absolutely awesome Rating:5 out of 5 stars I love this unit. Expandable, great video, I currently have the Sirius tuner connected, have the other components on my wish list..What a great unit!
Bad luck Rating:1 out of 5 stars Two weeks ago after searching for a new radio for my truck, I came across this radio, I read all the reviews for this item they’re all great reviews and a very decent price. So I decided to purchase from Amazon. After a confirmation email was sent to my email confirming shipment, I received an email a day later telling me I would be refunded $355.00 and it would take 10 days to post to my account, because the item wasn’t in stock. Amazon stated at the time of purchase(16 new) and (1 used) and still states the same thing, the only difference is the price has gone up more than $100.00.
Great Radio Rating:5 out of 5 stars I have had this system for only 1 day but i already feel like a champ . It’s a fantastic radio. The touch screen is easy to use, it’s visible with the sun shining on it. Its quick for a full featured unit to start up, about 10 seconds to hear music playback through a USB drive. The sound quality that is produced is excellent, putting my old BV7980 which died after only 11 months to even more shame. That was a nice surprise. The idea of a USB extension cable heading out of the back makes for some great possible places to keep that thumb drive plugged in and playing while being out of the way, the glove box is where mine sits. I did get the GMA-K510 navigation unit with this and they work quite well together. The nav unit can also get traffic and weather if you get a separate XM unit and pay for a XM subscription.. which i plan on doing shortly. Basically, the radio is a lot of fun and easy to use.
Great Product Rating:4 out of 5 stars The Kenwood DDX514 is a great unit. It gets back to the basics by allowing you to do everything from attach an I-Pod, listen to music from a thumb drive, or do the old fashion thing and put in a CD all while giving you a much upgraded look. Great sound quality as well as great picture quality. The unit is extremely easy to use. I love the ability to change the knob colors and the different upgrades available. I recomend this product to anyone looking for an upgrade who doesn’t want to spend thousands on a professional system.
Decent head unit, but… Rating:3 out of 5 stars Rotary volume control and front disc loading (instead of flip down or motorized flip) was the selling point for me.
I bought this head unit to replace the factory stereo for my FJ Cruiser. I
also purchased the HD Radio module(HT300) for this radio. I gave it three stars for
the following reasons:
a. USB Drive – I bought it mainly to have all my music on a USB drive which would
be very convenient(No more changing discs). The Kenwood manual says that it will sort the files
alphabetically if it is on a USB drive, and it will sort the files by the order
in which the files were put in if it was any other usb device(like a regular mp3
player). However, my biggest disappointment was that this head unit does not
sort the files alphabetically on my USB drive. This head unit puts the newest files/folders
at the end of the list and the oldest at the beginning. It’s tedious
to find the desired file/folder you want to play when you are driving as you
have to go through the list one by one, since it is not listed in alphabetical
order.
I contacted Kenwood USA’s technical support. I told the representative about this issue and told him
if they had a fix for this. The guy just told me that it’s not really a problem. Yeah right!
After searching online for a few hours, I found a workaround that will work with this head
unit. Search for DriveSort and install this on your computer. It’s a freeware so you don’t have
to worry about purchasing it. This software can arrange the files in a USB drive and places them
in alphabetical order.
Note: When you turn on this head unit, it will scan and index all the files
that is in the UBS drive before it will start playing. The more files you have,
the longer it will take. I currently have about 5.7GB worth of music and it
roughly takes about fifteen seconds to load up before it starts playing.
b. MP3 files with album art – I purchase a lot of my mp3 files online and most
of them come with album art. If you play an mp3 file on this head unit that
has album art, the music will play immediately, but it takes about 2-4 seconds
for the album art to load on the screen. I personally don’t care about the
album art, BUT while the head unit is still loading the album art on the
screen, ALL THE CONTROLS ARE ON HOLD. This means that you can’t change a
track, adjust the volume or go to another screen as long as the album art is
still not loaded on the screen. This is a real PAIN as some of the mp3 files
are louder and while the album art is still loading, you can’t lower the
volume!
c. Graphics – You can load up your own custom background if you choose to.
However, the text on the screen will just block your background image. There
is no option to turn off the text on the screen or turn off the screen. The
only work around with this is to put your background picture on EVERY folder
you have music on and set it to play a slideshow.
Also, the text fonts/graphics could be better.
d. Preouts – If you have a 4 channel amplifier, a sub and want to use fading, this
might be a little problem. You only have 2 sets of preouts. 1 set for the
front and 1 set for the rear or sub. The built in crossover that comes with this head
unit is great, but you are limited to set the rear crossover setting as a
rear speaker or a sub.
There is a workaround for this. You can use a speaker output to rca converter
for the rear speakers. You will then be able to use all the builtin crossover
settings (front, rear, sub).
e. User Interface – The user interface is decent enough. It’s not a steep
learning curve. It might take a little while to get used to, but it’s no rocket science.
You will be able to operate this head unit without reading the manual thoroughly.
f. HD Radio – I bought the HD Radio kit for this head unit. There is a
difference in sound quality between the analog broadcast and digital broadcast.
However, HD radio quality is still not CD quality, but close. From my experience
on this module, it made the analog receptions stronger. Even stations that had a weak
signal came in a whole lot better. As if it wasn’t weak anymore.
g. Equalizer – The head unit comes with built in presets and you can have a
custom setting. I have Polk Audio speakers all around and the built in
presets were just to bright for my taste. (I listen to a lot of smooth jazz).
Setting the custom Eq was not easy. The custom Eq contains 3 bands; Low, Mid
and High. Now the tricky part is you have to select the center frequency for
each band. One for your lows, one for your mids and one for your highs. Then
you can adjust the level. Personally, I would have preferred a custom 5
band or 7 band graphic Eq over this. You will have to spend quite a bit of time
to get it right for your taste.
However, If you really want a defined sound for your car, I would recommend purchasing
a 13 band equalizer.
h. Manual – The manual that comes with this head unit is very broad. It
doesn’t go in to depth with details. It does not give you examples. It merely gives
you the button or the icon and what the button/icon does.
Other than those mentioned above, the unit works fairly well. The response
time when changing to different screens or menus is not super fast, can be sluggish
at times, but it’s nothing unbearable.
This my first head unit that has a built in USB port with it. I can’t compare
it to other head units that have USB ports as I do not have experiences with them.
*** NOTE for installation of a subwoofer ***
If you are going to install a subwoofer with this head unit, you would want to
change the rear preamp setting to SUB to maximize the functions that come with
this head unit. You can ONLY change this setting when the head unit is on STANDBY.
Press the SRC button and scroll down until you see Standy then select it. You can go to the
system setup and change the rear output from rear to sub. Then go to audio setup then
4 out of 5
Posted in
absolutely awesome
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love this unit. Expandable, great video, I currently have the Sirius tuner connected, have the other components on my wish list..What a great unit!
Bad luck
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Two weeks ago after searching for a new radio for my truck, I came across this radio, I read all the reviews for this item they’re all great reviews and a very decent price. So I decided to purchase from Amazon. After a confirmation email was sent to my email confirming shipment, I received an email a day later telling me I would be refunded $355.00 and it would take 10 days to post to my account, because the item wasn’t in stock. Amazon stated at the time of purchase(16 new) and (1 used) and still states the same thing, the only difference is the price has gone up more than $100.00.
Watch prices that’s all I’m saying
Great Radio
. It’s a fantastic radio. The touch screen is easy to use, it’s visible with the sun shining on it. Its quick for a full featured unit to start up, about 10 seconds to hear music playback through a USB drive. The sound quality that is produced is excellent, putting my old BV7980 which died after only 11 months to even more shame. That was a nice surprise. The idea of a USB extension cable heading out of the back makes for some great possible places to keep that thumb drive plugged in and playing while being out of the way, the glove box is where mine sits. I did get the GMA-K510 navigation unit with this and they work quite well together. The nav unit can also get traffic and weather if you get a separate XM unit and pay for a XM subscription.. which i plan on doing shortly. Basically, the radio is a lot of fun and easy to use.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had this system for only 1 day but i already feel like a champ
Great Product
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Kenwood DDX514 is a great unit. It gets back to the basics by allowing you to do everything from attach an I-Pod, listen to music from a thumb drive, or do the old fashion thing and put in a CD all while giving you a much upgraded look. Great sound quality as well as great picture quality. The unit is extremely easy to use. I love the ability to change the knob colors and the different upgrades available. I recomend this product to anyone looking for an upgrade who doesn’t want to spend thousands on a professional system.
Decent head unit, but…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Rotary volume control and front disc loading (instead of flip down or motorized flip) was the selling point for me.
I bought this head unit to replace the factory stereo for my FJ Cruiser. I
also purchased the HD Radio module(HT300) for this radio. I gave it three stars for
the following reasons:
a. USB Drive – I bought it mainly to have all my music on a USB drive which would
be very convenient(No more changing discs). The Kenwood manual says that it will sort the files
alphabetically if it is on a USB drive, and it will sort the files by the order
in which the files were put in if it was any other usb device(like a regular mp3
player). However, my biggest disappointment was that this head unit does not
sort the files alphabetically on my USB drive. This head unit puts the newest files/folders
at the end of the list and the oldest at the beginning. It’s tedious
to find the desired file/folder you want to play when you are driving as you
have to go through the list one by one, since it is not listed in alphabetical
order.
I contacted Kenwood USA’s technical support. I told the representative about this issue and told him
if they had a fix for this. The guy just told me that it’s not really a problem. Yeah right!
After searching online for a few hours, I found a workaround that will work with this head
unit. Search for DriveSort and install this on your computer. It’s a freeware so you don’t have
to worry about purchasing it. This software can arrange the files in a USB drive and places them
in alphabetical order.
Note: When you turn on this head unit, it will scan and index all the files
that is in the UBS drive before it will start playing. The more files you have,
the longer it will take. I currently have about 5.7GB worth of music and it
roughly takes about fifteen seconds to load up before it starts playing.
b. MP3 files with album art – I purchase a lot of my mp3 files online and most
of them come with album art. If you play an mp3 file on this head unit that
has album art, the music will play immediately, but it takes about 2-4 seconds
for the album art to load on the screen. I personally don’t care about the
album art, BUT while the head unit is still loading the album art on the
screen, ALL THE CONTROLS ARE ON HOLD. This means that you can’t change a
track, adjust the volume or go to another screen as long as the album art is
still not loaded on the screen. This is a real PAIN as some of the mp3 files
are louder and while the album art is still loading, you can’t lower the
volume!
c. Graphics – You can load up your own custom background if you choose to.
However, the text on the screen will just block your background image. There
is no option to turn off the text on the screen or turn off the screen. The
only work around with this is to put your background picture on EVERY folder
you have music on and set it to play a slideshow.
Also, the text fonts/graphics could be better.
d. Preouts – If you have a 4 channel amplifier, a sub and want to use fading, this
might be a little problem. You only have 2 sets of preouts. 1 set for the
front and 1 set for the rear or sub. The built in crossover that comes with this head
unit is great, but you are limited to set the rear crossover setting as a
rear speaker or a sub.
There is a workaround for this. You can use a speaker output to rca converter
for the rear speakers. You will then be able to use all the builtin crossover
settings (front, rear, sub).
e. User Interface – The user interface is decent enough. It’s not a steep
learning curve. It might take a little while to get used to, but it’s no rocket science.
You will be able to operate this head unit without reading the manual thoroughly.
f. HD Radio – I bought the HD Radio kit for this head unit. There is a
difference in sound quality between the analog broadcast and digital broadcast.
However, HD radio quality is still not CD quality, but close. From my experience
on this module, it made the analog receptions stronger. Even stations that had a weak
signal came in a whole lot better. As if it wasn’t weak anymore.
g. Equalizer – The head unit comes with built in presets and you can have a
custom setting. I have Polk Audio speakers all around and the built in
presets were just to bright for my taste. (I listen to a lot of smooth jazz).
Setting the custom Eq was not easy. The custom Eq contains 3 bands; Low, Mid
and High. Now the tricky part is you have to select the center frequency for
each band. One for your lows, one for your mids and one for your highs. Then
you can adjust the level. Personally, I would have preferred a custom 5
band or 7 band graphic Eq over this. You will have to spend quite a bit of time
to get it right for your taste.
However, If you really want a defined sound for your car, I would recommend purchasing
a 13 band equalizer.
h. Manual – The manual that comes with this head unit is very broad. It
doesn’t go in to depth with details. It does not give you examples. It merely gives
you the button or the icon and what the button/icon does.
Other than those mentioned above, the unit works fairly well. The response
time when changing to different screens or menus is not super fast, can be sluggish
at times, but it’s nothing unbearable.
This my first head unit that has a built in USB port with it. I can’t compare
it to other head units that have USB ports as I do not have experiences with them.
*** NOTE for installation of a subwoofer ***
If you are going to install a subwoofer with this head unit, you would want to
change the rear preamp setting to SUB to maximize the functions that come with
this head unit. You can ONLY change this setting when the head unit is on STANDBY.
Press the SRC button and scroll down until you see Standy then select it. You can go to the
system setup and change the rear output from rear to sub. Then go to audio setup then
turn the subwoofer setting to on.