[RazRokz.!]

can I plug an external hard drive into this thing?

[fazman]

Would be nice to allow it to access the internet via a wireless hotspot and web browse.

Also would be nice to make it a network shareable drive when the car is in my garage and on my home wireless network.

Maybe move the seat warmer buttons into the touch screen instead of the row of buttons move to ash tray??

[mweisdorfer]

Jeff,

I think most people are excited about the new unit as a prototype. I will at some point buy one.

However: Dynavin needs to upgrade the following;

1) HD radio
2) Equalizer should be 7 band (80, 200, 500, 1k, 2k, 5k, 10k,)
3) 6 channels instead of 4 - this would sway buyers from being tempted to buy an aftermarket amp.
4) Perhaps have a set up like the ms-8 where you can plug in a mic and have the sound calculated automatically? Plenty of home A/V units under 3$99.00 can do this. This is not new technology to be sure.

Should they do all of these things and perhaps only up the price to $799.00, you would still sell tons of them.

I mean that is the whole point of Dynavin allowing you to test drive the prototype and then get feedback from not only you but guys like us on forums etc., which is smart on their part. The big question of the day is will they listen. If so, they will stand to make a lot more money with a few adjustments.

I guess your other option would be to get into the aftermarket amp business and start selling JBL MS-8's or Rockford Fosgate 360.3's for under $450.00 if they also purchase the unit from you. Just a thought.

[jeffb335]

well....frankly everyone has their own personal "wish list"....what dynavin has to do is make a unit that most of the people want for what most of the people want to pay. Thats always the trick when selling a product.


I had some input on the design of this new unit and my mental tally of what people are asking for always gets passed on.


As for your specific suggestions, here are my educated guesses as to where those might go.

1) HD radio

Possible....ill talk to them about it. They already make digital radio and TV receivers for the European market, they are add on modules. Perhaps they could do an HD radio version. The problem with this however is the extraordinarily low adoption rate of HD radio....I cant claim to be an expert on this but I DO sell HD radios (Im a pioneer dealer too) and I almost NEVER get asked for HD radio.....Pioneer has a number of options and customer just dont ask for it....pandora/bluetooth/ipod and that sort of thing, EVERYONE ask for.......but HD radio....Nobody. So I will pass on the info to dynavin but they will have to see a potential demand large enough to justify the expense.

2) Equalizer should be 7 band (80, 200, 500, 1k, 2k, 5k, 10k,)

No promises but as I mentioned (I think?) earlier I suspect this may be in the works based on something in the product literature noting a 7 band EQ when the actual product only shows 5. And dynaivn telling me they have several future feature additions in the works (updateable via SD card).

3) 6 channels instead of 4 - this would sway buyers from being tempted to buy an aftermarket amp.

Not sure what you are getting at here.....the oem amp only has 4 channels going into it, the 13 individual speakers are split out in the amp. The dynavin has 6 RCA outputs as well for if you are running aftermarket gear.

4) Perhaps have a set up like the ms-8 where you can plug in a mic and have the sound calculated automatically? Plenty of home A/V units under 3$99.00 can do this. This is not new technology to be sure.

Yeah, but its REALLLLLY expensive, not the chip that makes it happen, the R&D to make it work right....even the MS-8 still had some issues and JBL/Harmon Kardon have deep pockets.....auto EQ technology may be in cheap home AV but its trickled down from receivers that cost 10 times as much 6-7 years ago, from companies that multimillion dollar R&D budgets. Not to mention home audio and car audio are VERY different animals.

Keep in mind who the target buyer is here, I know on this forum most of us know about the MS-8, the Helix, etc... but out there in the real world, almost nobody does. Again a matter of making a unit that is most things to most people. I think if you want to get into auto EQ and all the other really high end audio features you are working with audio at a different level than 99% of consumers....and at that point thats why the MS-8. Helix, and all the other processors exist.

Overall I understand your wish for audiophile type features in a stock looking head unit, and the dynavin has a few of those, but a higher priority is their emphasis on OEM integration......the canbus features (chimes, PDC, etc), the MOST adapter, etc...

[ctuna]

Probably nobody asks for HD Radio is because
its pretty standard in a lot of head units now.
Admittedly there are not a lot of good strong HD signals
unless you are in a major metro area but that keeps changing.
Don't know what the rest of the world does but aren't you supporting
DAB.

[jeffb335]

Pretty much all of our stations here locally have multiple HD radio subchannels.....and when I mention to a local customer that radio xyz has HD radio the standard response I get is "whats that?". Im not saying that HD radio has no value! I think its great, Im just saying that in my experience it still has not been widely adopted....and frankly radio in general is being walked away from by most. We all have SO many options now days...

Also....Im on various forums doing this same basic thing for the E46, E39, E53, E60, E8X, E83, crowds......this is the only forum where HD radio has come repeatedly. Something interesting with the demographics going on here dont you think? (perhaps we are all trying to avoid trading in our E90s for that shiny new F30? )

As I mentioned in my prior response....Dynavin does make a DAB (European and Australian Digital Audio Broadcasting), I personally dont carry or use them as Im in the US.....although from a technical standpoint HD radio is completely different than DAB it may be possible to use the dynavins DAB functions with a different module... I will talk to them about doing an HD radio in similar fashion to the DAB tuner.

[Wongway]

yeah, I think we need to stop and check ourselves a moment before getting carried away...

Most of us on the forums probably represent maybe 5%? of BMW owners that might care enough for some of the higher end features like HD Radio (most people probably don't even know if they have it or use it), signal processing, etc.

We see it on a day to day basis that most products are dumbed down to the lowest common denominator to appeal to as broad a market as possible for sales. Mostly because, when it comes down to it, the vast majority of folk only care about 2 things;
1) Does it look cool?
2) How cheap is it?

[kaigoss69]

I would like to see auto T/A which I'm sure is a lot easier to implement than auto EQ. Also some sort of streaming option OR app support in connection with the ability to connect to a phone hotspot.

Think tablet with an amp, crossovers, t/A and RCA pre-outs behind it. If someone made a HU that allows to snap-in an ipad mini in the front, for example, now that would be awesome! I can't believe that doesn't exist, quite frankly!

[jeffb335]

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

Also some sort of streaming option OR app support in connection with the ability to connect to a phone hotspot.

Well....as for streaming, its not a function of the dynavin exactly but I showed earlier in this thread how my iphone running pandora interacted with the unit...while not explicitly a built in pandora app.....it seems close enough to me....by the way works the same with the other various audio apps ive tried as well.

As for internet connectivity....I dont want to get you guys all excited about things that dont even exist yet (commercially) but it does seem the unit is capable. Its not an android/ios device so dont expect that kind of thing and as far as I know no features utilizing this have been implemented yet but obviously its here so there must be some plans in the works for something.

Connect the dots and speculate away.....

[805beemer]

Will these work on a 1 series?

[taibanl]

Originally Posted by jeffb335

Pretty much all of our stations here locally have multiple HD radio subchannels.....and when I mention to a local customer that radio xyz has HD radio the standard response I get is "whats that?". Im not saying that HD radio has no value! I think its great, Im just saying that in my experience it still has not been widely adopted....and frankly radio in general is being walked away from by most. We all have SO many options now days...

Also....Im on various forums doing this same basic thing for the E46, E39, E53, E60, E8X, E83, crowds......this is the only forum where HD radio has come repeatedly. Something interesting with the demographics going on here dont you think? (perhaps we are all trying to avoid trading in our E90s for that shiny new F30? )

As I mentioned in my prior response....Dynavin does make a DAB (European and Australian Digital Audio Broadcasting), I personally dont carry or use them as Im in the US.....although from a technical standpoint HD radio is completely different than DAB it may be possible to use the dynavins DAB functions with a different module... I will talk to them about doing an HD radio in similar fashion to the DAB tuner.

I would just challenge that the general public is not the target market, this forum is the target market. Your AVERAGE Bimmer driver customer, who wants to replace the HU is just going to throw in a pioneer or alpine as they will be likely unaware of this, thus the customers who are left are enthusiasts, many of whom care about such a feature.

[cypis007]

Can it show engine oil/water temperature? Is it the same water temperature which you got in 'secret menu' on a cluster?

[RazRokz.!]

Originally Posted by taibanl

I would just challenge that the general public is not the target market, this forum is the target market. Your AVERAGE Bimmer driver customer, who wants to replace the HU is just going to throw in a pioneer or alpine as they will be likely unaware of this, thus the customers who are left are enthusiasts, many of whom care about such a feature.

Do you have any knowledge on Model Number: DVN - E60+BMW series 8.8" Touch Screen LCD Multimedia Navigation System. Im wondering if I can retrofit this into my car assuming that I have the I drive controler and the new dash board.

[jeffb335]

Originally Posted by 805beemer

Will these work on a 1 series?

The 1 series has/had its own dedicated model.....its functionally the same but quite different in form factor....looking at dynavins website I see its no longer listed. I dont know if that is just because its not up on their new website or if its been discontinued....time will tell.

Originally Posted by cypis007

Can it show engine oil/water temperature? Is it the same water temperature which you got in 'secret menu' on a cluster?

Remains to be seen....the dynavin does have an OBC screen that displays various info available on the canbus like voltage and temps.....not sure though if its displaying water or oil temps on the 335 (its not functional yet on my preproduction prototype.)

Originally Posted by RazRokz.!

Do you have any knowledge on Model Number: DVN - E60+BMW series 8.8" Touch Screen LCD Multimedia Navigation System. Im wondering if I can retrofit this into my car assuming that I have the I drive controler and the new dash board.

Im guessing you mean retrofitting an idrive into a non-idrive car? Anything is possible but thats a HUGE job. That particular dynavin model is an add on to the stock system, not a stand alone all inclusive replacement like the one that is the subject of this thread so you would need to retrofit the entire idrive system THEN install the dynavin.

[RazRokz.!]

Originally Posted by jeffb335

The 1 series has/had its own dedicated model.....its functionally the same but quite different in form factor....looking at dynavins website I see its no longer listed. I dont know if that is just because its not up on their new website or if its been discontinued....time will tell.



Remains to be seen....the dynavin does have an OBC screen that displays various info available on the canbus like voltage and temps.....not sure though if its displaying water or oil temps on the 335 (its not functional yet on my preproduction prototype.)



Im guessing you mean retrofitting an idrive into a non-idrive car? Anything is possible but thats a HUGE job. That particular dynavin model is an add on to the stock system, not a stand alone all inclusive replacement like the one that is the subject of this thread so you would need to retrofit the entire idrive system THEN install the dynavin.

That sounds like a nightmare in the making. You ever hear of someone accomplishing a project like that? Would it be possible for you to comment on the obd capabilities of the unit this thread is about?

[RazRokz.!]

Never mind on the obd question. Just saw your post above.

[jeffb335]

With all this audio talk I figured I better revisit the time alignment and EQ settings in my own car since it has been a long time since I tested them and I frankly dont remember the details....so I put my MS-8 into bypass mode and found that I needed to correct some of my earlier statements in this thread....I already went back and edited them but here is what I found/corrected:

After playing around with this setup for a while in my car I found that the delay settings on the dynavin are not the actual distance from the speakers but instead how much delay needs to be applied to each speaker in terms of distance......so if your drivers side speaker is 45cm closer than your passenger side speaker you should set the drivers side delay setting to 45cm and the passenger side to 0cm. I basically measured out all the speakers an made the furthest one "0" and then set each speaker delay setting to equal how much closer any given speaker was to my listening position.

Once the measurements were entered I fine tuned by ear to get it sounding pretty solid and full, sounded really good in fact, even without using the EQ, not AS good as my MS-8 but thats to be expected. The imaging jumped right up to the top of the dash (center channel speaker turned off) and I was able to move it right and left using the delay, bass was solid and centered.

Its seems like it would be a bit of a compromise in the E9X configuration since we have the underseat woofers working in conjunction with the mids and tweeters on each front channel all being aligned together but I didnt hear much compromise,



Disclaimer: If you dont know what time alignment is....and you dont know how to set it....dont bother messing with it, time alignment is probably the most powerful tool there is when it comes to setting up a sound system, and that also means if you dont know what you are doing you can make it sound absolutely terrible!

[805beemer]

Originally Posted by jeffb335

The 1 series has/had its own dedicated model.....its functionally the same but quite different in form factor....looking at dynavins website I see its no longer listed. I dont know if that is just because its not up on their new website or if its been discontinued....time will tell.

I saw the one for the 1 series on your website that says out of stock. But even if you had one since I have logic 7 I'd still be out of luck. Since the headunit and hvac controls are the same on both the 1 and 3 series I don't see why this new unit wouldn't fit. I'd be happy to be a beta tester!

[cdgatti]

Thanks for the extra 'homework' Jeff. Now get back out there and show us how the crossovers work!

[macck]

Is there any time frame yet on release date .

[mweisdorfer]

Jeff,

When you hooked up your jbl ms 8 did you get Technique's harness?

Please Advise

mweisdorfer

[jeffb335]

Originally Posted by macck

Is there any time frame yet on release date .

Nothing definite yet, some other models are going to be hitting the shelves in the next two weeks but from what I hear the E9X is going to be the last released (as its got the most features to dial in). They have been telling me July now for a while and as far as I know that is still the case.

Originally Posted by 805beemer

Since the headunit and hvac controls are the same on both the 1 and 3 series I don't see why this new unit wouldn't fit. I'd be happy to be a beta tester!

Nope, the dash opening is a different size and shape, not the same.

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

Jeff,

When you hooked up your jbl ms 8 did you get Technique's harness?

Please Advise
mweisdorfer

Yes, and I got the harness and the MS-8 from musicar northwest so the harenss was already set up for the MS-8, and battery wires, etc.... Pretty much as "plug and play" as an amp can get. Im an installer so I didnt NEED all that stuff but I sure liked how it made a 3 hour job into a 1 hour job!