pressed.

 

http://www.kenwood.com/cs/ce/mm/firmware/2014/2014c/eng.html

 

Can you please advise what you did to get the update to apply?

For example, I am using a USB memory stick formatted FAT32 (NOT using the microSD slot)

I have tried unzipping the contents of the DNX_Ver1.6.0 zip file (downloaded from Kenwood updater website) into the root of the usb stick, no other video or music files exist.

I have also tried unzipping the contents of the zip file into a normal folder of the same name on the root of the USB stick.

 

None of these steps allow the "update" button on the Setup > Software > Version  to be available to press.

 

I hope you can help?!

 

Rich

Edited 25 August, 2015 by rbovenzi

[Jelibeli]

I can't quite remember how I did it specifically, but you could try using the Micro SD slot instead.  I remember the instructions being wrong at some point or another, and after a few attempts of doing the same thing, it eventually allowed me to update.

 

I think you have to either have the USB stick or card in when you start the unit up, or nothing in the usb or card slot & wait for the unit to start up fully before inserting the card/usb.

 

There are also some restrictions on where in the folder structure on the media the update files can be.

 

I take it you've found & read this:

http://www.kenwood.com/cs/ce/mm/firmware/2014/2014c/pdf/14DNX_FWupdate_en.pdf

[Jelibeli]

OK, I've been using this for nearly a year now, and I think I've grown to like it a lot.  I have largely abandoned the sat nav feature, as the roads for my journey have become hugely out of date since I last updated it, the POI search is very hit-and-miss, and the traffic doesn't keep up-to-date quickly enough & often tries to direct me around problems that aren't there.  The advantage that it does have is a very good on-screen speed display, although the speed limits that it shows are also out-of-date.  It does seem to learn your travel habits as well - if I switch it on, it often tells me how long it will take me to get to work or to get home, even though I haven't asked it for a route.

 

I've basically switched over to using Google Maps, which although it doesn't show me my speed or the limits, is much better for handling traffic and changing roads.  Lane assist on Google is awful & more often wrong than not though - the Garmin nav on the DNX525DAB is much better for this when the road info is up-to-date.  I also have Co-Pilot nav on my phone, but Google is still my preferred nav.

 

On the music player side, I've bought a remote for the unit, but I found out that it's easier to use the smaller remote that I had for my old kenwood unit - it allows me to skip folders back and forth, control the volume, select the source and skip tracks back and forth, which is the maximum I would ever attempt to do while driving.

 

I've still got two issues though - the album artwork display is a bit hit-and-miss - whenever I copy the same files to a USB stick, sometimes it shows some album images and sometimes it shows others.  The other issue is playlists.  I can't find a playlist format that works, and I can't find any information from either Kenwood directly or anywhere else on the internet that tells me what to use. 

 

DAB still works well with the stick-on aerial, FM and AM also work great.  I really should get round to wiring up the reversing camera to try that out, but my time is pretty much taken up with work these days.

[Jelibeli]

Me again.  Just an update - as there is now the DNX516DABS available, there may be some of the 525 units appearing second-hand, so I thought I'd add a few more comments on living with the 525DAB.

 

I recently started listening to FLAC files instead of 320kbps AAC files, and I'm blown away by the difference, still with the tired, factory speakers.  It's only been one album (Never Outdrunk, Never Outsung by The WiLDHEARTS), but the difference really is astonishing.  However, as it's a live album, it really highlights one immense drawback of the DNX525DAB - EVERY track gets faded-in at the start.  On a lot of the music I listen to, the songs are meant to run continuously into each other, and having each song drop to zero volume at the start and fade-in is really annoying.

 

Somewhere, whether it's hidden deep in the settings or even in the firmware itself, there must be a way to disable this and revert to seamless playback - my previous Kenwood head unit (KDC-BT60U) in previous cars could do this, in fact it did it by default.  It's another major annoyance that I really want to find a fix to.

 

I have emailed Kenwood customer support a few times, but never received a response.

 

Anyway, hope this is informative.

[Pessimal]

its only been one album (Never Outdrunk, Never Outsung by The WiLDHEARTS), but the difference really is astonishing.  

You sir are a man of impeccable taste :)

As for the dnx525, was disaponted when i got mine and i still am to be honest.

I hope the new one is a big improvement, but with it being USB2 and Bluetooth 3, i guess it might be a rehashed dnx525, it would be interesting to see the sat nav performance.

Is it possible to get the dnx525 working with the drive dash display?

[Jelibeli]

You sir are a man of impeccable taste :)

 

Since the last gig, I've been listening to my new Dirt Box Disco albums via FLAC as well.  :devil:

 

Is it possible to get the dnx525 working with the drive dash display?

 

I've assumed that my car is too old to do that - I think it might work on Octavia FL cars (my car is older than recommended), or at least cars with later CECM/BCM than mine.  And the Satnav, despite being updated via both conventional and non-conventional routes, isn't a patch on my iphone any more, so it's redundant now.

Edited 1 January, 2017 by Jelibeli