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Old 2nd September 2014, 17:39   #16
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Dynavin N6-VW Review

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Originally Posted by StarScream View Post
k_ajay its a moot point because the DNX535VBT is not available in India. I just called up the company to inquire about it and they told me they've never imported it because there is no demand. I told them how wrong they were and that they've gifted the entire market to Blaupunkt. They weren't even aware that the Vento Konekt is now coming factory-fitted with the Philadelphia 835. Hopefully my efforts lead to them rethinking their stand.

That's true. Kenwood, Pioneer and Alpine VW specific models were always imported from other sources which made them quite expensive if one had to pay shipping and customs duties. Add to it the head ache with customs sometimes. Availability and service network are some reasons why these HUs are very rarely seen in India. Blaupunkt just took advantage of the void in this segment.
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Old 4th September 2014, 16:15   #17
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

Great review Ajay! The Dynavin sure does look like its packed with features and is a good OE alternative in the aftermarket. Why do I see orange back-lighting on a Skoda? Do you have an option to change that? It should ideally be green to match with the rest of the lighting on the dash.

Does it properly and perfectly integrate with the MFD screen? You have a Yeti so I assume you must have the High-line maxi-dot display. Does the HU allow display of current audio/phone details?

I just somehow don't really appreciate the aftermarket attempts for VAG. Somehow all of them lack that sort of finesse, or maybe its just me. Theres a different sort of feel when you know your car (Polo) has an ICE (RCD510) which actually belongs to the Passat.

Sourcing the OE units is also pretty easy thanks to Chinese online portals. A great deal of parts are manufactured in China by Shanghai Volkswagen, thus giving the cost advantage as well. All you need to do is stick to terminology for your car. Bolero systems for Skoda (green backlit + skoda logo) and the RCD/RNS for VW (red backlit + VW logo)

All features (except NAV) w/compromises: Delphi RCD510 (Modified for USB+RVC) + 9w2 BT module + Cabin light with Mic slot + Camera.

Full MFD Integration + Advanced Phone Capabilities: Bosch RCD510 (RVC) + 9w7 BT Module + Cabin light with Mic slot + MDI kit (USB) + Camera.


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Old 4th September 2014, 18:57   #18
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

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Originally Posted by n:CorE View Post
Great review Ajay! The Dynavin sure does look like its packed with features and is a good OE alternative in the aftermarket. Why do I see orange back-lighting on a Skoda? Do you have an option to change that? It should ideally be green to match with the rest of the lighting on the dash.

Does it properly and perfectly integrate with the MFD screen? You have a Yeti so I assume you must have the High-line maxi-dot display. Does the HU allow display of current audio/phone details?
Thanks n:CorE! It is Red key illumination you see in some pics. If you see the last pic which is just above the 2 videos at the bottom of the review, you can see the switch for changing to Green key illumination. These pics were taken soon after installation. I changed it to green illumination the next day only. Since the unit is built for VW as well as Skoda, it does come with both Red and Green key illumination.

It integrates with MFD screen and is plug n play. Displays info. such as radio stations, multimedia, BT calls, etc. on MFD.
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Old 5th September 2014, 12:50   #19
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Update: Discovered a new bug today. You have the volume buttons on the left side and scroll button on the right side of the MFSW. The scroll button is supposed to be for scrolling through menus and pages in MFD. When in audio screen, it changes radio channels and tracks depending on what source you playing on the HU. Today when I scrolled through the MFD pages, tracks kept changing. I mean when I'm not in the audio screen, the scroll button did its function of scrolling through whatever menu or page I was looking at, but same time tracks kept skipping in the background.

Reported to Dynavin so that they look into it and correct it in the update. Now when I tried it again, it din't skip the tracks. It does happen sometimes though. Another bug which needs to be rectified.
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Old 5th September 2014, 17:34   #20
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

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Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj View Post
Update: Discovered a new bug today. You have the volume buttons on the left side and scroll button on the right side of the MFSW. The scroll button is supposed to be for scrolling through menus and pages in MFD. When in audio screen, it changes radio channels and tracks depending on what source you playing on the HU. Today when I scrolled through the MFD pages, tracks kept changing. I mean when I'm not in the audio screen, the scroll button did its function of scrolling through whatever menu or page I was looking at, but same time tracks kept skipping in the background.

Reported to Dynavin so that they look into it and correct it in the update. Now when I tried it again, it din't skip the tracks. It does happen sometimes though. Another bug which needs to be rectified.
Thanks for the update!

Have they by any chance fixed the time zone to show half-hour differences now? I emailed Dynavin a few days back with these questions and am yt to hear back from them.
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Old 5th September 2014, 18:08   #21
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Originally Posted by blr View Post
Thanks for the update!



Have they by any chance fixed the time zone to show half-hour differences now? I emailed Dynavin a few days back with these questions and am yt to hear back from them.

From my experience with HUs from different makes, firmware updates are released in intervals of few months always. They don't release updates as and when they discover bugs. I am guessing it would take 2, 3 months atleast for their updates to be released to rectify these bugs.
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Old 8th September 2014, 10:45   #22
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

Hi Ajay, would you be able to tell me how is this against Blaupunkt philadelphia 835 as both seem to be in the same range with regards to cost.

Thanks
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Old 8th September 2014, 11:00   #23
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

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Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj View Post
From my experience with HUs from different makes, firmware updates are released in intervals of few months always. They don't release updates as and when they discover bugs. I am guessing it would take 2, 3 months atleast for their updates to be released to rectify these bugs.
Hi Ajay,

Congratulations on the HU, this is really some drool mall and I also plan to get it in near future.

There is a firmware available on Dyanvin.com (http://www.dynavin.com/products/n6_vw.php) at the bottom of the page, u can check on your HU if you are running the same or older/newer version.

From the manuals this HU seems to be a direct fit to older vw connectors as well just need to add reverse signal into the iso connector. So older or lowline/comfortline polo/ventos people have some option other than chinese or blaupunkt.

Enjoy the music.
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Old 8th September 2014, 12:30   #24
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

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Originally Posted by sanketdesai82 View Post
Hi Ajay, would you be able to tell me how is this against Blaupunkt philadelphia 835 as both seem to be in the same range with regards to cost.

Thanks
I had used Philadelphia 835 in Yeti before Audiosources DNS 810. The things which I din't like in 835 are
- UI which does not suit the car. It looks better than the cheap Chinese UIs, but somewhat in the same lines, only slightly better.
- Win CE hang up issues (which means the processor is not good enough for handling the OS and not worth the money spent).
- Audio settings which respond poorly. Sometimes you change EQ or sub W level settings and it fails to take effect immediately. This could be sorted out in firmware updates. I had got it updated in Jan 2014 but did not completely sort out the issue. Anyways, I changed the HU after that and not sure about the further updates and performance improvements.
- Audio quality sounds good to many. But to me, not so much, because it does not produce a full rich sound like high end HUs. It might be good enough to satisfy people who are happy with loud highs and lows with the richness of mids sacrificed.
- Video play back. The specs say it supports a lot of formats. But I have not used a HU which does not support so many video formats before. I have tried a lot of formats in high and low quality but disappointed with the outcome.

Basically I felt like Philadelphia 835 did not carry the DNA of Blaupunkt when it comes to audio quality and performance. Felt more like a Chinese product tagged as Blaupunkt and sold at a much premium price than what its worth.

Dynavin, you must have read the review and got an idea about it already, so not elaborating it here again. In short, it is built with high quality components, be it the main processor or DSP and DACs or even the cabling used inside the unit. So the hardware is already in place. Audio quality is comparable to reference series HUs. When it comes to firmware, it does not look cheap and performs quite smooth. There are certain SW bugs which I have already addressed in the review. Seems like an update is already up. Will get it and put up an update on which all bugs have been sorted out and what improvements are there with the first firmware update.

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Originally Posted by mishraak View Post
Hi Ajay,

Congratulations on the HU, this is really some drool mall and I also plan to get it in near future.

There is a firmware available on Dyanvin.com (http://www.dynavin.com/products/n6_vw.php) at the bottom of the page, u can check on your HU if you are running the same or older/newer version.

From the manuals this HU seems to be a direct fit to older vw connectors as well just need to add reverse signal into the iso connector. So older or lowline/comfortline polo/ventos people have some option other than chinese or blaupunkt.

Enjoy the music.
Thanks mishraak!

Thanks for the firmware update news. I was expecting the update in a couple of months but they seem to have released an immediate update. I will be getting my HU firmware updated soon. Will put up an update of the improvements with the update and what bugs have been rectified among those reported in my initial review.

Yes the connectors behind the HU are direct plug and play for the lower line HU wiring harnesses that come in Polo, Vento, Rapid, etc. To plug it into a Laura, Octavia, Jetta, Passat, Superb, Yeti, etc. you have the CAN connector adapter in the HU wiring kit. Dynavin N6-VW box includes this adapter. So you can hook up this HU with any VW, Skoda without any additional wiring kit or adapter other than what is included in the kit. And the best part is, it detects and integrates to the car type and its electronics, be it CAN type MFSW or not.
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Old 8th September 2014, 12:49   #25
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

Thanks Ajay for your quick reply. My sister recently got philadelphia on her polo gt. It does good at long as you dont try using too many options on it i.e. it barely responds when music is playing from the ipod connected while trying to use maps.

Could you guide me from where I would be able to download the latest firmware for this [link and installation instructions etc] or do I need to take it to a dealer?

Thanks once again...
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Old 8th September 2014, 13:50   #26
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

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Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj View Post
Thanks dkaile. The unit Costed 55K INR and was shipped to me. Installation was DIY, so no further expenses. Even if you get it installed from else where, it is plug and play which would not take more than an hour including wiring the hands-free mic to the OE location. I know you have been waiting for a good ICE replacement for your Superb. This one is worth the wait.

Check out the following link: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...vers/DEH-80PRS
That is Pioneer reference series Audiophile grade HU. If you read the literature below, it says that the HU has 24 bit burr brown DACs. It is the same DACs in Dynavin HU too. That says it all.

Congrats on getting an infotainment unit for your car. Yes its a unique product in the market where the chinese crap are dominating and hope the quality will be better than the chinese.

Its using a BB DAC chip (any idea which one?, I tried google, but couldnt find). Just, FYI, using a good DAC chip doesnt make it better, a lot of other factors including the design of the DAC plays an important role in getting a good o/p. You can find a hell lot of assembled boards from china with BurrBrown / Wolfson / Cirrus Logic dacs embedded for less than 10-20$s. A lot of importance is there in how the designer make use of the chip. For eg, the pioneer 80PRS eventhough its an entry level audiophile grade unit (not a reference model from pioneer), we cannot compare the SQ with other units in the same price bracket or any general 2Dins in the market, the SQ is entirely different. Moreover it uses 3 dacs for High/Mid/Low to make it an active HU. In home audio, you can see dacs for less than couple of thousands to lakhs but both using same chipsets. From your impressions, I assume the SQ is far better than the usual chinese units in the market, even in the same price bracket like Caska.

BTW, did you try any FLAC / ALAC playback? If not, try it once you will never go back to MP3 (not even 320kbps). I think it should support since the dac can handle the flac bandwidth and I am not so sure about the OS, but I saw one BMW forum review that it could play ALAC and FLAC.

Last edited by ::CMS:: : 8th September 2014 at 13:53.
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Old 8th September 2014, 15:58   #27
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

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Originally Posted by sanketdesai82 View Post
Could you guide me from where I would be able to download the latest firmware for this [link and installation instructions etc] or do I need to take it to a dealer?

Thanks once again...
Always welcome sanketdesai82! This is the link to the Philadelphia 835 update: http://www.blaupunkt.com/en/nc/servi...view%5D=single

I got the update from the dealer itself in Jan 2014. But BHPian Gannu_1 seems to have done it himself. Here is the link to his post: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/produc...ml#post3348173

Hope this helps.

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Originally Posted by ::CMS:: View Post
Congrats on getting an infotainment unit for your car. Yes its a unique product in the market where the chinese crap are dominating and hope the quality will be better than the chinese.

Its using a BB DAC chip (any idea which one?, I tried google, but couldnt find). Just, FYI, using a good DAC chip doesnt make it better, a lot of other factors including the design of the DAC plays an important role in getting a good o/p.

BTW, did you try any FLAC / ALAC playback?
Thanks CMS!

I said it has better sound as I have actually listened to it. You are right, DACs alone don't mean better sound and that Pioneer DEH-80PRS has 3 of them. Had read a lot on this while doing my hunt for HUs. The audio quality comparison here is with Blaupunkt Philadelphia 835, Audiosources DNS 810 and RCD 510. Dynavin produces rich and full sound compared to the above lot. Just made the BB 24 bit DAC comparison with the 80PRS from Pioneer website for layman to understand that it does use quality components as in other good HUs. Sound quality opinion is from my own listening experience of this HU.

My guess is 99% of the users won't be audiophiles. That is why I haven't gone more technical in the review. However, not just DAC, but the main processor and a lot more other components including the cabling inside the HU are of a different league compared the Chinese Blaupunkt and other HUs. I think the R&D division in Germany has done a good job in choosing components (not just DACs) for the HU.

Most of the technical info., I got during my research about the HU. Finally when I got it in my hands and actually listened to it, it sounded satisfactory enough to stop digging deeper into the specs. I don't worry about the DACs and the rest anymore. As long as it sounds good, I'm happy.

I haven't played lossless audio compression formats yet on this HU. Played DVDs, CDs, and my mp3 collection on SD cards which are 320 kbps. Need to get some FLAC/ALAC music to really get the best out of the HU.
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Old 8th September 2014, 16:45   #28
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

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Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj View Post
However, not just DAC, but the main processor and a lot more other components including the cabling inside the HU are of a different league compared the Chinese Blaupunkt and other HUs. I think the R&D division in Germany has done a good job in choosing components (not just DACs) for the HU.
I'm happy that you're satisfied with your purchase but statements like that are a little misleading. Let's be clear, Dynavin is Chinese -- head office in Shenzhen and manufacturing in Zhaoqing. They have a an R&D facility in Germany but for vehicle-specific research and CANbus integration:
http://www.dynavin.com/about.php
It doesn't say the German staff had any hand in choosing components.

On the other hand, it's a well-known fact that Blaupunkt is a German company with manufacturing in China - a bit like Apple, designed in the U.S. and made in China. And to use the same analogy, Dynavin is like Xiaomi - an out and out Chinese make/brand.
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Old 8th September 2014, 16:52   #29
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Re: Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

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I'm happy that you're satisfied with your purchase but statements like that are a little misleading. Let's be clear, Dynavin is Chinese -- head office in Shenzhen and manufacturing in Zhaoqing. They have a an R&D facility in Germany but for vehicle-specific research and CANbus integration:
http://www.dynavin.com/about.php
It doesn't say the German staff had any hand in choosing components
Let me quote from the same link you posted-
"Our Head Office is based in Shenzhen, China with a staff of over 50 people working in sales, shipping, and development.

Dynavin GmbH was founded in Karlsruhe, Germay in 2009 to do vehicle specific research and development. Engineers there work on canbus related vehicle integration functions to allow our head units to seamlessly integrate, or even enhance OEM functionallity."

I would guess these engineers would play a role in deciding key components so that performance is not compromised like in other similar HUs, that's all. Sorry if that was misleading.
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Old 8th September 2014, 18:13   #30
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Review: Dynavin N6-VW Headunit (for VW / Skoda cars)

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Originally Posted by StarScream View Post
On the other hand, it's a well-known fact that Blaupunkt is a German company with manufacturing in China - a bit like Apple, designed in the U.S. and made in China. And to use the same analogy, Dynavin is like Xiaomi - an out and out Chinese make/brand.


Blaupunkt is a reputed company, no doubts about it. But Philadelphia 835 does not sound or perform like a Blaupunkt at all. I had a good impression about Blaupunkt till I used this specific HU of theirs and my opinion is only about that HU not the parent company which I still believe is good.



There is no comparison between Apple assembled in China iPhones and Philadelphia 835 of Blaupunkt. iPhone still performs like an Apple product and has all its quality though it comes built in China. Blaupunkt HUs have a reputation for quality but 835 does not seem to carry the same DNA. It is just an average performer with a very premium price tag.



Soon after I installed the 835, one of the reputed audio installers from Chennai asked me why I chose it and I told him its a Blaupunkt product and cant be that bad. He said it has only the brand name and has nothing in common with Blaupunkt products. Soon I realized it myself. If 835 was good enough why would I swap it especially when it does not come cheap. This is my experience and I have invested incurring losses to get a better HU. I would not do it if that HU was good for me. Its all subjective and Philadelphia 835 did not meet my requirements.



Request to Mods: Please merge this post with the previous one if required. Thanks.

Last edited by ajaypjayaraj : 8th September 2014 at 18:17.
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