vw golf mkv head unit options.

[watson83]

Have finally ordered the android 4.2 unit and am now considering the fusion 10inch underseat sub/amp combo. I'm not after a car rattling sub just one to increase the base with a little kick. Should have my car next week so will install next weekend and let you know how it goes.

[watson83]

This is the one I've bought

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=291243362957&alt=web

[lemi]

So what's the main difference between the Android headunits and the ans or dns810 in the group buy? I'm not talking about the operating system, more about that you gain or loose going one way or the other.

Lemi

[moda]

Have finally ordered the android 4.2 unit and am now considering the fusion 10inch underseat sub/amp combo. I'm not after a car rattling sub just one to increase the base with a little kick. Should have my car next week so will install next weekend and let you know how it goes.

This is the one I've bought
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...362957&alt=web

Fun, good luck man That wouldn't have been the one I would have gone for, personally (would have looked at maybe more higher end ones from the likes of Audiosources or the pure android ones or the higherend WinCE units, as I said, they are the interesting ones to me), but anyways, still android, so should still be expandable and fun

To be honest, I'm not sure how much sound quality boost you're going to get, because its a generic chinese unit (so expect build quality to be lower, and lower quality components, probably software quirks etc), but hey, other seem adamant there is, I dunno, haven't really used the VW OEM units before, so IDK.

Let us know how it goes

So what's the main difference between the Android headunits and the ans or dns810 in the group buy? I'm not talking about the operating system, more about that you gain or loose going one way or the other.

Lemi

There's lots of talk/information out there, but probably hard trawling through all the posts and stuff, even just on this forum haha, so i'll quickly spell it out. Read my post here, too: http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/...ml#post1084664

The advantage the DNS (and to lesser extent the ANS), gives is that it's intended to be a 100% OEM clone, just with the flexibility of having a WinCE OS. So the OS UI is a 100% clone of the RNS510 UI, so it looks way better than almost all other units (i've got a mate who has an RNS510 in his Skoda, and thought it was an OEM unit when he jumped in my car). It's also more expandable, in that it technically allows choice in GPS programs (I say technically, but Sygic is the only GPS software that really should be used in the DNS), and allows features like high quality audio playback (FLAC/ALAC etc) and movies. From a hardware perspective, it's got all OEM connectors, fakra radio, gps and usb inputs, wiring harness, and if your car is equipped it will piggy back on the built in AUX and USB jacks (though not MDI). The biggest advantage there is its really plug and play, and the radio reception will be way better (basically OEM) than any other third party unit that uses bull**** adapters and powered antenna amps etc. The new version also now has full CANBUS decoder, so doors/AC/OPS info, and supports 3 line MFD readout, so it will have dynamic radio, bluetooth phonebook and nav instructions in the MFD. The only other units that do this, other than the RNS510/9w7 BT, are the Zenec, and Alpine/Kenwood+iDatalink units, which are way more expensive. Of course the biggest downside is that we're still playing with software issues, but they're still being fixed and its pretty much ready to go now.

Compare that to the generic chinese units (WinCE and Android), which will have various degrees of cheap build quality (plastics/buttons/screen/fonts), need adapters for things like radio, canbus decoder modules are often external (though this is possibly a good thing for upgradability), and often only support 1 line MFD and maybe in some cases door/AC/OPS, software is often hateful and cheesy and very chinglish, and the components will often be of lower quality (since you can get some of them for ~$300), so lower quality amp/radio/bt/dac chips etc.

As I said in my post, the most interesting third party units are the expensive, 'premium' ones. Don't need to mention the RNS510/9W7 for just the sheer fact that it works no questions. Zenec has been around for ages and makes great units, supposed to have excellent audio/bt/radio components, has all the OEM interoperability and supports full canbus/3 line mfd (so nav/bt phonebook etc) readout. Dynavin were typically a cut above the generic chinese units, and their new N6 line is supposed to be a huge step up in terms of the OS (which looks good and supports high quality audio etc) and audio components (so better dac/amp/radio/bt chips). It doesn't have 3 line MFD, though, so their CANBUS decoder isn't on the same level as Zenec/Audiosources. Then there are the Pioneer/Alpine/Kenwood units, don't really need to say much about them, plus linked with the idatalink module, gives full canbus/oem integration (so 3 line mfd/nav/phonebook etc). All much more expensive though. Should be interesting in the next few years as Apple Carplay/Android drive come out to see how new units come out, the top tier third party units (Alpine/Kenwood/Pioneer) will probably support them first.

But of course you have to weigh up price vs features vs ease of use, of all the units, and not talking about android vs wince etc either. I'm sure others will chime in, but that's basically how I see it.

[lemi]

Hi Moda,

Thanks for the great write up. Some great and thorough info there. I'm excited about getting the DNS. How do I go about it. I pm'd the member organising the group buy but no reply.

quick Q; what the difference between pure android and android 4.2 lets say?

Thanks again

Lemi

[moda]

Hi Moda,

Thanks for the great write up. Some great and thorough info there. I'm excited about getting the DNS. How do I go about it. I pm'd the member organising the group buy but no reply.

quick Q; what the difference between pure android and android 4.2 lets say?

Thanks again

Lemi

DkN (Sandy) is organising the groupbuy, which has had a long, long history haha, but he's on his wedding/honeymoon until the end of october, so you'll have to wait until he's back, so probably shipping more like in November. Otherwise you can just get it directly from Audiosources, you just won't have the local guy to deal with that's all. As I said, we're still dealing with small software bugs, but it's a lot better than it was a year ago. There are now 2 versions of it, the DNS and the DNS+, the + version has the newer canbus decoder with 3line MFD, and it runs a slightly different variant of the software, so you'll have to be mindful of that.

The 'pure' android bit is just a marketing thing, saying that it's just as close to original, vanilla android that google provides as possible. Most of the android units look to run 4.2 (latest is 4.4.4 afaik, with Android L (5) out soon), and upgradability is up to what roms are available for it. IDK really though, i'm not an android guy.

[kamold]

The pure actually refers to the fact that the unit runs Android for most functions.there are some units that are a hybrid Android/wince Frankenstein that I haven't used but would steer clear of.
There is still a custom MCU that handles radio, rvc functions but nav, media , internet access etc is all Android so you can use the apps of your choice.

[moda]

The pure actually refers to the fact that the unit runs Android for most functions.there are some units that are a hybrid Android/wince Frankenstein that I haven't used but would steer clear of.
There is still a custom MCU that handles radio, rvc functions but nav, media , internet access etc is all Android so you can use the apps of your choice.

Ah, fair enough. Told you I wasn't an android guy haha.

[watson83]

Well no matter which way you look at it the unit I've chosen is still going to be better than the stock standard base unit that's in the car I'm getting. In the long run will run amp for sub and maybe even a amp to run new speakers. But I will say the unit is plug and play and comes with canbus decoder. + I love my android phone. Will update once the unit is in the car.

[watson83]

Finally got my car Friday after the transport company decided to take my car over to Perth. Also got the new head unit which I put in today. Took about 20min to install but I'm a panel beater by trade so have taken plenty of dash panels apart. The unit came with canbus decoder and was plug and play. Haven't checked all steering wheel controls yet but volume buttons work.
My first impressions of the sound quality was pretty average compared to oem unit but downloaded a eq app and is better than the oem unit now.
Would upload pics but can't figure out how to upload pics from my phone. Long story short have no internet at home.

Well see how the unit goes after a week or so and let you guys know what my thoughts are of it. But so far I would recommend it.

[kamold]

Try Neutron player. Excellent dsp control.

[watson83]

Can't seem to get iPod connection to work. Grrrrrrr have to wait to hear back from seller now.

[watson83]

Well little update is needed I think. Have recieved a new iPod cable from seller to see if it fixes the iPod issue.
Onto the sound quality, it's a bit average with the onboard eq but once downloaded Google play and a eq that runs with it it's so much better. Will give the GPS a test run on the weekend as doing a fair drive so will be a good opportunity to test it out.
Could get the torque app to work which is a bit dissappointing. Little more tinkering is needed I think.

[watson83]

Head unit is still going strong, had received a new cable to hopefully fix the iPod connection issue but still won't connect. Goes to iPod screen but shows no music.

[fransnz]

How has the headunit performed so far? Im looking into buying a new nav for my Multivan.