Group Buy / EOI new generation DNS head units (RNS-510 alternative)

[Hans Byxor]

DkN,

After driving around a little more than usual during summer vacation the RDS function - or actually lack of them - on ANS series unit has started to annoy me more and more. It seems that despite showing the station name on preset buttons the unit actually saves the frequency and not the name info. Staying on one channel works but changing between preset channels in other areas than close to home both ends up on random channels and often screws up the preset channels too.

Do you know if the radio system is similar in the DNS or has it been redesigned?

If the radio is the same on DNS you can take my name off the list.

[acmonster]

Pretty eager for any update. I realize you may be getting the runaround, but even a 'i called and no one answered' update is good enough for me. Thanks for putting this together.

[DkN]

DkN,

After driving around a little more than usual during summer vacation the RDS function - or actually lack of them - on ANS series unit has started to annoy me more and more. It seems that despite showing the station name on preset buttons the unit actually saves the frequency and not the name info. Staying on one channel works but changing between preset channels in other areas than close to home both ends up on random channels and often screws up the preset channels too.

Do you know if the radio system is similar in the DNS or has it been redesigned?

If the radio is the same on DNS you can take my name off the list.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean but I think you're referring to the fact that a station might change frequency when it thinks the signal isn't good? It's a glitch in the coding for the RDS feature that allows searching for alternative frequencies for the same station. I know the RDS functions have been reworked but I can't say for sure if this particular issue has been fixed, and it's rather hard to test. I will see what I can find out.

Regarding the release date, I'm still trying to get a concrete answer but I now know that the music library and android mirroring functions are not yet complete. Depending on how soon this can be expected to be fully finished it's possible that the unit will be released first without these functions and an update will follow soon after. This will probably work out better considering the wait, unless they are only days away from competing those functions anyway.

Will keep everyone posted. And I noticed this question was raised again but I will allow everyone a chance to make up their minds on a demo video before finalising this group buy. I am expecting a firmware update over the weekend, even if the above two features are not yet complete. There is simply too much missing in my current firmware to make a demo video useful.

[Fanaki]

Hey Sandy, any word from Audiosources regarding any extra goodies to compensate for the delay?
BTW you are very patient from what I can see, I would have lost my chit by now haha

For what it's worth, thanks for being such a good sport and trying to get back to most of our questions and concerns.


Sent whilst on the go

[Hans Byxor]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean but I think you're referring to the fact that a station might change frequency when it thinks the signal isn't good? It's a glitch in the coding for the RDS feature that allows searching for alternative frequencies for the same station. I know the RDS functions have been reworked but I can't say for sure if this particular issue has been fixed, and it's rather hard to test. I will see what I can find out.

I mean that the radio does not actually seem to store the station names but the frequency. If I try to select a stored station in another town (same station but different frequency) the radio does not necessarily find it but selects some other station that may have the same frequency that the original station has in my home town. At the same time ANS changes (at least sometimes) the stored channel name and I have to set the stations again when I get back home... Annoying as hell.

The back and forth jumping when trying to find better reception I can live with. This alternative frequency search actually works if you start from home and stay on the same station. If you do not start from home you are in the above described trouble assuming the unlucky case where the original frequency is used by another station.

I hope this explains the problem in more detail.

[Goobz]

One quick question about the SD cards Sandy. Will it accept SDXC cards(ie. 64GB and up) or is it only able to accept SDHC cards(up to 32GB). Just wanted to know so I can get the right one ready for my DNS when it gets here!
Thanks!
Chris

[DkN]

Hey Sandy, any word from Audiosources regarding any extra goodies to compensate for the delay?
BTW you are very patient from what I can see, I would have lost my chit by now haha

For what it's worth, thanks for being such a good sport and trying to get back to most of our questions and concerns.


Sent whilst on the go

I'm working on it, I'll make sure to squeeze some more out of them, even if it's one more free unit or something.

Again I thank everyone for the support. I honestly expected at least a few of you to be angry by now. For what it's worth, it is a Sunday and the damned manager is being a phantom again, but I should get that updated software tomorrow as well as receive confirmation on whether the unit will be released first without advanced music library and Android mirroring for the moment. If that's the case it would be available within the week, so I can get that demo video up, orders confirmed and get the ball rolling.

I mean that the radio does not actually seem to store the station names but the frequency. If I try to select a stored station in another town (same station but different frequency) the radio does not necessarily find it but selects some other station that may have the same frequency that the original station has in my home town. At the same time ANS changes (at least sometimes) the stored channel name and I have to set the stations again when I get back home... Annoying as hell.

The back and forth jumping when trying to find better reception I can live with. This alternative frequency search actually works if you start from home and stay on the same station. If you do not start from home you are in the above described trouble assuming the unlucky case where the original frequency is used by another station.

I hope this explains the problem in more detail.

I think I understand your problem now, but do you know if the OEM unit behaves any differently? The problem is the radio won't know how good the signal of a station is unless it is tuned to that station. It can't know and change the frequency of your station as you drive along, if that station is not selected. And if the radio is to remember station name and not the frequency, it would need to scan the whole band every time you change a station.

I think a solution to your problem would be if both station name and frequency are stored and the radio would then compare them when a station is changed - but this is a bit complex and you would still get a few seconds on one station as the new RDS name is checked, and then maybe another few seconds as the radio decides to search for a new frequency with the same RDS name. However if this comparison mechanism is mistakenly triggered (RDS is a bit finicky at times) you'll be in for more annoyance. Because of how rarely the situation you describe occurs I feel like it might create more problems than it fixes...

If this is a deal breaker for you I can take you off the list, but I'm not convinced that the OEM system or any other radio can do what you want. Happy to be proven wrong though, if there is a good solution I would request for the feature with the software engineers.

One quick question about the SD cards Sandy. Will it accept SDXC cards(ie. 64GB and up) or is it only able to accept SDHC cards(up to 32GB). Just wanted to know so I can get the right one ready for my DNS when it gets here!
Thanks!
Chris

AFAIK it only accepts SDHC, but SDHC can go up to 64GB.

[Goobz]

Thanks Sandy. Also just to clarify the 810 takes micro sd cards yes?

Fingers crossed that update comes through for you today! My blue tooth hands free died about 2 months ago and not having one has been killing me!

I'm sure everyone here knows you are doing everything you can and we appreciate it. I (and probably everyone else) would much rather a small delay for a working unit than one that is rushed out to meet a deadline. Hopefully it all comes together soon!

Thanks!

Chris

[Tobes_WIR35]

Hey mate,

Put me on the list please!

[Mattlock]

Hey DkN,

Here's a slightly random thought. How does the ANS/DNS screen go when used with polarised sunglasses? When I have mine on, the screen on my RCD310 is unreadable.

[thezoneR32]

Yeah good question...and what about a welding mask? Ya know sometimes when I come home from my welding job I need to be able to see the unit through my welding mask....... sorry bit of stupid humor there.

Actually I have a legitimate question which I did ask some weeks ago. Does the unit play FLAC or any lossless file formats?

Cheers

[Mattlock]

sorry bit of stupid humor there.

I know it sounds daft but it struck me today that having Nav that I can't see unless I take my glasses off is going to be almost as bad as driving down the road texting!

[DkN]

Hey DkN,

Here's a slightly random thought. How does the ANS/DNS screen go when used with polarised sunglasses? When I have mine on, the screen on my RCD310 is unreadable.

That's a good question but honestly I can't tell you since I don't own polarised sunnies. I think I recall some previous customers of the ANS units mentioning that it's not a problem until they put on an anti-reflective screen protector though?

That said, I just received some good news that might turn out to be bad for you, depending on how this interacts with polarised sunnies. The DNS units will come with anti-reflective screens.

Actually I have a legitimate question which I did ask some weeks ago. Does the unit play FLAC or any lossless file formats?

I have to check, depends on how much they've updated the media capabilities, but with the new dual core CPU it's definitely possible, they'd just have to implement it.

Regarding the software, I've chased down firmware but I'm missing one update file - I'm about to give it a go now, if the missing file doesn't make too much difference I might make that video.

edit: looks like I still need that missing update file...

[Hans Byxor]

I think I understand your problem now, but do you know if the OEM unit behaves any differently?

Indeed the OEM unit behaves differently. It seems to keep track of all stored stations somehow and always finds the correct frequency without delay if the chosen station is available. I have no idea how it is done technically but finding the correct stations has never been an issue with VW original radios (I have had 3 different VW radios during the last 7 years).

If the DNS radio is not any smarter than ANS, I would like to ask you to delete my name from the list. It won't be worth it to upgrade.

[pwc123]

Re: Group Buy / EOI new generation DNS head units (RNS-510 alternative)

The Android mirroring was my primary interest in this unit especially since that is how I planned on utilizing navigation in the US. So, understandably, I'm uncomfortable with buying the unit without that part of the software finalized and sufficiently demoed. If you have to purchase these before even knowing what the finalized features are, I will have to withdraw as well.