Overview of my Pioneer AVIC-5000 NEX
01-04-2015, 11:48 AM
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Overview of my Pioneer AVIC-5000 NEX
Not a big poster on here, but my wife picked this up for me as a christmas gift and I wanted to share a bit about it for others looking at buying one.
It's been 10-12 years since I've had any aftermarket stereo equipment in my vehicle.
I had it installed along with the following.
My truck is a 2011 F150 SCREW XLT w/o nav or sony.
Alpine KTP-445U powers my door speakers.
JL Audio C2 650 components.(front)
Rockford Fosgate Prime R168X2 (rear)
Alpine MRD-M301 mono amp
JL Audio CP108LG-W3v3
iDatalink Maestro RR was bought, but they did not have the software to update it, and I don't own a windows machine. I chose cartoys because they were a iDatalink dealer... was disappointed that they could not update it. They did however install things to retain my steering wheel controls.
Listening to Spotify on the highest setting is pleasant, and using the micro SD slot for FLAC files is also nice. I'm not sure if it's the Alpine KTP that gives me a lil hiss but I"m working on figuring that out.
What made me most excited about this HU was CarPlay. I almost thought about trading it in towards a 4000NEX as it has more features minus NAV, but after a week w/ the unit I'm glad to have Pioneer's nav for backup. CarPlay is very nice, most of the time. Sometimes it just goofs though. I'll be trying to listen to Spotify, but it keeps playing things from iTunes. What normally needs to happen is you will have to unhook it and restart either your iPhone or your HU in order for it to get back in sync.
Apple Maps is pretty nice. Even on my iPhone Apple Maps locks up sometimes, and it's no different here. Sometimes the maps do not load, but it can be fixed by closing maps on your iPhone disconnecting it, and reconnecting it. That being said.... I don't want to be doing that while driving. I drive 500+ miles a week and rely on GPS to get me to my appointments. So while Having CarPlay and Apple Maps can really speed up my day, when it ****s the bed, it's nice to go back to the Pioneer maps.
Siri works as well as I expected it to. Sometimes it cuts me off, but it did that on the iPhone as well.
I've heard some complain that the audio quality is terrible thought USB vs BT. I've found things sound better using CarPlay to answer calls. I had to play with the mic location. At first CarToys installed it on the instrument cluster... I hated that, so I relocated it into the factory location in the headliner. This was not a good idea. My wife claims to hear a lot of echo, so I tired a few things, and once I just pulled the cover down and let it hang. Instantly she said that was 10x better. So I have just mounted the Microphone on the outside of the factory headliner location and that works just fine.
The unit has tons of setting you can read up on, and I found them to be great. It has a built in EQ with lots of settings, time correction, HPF and LPF crossovers for front, rear and subwoofer. 4V output F/R and sub AV outs as well. Two USB inputs, two video inputs as well. I hooked up a small backup camera and it intergraded just fine w/ the system.
I tired the video "hack" with out changing the wiring and it worked perfect. I can have my wife type in address while driving, or turn on a video for a passenger. You can find out how to do this on AVIC411.com
If I could improve things about the system it would be the display, it lacks in resolution, and the touch screen could be nicer. Sometimes I find myself pressing more than a couple of times to get it to work properly. I guess the $1400 AVIC-8000NEX addresses the touch screen, but I did not feel the need to trade it in for a model that cost 2X as much. I had no plans for all the other stuff I bought, but I figured since I was already doing the HU might as well replace the awful speakers that came w/ my 2011 XLT.
Another thing is other HUs will integrate with the Maestro better. Showing you TPS and even giving you the ability to show gauges. I'm not bothered by this, as I feel it's a novelty that would wear off pretty quickly.
I'm pretty sure that CarPlay updates will come though the phone and I won't need to update the HU each time they make a change. This is promising, as I don't want to get left in the dust when Pioneer releases it's 2015 models. I really felt that way w/ the Sync system. I had one update, and then it was just left to rot.
Anyway, I hope this helps with anyone looking at one of the AVIC NEX units. Feel free to ask any questions.
BTW that JL Microsub sounds amazing, I fit it under the rear seats in the middle and it provides a good amount of bass.
It's been 10-12 years since I've had any aftermarket stereo equipment in my vehicle.
I had it installed along with the following.
My truck is a 2011 F150 SCREW XLT w/o nav or sony.
Alpine KTP-445U powers my door speakers.
JL Audio C2 650 components.(front)
Rockford Fosgate Prime R168X2 (rear)
Alpine MRD-M301 mono amp
JL Audio CP108LG-W3v3
iDatalink Maestro RR was bought, but they did not have the software to update it, and I don't own a windows machine. I chose cartoys because they were a iDatalink dealer... was disappointed that they could not update it. They did however install things to retain my steering wheel controls.
Listening to Spotify on the highest setting is pleasant, and using the micro SD slot for FLAC files is also nice. I'm not sure if it's the Alpine KTP that gives me a lil hiss but I"m working on figuring that out.
What made me most excited about this HU was CarPlay. I almost thought about trading it in towards a 4000NEX as it has more features minus NAV, but after a week w/ the unit I'm glad to have Pioneer's nav for backup. CarPlay is very nice, most of the time. Sometimes it just goofs though. I'll be trying to listen to Spotify, but it keeps playing things from iTunes. What normally needs to happen is you will have to unhook it and restart either your iPhone or your HU in order for it to get back in sync.
Apple Maps is pretty nice. Even on my iPhone Apple Maps locks up sometimes, and it's no different here. Sometimes the maps do not load, but it can be fixed by closing maps on your iPhone disconnecting it, and reconnecting it. That being said.... I don't want to be doing that while driving. I drive 500+ miles a week and rely on GPS to get me to my appointments. So while Having CarPlay and Apple Maps can really speed up my day, when it ****s the bed, it's nice to go back to the Pioneer maps.
Siri works as well as I expected it to. Sometimes it cuts me off, but it did that on the iPhone as well.
I've heard some complain that the audio quality is terrible thought USB vs BT. I've found things sound better using CarPlay to answer calls. I had to play with the mic location. At first CarToys installed it on the instrument cluster... I hated that, so I relocated it into the factory location in the headliner. This was not a good idea. My wife claims to hear a lot of echo, so I tired a few things, and once I just pulled the cover down and let it hang. Instantly she said that was 10x better. So I have just mounted the Microphone on the outside of the factory headliner location and that works just fine.
The unit has tons of setting you can read up on, and I found them to be great. It has a built in EQ with lots of settings, time correction, HPF and LPF crossovers for front, rear and subwoofer. 4V output F/R and sub AV outs as well. Two USB inputs, two video inputs as well. I hooked up a small backup camera and it intergraded just fine w/ the system.
I tired the video "hack" with out changing the wiring and it worked perfect. I can have my wife type in address while driving, or turn on a video for a passenger. You can find out how to do this on AVIC411.com
If I could improve things about the system it would be the display, it lacks in resolution, and the touch screen could be nicer. Sometimes I find myself pressing more than a couple of times to get it to work properly. I guess the $1400 AVIC-8000NEX addresses the touch screen, but I did not feel the need to trade it in for a model that cost 2X as much. I had no plans for all the other stuff I bought, but I figured since I was already doing the HU might as well replace the awful speakers that came w/ my 2011 XLT.
Another thing is other HUs will integrate with the Maestro better. Showing you TPS and even giving you the ability to show gauges. I'm not bothered by this, as I feel it's a novelty that would wear off pretty quickly.
I'm pretty sure that CarPlay updates will come though the phone and I won't need to update the HU each time they make a change. This is promising, as I don't want to get left in the dust when Pioneer releases it's 2015 models. I really felt that way w/ the Sync system. I had one update, and then it was just left to rot.
Anyway, I hope this helps with anyone looking at one of the AVIC NEX units. Feel free to ask any questions.
BTW that JL Microsub sounds amazing, I fit it under the rear seats in the middle and it provides a good amount of bass.
Last edited by boostgeek; 01-04-2015 at 12:17 PM.
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