I recently installed and wrote a review on the
Pioneer DEH-P6900UB head unit. I had some issues with the USB input and couldn't see the display in the sun. After talking with the fine folks at Crutchfield they offered me the option of replacing it. I took them up on it and decided to buy the Clarion DXZ675USB.
Well, the short story is this: I wish I had stuck with the Pioneer.
The Good: This head unit has a lot going for it. Things like:
* Motorized faceplate. Very cool.
* Nice display. Good resolution and easy-to-read block text.
* 6ch 6v pre-outs! This is awesome if you're running external amplifiers.
* 53wx4 internal amp. The sound is noticeably improved over the Pioneer. Whether that's due to the amp or some of the sound processing modes is a matter of opinion, but right out of the box I noticed an improvement, so I believe it's both.
* USB input: You can connect a USB 1.2/2.0 hard drive/memory stick to the built-in USB cable at the back of the unit. It will accept any drive that's formatted as FAT32.
* SLIDETRAK controls. The whole front plate of the faceplate slides left and right to work like arrow buttons on other head units. A unique feature that's pretty intuitive.
* "Sound restorer." This has 3 levels and is designed to replace some of the information lost during compression of digital music (read: MP3s). Here's the funny thing: it actually works.
* "Z-Enhancer." This is a set of pre-set tone effects. There are three levels of enhancement designed for different speaker setups - factory, separates and coaxials. Again, this works surprisingly well, really enhancing the sound without having to do much tweaking.
* Cell phone interrupt. With the optional Bluetooth adapter (which I purchased) phone calls can be taken directly through the stereo. When a call comes in (or you make one) the radio automatically mutes and you hear the call through your speaker (you choose right or left). It works very well and is much more convenient than my usual cell phone procedure:
Step 1: Phone rings while driving.
Step 2: Fumble for the phone.
Step 3: Fumble for the handsfree device that's mandated by law.
Step 4: Fumble at the volume on the radio to turn it down.
Step 5: Remove phone from charger cable and plug in handsfree device.
Step 6: Fumble earpiece into ear being sure to draw blood.
Step 7: Miss phone call.
The Bad: * The engineers carried the SLIDETRAK theme through to the volume and seek controls, which move up-and-down. This was a bad idea. The side-to-side track is very easy and intuitive to use. The up-and-down ones are very difficult to handle and sometimes counter-intuitive in their function.
To make things worse, the SRC button is let into the volume slider, so if your finger slips while adjusting the volume you change source modes. Very annoying.
* If there's no CD in the drive you still have to skip past CD mode when changing sources. Not a big deal, but the Pioneer was smart enough to skip CD if there was no CD inserted.
* The display is difficult to see in bright sunlight (especially because my car has a light interior). The contrast controls don't make a noticeable difference.
* There is some ghosting of the text when it's scrolling.
* Menus can be tedious. For example, to set the presets on the radio you must first scan to the station you want, press the Enter button, press up/down on the right hand SLIDETRAK slider to find the preset you want (it always defaults to 1), then hold Enter for 2 seconds to lock in the selection.
I understand that not every menu selection can be right on top, but some of the more often used ones should be easier to get to. Like selecting the random mode, for instance. You have to press Option, scroll right/left to get to Rdm, then scroll up/down to turn it on, then press Enter to lock it in.
* The faceplate doesn't fit in the included carrying case. I mean really, Clarion, what the heck? It's a $250 head unit with a gigantic faceplate. Make the case fit.
* I'm getting a buzz from the USB input whenever the unit accesses the device. I've tried it with both a USB hard drive and a plain flash memory stick. Both make the same noise. The Pioneer did not, in the same wiring harness with the same hard drive. I also tried running a dedicated 10gu power wire from the battery and a dedicated 10gu ground wire to a heavy lug on the body. Crutchfield is sending me a replacement, so I'll be able to report on it in a few days.
The Ugly: I purchased this unit specifically for the USB input. I have about 5000 songs on my drive and I like to just set the unit to random and listen to whatever pops up.
If a song pops up that I'm not in the mood for I want to hit NEXT and skip past it, going to a different random song. That's the way the Pioneer worked and the way every MP3 player on the planet works.
Not the Clarion. If you press Next (right arrow on the SLIDETRAK) it simply goes to the next song in the current folder. If you press Up on the right hand SLIDETRAK you skip to the first song in the next folder.
To get the next random song you must listen to the current one in its entirety. Stupid.
Stupid. Stupid. This is a design defect in my opinion, and makes the USB input useless for the way I listen to music.
What? You say just reset the random mode? Oh, ok. While driving in New Jersey traffic I'll just:
Press Opt.
Slide over to the selection to cancel the random mode (which is cleverly labeled "Trick Off" for some reason).
Press Enter to turn Rdm off.
Press Opt.
Slide over to the "Rdm" selection.
Press Up to select On.
Press Enter to lock in the selection.
Sure, easy. Oops, just rear-ended that 18-wheeler again.
Ok, I know. I'll just attach my MP3 player to the AUX input and use that to drive the random modes. I'll lose the very cool sound restorer, but at least I'll have my music.
Wrong again. The AUX input is being used by the Bluetooth cell phone adapter! Bad, Clarion, bad.
The Conclusion: If you don't care about USB random mode, this is a feature-rich unit. If you're using external amplifiers this unit becomes even more attractive with its built in high-pass and low-pass filters for its 6v pre-outs.
If you do care about USB random modes, or don't like fiddly controls, stay away. If you need to use the AUX in and Bluetooth adapter at the same time, you're also out of luck.
Me? I'm going to call Crutchfield and see if they'll replace it. If I can't use the USB input OR the AUX input the unit is basically useless to me.
Compuplus.com
