Kenwood DDX-371 2-Din Multimedia DVD Receiver

What customers say about Kenwood DDX-371 2-Din Multimedia DVD Receiver?

1. 12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

   
   DDX-371 on a 2004 Lexus RX 330, June 15, 2014

   By 

   JK –

   This review is from: Kenwood DDX-371 2-Din Multimedia DVD Receiver (Electronics)

   Installed Kenwood DDX-371 on a 2004 Lexus RX 330 with basic audio & no navigation. The audio quality is better than the stock radio. I use to have a truck with Pioneer AVH-X2500BT. So my review is more of a comparison to the Pioneer

   The good
   1) Touch screen is responsive than the Pioneer even compared with the Pioneer AVH-X5600BHS (I installed this model in my 2007 4Runner).
   2) I liked the Kenwwod’s iPod Menu better than the Pioneer’s iPod Menu.
   3) you do not need another $20 piece of junk bypass to make it fully functional like the Pioneer.
   4) Bluetooth connects the moment you turn on Bluetooth in your phone. What I mean by that is, let’s say if you turned on the radio/car when Bluetooth in your phone is turned off and you decide to turn on Bluetooth later it still connects to the radio automatically. This is a pain in Pioneer AVH-X2500BT and the AVH-X5600BHS, I had to manually connect my phone with Pioneer unless I turn on Bluetooth before turning on the radio or starting my car. Pioneer does searches any paired Bluetooth devices during start up and prompt do you want to search again?
   5) Less Hiss noise compared to Pioneer. Please do not get me wrong it is not that bad at all even in the Pioneer but it is less in Kenwood in comparison
   6) The phone calls over the Bluetooth was good. People did not had issues hearing me and I did not had problem hearing them so as the Pioneer. I did not tried streaming audio over Bluetooth.

   The bad
   1)On the USB playback, the manual says this unit can recognize a total of 5000 files and 250 folders (a maximum of 999 files per folder). I never tried it to the limit. To me this is useless anyways because I have my 15 yer old MP3 collection will be easily over the folder limit specified here.

   2) No seek bar for audio or video. This was good on the pioneer radio you can skip section of audio files. There is a fast forward option in kenwood which I found is not easy to use.

   3) It takes longer to start up and play audio from iPod compared to the pioneer.

   4) No equalizer only tone control, I knew that but I’m not happy with the 3 band tone controls. At this price Kenwood should offer at least a 8 band equalizer

   5) The front to rear fade was not clear when compared to Pioneer. for e.g. if I move the controls all the way to the rear I still hear audio from my front speakers. I’m not sure if the metra harness plays any role here. Audio completely cuts out in the Pioneer from front to rear and vice versa

   Overall Kenwood DDX 371 pretty much is in tie with comparable Pioneer radios. If the above said cons are not much of an issue for you please go ahead with Kenwood. For me the seek bar and the EQ are deal breakers.

   For those who are looking for Lexus RX 330 specific information here are some tips

   Mine had the basic audio no navigation
   I used the Metra Access AX-ADBOX1 and AX-ADTY01. You do not need the Metra Axxess TYTO-01 unless you have JBL audio. I’m not sure about Mark Levinson audio systems
   you will need Metra 99-8159S Double DIN Stereo Dash Kit for Lexus RX 330
   I did not used the steering wheel controls but it is a straight forward connection with ASWC-1
   The instructions came with the metra harness are confusing at best. the idea is to connect the aftermarket radio to the AX-DTY01 and that connects to AX-ADBOX1. I guess the factory amps are digital amps and the AX-ADBOX1 is a analog to digital converter. There is a audio level control on the AX-ADBOX1 you need to adjust to make sure there is no distortion.

   Update 2014-10-22

   I had earlier stated you need additional cables to play audio from iPod turns out it is not the case (please see comments for setting details), hence making this a 4 star review. I have removed my previous comments and workarounds on the audio cables I had posted here

   0

   Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

   Was this review helpful to you? 
   

   
   |

    Comments (7)

2. 18 of 22 people found the following review helpful

   
   Slow startup, sluggish loading mp3 art – Overall just okay, June 12, 2014

   By 

   Thomas P –

   This review is from: Kenwood DDX-371 2-Din Multimedia DVD Receiver (Electronics)

   I’m not entirely happy with this purchase. It takes too long to start playing music from the time you start the car, to the time music is heard. It doesn’t matter if it’s reading MP3’s from CD, Flash, iPhone, or Bluetooth source… it’s just too slow.

   I see that at least one other person had trouble getting their iPhone to work. Symptom: when you plug the iPhone into the USB cable, the screen displays as though it’s playing music from the phone, but no sound comes out. Solution: Follow this idiotic process: you have to connect the iPhone via USB, then start playing from the iPhone source on the stereo (I have a 5S), then put the stereo into standby mode (source/standy) huh?, then change the audio source in the settings from the default ‘iPod’ to AV-IN2.

   You don’t need to purchase the special cable from Kenwood. Just a regular iPhone cable connected to the USB port will do it.

   Aside from being slow, and the ridiculously stupid iPhone configuration issue, I’m somewhat satisfied. If I had it to do over, I would definitely choose a different unit.

   0

   Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

   Was this review helpful to you? 
   

   
   |

    Comments (8)

3. 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

   
   Great budget touch screen double DIN, November 12, 2014

   By 

   Anil D Dappa (Trinidad) –

   Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Kenwood DDX-371 2-Din Multimedia DVD Receiver (Electronics)

   Actually would give 4.5 stars. Installed to replace a stock head unit in a JDM ’08 Subaru Legacy 2.0 GT. I had to cut the stock face to make room for this deck and re-finished it with a carbon fibre look. See attached picture. I used the wiring diagram I got off A E sixty four dot com. Really – all I connected to the unit was power, acc, gnd, and power cont to turn on my 5ch amplifier. I did not connect the illumination wires, as the brightness of the stereo does not bother me at night due to it mounting low in my dash console. Two double RCA’s (full range) go to the amplifier. I did not use the subwoofer RCA output. The amplifier output for the full/mid range is fed back into the stock factory wiring. As soon as I turned it on, there was an immediate improvement in sound and volume over the stock deck.

   I don’t have an iPhone so I cannot comment on that part of it. However, I was able to play iHeart radio through bluetooth on the car stereo from my android Moto G, as well as I was able to DJ from my phone at almost 20 ft away using crossdj app. My cousins were impressed lol. I stuck the mic on the top of the steering wheel and adjusted up the mic volume from the stereo settings to where my caller heard me clearly. This was a nice feature! The call audio comes through both front speakers. I haven’t figured how (if) that can be changed to say just driver’s door speaker. I can do that on my Kenwood DDX 771 in my SUV.

   The layout of the tuner presets is quirky and right next to the volume knob, so you might touch the screen and change the preset while adjust volume. Also the presets themselves are a cluster of 6 squares so close to each other that fat fingers could press the wrong preset. Lose 1/2 star for that.

   Bluetooth connects fairly quick once I start up – although I haven’t timed it.

   You can also personalize source shortcuts on the home screen to the most used functions which is neat too, as well as change the wall paper. The backlighting for the knob and buttons can be selected from a range of colours or even have a rolling change of colours (default). I left it to change colours.

   I connected a flash drive to the USB input (which I ran into the glove box) and it picked up the first folder that had MP3’s in it and started playing automatically. It’s a cheapo USB stick so it took a few seconds to read.

   I tried playing a music video DVD – only to realize I didn’t connect the parking brake «correctly» – so it just played the audio.

   The EQ settings are specific to each source and you can store all settings to memory. You get three eq bands, but with selectable centre frequency for each.

   All in all, this suits my needs just fine for a budget touch screen double DIN head unit. I didn’t like Pioneer’s interface and menus – to me they were not intuitive. (I messed with my sister’s and cousin’s touch screen HU’s which were two different models – can’t remember the model #’s – but they were frustrating).

   Future additions include steering wheel control, reverse camera, AV in from the JDM Panasonic multimedia.

   0

   

   Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

   Was this review helpful to you? 
   

   
   |

    Comment (1)

4. 25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

   
   worth the money, August 13, 2013

   By 

   HI Howareya –

   Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Amzdeal Car Kit MP3 Player Wireless FM Transmitter Modulator with USB/SD/Card Reader MMC Slot and Remote Control (Electronics)

   It’s a good unit for the money. It’s not a very high power transmitter, so you can’t expect satellite radio quality from it. That said, it did broadcast quite nicely at a 3′ distance from the radio. A great gadget for older cars without a CD player. Works as expected. Some form of included instructions would be nice, but easy enough to figure out. Be sure to check that the gasket material will not bind up in your lighter socket before plugging the unit in, unless you are looking for a more permanent connection. I am, overall, satisfied with this purchase.

   0

   Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

   Was this review helpful to you? 
   

   
   |

    Comment (1)

5. 14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

   
   I Own 2, They Both Work Great., January 29, 2014

   By 

   shousden –

   Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Amzdeal Car Kit MP3 Player Wireless FM Transmitter Modulator with USB/SD/Card Reader MMC Slot and Remote Control (Electronics)

   I ordered one of these for my blazer and I love it. Plug in my mp3 player, push this in to turn it on, click a preset station on my radio and I have my music at my fingertips and it never looses signal. I ordered another one for wifes car after getting her a new mp3 player. The first one I received had a dead battery in the remote but I don’t use the SD/MMC memory card or the USB flash drive so that wasn’t a big deal to me. I have to scroll through the songs on my mp3 player so the remote is never used. It is pretty straight forward to hook up. I like the fact that it s offset to one side. I have a dual outlet on my blazer so it allows me to use the other hole for my phone charger. In my wife’s car, she has a single outlet but it is right over the cup holders and this being offset allows her to still use one of the cup holders. Some of the ones I was looking at came straight out of the middle with the control panel and it would have blocked both holes on mine and both cup holders on hers. So that is a huge PLUS for us. Its way cheaper than of the ones we looked at at wal mart or best buy and they do the exact same thing. I have also plugged in a usb charger in the side to charge my bluetooth while my phone was charging in the other outlet in my blazer. So even though you loose an outlet in your car you gain this usb port to charge another device. Very nice design and for the price its unbeatable.

   0

   Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

   Was this review helpful to you? 
   

   
   |

    Comment

6. 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

   
   Love this!, April 7, 2014

   By 

   Amazon Customer «24Fanatic» (United States) –

   Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Amzdeal Car Kit MP3 Player Wireless FM Transmitter Modulator with USB/SD/Card Reader MMC Slot and Remote Control (Electronics)

   As others noted, there needs to be some instructions included with this unit, but other than that it’s a dynamite way to carry your music with you! The specs say 8gb max card but I’m using a 16gb with NO problems. I did that before I noticed the 8gb max, so…. I had to try a few of the available frequencies to see which one worked best, with no drop out. That depends on active radio stations in your area. I love this thing! A GREAT deal!

   0

   Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

   Was this review helpful to you? 
   

   
   |

    Comment