I have a DNX890HD and was wondering if it was possible to view a route on the navigation screen without having the nav voice prompts cut into whatever music you are listening to. I know how to turn the nav voice volume to zero but the music still pauses when the muted nav voice is speaking. I've asked this before but have never gotten an answer.....so maybe the answer is "no". But it just seems like a simple thing to be able to do. Thanks for any help or replies.

 

I have a DNX 570HD and I had this problem when I first got it as well, becasue there is a section in setup that seems like it should take care of it, but alas IT DOES NOT.

I'm going to assume our systems are somewhat similar especially if you have Garmin Nav, so give this a whirl...

Select Nav, on the first screen you probably see a wrench labeled settings, select it. Next look for the selection labeled "Navigation" select it. Scroll down till you see "voice prompts" it will be marked with a green check mark, tap the check mark and it will indicate that voice prompts are now disabled. back out of the screens and all should be well.

I hope our units are similar and this helps.

 

Similar.........but no "voice prompts" located in Navigation\settings\navigation. I asked Dennis at DD a couple months back. He said he would check into it. When I never heard back I assumed the answer was no, or he forgot -- which is what I will try to do as well if no one can help. Thanks for your time, Zed.

 

Bummer, a little quick investigation and it seems that you are not unique in this dilemma. Others are complaining of the same thing on the Kenwood forum. I checked to see if there was a firmware upgrade, there was not. I did a firmware upgrade on mine, and that fixed a few things. I'd check the kenwood site often to see if you there will eventually be an update. I'm not too thrilled with the headunit honestly, I think I would have been happier with a Pioneer AVIC series, but oh well!

Good luck on this, it is frustrating.

 

I have the DNX690HD and have the same problem. I also have a problem with my system freezing. The volume control and touchscreen quits working. Yesterday I searched the web for DNX690HD Freezes. I discovered there is a new firmware version, v1.6.0, which will resolve both of these issues. I found the link to the download here:

http://www.kenwood.com/cs/ce/mm/firm...2013a/eng.html

Be sure to download the install instructions pdf, also located on the same link. I will be installing this tomorrow.

 

Thanks for sharing the update info and let us know if the upgrade worked for your problems. I probably won't do the upgrade until this Saturday. I did the upgrade on my old 9990HD(R.I.P) and it was pretty simple to do. I go to the KW forums every couple weeks or so but it is so dead that there are only a couple of posts a week regarding most models. This forum has more action. Good luck.

 

Yes, I have tried asking on KW forums----there is very little over there on the 2013 DNX or DNN models. Everyone claims the Kenwoods are better than the Pioneers (except Pioneer owners). I'm not real impressed with the KW's myself, especially after owning a DNX9990HD that was unfixable after going back to KW twice before everyone gave up and gave me a DNX890HD and cash as a replacement. Being able to turn the voice prompts off seems to me like a no brainer when designing a car stereo navigation unit.

 

Another thing that irritates me about the DNX890HD is it doesn't mute with factory Bluetooth or Onstar. It just turns off. Then you have to reboot and reset the unit after the call. It's annoying.

There is a new firmware update to the DNX890HD but I'm not sure it addresses any of our concerns.

 

And here I thought I was just being a prima donna about the whole thing...I bought the Kenwood because I had an Excellon way back in the late 90's and it was great, but I see things have not evolved well for them. I also think our tolerance for devices is exceptionally low with the iphone, androids and to some small extent windows mobile devices being able to do most of the tasks that the car radio can, and fit in the pocket. I think our expectations are are high. I also think that they should be. Going live with a product with bugs the size of Texas cockroaches is a sure fire way to lose customers. Especially IF there are better products.

Anyway, since we have what we have....I also turned off some of the graphic effects to help speed things up a bit, that worked marginally. Also, I don't have mine changing colors every 5 seconds. IDK if that really helps, but like a computer the less the processor has to think about the better it will perform on the essentials. When I updated the firmware it did fix some bugs and sped things up a bit too. Forget talking to Kenwood, I have better conversations with my cat...he, at least, answers back.

 

Zed, I think you are right. When your phone or handheld GPS out performs the car radio you just paid hundreds or a thousand dollars more for it is frustrating. You know the technology is there because you see it on your other everyday devices. I guess the money for research and development and also quality assurance is far greater in the phone business!

 

I downloaded the file from the link I listed above and decompressed the files. I opened the folder and placed all of the files on the top level of a USB flash drive. I placed the DNX690HD in standby mode and selected set-up. I inserted the USB flash drive in my USB extension cable. I selected Software, verified the version which was loaded was 1.5 or down. Mine was v1.0. I selected Update. The system displayed a message saying the software is loading and do not turn off or remove USB until complete. Approx. 10 minutes or so later it displayed a message saying to remove the USB, and the firmware has been updated. I am now able to turn off the voice prompt, and so far I have not had my system freeze up. Be sure to read the install instructions and follow them. There is a warning in the instructions stating if the firmware upgrade is interrupted the system will be unusable. Follow this advice at your own risk. It worked for me, but I make no guarantees for anyone else.

 

I don't know why, but Dennis at Double D has always been extremely helpful on both Kenwood systems I have purchased from him, but he has not responded to an email or a phone call requesting info about this upgrade. I only post this in case there is some concern about this upgrade.

 

I find the Kenwood website extremely confusing. That being said, when i found the update to my firmware it was by following a link I found on the Kenwood forum. Radbluesfan I was incorrect when I said that there was no firmware update to your model, as you have undoubtedly figured out. I apologize for inaccuracy! Thanks C5FRCPewter for posting that link. I hope it worked well!

Does anybody use ipods or iphones with your headunits? I have the KCA-iP202 cable on order to be installed. I was wondering if anyone uses this cable and has an iphone 4s or similar, if you get alerts for incoming calls and texts? How is the ipod integration with the HU? Issues thoughts etc... I do not get these notifications with bluetooth connection with the iphone, I did get them with my Windows mobile phone and bluetooth, but there is no wired connection and Zune functionality that I know of. I like being able to use Siri, but she has a hard time hearing at highway speeds. Wonder how androids work with these head units. Inquiring minds wanna know

 

Glad to hear the update went well, Pewter. Are you saying that, after updating, a whole new option just showed up in your navigation settings that stated something to the effect of "mute voice prompts--yes/no"? That would be great. I have not really experienced any other problems or freeze ups. As far as performance speed being slow..........it is actually a little faster than my 9990hd. But the features, speed, and capabilities just seem prehistoric compared to a $1000 laptop or $500 ipad or smart phone.
Zed, I use one of those cables that I use in the glove box where I just keep an 160GB ipod classic hooked up all of the time. I have never really streamed any music, except just to see how to do it and how it worked. It just seemed like the sound was cleaner by not streaming. I hook up my iphone 4s to the cable usually only if I need a little bit of a charge to get me by---but it plays music/movies/pandora, etc. just fine. Ipod integration is okay....easier as you get used to going thru the menus. I notice my album artwork gets jumbled occasionally but I think it might be because I have over 100GB of music. My BT works fine and incoming calls ring as your regular iphone ringtone. I read you can get text message alerts but I have not ever tried it. I really like the Siri function on the 890, which the 9990 didn't have.
Will try the update tomorrow if I get a chance and will post how it goes.

 

Just finished the update and sure enough there is now an option in navigation\settings\navigation to turn voice prompts on or off that was not there before. I turned it to "off". I haven't tried (drove) it yet due to a thunderstorm but I think that it should do the trick. Thanks to all that responded. I'm not exactly sure what else was changed in the update. The descriptions of the upgrades are pretty vague from the KW site but getting the voice prompts to turn off was definitely a step in the right direction for me.

 

Sweet! Glad you got it sorted out!

 

I have had no freeze ups since installing v1.6.0 update. The voice commands are still turned off and my system has been working as I hoped it would.

Just to update the install info; be sure to have the engine running while performing the update to your firmware. Your system will be useless if the update is interrupted.

 

I'm finally ready to do a map update on my 3 month old KW/Garmin. After going to the KW website, I found that I need to install a firmware update first. I did that as separate files on a thumb drive but my unit won't recognize this USB device. Is there an inline fuse on a USB circuit?

Also, are map updates free from Garmin or will I need to buy the update download?

 

http://www.kenwood.com/cs/ce/ this is the update address for your Kenwood