Kenwood 10.1" HU Discussion

I've seen a number of threads talking about 10" Kenwood installs throughout the forum (links at the bottom), but given that I just got my DMX1037S installed, I really wanted to aggregate this down to a single thread so there is a good resource for owners of these units to talk.

So there are a few units in this line:
DNR1008RVS
DNR1007XR
DMX1057XR
DMX1037S

The two XR units are the Excelon Reference units with higher preamp outputs (5v vs 4v).
The 100x units have built in navigation, while the 10x7 units do not.
The xxx7 units have HD radio

Beyond the 10.1" screens, these units have all the bells and whistles you can expect from a unit of these caliber - Carplay, Android Auto, USB, Bluetooth, HDMI, iDatalink interface, etc.

I'll talk about my install in a bit down this thread, but hopefully this will spur some discussion among those that have these HUs or want some info on them.

Links to older threads:
These two are the most detailed:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kenwood-dmx1057xr.707365/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kenwood-excelon-dnr-1007xr-the-experiment.688947/

This is a really good one that compares it to a similar alpine unit:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/in-depth-review-kenwood-dnr1007xr-vs-alpine-ilx-f511.814422/


These are rando Q&A threads, hopefully this section will expand a little:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kenwood-dmx1057xr.816319/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/looking-for-someone-running-the-kenwood-dnr1007xr.770580/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/dnr1007xr.690018/


Looking to customize the boot screen?
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/changing-startup-screen-kenwood-10-1.844285/


USB
This is more of a good note, because I have always run into this - this HU is very picky about the USB drive you try to do things with. I have some PNY USB drives that I cannot get to work on this thing. Sandisks seem to be solid enough. I've tried some Rally with little luck.
The Moral of the story - if you try something and it fails with a USB drive - try another one, because that might work.


Parking Brake Bypass
Warning - this is disabling a security feature - do at your own risk.
With that out of the way, one cool thing this feature will do is unlock the features that get locked when the car is in motion. The biggest two I can think of are:
1. HDMI port will display
2. All settings are available (like adding a new bluetooth phone)

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kenwood-10-1-hu-discussion.820377/page-2#post-30202888

Dimming at Night
Some people run into this, at night the screen is super bright, despite everything else dimmed down. This was found over at a Tundra forum, reproduced here:

There is a Reddit thread that explains the Kenwood thinking behind the dimmer control. Rather than taking a queue from the dash light sensor Toyota provided Kenwood looks merely at the headlight status. Lights off, screen bright; lights on, screen dim.

By default of course both night & day brightness are the same - for whatever reason.

The fix:

• Set dimmer control to SYNC (on the Kenwood HU)
• Turn on the lights
• Press the volume control button (it doubles as a context-sensitive Menu button)
• A strip of icons will appears, the far left is the brightness control
• Set your desired screen brightness, ie. how Dim you want the display to be
• Press back

Now turn your lights off. You should see the display get back to full brightness. Turn lights on, it should dim.


Support Links
DNR1007XR - https://www2.jvckenwood.com/cs/ce/index.php?model=DNR1007XR&lang=index
DNR1008RVS - https://www2.jvckenwood.com/cs/ce/index.php?model=DNR1008RVS&lang=index
DMX1037S - https://www2.jvckenwood.com/cs/ce/index.php?model=DMX1037S&lang=index
DMX1057XR - https://www2.jvckenwood.com/cs/ce/index.php?model=DMX1057XR&lang=index

Kenwood support - https://www.kenwood.com/usa/car/support/

 

There are a ton of videos online to talk about these units, I picked these because they have a ton of information and do an install in a Tacoma:










Here is the full Tacoma install - I really refer to this for a lot of work I do when working on mine. To be fair, it's more the speakers than the head unit, but still a great watch:

 

Any of you guys with one of these kenwood units DMX1057XR / DMX1037S I have a question or 2. If you use the saved artist, song or team option on Sirius/FM: It appears to save a selection as it shows for example 11 save of 60 (or whatever), but they are not showing up saved. At some point it looks like it was working cause there are 2 saved, but the current ones do not show up when i show content.

 

I've saved some teams, but I haven't had a chance to try this out yet. I might play with this a little to see how it works and what to expect of it.

 

Keep me posted when you dive into it....

 

I would say that the garmin nav in the DNR1007XR was horrible. It's ok for a back up in case your AA/Carplay nav stops working or you are in a cellular dead zone. The garmin nav is slower and sometimes, it tells you to take roads that don't make sense. I started a 13hr road trip to FL and I knew the way out of VA. I started the nav anyways and about 20 minutes into the drive, it tells me to exit to take a side road. I ignored it and kept on driving the way I normally drive. The drive time stayed the same after it recalculated. It might have saved me a few tenths of a mile, but staying on the highway is always preferable on a long trip for me.

 

My factory radio recently died on me, 2014 Tacoma. These Kenwood models seem really nice, but I recently came across AUCar Radio, which is a big giant screen tablet. It looks really nice, but I'm thinking maybe I should stick to big reputable company products. but it's hard to pass on a big arse giant screen.

 

From An Installers point of view, those "android" headunits are flaming hot trash!

I guess they're okay for the average consumer...

I've just seen too many issues with them in customer vehicles...

Had a Ford Raptor that we put a nice size system in....Then the owner took it somewhere and got a Linkswell headunit put in. Linkswell is like the Mercedes of "Android" headunits. We spent a couple days diagnosing the vehicle, to confirm that the Linkswell was the issue. Ended up putting an Alpine "Halo" in it and he hasn't had any issues since.

 

i'm thinking about getting the DNR1007XR model. it's the only 10", from any brand, that has built-in navigation.

those carzy big tablets, like AUCar, are still very attractive, but it would be too much of a hassle ripping it out and sending it to China if anything should go wrong....

thanks for the advice.

 

that is generally not what happens.

what happens is something goes wrong. you contact support. they tell you to check your connections. you contact support, they tell you to update firmware. you contact support, no response. after continued contacting, and no response, you realize that you are now the lucky owner of a very expensive paper weight.

i've never heard of any android radio company wanting any product back for any reason. it either works for you or it doesn't.

 

This is a funny one, it's one of the comments/reviews on Amazon. I understand that this is just one "extreme" case, but, I'd really prefer to be able to drive down to a local retailer and complain to them in person.

 

I still have my 1007XR for sale if you're interested.

 

hi, why do you want to sell it?

 

I switched to the alpine because the kenwood doesn't auto connect to android auto on my phone.

 

is this a common problem? because i too use android, and it will be a pain to have to re-connect every time......

so alpine is better in this aspect?

 

Alpine has its own set of pain points. It doesn't always want to connect and when it doesn't, it won't connect to any bt audio or even play from USB. The only music source at that point is the radio. The only way to fix that is to turn off the truck and let it sit for a while. Conversely, I never had a problem with the kenwood making a connection, albeit I had to press a button to connect. It's frustrating that neither big brand company can build a consumer friendly product.

There is a link in the first post of this thread that gives you my review on both products.

 

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my friend got a DNX697S, and he was showing it to me today. i noticed that switching to the backup camera when reverse is relatively slow compared to the stock toyota radio, it's noticeably slow. with stock unit, the switch is almost instant, you put in reverse and the screen shows the camera. with his DNX697S, there is about three maybe four seconds of delay, and even the booting up is much slower, maybe there are too many gadgets the Kenwood needs to load up?

has anybody else notice the loading speed between the stock unit and aftermarket ones?

 

I have a kenwood dmr1057xr,,,, Back up camera come up pretty quick..

 

I did notice that the kenwood takes a few seconds for the backup camera to come on. I think it has to do with the Maestro RR interfacing with the HU. It's not a huge deal and you learn to live with it. The alpine I have is slightly quicker, but I also have the RR2, so that may be a factor.

 

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All these aftermarket units are really beautiful and very fancy, but I actually miss my factory unit. It did what I needed, nothing fancy no extra bells and whistles. I would really get another factory unit, but here in Canada, the Toyota factory unit is sold for around $4,000 CDN ,which is just ridiculous, it's like Toyota intentionally doesn't want people to buy them.