Kenwood eXcelon Reference DMX1057XR

I have mine in the same location just angled toward the driver’s seat (like this /) and haven’t had any complaints. I’m on it a lot. Before moving it there I tried it on the top of the steering wheel and dash with poor results.

 

How did you mount it? I used some hot glue to hold it in place trying to be careful not to block any holes on the mic.

 

Honestly its just tucked in there. Seemed like somewhat of a tight fit so I wasn't worried about it moving around once everything was put back together.

 

That is a great way to mount it! I'm going to remove the hot glue and mount mine like that?

 

I was sooooooooooooooo close to using hot glue, but was worried about it messing with the mic's reception. Was looking through the stuff that came with it and saw the mounting clip that i immediately pulled off because "there's no way that will work in the factory spot".......cut it with a hacksaw and some VHB tape.

 

I did a lot of tests with it in and out of the console and for me it sounded better out. This definitely isn't as clean as your install but I just popped the clip over the lip and will run it like this for a while. I can always pop it back in.

 

I have updated the unit with the latest software from Kenwood. My parking sensors and TPM are both not working.

 

My parking sensors don't show up on the dmx1057xr but my tpms do show in vehicle info.

 

Read the whole thread, just ordered one. $1099 shipped. (PM me if you want the shop)

Ugh. Wallet is not happy, wife will not be happy. (Better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission?)

 

I love this head unit - but I have one major problem and a minor problem.

Major: When I use Apple CarPlay with my iPhone 12 Pro to make phone calls, there's absolutely NO audio at all. The person I'm calling can hear me, but no sound comes through the system. I can't hear it ring, I can't hear them speak, nothing. If I want to make a call, I have to disconnect CarPlay and call via the bluetooth connection, which is really frustrating.

Minor: I downloaded the Inrix Traffic app, but the weather widget never has any data on it. It just says "no data" all the time, regardless of where I am or how long I've been driving and if my phone is connected or not. Is there something wrong? I'm using the stock GPS antenna with the Crutchfield adapter.

Has anyone else had these issues?

 

As far as sound on phone calls...I have zero issues! I can hear them and they can hear me perfectly using an iPhone 11 Pro Max - I'm in carplay about 99% of the time. It has to be something in your setup.

 

One sale here for $1099 shipped
https://www.electronicexpress.com/c...excelon-10-1-inch-digital-multimedia-receiver

 

Great info here, thanks !

 

I've had this installed for a couple days, here's my review.

Positive
- Good audio quality
- A huge array of audio controls! No shortage whatsoever, you can tweak to your heart's content. There's even a hidden menu for total customization.
- Screen is large and bright. (Thankfully there's a night/dim mode available or else you'd go blind)
- USB playback upon restarting the vehicle is almost instantaneous
- USB playback controls are very good
- Wireless Android Auto! (And Carplay) Seems to be very robust IME, audio controls are great, maps are great
- Has a volume control knob and a couple other useful hard button on the face, I appreciate these
- Menu responses are fast, this is not a sluggish unit. It's like a huge phone, or a tablet.
- Touch screen is sensitive

Negative
- The initial 'warning' splash screen stays on for a full 10 seconds. I guess this is common these days, manufacturers want to CYA.
- Startup is somewhat slow, initial bluetooth sync is slow
- Android Auto doesn't seem to stay active past a vehicle shutdown, unit wakes up in Standby. Must resolve this somehow. No such problem with plain Bluetooth (but then... see BT problem below)
- Bluetooth playback controls are very, very rudimentary (play/pause and back/skip - that's it) It has no native Spotify app, that only exists within the Android Auto ecosystem.
- The home screen offers very little customization. You can move things around but the supplied 'widgets' are pretty much useless.

I truly hope I can resolve the "AA wakes up in Standby" issue, it would make this unit more attractive. Currently this is a rather severe shortcoming.

Issues like this are very common in the realm of automotive electronics, however. Phone companies are never on the same page as the head unit teams and of course the auto manufacturers exist in a separate universe. In general auto software/hardware integration is rather poor. I was hoping the DMX1057XR would somehow find a way to bring it all together but alas, they seem to have missed the mark with their poor bluetooth audio control and their Android Auto startup issue. However if you are an audiophile you may be willing to overlook the interface issues and would appreciate the massive amount of control afforded to you.

 

Did you do software updates on unit?

 

Yes

Does the AA on your unit wake up properly on a fresh vehicle startup without any intervention from you?

 

Called Kenwood customer care, they at least picked up the phone quickly: (310) 639-9000

They basically told me we're SOL on the AA "Standby" issue. It's a feature, not a bug, they say. The unit is listening to the last 'source' and that source was disconnected so thus it won't resume. I don't really buy it, but they're blaming the phone rather than the HU.

On my phone I have the "automatically resume media" option selected within AA, so I don't think it's the phone...

 

Well crap!! Looked in my phone's AA settings - this DMX1057XR is specifically called out for _not_ supporting autolaunch. WTH!

 

Right as i was looking to see if i could autolaunch AA. I'm guessing you are connected to the head unit to get to that setting?

 

No that's on my phone. But my HU AA also has a setting that looks equivalent, "Automatically resume media."

IMO this is a bug. Kenwood CS voice support isn't willing to help, will file a bug (or feature request) to get this worked on. To me it's obvious since all other devices out there support the auto-restart, this HU explicitly does not. And the options for restart are enabled both in the phone and the HU, yet it doesn't resume. Just goes into Standby after you shut off the car. Boo.

 

I dont have the AutoLaunch menu like you do, strange...maybe its my phone. I'm on a pixel 3xl.
I'll try again when i'm in the truck a little later.

 

I'm glad I saw this thread. I was really looking at this unit and loved all the positivity, but the wake on restart is a bit of a deal killer.

The 10s splash screen is a bit of a PITA as well.

 

The Kenwood phone rep said: "If you want AA to resume after you start the vehicle, just make sure to pick a different source before you shut off the car." I can definitely say this suggestion makes no difference at all. I had my USB drive playing, had the AA map showing, shut down the car. Restarted the car, USB keeps playing where it left off and AA is asleep. As for right now, there no way to have AA become active when the car is started, it requires manual poke of the screen to bring up AA.

On the positive side, this is still 100x better than the alternative: having to use wired AA, as with the OEM HU. And once AA is fired up, the map is a thing of beauty. Google maps is always good anyway and IMO it crushes even dedicated systems like Garmin. You can even search for new destinations right on the screen (keyboard pops up), the map is huge and scrolls smoothly.

So everything works, albeit separately:
- USB playback via the Kenwood GUI, full browse available
- Bluetooth Spotify playback via Kenwood GUI, only play/pause and back/skip available
- AA Spotify playback with full browse
- USB or BT music will resume even after a vehicle restart
- AA requires a finger poke after starting vehicle but otherwise requires absolutely nothing on the phone side or on vehicle

The integration between all the above is somewhat rough around the edges. But you've got Toyota, Google, Kenwood, Maestro, Spotify (& others), Samsung (& others) - a lot of moving parts. My son told me "Dad, sounds like a 1st world problem." He's right

 

The lack of auto-launch for Android Auto seems to be a known issue, it's been around for at least a year:
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/wireless-android-auto-bug-breaks-down-a-key-feature-142077.html

And even more confirmation that this bug is real and is not new
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidAuto/comments/eqi5r1/kenwood_dmx905s_aa_wireless_autostart_woes/

Who will fix it? Google? Samsung/Pixel? Kenwood? Development teams tend to move on to the next product, if something is already in the market you can bet almost no one is working on it any more.

 

Another confirmation of missing 'autolaunch' for Android:
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-mKL6T...iews/Kenwood-Excelon-Reference-DMX1057XR.html

Someone writes:

I would likely have bought a different model had I known this. Many other kenwood head units do support autolaunch, just not their flagship. Caveat Emptor.

Apparently this was a feature at some point, later Google called it a Bug - so the autolaunch was removed
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidAuto/comments/iurkpc/have_a_kenwood_wireless_head_unit_and_want/

Here is the detailed confirmation from Google. Apparently it's very widespread with Kenwood/JVC, but possibly not on Pioneer
https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/168724180

 

My Pioneer 4400NEX (which is admittedly older) has AA and CP autolaunch.

Would love to know if current gen Pioneers have it baked in, as that may sway me.

So you're saying you have to open the app (on the headunit) each time you turn the car on?

 

Yes, exactly

 

I just installed the OEM Audio Plus Reference 500 system and I'm loving it so far. Did you use anything to calibrate the settings for the best sound?

 

Got a kenwood 1007xr on order from online car stereo.anyone know how good this place is,first time doing business with them