WhiteBird00
05-16-2008, 10:31 AM
I recently replaced my Pioneer AVIC-D3 with a Kenwood DNX5120 so I thought I'd post a comparison of the two for those who might be considering a Double DIN replacement.
http://www.fl1v.org/ls1/avic-d3.jpg
Pioneer AVIC-D3
http://www.fl1v.org/ls1/dnx5120.jpg
Kenwood DNX5120
The two units are more similar than different. In fact, it appears that Kenwood tried to create a D3 clone when they released the 5120. Both have 6.1" touch screen displays with a single knob and a few buttons along the left edge. Both have built-in GPS navigation, DVD video and audio, backup camera capability, available Bluetooth and satellite radio, plus USB and iPod support.
Overall impression: This is really a matter of personal preference. The D3 has a more interesting and artistic interface with logical menus that are easy to navigate. The 5120 is more utilitarian looking with the basic controls always displayed. It looks like the "strictly business" interface that you would find on a OEM system and yet the menus are more convoluted - it can take a while to find settings. Both can change display and button colors to match your interior. A minor difference that you may notice is the matt black face of the 5120 blends better with the dash than the glossy black of the D3. A bigger difference is startup time - the D3 starts up almost immediately but the 5120 takes 10 seconds or even longer before it starts playing music regardless of selected source.
Sound: The Pioneer has the advantage here. Both units sound good (much better than stock) and both have three band parametric equalizers, high pass filters, loudness, and subwoofer adjustments. But the D3 has a simulated sound stage feature that can generate amazing results. You can choose settings such as Living Room, Recording Studio, Concert Hall, etc. and the unit will make various adjustments (including rear channel time delay) to customize the apparent sound stage.
GPS: Kenwood is clearly the winner here. The 5120 includes navigation by Garmin using the interface from their recent StreetPilot series. It inlcudes text-to-voice (speaks the names of streets) and the ability to load your own custom Points of Interest. The display is a little cartoonish but it is very accurate because of its WAAS capability. It has all of the North American maps built-in so you can use navigation regardless of music source. The D3 uses NavTeq maps with more points-of-interest (12 million vs, 6 million in the 5120) but it doen't support WAAS for accuracy. In practice, the accuracy is quite good anyway and I never found that it had me out of position although I've heard that it can be a problem when two roads are very close together. On the other hand, it has an internal gyroscope and VSS connection that allows it to calculate position when satellite signal is lost - a real help when navigating among tall buildings. The D3's navigation is DVD based so you must have one of the two (East or West) DVDs in the drive when creating a route or searching. You can use any audio sources other than the CD/DVD drive while navigating.
DVD: Both units have the same resolution and the same video playing capabilities. The D3 can play dual layer MP3 DVDs whereas the 5120 only supports single layer. Both are slow to list the contents and must be scrolled to find folders (i.e. you can't search for an album folder).
Satellite radio: The two brands are completely opposite on this one. Pioneer is an XM partner and Kenwood works with Sirius. Both will work with the other satellite service but the support is really lacking. With XM on the D3 and Sirius on the 5120 you get full channel naming, scrolling multi-line display of song information, and numerous other features. On the other hand, Sirius on the D3 and XM on the 5120 are very basic - showing only 16 character, single line, non-scrolling song information and leaving your presets labelled just P1 thru P6. If you're a big fan of one service or the other, this could be a significant deciding factor (it was for me).
AM/FM tuner: Pioneer is the clear winner here. Their SuperTuner III is head and shoulders above the tuner in the Kenwood. But one nice feature the 5120 has that the D3 doesn't is RDS support (the scrolling text information broadcast by many FM stations) and the related traffic interruption capability (certain FM stations broadcast an interrupt signal when they do a traffic report so compatible radios can switch stations).
iPod/USB: Both have capable iPod support but the Kenwood has a few additional features including the ability to display album art. It also has a scroll bar that makes finding folders much faster. A USB port is built-in on the 5120 but is an add-on for the D3 (it's inexpensive and I would recommend getting one if you don't have an iPod so that you can leave the nav disc in the drive and play music from a flash drive).
Bluetooth: Both models require an external adapter for Bluetooth. The D3 has somewhat better sound due to the echo canceling microphone included with the adapter. The 5120 includes DTMF (tone) dialing capability during calls to enable the use of automated attendants (those damn menus) and voicemail systems. It also has SMS capability although I would never suggest sending text messages while driving.
Manufacturer support: This is a toss up. Kenwood has great support (you get a knowledgeable live person quickly) but they need it because their owner's manual is terrible. They have released two software updates in the short time the 5120 has been on the market so they obviously want to fix any problems found. Pioneer support can be difficult to deal with but you probably won't need to very much. Their manual is excellent and there is an online forum dedicated to the AVIC series (avic411.com). But there have been a few issues identified in the 18 months since the D3's release that have yet to be addressed by an update.
http://www.fl1v.org/ls1/avic-d3.jpg
Pioneer AVIC-D3
http://www.fl1v.org/ls1/dnx5120.jpg
Kenwood DNX5120
The two units are more similar than different. In fact, it appears that Kenwood tried to create a D3 clone when they released the 5120. Both have 6.1" touch screen displays with a single knob and a few buttons along the left edge. Both have built-in GPS navigation, DVD video and audio, backup camera capability, available Bluetooth and satellite radio, plus USB and iPod support.
Overall impression: This is really a matter of personal preference. The D3 has a more interesting and artistic interface with logical menus that are easy to navigate. The 5120 is more utilitarian looking with the basic controls always displayed. It looks like the "strictly business" interface that you would find on a OEM system and yet the menus are more convoluted - it can take a while to find settings. Both can change display and button colors to match your interior. A minor difference that you may notice is the matt black face of the 5120 blends better with the dash than the glossy black of the D3. A bigger difference is startup time - the D3 starts up almost immediately but the 5120 takes 10 seconds or even longer before it starts playing music regardless of selected source.
Sound: The Pioneer has the advantage here. Both units sound good (much better than stock) and both have three band parametric equalizers, high pass filters, loudness, and subwoofer adjustments. But the D3 has a simulated sound stage feature that can generate amazing results. You can choose settings such as Living Room, Recording Studio, Concert Hall, etc. and the unit will make various adjustments (including rear channel time delay) to customize the apparent sound stage.
GPS: Kenwood is clearly the winner here. The 5120 includes navigation by Garmin using the interface from their recent StreetPilot series. It inlcudes text-to-voice (speaks the names of streets) and the ability to load your own custom Points of Interest. The display is a little cartoonish but it is very accurate because of its WAAS capability. It has all of the North American maps built-in so you can use navigation regardless of music source. The D3 uses NavTeq maps with more points-of-interest (12 million vs, 6 million in the 5120) but it doen't support WAAS for accuracy. In practice, the accuracy is quite good anyway and I never found that it had me out of position although I've heard that it can be a problem when two roads are very close together. On the other hand, it has an internal gyroscope and VSS connection that allows it to calculate position when satellite signal is lost - a real help when navigating among tall buildings. The D3's navigation is DVD based so you must have one of the two (East or West) DVDs in the drive when creating a route or searching. You can use any audio sources other than the CD/DVD drive while navigating.
DVD: Both units have the same resolution and the same video playing capabilities. The D3 can play dual layer MP3 DVDs whereas the 5120 only supports single layer. Both are slow to list the contents and must be scrolled to find folders (i.e. you can't search for an album folder).
Satellite radio: The two brands are completely opposite on this one. Pioneer is an XM partner and Kenwood works with Sirius. Both will work with the other satellite service but the support is really lacking. With XM on the D3 and Sirius on the 5120 you get full channel naming, scrolling multi-line display of song information, and numerous other features. On the other hand, Sirius on the D3 and XM on the 5120 are very basic - showing only 16 character, single line, non-scrolling song information and leaving your presets labelled just P1 thru P6. If you're a big fan of one service or the other, this could be a significant deciding factor (it was for me).
AM/FM tuner: Pioneer is the clear winner here. Their SuperTuner III is head and shoulders above the tuner in the Kenwood. But one nice feature the 5120 has that the D3 doesn't is RDS support (the scrolling text information broadcast by many FM stations) and the related traffic interruption capability (certain FM stations broadcast an interrupt signal when they do a traffic report so compatible radios can switch stations).
iPod/USB: Both have capable iPod support but the Kenwood has a few additional features including the ability to display album art. It also has a scroll bar that makes finding folders much faster. A USB port is built-in on the 5120 but is an add-on for the D3 (it's inexpensive and I would recommend getting one if you don't have an iPod so that you can leave the nav disc in the drive and play music from a flash drive).
Bluetooth: Both models require an external adapter for Bluetooth. The D3 has somewhat better sound due to the echo canceling microphone included with the adapter. The 5120 includes DTMF (tone) dialing capability during calls to enable the use of automated attendants (those damn menus) and voicemail systems. It also has SMS capability although I would never suggest sending text messages while driving.
Manufacturer support: This is a toss up. Kenwood has great support (you get a knowledgeable live person quickly) but they need it because their owner's manual is terrible. They have released two software updates in the short time the 5120 has been on the market so they obviously want to fix any problems found. Pioneer support can be difficult to deal with but you probably won't need to very much. Their manual is excellent and there is an online forum dedicated to the AVIC series (avic411.com). But there have been a few issues identified in the 18 months since the D3's release that have yet to be addressed by an update.