Sony Head Unit Problems

['_']

I just got the Sony Xplod CDX GT620IP head unit installed the other day and I'm pretty happy with it. There were several problems though. One is that I no longer have much control over the bass like I did with the OEM unit. The bass only kicks in when I turn the bass level all the way up, choose the right equalizer setting, and crank the volume all the way up. With the OEM unit, the bass would be strong even at lower volume levels. Is there a way to fix this somehow? I may resort to using an auxiliary cable and maximizing the bass level on the head unit and selecting the "bass boost" equalizer on the iPod. When using the iPod direct control cable, the iPod plays music with no equalizer setting selected which may be why the bass is so weak.

The other problem is that I have the iPod Ready Feature (allows you to control iPod through the head unit). I plan on keeping an iPod in the glove compartment so that I have a hard drive full of music waiting in the car. However, when I turn the head unit and car off, the iPod is in the idle state, but displays "You may safely disconnect the device" even though the head unit no longer powers the iPod. When everything is off, the iPod will remain on until the battery dies out or if it's unplugged. I don't want to unplug the iPod, I just want it to shut down when the unit is turned off. Is there a way to fix this? Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I have an iPod Nano, iPod Video, and the iPod touch, all of which experience the same problems (not turning off).

[Dru]

As far as the iPod problem..I have the same problem with my Alpine CDE 9870 deck my iPod occasionally dies...I heard that theres a special kind of iPod cable that can take care of this

['_']

I was reading a few things and saw that Alpine came out with some sort of update that fixes the problem. Anyways, if you find out more about that cable, please let me know. Thanks for the response.

[touringcamry]

Sounds like a crappy interface on the Sony HU. Is there any way to change the equalizer settings while you're using it? Sounds like poor design if you can't change the setting of the equalizer setting that you're using.

I've never used a HU where I couldn't change the equalizer setting even if I'm using it. It would be pointless if I did not because it would make the HU hard to tune.

[tran.man48]

Poke around the menus for a "loudness" setting. This should be turned on.

[Albuynp Ryeno]

The sony is a piece of crap, sorry but its true. I made that horrible mistake and got it for my first aftermarket HU. Cuz the green color matched the car. I'm never making that mistake again.

Sonys equelizer controls are awful. When i had mine i set it on xlpod setting, if i tried to change any of the settings it made everything sound awful. Now that i have my alpine i realize how awesome a eq is. When i jack up the subwoofer, the subwoofer becomes louder, same with the 2 other settings (bass n treble or high).

As for your ipod problem idk what to say. I personally use my alpine and i got a aux input cable for my ipod. It connects on the buttom port but instead of hooking into the alpine ipod port, it goes to the aux port. This lets me use my ipod, not the hu, to control what songs i pick. The headunit unless its a touchscreen model, is too slow for me.

['_']

Originally Posted by touringcamry

Sounds like a crappy interface on the Sony HU. Is there any way to change the equalizer settings while you're using it? Sounds like poor design if you can't change the setting of the equalizer setting that you're using.

I've never used a HU where I couldn't change the equalizer setting even if I'm using it. It would be pointless if I did not because it would make the HU hard to tune.

You can change the equalizer settings while using it. I believe there are about 7 preset ones. I made my own custom one with the "low" range set up to +10, and it hardly made a difference. I read on a CNET review site that Sony's Xplod unit helped bring out the mid and high levels rather than the low levels, so that may be the problem. The head unit has settings for subwoofer, but I don't have one so that's a useless feature at this point.

Originally Posted by tran.man48

Poke around the menus for a "loudness" setting. This should be turned on.

There are three loudness settings as well as the off setting. I have tried using these three and they sound good, but still, the bass is not there. These bring out the mid and high levels.

Originally Posted by Albuynp Ryeno

The sony is a piece of crap, sorry but its true. I made that horrible mistake and got it for my first aftermarket HU. Cuz the green color matched the car. I'm never making that mistake again.

Sonys equelizer controls are awful. When i had mine i set it on xlpod setting, if i tried to change any of the settings it made everything sound awful. Now that i have my alpine i realize how awesome a eq is. When i jack up the subwoofer, the subwoofer becomes louder, same with the 2 other settings (bass n treble or high).

As for your ipod problem idk what to say. I personally use my alpine and i got a aux input cable for my ipod. It connects on the buttom port but instead of hooking into the alpine ipod port, it goes to the aux port. This lets me use my ipod, not the hu, to control what songs i pick. The headunit unless its a touchscreen model, is too slow for me.

My coworker also said to go with the Alpine unit. I saw some on display, but I chose the Sony because it had more features and because of the brand name. I used the aux input as well, and the bass seems to come out more since it plays music through the iPod's equalizer.

I have yet to figure out how to shut down both the head unit and iPod though. Thanks for the responeses.

[Heat]

Here’s the owner’s manual:

http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/Man...158GT620IP.PDF

The only thing that I can think of is that you have it set up to output to a sub that’s not there? Look at page 12, it’s the sub/rear function I’m talking about. It should be off.

['_']

Originally Posted by Heat

Here’s the owner’s manual:

http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/Man...158GT620IP.PDF

The only thing that I can think of is that you have it set up to output to a sub that’s not there? Look at page 12, it’s the sub/rear function I’m talking about. It should be off.

I tried that too, I turned off the sub/rear function. It seems like the only way to control the bass is by increasing the "low" range and turning down the "mid" and "high" ranges. I guess the bass is just weak on this specific head unit unfortunately.

[Albuynp Ryeno]

Originally Posted by '_'

My coworker also said to go with the Alpine unit. I saw some on display, but I chose the Sony because it had more features and because of the brand name. I used the aux input as well, and the bass seems to come out more since it plays music through the iPod's equalizer.

I have yet to figure out how to shut down both the head unit and iPod though. Thanks for the responeses.

I ROFL when you said brand name. Sorry dont wanna be mean. Sony is good for TVs or maybe playstation but car audio is a diff ballgame.

Sony is one of the worst brands out their. Clarion, duel, kenwood (not excelon) are some other terrible brands.

For headunits alpine is the best, hands down no iffs or butts. I hear pioneers are decent.I dont really know since when i upgrade from my sony i got the best brand out their.

The only downside of alpine is the price. A good one with 3 preouts is like 200, one with 3 preouts @ 4v is like 250 I think. I;m kinda sad i got my headunit before a price drop and i could have gotten the 4v preout one model for a little extra if i waited like 1 month.

[Heat]

You can try posting your question on the forums at crutchfield, maybe somebody there can give you some help but my guess is that the unit just doesn't put out the bass.

I have a Sony GT410U in my car and love it, but I also listen to podcasts 95% of the time so the lack of a thumping bass doesn't bother me. My unit has a front-mounted USB port, I just download the podcasts directly to a flash drive then plug the flash drive into the radio. Works great for me.

Maybe you can add a subwoofer or an external amp? And I agree that Alpine is normally the way to go - I just went with my Sony because it was dirt cheap ($205 for the head unit and four speakers, delivered) and things were tight at the time, and because I wanted a front-mounted USB port. Like I said before, I'm very happy with my radio.

['_']

Originally Posted by Albuynp Ryeno

I ROFL when you said brand name. Sorry dont wanna be mean. Sony is good for TVs or maybe playstation but car audio is a diff ballgame.

Sony is one of the worst brands out their. Clarion, duel, kenwood (not excelon) are some other terrible brands.

For headunits alpine is the best, hands down no iffs or butts. I hear pioneers are decent.I dont really know since when i upgrade from my sony i got the best brand out their.

The only downside of alpine is the price. A good one with 3 preouts is like 200, one with 3 preouts @ 4v is like 250 I think. I;m kinda sad i got my headunit before a price drop and i could have gotten the 4v preout one model for a little extra if i waited like 1 month.

Well the Sony had all the important features that I wanted (ie. Quick Browse, more buttons, flip down front panel, etc). There was an Alpine for the same price that I was also considering, but it didn't have all the buttons I was looking for. It was missing the numbered keys that are used for preset radio stations and secondary functions like shuffling, repeat, album change, etc. When driving, I figured I wouldn't want to be going into menus all the time to change little settings like these. It also didn't have an advanced iPod browsing feature, which I would be one of the most important things I was looking for. The Alpines also had features that I wasn't looking for (satellite radio, bluetooth, etc) and the Sony had the features which I would use the most. Anyways, they both seem like decent units but they have certain features which I need and don't need.

Originally Posted by Heat

You can try posting your question on the forums at crutchfield, maybe somebody there can give you some help but my guess is that the unit just doesn't put out the bass.

I have a Sony GT410U in my car and love it, but I also listen to podcasts 95% of the time so the lack of a thumping bass doesn't bother me. My unit has a front-mounted USB port, I just download the podcasts directly to a flash drive then plug the flash drive into the radio. Works great for me.

Maybe you can add a subwoofer or an external amp? And I agree that Alpine is normally the way to go - I just went with my Sony because it was dirt cheap ($205 for the head unit and four speakers, delivered) and things were tight at the time, and because I wanted a front-mounted USB port. Like I said before, I'm very happy with my radio.

Thanks for the suggestion, I just signed up and posted on cructhfield so hopefully I can find the answer to the iPod shut down problem. I can live with the weak bass for now. This will probably be the last mod for the Camry at this point.