Something some of my customers here at the shop have been waiting for , for a very long time... A top name brand multi media head unit with a fully detachable faceplate. Until now the only name brand company that offered a fully detachable face was JVC. But the JVC units can not compare to the features and reliability of Pioneer , Alpine and Kenwood head units. (Personally i don't care for detachable face units because i don't park my cars on the street but i can definitely understand the need for people who do).
The pioneer 8400BH has all the features you can ask for in a head unit
3 sets of HI Volts RCAs
2 USB ports so you never have to disconnect your Ipod to hook up your thumb drive!
Detachable face
Bluetooth
Bluetooth audio streaming
Iphone / Ipod control
Android control (Limited via bluetooth only)
Advanced App mode
CD
MP3 / AAC / WMA playback
Audio and video playback from usb flash drive, portable hard drive , Ipod and SD card
Dvd playback
Pandora
HI FI RADIO
HD radio tuner built in OTHER FEATURES
Built-In MOSFET 50W x 4 Amplifier
8-Band Graphic Equalizer
Auto EQ (CD-MC20 required)
Sonic Center Control
Advanced Sound Retriever
Rear View Camera Input
Advanced Touch Slide Operation
Wired Remote Input
Included Remote Control
Detachable Face Security™
NAVIGATION READY
Easily upgrade to navigation with the addition of the AVIC-U220 add-on navigation system. This versatile hideaway unit allows you you to switch to navigation mode with the touch of a button. Get to your destination by inputting an address or search through the POI library while enjoying whatever source is currently playing.
DUAL ZONE ENTERTAINMENT
The AVH-P8400BH allows rear seat passenger to enjoy audio or video content on additional rear seat monitors and headphones, even while the front passenger and driver listen to audio from other sources or operate navigation functions simultaneously.
YOUR FAVORITE STATIONS ANYWHERE
Enjoy channels upon channels of commercial-free music, sports, talk, weather, traffic, and more! The AVH-P8400BH is ready to accept a compatible satellite radio tuner so you can listen and control to your favorite stations wherever you go, direcly from the receiver touchscreen. Currently, Pioneer offers the GEX-P920XM add-on XM Radio Tuner (tuner and subscription sold separately) or the CD-SB10 SIRIUS Bus Interface for SIRIUS Satellite Radio (also requires SCC1 SiriusConnect Universal Vehicle Tuner and subscription that are both sold separately).
I must admit , i have been installing Pioneer Head units for 18 year and even i was confused with the 2012 line up. So let me try to clarify a little bit.
The IPhone / Ipod is the undisputed king of all in car media. Every aftermarket radio company make a Ipod / IPhone compatible usb head unit (some as low as $79.00 retail!!!) and 80 % of car manufacturers offer Ipod / iPhone adaptors in new vehicles. But in the past few years Android phones have dominated the cell phone market in the shear number of units sold. Android owns 50% of the market and IPhone 35%. With that many Millions of Android phone users they simply could not be ignored. So for 2012 11 of Pioneer's head units have some sort of Android phone support (this is where it gets tricky).
We'll start from the top.
App Radio 2
This is Pioneer's Mech-less (no moving parts) radio
It is basically a 7 inch touch screen am/fm usb display with blue tooth (no cd payer, no dvd player much like the Mac Book air and net books , tablets , etc..) But when you plug in your IPhone they unit comes alive displaying sum (not all) of your iPhone content on the touch screen. The App radio is on its second production run since it was released last year with the APP radio 1. In the App radio 2 they added more apps and better app support for the IPhone and Finlay Android phone support!!! BUT you must get the Android cable kit (the radio already comes with the Ipod/ IPhone cable kit in the box). The part number for the Android cable kit is CD-AH-200c with a retail cost of $120
Since there is only 1 IPhone made by Apple , IPhone compatibility is guaranteed, not the case with Android. Android is a operating system owned by Google and many phone manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola, HTC and others just build there hardware to work with the Google software. Since there are differt standards from handset to handset and maker to maker 100% compatibility can not be guaranteed. Unlike the Ipod / IPhone there is not even a standard usb sync cable for Android devices like the standard 30 PIN Ipod cable!
Here is a list of the compatible Android devices as of 4-16-12
MANUFACTURER
MODEL
OS VERSION
CONNECTION TYPE
Apple
iPhone® 4S
iOS 5.1
30-Pin
iPhone® 4
iOS 5.1
30-Pin
HTC
Amaze™ 4G
Android 2.3.4
MHL
EVO™ 3D
Android 2.3.4
MHL
Rezound™
Android 2.3.4
MHL
Sensation™ XE
Android 2.3.4
MHL
LG
Optimus 2X (P990)
Android 2.3.4
HDMI
Motorola
Atrix™ 2
Android 2.3.6
HDMI
DROID 4
Android 2.3.6
HDMI
DROID RAZR
Android 2.3.6
HDMI
DROID RAZR MAXX
Android 2.3.6
HDMI
Samsung
Droid Charge
Android 2.3.6
HDMI
Galaxy Note™
Android 2.3.6
MHL
Galaxy S™ II
Android 2.3.6
MHL
Galaxy S™ II, Epic™ 4G Touch
Android 2.3.6
MHL
Sony Ericsson
Xperia™ arc S
Android 2.3.4
HDMI
Xperia™ neo V
Android 2.3.4
HDMI
The Head unit paired with one of the above listed Android devices will allow you to control Pandora internet radio from the touch screen of the pioneer headunit if the phone is conected via the usb cable or via bluetooth and the same applies to playing music from the phones memory chip . You will get song title and artist info along with basic track skip features.
MAIN FEATURES
Compatible with iPhone 4S (cable included), iPhone 4(cable included), iPod® Touch 4th Gen (cable included), and select Android™ devices (CD-AH200C interface cable required)
7" WVGA capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 800 pixels x 480 pixels and multi-touch operation.
FM/AM radio tuner with RDS
Direct control for iPod/iPhone (cable included)
Built-In Bluetooth® for hands-free calling with phone book access, dial pad, and included microphone
Built-in MOSFET 50W x 4 amplifier, Easy EQ preset equalizer, 5-band graphic equalizer, subwoofer control, and two sets of RCA preouts (2 x 2V) for system expansion.
External GPS antenna for improved positioning accuracy
Rear-view camera input
The App radio 2 is the ONLY 2012 head unit that alows your android device to have a phisical connection to the head unit (so you can charge you phone while palying your music)
The rest of the headunits only suport Android devices via Blue tooth!!!!! and only for Pandora and AHA apps.
The 2012 product line of CD, DVD, and Navigation receivers that feature built-in Bluetooth® have a capability of wirelessly streaming audio and track metadata to the unit with basic control from your Android device.
A2DP profile for audio streaming.
AVRCP profile for audio control (track metadata available on 2012 AVIC and AVH models with AVRCP 1.3).
SPP (Serial Port Profile) for full, on-screen control of Pandora® internet radio and Aha™ Radio apps (when installed on Android device) on AVIC-Z140BH and AVIC-X940BT.
2012 Navigation Receivers with Bluetooth (A2DP/AVRCP/SPP)
AVIC-Z140BH
AVIC-X940BT
2012 DVD Receivers with Bluetooth (A2DP/AVRCP 1.3)
Unfortunately they do not make a double din dash kit for the Mazda 6 (2003-2005). They only make a single din (metra part number 99-7503) the heater controls are part of the radio console.
So what happens to the customer that need or want a double din touch screen nav in there Mazda 6?
NVS AUDIO to the rescue! The problem with single din multi media head units offered by the major players in Aftermarket car audio (I.E. Alpine, Kenwood, Sony, JVC, Pioneer, etc..) The TOP on the line flagship head units from these companies are all double din!!! some of the companies offer a watered down single din flip out version and sum don't offer a single din at all!!!
Using the single din Metra kit we create a double din radio kit for are customers. We are creating on right now for the new 2012 Pioneer avic 140BH. check back for the completed pics.
The infinity G35s factory head unit is pretty nice. It has navigation , blue tooth , Ipod control, but as far as sound quality goes... it leaves a lot to be desired.
On this G35 sedan we kept the stock head unit but fed the factory signal into a Audio Control LC6i. The signal was fed into our oscilloscope with a 60 hertz reference tone to get max undistorted output from the factory head unit then from there the signal goes into a pair of Hertz HDP amps (HDP 4 and HDP1).
The HDP 4 drives a set of DLS components in the front doors and a set of factory coaxial in the rear doors.
The HDP1 runs a single Alpine Type R 10 inch sub in a sealed enclosure.
This car will be back soon for a few more audio goodies.
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