Product Description
AVIC FEEDS for iPhone compatible Bluetooth Hands-Free Bluetooth Audio Streaming (A2DP and AVRCP) Navigation destination entry byVoice Control (Address Search, POI selection by category or brand name) USB Direct Control for iPod/iPhone and USB Devices (Optional Cable Required for iPod/iPhone) Advanced Sound Retriever to restore your compressed media to near CD quality XM and Sirius Radio Ready 3 Hi-Volt (4V) RCA preouts for adding on external amplifiers Two-Way Cros… More >>
#1 by E. Harp on July 2, 2010 - 6:44 pm
I have been using this receiver in my 2010 Toyota Tundra for several days now. I will simply go over the points that mattered to me:
- sound quality: excellent. Very happy in this regard. I have this connected at the line level to a JL Audio 400 watt amp and Morel Tempo speakers. Professionally installed.
- navigation: so far so good. The voice quality is great. The UI works well and I haven’t found it slow when searching for an address or a POI. I like how it behaves as your drive. I do wish I could see what the GPS thinks my current speed is, however.
- iPhone integration: generally very nice. Both for video and music and phone contacts. The audio quality I am getting for better music files is what I had hoped for. I am using the Pioneer iPod cable. Bluetooth wise, no problems except for today when I turned off Bluetooth on the phone, then back on again and the receiver and phone no longer wanted to get along for making calls.
- voice recognition/control: absolutely useless. I tried everything, including holding the microphone directly in front of my mouth. Experiments to test the microphone quality by recording a phone call proved fine. It is obvious that the voice recognition software Pioneer is using here is just not up to the task. I have seen much better in other devices, including the OEM receiver this one replaced. Pioneer has no business selling a flagship receiver at this time with voice control that doesn’t work at all. The voice used by this system is low grade computer generated. Not the same voice used by the navigation system. Horrible job of integrating these technologies into this receiver. I guess whatever you have to do to keep up? Try again please. Not that I will be trusting Pioneer with another $1400 of my money any time soon. Ironically, one cannot use the VR system without going into the navigation screen and touching an okay button. Yet the VR system uses a different voice and doesn’t actually recognize very well. It kept wanting to switch the source to AM. When I was asking it to make a phone call.
So yeah, I tripped over that last point. But really, they should have done better before releasing this product. Or remove the feature. Or let users know. Hey, it’s there but don’t actually try to use it, eh?
Rating: 2 / 5