# The Clarion NX706 is out!



## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

Seems like a sweet unit, please comment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3Z5P0lij-g

Sonix has it now, may be others have them as well.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_107467_Clarion-NX706.html

Some that saw this unit at CES said it was very laggy, I don't see that in this video. It seems they have worked out the interface kinks.


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

This Sonix guy says the unit has fixed and variable level optical digital out? Is that right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIeS643ATQg


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Yes. That's correct. If You check the CES thread there's some discussion on it there. 

I'm interested in it but there's apparently no real iPod support which is a feature important to me. Obviously not everyone. But at least to me.


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## Onyx1136 (Mar 15, 2009)

fcarpio said:


> This Sonix guy says the unit has fixed and variable level optical digital out? Is that right?
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIeS643ATQg


I'm not 100% on this, so maybe someone else can confirm, but I believe the processor that's receiving the optical signal would also have to have the ability to attenuate volume through the optical input as well. And I'm not aware of any current processor that possesses that feature. Other than, probably, the matching Clarion processor for this headunit.


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## WeDgE (Oct 25, 2005)

ErinH said:


> Yes. That's correct. If You check the CES thread there's some discussion on it there.
> 
> I'm interested in it but there's apparently no real iPod support which is a feature important to me. Obviously not everyone. But at least to me.



In the video, you can see a button for iPod Audio as he's scrolling through the main screen. :dunno:


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## WeDgE (Oct 25, 2005)

I'll definitely be getting this unit to replace my 80prs. Been waiting awhile for something like this!


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## xconcepts (May 17, 2011)

I ran the NX702 and HATED it, I'd have to see it in person to see if I'd want to use it.


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## gumbeelee (Jan 3, 2011)

ErinH said:


> Yes. That's correct. If You check the CES thread there's some discussion on it there.
> 
> I'm interested in it but there's apparently no real iPod support which is a feature important to me. Obviously not everyone. But at least to me.


It shows ipod audio in the youtube video.


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Onyx1136 said:


> I'm not 100% on this, so maybe someone else can confirm, but I believe the processor that's receiving the optical signal would also have to have the ability to attenuate volume through the optical input as well. And I'm not aware of any current processor that possesses that feature. Other than, probably, the matching Clarion processor for this headunit.


Naw, it's master volume in the digital domain. Same as your the volume slider on a PC media player like iTunes. It's done completely from within the application. Well in this case the head unit OS. Uses more processing power but eliminates the cost of having to attenuate in the analog domain before the output circuitry via a _digitally controlled_ solid state potentiometer.


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## Silvercoat (Dec 5, 2013)

Any Android Auto or CarPlay? It does not appear to have it.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Silvercoat said:


> Any Android Auto or CarPlay? It does not appear to have it.



Nope. This head unit's main attraction is that little toslink plug on the back. I'm hoping that will open Alpine and Pioneer Marketing folks' eyes a little bit. 


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I've been tempted to order one a couple times but I'm not sure of Sonic's return policy. I know what it says; I don't know how that works in real life when you actually try to send something back. I've dealt with Crutchfield for a long time and never had an issue returning with them. So I'm more apt to wait for CF to get it in stock before I risk $1k.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

ErinH said:


> I've been tempted to order one a couple times but I'm not sure of Sonic's return policy. I know what it says; I don't know how that works in real life when you actually try to send something back. I've dealt with Crutchfield for a long time and never had an issue returning with them. So I'm more apt to wait for CF to get it in stock before I risk $1k.


I had thought I had a bad tweet, which turned out to simply a connection issue, but with no issue whatsoever Sonic gave me an RA for them which I didn't need to use after troublshooting 'correctly'. Have never had an issue with them to give me pause. However, never exercised their 60 day money back policy. link

Would love it if you got one.. Wanna see it at the meet. 

Thing that bugs me though is when originally seeing this head unit in press releases, the msrp's being reported were less.. I've seen $799 etc.. Now they show up at a cool g-note. Just being a cheap-skate, but still I was salivating at $799 down near 4100NEX territory.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Well, I pulled the trigger on one. I'll document my findings in a review on my site. I'm hoping it's nice but I have a sinking feeling it will go back.


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

Babs said:


> This head unit's main attraction is that little toslink plug on the back.


Absolutely!


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

ErinH said:


> Well, I pulled the trigger on one. I'll document my findings in a review on my site. I'm hoping it's nice but I have a sinking feeling it will go back.


Post the link here when you have it please.


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## BassMechanic308 (Feb 15, 2015)

Is it really going to be that great of a radio because of the optical out? Doesn't really look all that appealing to the eye. And a 1k price tag is starting out pretty steep.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

fcarpio said:


> Post the link here when you have it please.


It's in his sig and it's a plethora of speaker review goodness.
Link


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

ErinH said:


> Well, I pulled the trigger on one. I'll document my findings in a review on my site. I'm hoping it's nice but I have a sinking feeling it will go back.












Hope it's all that and a bucket of chicken.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

BassMechanic308 said:


> Is it really going to be that great of a radio because of the optical out? Doesn't really look all that appealing to the eye. And a 1k price tag is starting out pretty steep.


That is the money question, isn't it. 
Agreed and Agreed.


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

BassMechanic308 said:


> Is it really going to be that great of a radio because of the optical out? Doesn't really look all that appealing to the eye. And a 1k price tag is starting out pretty steep.


Consider all the current double din alternatives. Now it doesn't seem that bad, does it?


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## BassMechanic308 (Feb 15, 2015)

I have to say, the hdmi is also a very nice feature to have. But what resolutions does it support. A lot of touchscreens are very picky about resolutions. Wonder if it had an internal scaler. I also wonder if it plays flac files natively as well.


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

BassMechanic308 said:


> I have to say, the hdmi is also a very nice feature to have. But what resolutions does it support. A lot of touchscreens are very picky about resolutions. Wonder if it had an internal scaler. I also wonder if it plays flac files natively as well.


Resolution isn't great. But it does play Flac according to the manual.

Screen Size (Inches) 6.95
Aspect Ratio 16:9
Display Type WVGA
Drive Principle TFT active matrix
Number of Pixels 1,152,000 pixels (800 RGB(H) × 480 (V) × 3)

Clarion U.S.A | NX706


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## Silvercoat (Dec 5, 2013)

Man if this thing had Android Auto then I would be throwing my money at it. Guess I will wait for the NX707.

I still think it will be a great headunit for the SQ inclined as the toslink is something that so many people have been waiting for. I am curious to see the testing results as well.

Thumbsup for the trial!


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## Huckleberry Sound (Jan 17, 2009)

mmmmmmmmmm


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

ErinH said:


> I've been tempted to order one a couple times but I'm not sure of Sonic's return policy. I know what it says; I don't know how that works in real life when you actually try to send something back. I've dealt with Crutchfield for a long time and never had an issue returning with them. So I'm more apt to wait for CF to get it in stock before I risk $1k.





ErinH said:


> Well, I pulled the trigger on one. I'll document my findings in a review on my site. I'm hoping it's nice but I have a sinking feeling it will go back.


I ordered this from sonic yesterday at the cut-off time that would permit it being delivered today; that time was about 1000 cst. I didn't receive an email notification on shipment yesterday so I went to the site, logged in and pulled up my order status around 1700 cst. It was showing as pending due to "information verification", which is there address confirmation stuff... or something of the sort. This meant obviously it wouldn't be shipped in time to get here at the time stated when I ordered it. No email or call from them to even let me know about this; lucky for me I checked on the order myself. That's the second time I've had them do this to me. 

Around the same time I got an email from Crutchfield saying they had it in stock as well. So, I called up sonic and canceled the order. The order from Crutchfield shows delivery today. Once I have time to go through the features and all that and test it out, I'll write up a little review or (probably) just do a video of a walkthrough.


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## firebirdude (Dec 24, 2009)

Babs said:


> Thing that bugs me though is when originally seeing this head unit in press releases, the msrp's being reported were less.. I've seen $799 etc.. Now they show up at a cool g-note. Just being a cheap-skate, but still I was salivating at $799 down near 4100NEX territory.


That would bug me too. It's not you being a cheap skate. It makes me wonder if they did that on purpose to gain some initial release attention. So all these cool features and a solid price point.... then make the actual price $200 more upon release. :mean:



ErinH said:


> It was showing as pending due to "information verification", which is there address confirmation stuff... or something of the sort. No email or call from them to even let me know about this; lucky for me I checked on the order myself. That's the second time I've had them do this to me.


I've also had this happen to me. Like you, no call, email or anything from them. I called and the rep removed the verification/hold over the phone and my product was shipped late. Aggravating for sure.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

ErinH said:


> I ordered this from sonic yesterday at the cut-off time that would permit it being delivered today; that time was about 1000 cst. I didn't receive an email notification on shipment yesterday so I went to the site, logged in and pulled up my order status around 1700 cst. It was showing as pending due to "information verification", which is there address confirmation stuff... or something of the sort. This meant obviously it wouldn't be shipped in time to get here at the time stated when I ordered it. No email or call from them to even let me know about this; lucky for me I checked on the order myself. That's the second time I've had them do this to me.
> 
> 
> 
> Around the same time I got an email from Crutchfield saying they had it in stock as well. So, I called up sonic and canceled the order. The order from Crutchfield shows delivery today. Once I have time to go through the features and all that and test it out, I'll write up a little review or (probably) just do a video of a walkthrough.



Oops. Yeah I shoulda mentioned that. That's all my fault 100%. I ran into that when I made a first order or two. They do have some BS when you do a first order or if you've not ordered from them in a long time. Again sorry about that. I shoulda thought of it. My bad entirely. 


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## Chief Wiggum (Sep 25, 2015)

Here is the audio set-up menu from a NX706 that was on a display board. You can go into the settings menu and select between analog and digital output, plus the bit rate. Additionally, you can turn off the built-in amplifier by activating the amp canceller feature.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

ErinH said:


> I ordered this from sonic yesterday at the cut-off time that would permit it being delivered today; that time was about 1000 cst. I didn't receive an email notification on shipment yesterday so I went to the site, logged in and pulled up my order status around 1700 cst. It was showing as pending due to "information verification", which is there address confirmation stuff... or something of the sort. This meant obviously it wouldn't be shipped in time to get here at the time stated when I ordered it. No email or call from them to even let me know about this; lucky for me I checked on the order myself. That's the second time I've had them do this to me.
> 
> Around the same time I got an email from Crutchfield saying they had it in stock as well. So, I called up sonic and canceled the order. The order from Crutchfield shows delivery today. Once I have time to go through the features and all that and test it out, I'll write up a little review or (probably) just do a video of a walkthrough.


well at least you have it now. i have noticed though, that sonic isnt nearly as good as everyone praises. 4 out my my 5 last orders were all screwed up and they didnt really do much to help. even didnt give me a refund on the next day air shipping since i needed that item (which they didnt even send) that next day. theyre going downhill it seems


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

I'm interested to see what the impressions are of you early adopters. In terms of features and the originally quoted MSRP that Babs eluded to, I was pretty excited about this head unit. Interacting with the *pre-production unit* at CES turned into a complete let down. I've already got a piece of garbage Rosen in my wife's car. I'm not about to pay $1000 for another piece of garbage to replace it. 

Hopefully the production units fixed the issues I experienced and we'll see some glowing reviews. A drop in street prices more along the lines of the initial information that Clarion put out wouldn't be so bad either.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

rton20s said:


> I'm interested to see what the impressions are of you early adopters. In terms of features and the originally quoted MSRP that Babs eluded to, I was pretty excited about this head unit. Interacting with the *pre-production unit* at CES turned into a complete let down. I've already got a piece of garbage Rosen in my wife's car. I'm not about to pay $1000 for another piece of garbage to replace it.
> 
> Hopefully the production units fixed the issues I experienced and we'll see some glowing reviews. A drop in street prices more along the lines of the initial information that Clarion put out wouldn't be so bad either.



I'm hopeful the most of that was addressed as firmware related dialing in the interface. 


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Babs said:


> I'm hopeful the most of that was addressed as firmware related dialing in the interface.
> 
> 
> Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


Same here. Will firmware fix the cost as well?


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

rton20s said:


> Same here. Will firmware fix the cost as well?


Nope.. Only the free market can do that. Takes longer too.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

Chief Wiggum said:


> Here is the audio set-up menu from a NX706 that was on a display board. You can go into the settings menu and select between analog and digital output, plus the bit rate. Additionally, you can turn off the built-in amplifier by activating the amp canceller feature.


there is a menu in that pdf of pics that shows HVA controls...How is it doing that? I see nothing in the manual about it


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

rton20s said:


> I'm interested to see what the impressions are of you early adopters. In terms of features and the originally quoted MSRP that Babs eluded to, I was pretty excited about this head unit. Interacting with the *pre-production unit* at CES turned into a complete let down. I've already got a piece of garbage Rosen in my wife's car. I'm not about to pay $1000 for another piece of garbage to replace it.
> 
> Hopefully the production units fixed the issues I experienced and we'll see some glowing reviews. A drop in street prices more along the lines of the initial information that Clarion put out wouldn't be so bad either.


I put this on 'the bench' last night and played with it for about an hour. The short story is: it will definitely not be staying. It's going back asap. 

Unfortunately it seems the issues you experienced were not fixed. The GUI is sluggish. My alpine 957 is better and seems more responsive. The UI itself is not at all to my liking. 

The iPod video/classic is *not* supported, even though the box and manual both show the ipod classic in the apple "made for iPod" branding (here, page 4). To be fair, the website only mentions use of the touch/phone and never specifically mentions the ipod classic. Still, it seems misleading. That said, I knew of this going in to it (if you read the CES thread you can see it discussed there). I was hopeful maybe a last minute update would have remedied that. 

The variable optical output works. My concern is bit depth when used for volume control. If the digital volume controller is 24-bit then there's definitely cause for concern regarding problems at lower volumes where the SNR would be worst (see this link here for discussion on analog vs digital volume controllers). If the DVC is 32-bit then it's likely a moot issue... I couldn't imagine they'd be using a 16-bit DVC and I imagine if a 32-bit controller was used it would be mentioned in the literature/marketing so I assume 24-bit is what is used. Of course, I don't have the service manual so I can't be sure. I had planned to test this but had trouble with my soundcard reading the digital signal from the headunit with the test signal so that was a bust. I haven't listened to this unit yet using the optical out but plan to this weekend to see if there's any obvious degradation in sound quality. I would surely think not, but then again, this feature may have been built with the whole Clarion Digital System in mind as opposed to headunit-only operation.


I bought this with intentions on using it for the optical over all sources feature (not so much the variable volume; I'll be doing volume control elsewhere) and the fact that it had two usb source inputs. But, since it doesn't read iPod classics, it's hard for me to ignore the GUI/UI shortcomings. I personally would recommend buying the Alpine 957 unless you have a dire need for 2 USB inputs and variable DVC (which, again, may or may not be a bad thing, depending on implementation) and you need FLAC support. The alpine costs more but I think it says it all when I decided within 10 minutes the Clarion was going back.


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

Babs said:


> Nope.. Only the free market can do that. Takes longer too.


Yeah, the competition from Alpine looks better IMHO and can be had for $50 less. The drawback is that if you want to got optical you have to get that retarded Alpine proprietary optical cable at a whopping $130.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

ErinH said:


> I put this on 'the bench' last night and played with it for about an hour. The short story is: it will definitely not be staying. It's going back asap.
> 
> Unfortunately it seems the issues you experienced were not fixed. The GUI is sluggish. My alpine 957 is better and seems more responsive. The UI itself is not at all to my liking.


That is enough for me.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Also if the 967 is a replacement for the 957 then better hurry on that. I think the 967 loses the toslink output. 


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

That just stinks though. Had high hopes for the Clarion. 


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Babs said:


> Also if the 967 is a replacement for the 957 then better hurry on that. I think the 967 loses the toslink output.
> 
> 
> Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk



I wouldn't consider the 967 a replacement. No cd mech and no digital output.


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## Martin1430 (Jan 31, 2015)

ErinH said:


> I put this on 'the bench' last night and played with it for about an hour. The short story is: it will definitely not be staying. It's going back asap.
> 
> Unfortunately it seems the issues you experienced were not fixed. The GUI is sluggish. My alpine 957 is better and seems more responsive. The UI itself is not at all to my liking.
> 
> ...


Erin, for which sources does the alpine not use the optical out?


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## VP Electricity (Apr 11, 2009)

There is a lot of inclination nowadays to "be like Google". Which basically means that you ship with bugs and update later. I am not in agreement with this approach, but it is something that, in today's world, seems common for companies to convince themselves is fine. 

The 957 Toslink is pretty useless as a navi and BT receiver, unless you use the H800. And the 957 doesn't do FLAC, does it?<Never mind, I re-read Erin's post>


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I have the H800 and the C800 plus the toslink cable, just trying to find the best price for that 957HD.


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## VP Electricity (Apr 11, 2009)

Martin1430 said:


> Erin, for which sources does the alpine not use the optical out?


Handsfree and nav prompts.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

VP Electricity said:


> Handsfree and nav prompts.


Correct. 

Neither bother me because I use google maps on my phone and I don't use BT calling. 

To be clear, BT audio works fine through the optical out. It's just phone calls that isn't supported.


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## Martin1430 (Jan 31, 2015)

ErinH said:


> Correct.
> 
> Neither bother me because I use google maps on my phone and I don't use BT calling.
> 
> To be clear, BT audio works fine through the optical out. It's just phone calls that isn't supported.


Forgive me if this is a dumb question, when a call comes in will it swap over and send the signal out of RCA's until the call is over?


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I assume. I don't use BT calling so I can't say for sure.


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

Babs said:


> Also if the 967 is a replacement for the 957 then better hurry on that. I think the 967 loses the toslink output.
> 
> 
> Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


Is not. They are sibling units. With the 957 being the one with optical out. Different target market I guess.


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

VP Electricity said:


> Handsfree and nav prompts.


According to the manual when you switch to optical the volume control is disabled. If this is the case I would assume that ALL audio goes out optical, like a CarPC. Otherwise you loos everything else. 

Am I correct in my assumption?

EDIT: Never mind, I just read Erin's post above. That sucks as I do use BT for phone calls and the navi audio would be nice. According to the folks at E3IO *ALL audio* comes out the toslink. I think I just made up my mind, I am going with E3IO. Out of all their models they recommended me the 4 gen Pro.

http://e3io.com/2din-car-pc-gen4-pro


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

Babs said:


> That just stinks though. Had high hopes for the Clarion.
> 
> 
> Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


Yeah, I am bombed out with the price hike as well. So now back to Alpine or e3io. Tough choice as both have things I don't like.


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

Coppertone said:


> I have the H800 and the C800 plus the toslink cable, just trying to find the best price for that 957HD.


So far eBay has them at around $950 new. Please post if you can find them cheaper.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

fcarpio said:


> According to the manual when you switch to optical the volume control is disabled. If this is the case I would assume that ALL audio goes out optical, like a CarPC. Otherwise you loos everything else.
> 
> Am I correct in my assumption?
> 
> ...


I've played with the e3io. I didn't like it at all. Besides the UI and clunky feel of the unit, the fan (at least on the model loaned to me) was _very _loud and would have driven me nuts in my car.

Edit: The one loaned to me was a $1600 unit that was pretty much the top of the line about 1.5 years ago.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Sadly that's where I was seeing them for new also ( EBay ) as soon as I sell my 4100NEX I'll add the 957HD to the Ram...


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

ErinH said:


> I've played with the e3io. I didn't like it at all. Besides the UI and clunky feel of the unit, the fan (at least on the model loaned to me) was _very _loud and would have driven me nuts in my car.
> 
> Edit: The one loaned to me was a $1600 unit that was pretty much the top of the line about 1.5 years ago.


The fan, I totally did not think about that. There is a model that the computer itself can be installed in the trunk (kind of looks like an amp) and the screen up front. That may help with the fan noise but it is also a $150 price hike. The clunckyness, oh well. Desicions...

You settled for the Alpine? I would get the 80PRS but browsing through a hard drive full of music is painful on that unit.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I wouldn't say I "settled" for the alpine. I chose it because I liked it.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Tablet dash, toslink output hardware, and helix controller. Done. That'll be my next build in the truck and maybe car. 


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## WeDgE (Oct 25, 2005)

Erin, would you mind posting a video of you using the NX706 GUI? 

I'm curious to see how laggy it is. The Sonic Electronix video on YouTube from CES didn't seem bad at all.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

WeDgE said:


> Erin, would you mind posting a video of you using the NX706 GUI?
> 
> I'm curious to see how laggy it is. The Sonic Electronix video on YouTube from CES didn't seem bad at all.


Check out this poor guy..




And another..


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## WeDgE (Oct 25, 2005)

Yep, watched both those videos numerous times, I'm just not seeing it being *that* laggy. Sure, there's a slight pause at times when you select a button on the screen...seems pretty decent to me. 

At this price point, you can't expect it to be as snappy as a flagship smartphone!


Judging from this video, the W957HD seems just as "laggy":


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

WeDgE said:


> Yep, watched both those videos numerous times. I'm just not seeing that it's *that* laggy. Sure, there's a slight pause at times when you select a button on the screen...seems pretty decent to me. At this price point, you can't expect it to be as snappy as a flagship smartphone!


Yes. Yes, you can. It is 2016. There is NO EXCUSE in a day and age, where high quality responsive touch screens and GUIs are ubiquitous, for a product with this kind of performance is released to the public. Especially not from a manufacturer who would like to be considered in the top tier of their industry. My first iPhone, a 3G from 7+ years ago, performed more smoothly than this flagship head unit in 2016.

I played with the NX706 at CES. It was not good. Erin has used it, and if he says it hasn't improved, I wouldn't spend a penny on this head unit.


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## WeDgE (Oct 25, 2005)

rton20s said:


> Yes. Yes, you can. It is 2016. There is NO EXCUSE in a day and age, where high quality responsive touch screens and GUIs are ubiquitous, for a product with this kind of performance is released to the public. Especially not from a manufacturer who would like to be considered in the top tier of their industry. My first iPhone, a 3G from 7+ years ago, performed more smoothly than this flagship head unit in 2016.
> 
> I played with the NX706 at CES. It was not good. Erin has used it, and if he says it hasn't improved, I wouldn't spend a penny on this head unit.


If that's the case, why spend a penny on the Alpine when it's just as slow as the NX706 (judging by the video I posted)? 

Damn thing doesn't even output BT phone calls through optical, yet BT audio comes through... Wtf is that...


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

WeDgE said:


> If that's the case, why spend a penny on the Alpine when it's just as slow as the NX706 (judging by the video I posted)?
> 
> Damn thing doesn't even output BT phone calls through optical, yet BT audio comes through... Wtf is that...


I was not advocating for the Alpine. I have never used it. I just know based on my own experience, that I would never purchase and install the Clarion NX706. At least, not until there is a price drop that accompanies a firmware upgrade to fix the shortcomings. To each their own.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I don't know what else to say beyond I don't like the UI and the response at times lags with the clarion. I have the alpine. I know it's response doesn't lag. It's a noticeable lag when I interact with the clarion, to the point it caught my attention and I wrote about it. 

Bottom line is: If you want to try it for yourself to see if the interface is acceptable to you then buy it and try it. I did. I didn't like it. It's going back.


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## gumbeelee (Jan 3, 2011)

ErinH said:


> I don't know what else to say beyond I don't like the UI and the response at times lags with the clarion. I have the alpine. I know it's response doesn't lag. It's a noticeable lag when I interact with the clarion, to the point it caught my attention and I wrote about it.
> 
> Bottom line is: If you want to try it for yourself to see if the interface is acceptable to you then buy it and try it. I did. I didn't like it. It's going back.


Thats all I need to know, I totally respect erins opinion on anything car audio. I have learned so much from his blogs!!


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## thebookfreak58 (Jun 18, 2012)

Babs said:


> Tablet dash, toslink output hardware, and helix controller. Done. That'll be my next build in the truck and maybe car.
> 
> 
> Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


Downside of that is no BT calls or reverse camera...


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## Huckleberry Sound (Jan 17, 2009)

thebookfreak58 said:


> Downside of that is no BT calls or reverse camera...


Your suggesting that the NX706 does not do bluetooth calls?

Chapter 14 of the manual is called "Bluetooth Telephone Operations."

Am I missing something?


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Huckleberry Sound said:


> Your suggesting that the NX706 does not do bluetooth calls?
> 
> Chapter 14 of the manual is called "Bluetooth Telephone Operations."
> 
> Am I missing something?


read what he quoted and replied to.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

thebookfreak58 said:


> Downside of that is no BT calls or reverse camera...



Nah. Not a prob. My phone in my pocket rings to my pad. Reverse cam is on the mirror. Though I've wondered and will check if pulling my particular OEM radio will have anything to do with backup cam. But BT phone is no problem. 


Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Huckleberry Sound (Jan 17, 2009)

ErinH said:


> read what he quoted and replied to.


Opps my bad!!!


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## madcowintucson (May 21, 2015)

Did someone answer this yet...is all the audio (cd,dvd,hd radio etc) sent out via the optical cable? It would be nice to keep everything didgital and I assume that's what this is all about here. One thing that's going to suck is lack of aptx support. It may recieve Bluetooth but the quality isn't the same in my experience. So if I stream audio from my phone from milk or slacker I guess I'll have to do it completely separately. As I don't even have 's music anymore the cd and dvd section is a bit useless for me. 320kbps sounds fine to me.


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## Silvercoat (Dec 5, 2013)

Babs said:


> Nah. Not a prob. My phone in my pocket rings to my pad. Reverse cam is on the mirror. Though I've wondered and will check if pulling my particular OEM radio will have anything to do with backup cam. But BT phone is no problem.
> 
> 
> Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


I take it you use the continuity feature with the IPAD/IPhone? How well does it work in the car and what microphone does it use?

Also I know using Wifi you could auto switch your camera into an IPAD that way. The mirror video is also a good alternative.

If it is an Adroid one I am even more interested.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Silvercoat said:


> I take it you use the continuity feature with the IPAD/IPhone? How well does it work in the car and what microphone does it use?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Haven't used it that often. Will have to report back on that. 


Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Fyalinks (Mar 6, 2016)

I bought and used the Clarion NX706 solely because of the optical output. I had it in my system with the Helix P SIX DSP MK2, I also have the Helix Director hooked up. I can control volume from the NX706 but I have the Helix director for all of the cool features that brings to the game such as "start-up" volume.

Sadly this head unit's only bright side is the optical output. ErinH has already spoke of the lack of iPod support, the there is a cable that says "iPod/iPhone control" but it is essentially for the "iPod" app on your iPhone. Silly me, not reading the find print first got an iPod touch after my classic didn't work, only to find out that was also incompatible. Forget about using the bluetooth on you iPod touch, when I used my iPhone over bluetooth is was okay, occasionally while driving on the highway it would intermittently lose connection the way bad FM stations would. With the iPod touch on bluetooth is was downright unacceptable, a lot of static noise, sounded like someone was scratching the surface of my speakers.

Short story, this head unit is incredibly overpriced for what it offers, GPS is below average too. So I will be replacing it with a Kenwood unit. Its back to analog for me until one of the more "feature rich" manufacturers add a digital output to one of their units.


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## hiramgarza (Jul 19, 2010)

ErinH said:


> Correct.
> 
> Neither bother me because I use google maps on my phone and I don't use BT calling.
> 
> To be clear, BT audio works fine through the optical out. It's just phone calls that isn't supported.


Hi ErinH, currently use the 957HD unit, I use optical fiber for BT, Ipod and also to make and receive calls, I was struck by your comment that it was not possible to make calls using the unit in digital mode. I excuse my bad English I'm from Mexico.


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## Fyalinks (Mar 6, 2016)

hiramgarza said:


> Hi ErinH, currently use the 957HD unit, I use optical fiber for BT, Ipod and also to make and receive calls, I was struck by your comment that it was not possible to make calls using the unit in digital mode. I excuse my bad English I'm from Mexico.


Well I don't know about ErinH's experience with this unit but I'll reply since I do have the unit and I only use the optical connection. I can say that BT phone calls work just fine for me ( I have an iPhone 6) if that matters.


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## hiramgarza (Jul 19, 2010)

Fyalinks said:


> Well I don't know about ErinH's experience with this unit but I'll reply since I do have the unit and I only use the optical connection. I can say that BT phone calls work just fine for me ( I have an iPhone 6) if that matters.


I have an android phone and works fine!

Enviado desde mi XT1563 mediante Tapatalk


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## beef316 (Dec 12, 2006)

madcowintucson said:


> Did someone answer this yet...is all the audio (cd,dvd,hd radio etc) sent out via the optical cable? It would be nice to keep everything didgital and I assume that's what this is all about here. One thing that's going to suck is lack of aptx support. It may recieve Bluetooth but the quality isn't the same in my experience. So if I stream audio from my phone from milk or slacker I guess I'll have to do it completely separately. As I don't even have 's music anymore the cd and dvd section is a bit useless for me. 320kbps sounds fine to me.


That's correct. All output is digital. 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


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## WeDgE (Oct 25, 2005)

I have an issue with BT calls through the NX706 using optical output and an Android phone.

Can't always hear the other person and they can't always hear me. Not sure what the issue is, but it's frustrating when you're trying to have a conversation while driving!


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## beef316 (Dec 12, 2006)

WeDgE said:


> I have an issue with BT calls through the NX706 using optical output and an Android phone.
> 
> Can't always hear the other person and they can't always hear me. Not sure what the issue is, but it's frustrating when you're trying to have a conversation while driving!


I have no issues. Are you using the built in mic?

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

I read every post. Erin sparked my intrest on one. Haven't been able to put it down and I'm thinking getting one. 

As long as I can connect my iPhone 6+ to a usb and play my Spotify I'll be ok. I really badly want a optical with variable out to split into 4 minidsp 2X4HDs 

Can anyone tell me if the optical will be compatible with a minidsp optical input. 

And a screen, slow (gay but who cares) that's cool. Never had a screen of my own because I've always been a SQ deck guy. (P99) 

I'm inches from pulling the trigger need to find one cheap tho preferably used?? Anyone


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## MitchWolos (Aug 4, 2015)

rton20s said:


> Yes. Yes, you can. It is 2016. There is NO EXCUSE in a day and age, where high quality responsive touch screens and GUIs are ubiquitous, for a product with this kind of performance is released to the public. Especially not from a manufacturer who would like to be considered in the top tier of their industry. My first iPhone, a 3G from 7+ years ago, performed more smoothly than this flagship head unit in 2016.
> 
> I played with the NX706 at CES. It was not good. Erin has used it, and if he says it hasn't improved, I wouldn't spend a penny on this head unit.


Well. There is an excuse. Operating temperatures. Phones are designed to be used primarily at room temperature. Head units have to work from -50C to +60C.


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## MitchWolos (Aug 4, 2015)

oabeieo said:


> I read every post. Erin sparked my intrest on one. Haven't been able to put it down and I'm thinking getting one.
> 
> As long as I can connect my iPhone 6+ to a usb and play my Spotify I'll be ok. I really badly want a optical with variable out to split into 4 minidsp 2X4HDs
> 
> ...



The variable optical out works with my PXA-H900. Which is like 14 years old. Bluetooth. Navigation. Everything. So I'm fairly certain that you wouldn't have a problem. 

The variable volume via optical isn't a special signal. It just attenuates the volume level in the deck. The same way a song can have a quiet passage.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

oabeieo said:


> I read every post. Erin sparked my intrest on one. Haven't been able to put it down and I'm thinking getting one.
> 
> As long as I can connect my iPhone 6+ to a usb and play my Spotify I'll be ok. I really badly want a optical with variable out to split into 4 minidsp 2X4HDs
> 
> ...


Would be cool to get your take on it when you get it up and running.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

MitchWolos said:


> Well. There is an excuse. Operating temperatures. Phones are designed to be used primarily at room temperature. Head units have to work from -50C to +60C.


First... you are out of your mind. 

Second... when I had a chance to use this unit it was *AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.*

Third... I think your temperature range may be a bit ambitious.

Lastly... Tim Cook and his ilk would be strung up by their toe nails if they told the public at large that they shouldn't expect their phones to work properly if it got a little too chilly or warm outside.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

^ agreed. The one I bought and tested was done so in my home. In the winter. It was never exposed to any temperatures over 73 degrees.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Yeah , I would definitely be happy contribute on whether its all that or not. 

I'm going to order one, I'm 100% on that, I just need find one bnib for 550-600
Or a slightly used one for 350-400.... And if I absolutely must Walmart has them for 769



ErinH said:


> ^ agreed. The one I bought and tested was done so in my home. In the winter. It was never exposed to any temperatures over 73 degrees.





Babs said:


> Would be cool to get your take on it when you get it up and running.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

MitchWolos said:


> The variable optical out works with my PXA-H900. Which is like 14 years old. Bluetooth. Navigation. Everything. So I'm fairly certain that you wouldn't have a problem.
> 
> The variable volume via optical isn't a special signal. It just attenuates the volume level in the deck. The same way a song can have a quiet passage.


It's not a special signal indeed, but it's the only deck that does it that has swc inputs and isn't a complete turd like the Sony hi-Res deck is .


It's just I don't know if the s/pdif is 44/96 or 48/96 or whatever it is that optical uses. I know there's a few different speeds


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

oabeieo said:


> Yeah , I would definitely be happy contribute on whether its all that or not.
> 
> I'm going to order one, I'm 100% on that, I just need find one bnib for 550-600
> Or a slightly used one for 350-400.... And if I absolutely must Walmart has them for 769



I remember Sonic had an "add to cart to see price" sale at one point around that amount. You might contact them and see if they'll give it. It's worth the ask. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Babs said:


> I remember Sonic had an "add to cart to see price" sale at one point around that amount. You might contact them and see if they'll give it. It's worth the ask.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Hate dealing with them, but it's just one item in a box I'm sure I'll at a minimum get the box , maybe late...lol 

Yeah I'll call and ask for sure. Thanks dood. Hopefully they will let one go for cheap to someone in the industry


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Wonder if anyone's run the full digital system at all. Thought I read it wasn't bad at all. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## MitchWolos (Aug 4, 2015)

oabeieo said:


> It's not a special signal indeed, but it's the only deck that does it that has swc inputs and isn't a complete turd like the Sony hi-Res deck is .
> 
> 
> It's just I don't know if the s/pdif is 44/96 or 48/96 or whatever it is that optical uses. I know there's a few different speeds


It's selectable between 48/96 I believe. Pretty sure my processor has a 96k/24bit DAC. But there's no sound unless I change it to 48k.


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

I really wish this unit supported idatalink maestro integration


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Babs said:


> Wonder if anyone's run the full digital system at all. Thought I read it wasn't bad at all.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


To date, the only vehicle I am aware of that has it installed in the US is the Clarion NSX. That thing has been making the rounds as a marketing vehicle, but I don't know of anyone that has actually gotten ears on. I mean, I know people have heard the system. I just don't know of anyone whose ears and opinion that I would trust has had a chance to evaluate the installed system.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I like the look of that Clarion NSX, but I totally agree with needing to hear it before passing judgement.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Coppertone said:


> I like the look of that Clarion NSX, but I totally agree with needing to hear it before passing judgement.


I got to see it at CES, but it was locked up like Fort Knox. And no one from Clarion was around to demo. I got to hear the digital system on a display board in the conference room that they were using. I don't recall hearing anything immediately objectionable, but it wasn't an in-car installation. I did think the tuning app was pretty cool.


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

oabeieo said:


> It's not a special signal indeed, but it's the only deck that does it that has swc inputs and isn't a complete turd like the Sony hi-Res deck is .


what makes you say the sony hi-res deck is a complete turd?


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## MitchWolos (Aug 4, 2015)

rton20s said:


> First... you are out of your mind.
> 
> Second... when I had a chance to use this unit it was *AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.*
> 
> ...


You are a perfect example as to why everyone shouldn't be allowed to have an opinion. "AT ROOM TEMPERATURE" wow. This is clearly over your level of comprehension.


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

Mic10is said:


> there is a menu in that pdf of pics that shows HVA controls...How is it doing that? I see nothing in the manual about it


Yes, I want to know this too...


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

MitchWolos said:


> You are a perfect example as to why everyone shouldn't be allowed to have an opinion. "AT ROOM TEMPERATURE" wow. This is clearly over your level of comprehension.


Or perhaps it was your poorly constructed response. This is what you said:


MitchWolos said:


> Well. There is an excuse. Operating temperatures. Phones are designed to be used primarily at room temperature. Head units have to work from -50C to +60C.


So, lets assume for a moment that head units are required to operate in more extreme temperature conditions than phones (which they are not). This means we have to sacrifice function to have a more robust piece of equipment? Sacrifice function so much so that, even at what is likely optimal ambient temperature in a conditioned room (not a rolling vehicle one is currently operating), the unit is infuriatingly laggy? And this is ok, because it will have the same crappy performance at -58F or 140F?

This all started with my response disagreeing with this statement: "At this price point, you can't expect it to be as snappy as a flagship smartphone!"

Other manufacturers are building very responsive head units. Clarion has pieced together a very nice feature set with the NX706, but the user interface/performance has rendered the capabilities of the unit moot. Had Clarion built the same exact head unit with fast enough processing and a capacitive screen to keep up with user input, similar to what Pioneer has, the NX706 would probably be one of the most popular pieces of equipment on DIYMA. Possibly in the entire hobby, right now.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Truthunter said:


> Yes, I want to know this too...


Axxess InfoLink


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

rton20s said:


> Axxess InfoLink


Thank you.


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## TrickyDIck (Aug 22, 2008)

Can someone answer, if the screen can be seen clearly while wearing polarized sunglasses? The polarized prescription sunglasses I wear cause interference and distortion while viewing many displays. Annoying. This is on my short list of replacement head units along with the Pioneer 8200 and possibly one of the newer alpine units.

Thanks.
TD


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## beef316 (Dec 12, 2006)

Guys, I have no complaints about the interface. Are those complaining actual users or owners? Granted there can be sometimes a lag, but it is minor. To discount the quality of the unit because of that seems petty. 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

My complaints were laid out pretty well. I purchased the unit to use myself. I couldn't tolerate the unit (see my post for reasons) so I sent it back.

I don't know what headunits you're used to using but the lag was definitely more than "minor" to me. I was going to replace my alpine w957hd with the clarion but that notion sailed within 2-3 minutes of having this clarion fired up.


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## kmbkk (Jun 11, 2011)

oabeieo said:


> Yeah , I would definitely be happy contribute on whether its all that or not.
> 
> I'm going to order one, I'm 100% on that, I just need find one bnib for 550-600
> Or a slightly used one for 350-400.... And if I absolutely must Walmart has them for 769


I found it new on Amazon for $690 shipped.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

beef316 said:


> Guys, I have no complaints about the interface. Are those complaining actual users or owners? Granted there can be sometimes a lag, but it is minor. To discount the quality of the unit because of that seems petty.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


I have not, do not and will not own this head unit. I used it for 5-10 minutes at CES and wrote up my impressions in the CES 2016 thread. I, as well as many others, had high hopes for this unit. It is one of the reasons I ended up wandering lost all over CES attempting to find the Clarion suite. I was completely let down by my interaction with the NX706. 

I held out final judgement until others had a chance to express their thoughts on production units. When I saw posts like the one below is when I knew that Clarion had done nothing to remedy the issues that I experienced at CES and there would be no way I would consider the NX706 for my own use.



ErinH said:


> My complaints were laid out pretty well. I purchased the unit to use myself. I couldn't tolerate the unit (see my post for reasons) so I sent it back.
> 
> I don't know what headunits you're used to using but the lag was definitely more than "minor" to me. I was going to replace my alpine w957hd with the clarion but that notion sailed within 2-3 minutes of having this clarion fired up.


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## ANDRESVELASCO (Dec 7, 2015)

wow, I just read the whole thread ... and forgive my paranoia ... but some people seem very interested in discrediting the nx706 ... imho


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

ANDRESVELASCO said:


> wow, I just read the whole thread ... and forgive my paranoia ... but some people seem very interested in discrediting the nx706 ... imho


I want nothing more than for the NX706 to be as good in real life as it is on paper. If it was, I might already own at least one (possibly two) for the current street price. The firmware upgrade has supposedly fixed a lot of issues, but I have yet to personally see proof.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

I got some seat time with one in Bruce Miller's 4-runner at Finals.. He had mentioned you gotta do the update, and my contact at Clarion stated the same thing.. I found the unit worked fine, sounded great, responded well without too much excessive lag, etc.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

I appreciate the feedback Scott. It might be worth reconsidering the NX706. It is too bad there is no way to check one out locally since they have zero B&M presence.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

I'm getting one for Christmas. The wifey has one on layaway .
I'll post results as soon as it's installed . Exactly 2mo away today. 

And just like last year I'll be installing a new head unit while the family is inside the house eating Christmas dinner


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## beef316 (Dec 12, 2006)

I have one. The gui is much more responsive after the firmware upgrade. 

If you all have some test scenarios you want me to record, lmk and I will video it. 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


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## ANDRESVELASCO (Dec 7, 2015)

It's good to read that!... I'm kind of obssesed with having optical output and flac reproduction into my dsp...


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

ANDRESVELASCO said:


> It's good to read that!... I'm kind of obssesed with having optical output and flac reproduction into my dsp...


Anything to avoid 2 conversions. x2 on that. 

I so much wished the nx had car play. I guess the mirroring will be ok


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

oabeieo said:


> Anything to avoid 2 conversions. x2 on that.
> 
> 
> 
> I so much wished the nx had car play. I guess the mirroring will be ok



If you rock a Helix DSP Pro or similar with a HEC port for the HEC expansion cards, that'll be moot because of a new card with straight USB input streaming. But if you get that 706 and it doesn't blow your skirt up, gimme a shout. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

beef316 said:


> I have one. The gui is much more responsive after the firmware upgrade.
> 
> If you all have some test scenarios you want me to record, lmk and I will video it.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


Nothing in particular that I am looking for beyond proof that the touch screen can behave on par with a smart phone from 2007. I have seen a couple of videos of the unit post firmware upgrade and they did nothing to confirm this. In said videos the use of the touch screen was very slow and deliberate so as to make sure that there was no chance of the unit missing the touch. If that were a requirement for the unit to function, it would never fly in my wife's car. 

I just want to see that if I touch or swipe that the input will be registered immediately with no lag and the unit will respond accordingly. When I had time with the NX706 at CES it was an absolute disaster. You would touch the screen and there would be no response. This would lead to an additional (or multiple) touches that would either A) finally register as a single touch with excessive lag or B) register as multiple touches which would land you somewhere within the GUI that you didn't intend to go. Swipes behaved in a similar manner. 

There was no remote to test at CES. At least not when I was there. So, I have no idea if the press of a physical button on a remote might eliminate the lag issues. Even if it did, this is a TOUCH SCREEN head unit. I should be able to leave the remote in the box and never need it in the car. 

It sound like there is some hope that the firmware upgrade has fixed the issues and that the NX706 is indeed a solid head unit with some pretty awesome capabilities. I am hopeful that this is the case. Especially since my wife said she won't go for an iPad in her dash. And whether car audio companies want to believe it or not, an iPad in the dash is now the standard by which all head units will be judged. Smart phones and tablets are ubiquitous in society today.


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## beef316 (Dec 12, 2006)

Here's 2 minute demo of the screen functionality. Hope this helps. https://youtu.be/zwbB7_8Tsm8

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

beef316 said:


> Here's 2 minute demo of the screen functionality. Hope this helps. https://youtu.be/zwbB7_8Tsm8
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk



That's not bad. Less lag than my OEM Tacoma 2-din for sure. I could live with that. Thanks for uploading that. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

beef316 said:


> Here's 2 minute demo of the screen functionality. Hope this helps. https://youtu.be/zwbB7_8Tsm8
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


Thanks Jeremy! That actually looks usable. Enough so that I will actually add it to my list of head units worth considering. Feature wise it has had a lot going for it and seeing that the firmware really did make a significant difference from what I saw at CES is pretty reassuring. 

I appreciated the Alt J as well.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

beef316 said:


> Here's 2 minute demo of the screen functionality. Hope this helps. https://youtu.be/zwbB7_8Tsm8


Jeremy, thanks for posting that! That definitely looks much better than what I've seen in other videos. 

I'm still not feeling the mediocre screen resolution and quality, the lack of an "HD" AM/FM Tuner (is it even RDS capable?), and the lack of Apt-X/CSR Bluetooth. But otherwise it looks to have a well-rounded feature set.

I know that this unit will *PLAY* Hi-Res 24 Bit/96kHz FLAC files from a USB Drive...BUT, does it internally Down-Sample those files to 16/48 or 16/44 before the bitstream is sent to its Digital Optical Toslink output???

Or has somebody verified that the NX706 is passing a native, bit-perfect 24/96 stream to its Toslink output when playing those Hi-Res files?

I downloaded the user manual but did not find this information. IME, a lot of these types of consumer units will downsample.

For bit rate & sample rate verification, I use a home DAC and also a portable SMSL Xmos X-USB unit to extract a digital 24/96 Hi-Res bitstream from my Android devices (to send to the Helix DSP PRO via Coaxial or Toslink Optical), and both units will display the exact bit rate and sample rate of the source that is feeding it. But I'd really like to avoid spending the time and money to get this unit only to find out that it downsamples to 16/44 or 16/48.

Thanks!


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## beef316 (Dec 12, 2006)

These are the digital settings. Notice the sample rate is currently at 48 k the other setting is 96 k. I have not confirmed that the 96k setting is a true bit perfect transfer. I can tell you that my current DSP cannot handle a 96 K rate and fails when the sample rate out of the Clarion is set to 96k.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

beef316 said:


> These are the digital settings. Notice the sample rate is currently at 48 k the other setting is 96 k. I have not confirmed that the 96k setting is a true bit perfect transfer. I can tell you that my current DSP cannot handle a 96 K rate and fails when the sample rate out of the Clarion is set to 96k.


Thanks Jeremy. What you describe above *should* indicate that the Clarion is in fact outputting a 24 bit/96kHz digital signal from the Toslink optical output. 

Does the HU display embedded Album Artwork from FLAC files on the screen? 

Have you integrated your OEM Steering Wheel Controls and if so, it that working well?

TIA


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## beef316 (Dec 12, 2006)

bbfoto said:


> Thanks Jeremy. What you describe above *should* indicate that the Clarion is in fact outputting a 24 bit/96kHz digital signal from the Toslink optical output.
> 
> Does the HU display embedded Album Artwork from FLAC files on the screen?
> 
> ...


The album art does display if present. I have not integrated steering wheel controls

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

beef316 said:


> The album art does display if present. I have not integrated steering wheel controls.


Thanks for the info!


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## VelocityFerocity (Oct 9, 2016)

bbfoto said:


> Thanks Jeremy. What you describe above *should* indicate that the Clarion is in fact outputting a 24 bit/96kHz digital signal from the Toslink optical output.
> 
> Does the HU display embedded Album Artwork from FLAC files on the screen?
> 
> ...


Looking at the Clarion Z3 DSP manual (Page 5) the NX706 was designed to interface with, it appears that it can handle: Max 96kHz/24Bit/PCM Optical Input. Therefore I assume (Hope) that the NX is not down sampling...

This head unit seams to be the best value give the sources currently available with optical output when planning to connect directly to a DSP.

I had my heart set on a Bit Play HD with external monitor in the dash but would have to compromise on car integration features and hands free calling...


----------



## ANDRESVELASCO (Dec 7, 2015)

VelocityFerocity said:


> This head unit seams to be the best value give the sources currently available with optical output when planning to connect directly to a DSP...


Wich others units do you know to compare with?


----------



## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

ANDRESVELASCO said:


> Wich others units do you know to compare with?


That all depends on the feature set you are looking for. If you want Hi-Res audio with optical out, then your only options are really the NX706 and the Sony RSX-GS9. But the Hi-Res and optical out is really where the similarity between these two units ends. 

The new JVC KW-V820BT also does Hi-Res, but it only has analog out. I'm sure we will see more Hi-Res audio options from various manufacturers, but the quality of the units and the other included features will likely vary quite a bit. We will also likely start seeing more and more processors released that will allow for Hi-Res audio input directly over USB or even wirelessly. This could negate the need for a separate Hi-Res head unit for many.


----------



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Here's a great review I found. Goes through entire deck 

https://youtu.be/4PQC_VClJ_0


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## ANDRESVELASCO (Dec 7, 2015)

oabeieo said:


> Here's a great review I found. Goes through entire deck
> 
> https://youtu.be/4PQC_VClJ_0


Nice full screen 15 bands graphic EQ! (and up to +/- 15db) (look at min 19:00 in the video). 

My very first complain with this unit is the lack of a dedicated AUDIO adjust button, just like my Kenwood Excelon. Is very convenient IMO. (in my deck, this launches the EQ)


----------



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

ANDRESVELASCO said:


> Nice full screen 15 bands graphic EQ! (and up to +/- 15db) (look at min 19:00 in the video).
> 
> My very first complain with this unit is the lack of a dedicated AUDIO adjust button, just like my Kenwood Excelon. Is very convenient IMO. (in my deck, this launches the EQ)


I love when he says "you can just go crazy with yourself"
Lmao  

I've got to use that . That was hilarious .


----------



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

One day away from ordering my nx-706

If ANYONE can think of a better deck with a variable optical out the time to say something.

I'm kinda excited but kinda not excited to do the switch from the p99

I know I want the optical cable with a nav deck this will be nice , I really hope the screen looks nice and I hope it plays my music very well. It sure will be exciting to have the 2x4HDs with a optical cable. 

I know there's some that say D2A than A2D and back to D2A isn't that bad and I won't notice but I think I will notice. Gulp . 24hrs from now there will be one on the way to my door


----------



## ANDRESVELASCO (Dec 7, 2015)

oabeieo said:


> I know there's some that say D2A than A2D and back to D2A isn't that bad and I won't notice but I think I will notice. Gulp . 24hrs from now there will be one on the way to my door


Of course you will notice! I still remember when I switched from analog to digital on my home stereo, It was like when you wear lenses for the very first time (in an auditive way, of course)... All become so clear... It's really a new world...

I've had not that experience in car audio yet...  (I've heard demo setups, but not mine). 

Good for you!


----------



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

ANDRESVELASCO said:


> Of course you will notice! I still remember when I switched from analog to digital on my home stereo, It was like when you wear lenses for the very first time (in an auditive way, of course)... All become so clear... It's really a new world...
> 
> I've had not that experience in car audio yet...  (I've heard demo setups, but not mine).
> 
> Good for you!


Well, it's on the way 
Got a free sxm tuner with it! 
Sonic had the best deal , sucks my wife will hold it hostage till Christmas lol
So looks like I'll be doing yet another deck install on Christmas Day.

I ordered some POF cables (plastic optical fiber) and a toslink splitter .
I have 4 minidsp 2x4HDs, I'm just going to use 2 of them for now.
But I will add the other two. 

So the non powered toslink splitters , how well does anyone think those work?
Should I get a powered one? 

I'll make a thread on the adv forum about it also see what kind of responses I get.


----------



## joshuak (Apr 7, 2011)

I haven't read whole thread yet but is it active capable?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


----------



## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Funny I'm going the other direction with a 99RS. I am going to test that AD/DA theory though by doing a tune bypassing the Helix, then a tune via the Helix. 

Here's the thing about feeding a DSP analog though.. If you feed it a volume controlled analog signal prior to DSP, you will not get the results you would get from feeding full volume to the ADC of the DSP, controlling volume downstream at the DSP or even post-DSP with something like JL's amp volume control. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

joshuak said:


> I haven't read whole thread yet but is it active capable?
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk



No.. the processing in the 706 is minimal standard stuff at best. High pass, low pass etc and minimal EQ. However the optical output, being the really cool thing about the 706, allows keeping in the digital domain from dash to DSP. So the 706 kinda needs some external DSP with toslink input to utilize the benefit. JL Twk D8 for example. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## joshuak (Apr 7, 2011)

Babs said:


> No.. the processing in the 706 is minimal standard stuff at best. High pass, low pass etc and minimal EQ. However the optical output, being the really cool thing about the 706, allows keeping in the digital domain from dash to DSP. So the 706 kinda needs some external DSP with toslink input to utilize the benefit. JL Twk D8 for example.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Oh yea that's true. That would make things nice and neat and keep the noise down.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


----------



## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

What about using a mini dsp like this ?

https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidsp-in-a-box/c-dsp-6x8


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## ANDRESVELASCO (Dec 7, 2015)

Really is so small the car digital audio market?! 

I don't understand why afetermarket car audio industrie has not includes digital outputs for their top lines -at least, when should be standard feature for those lines. 

Just don't understand...


----------



## joshuak (Apr 7, 2011)

ANDRESVELASCO said:


> Really is so small the car digital audio market?!
> 
> I don't understand why afetermarket car audio industrie has not includes digital outputs for their top lines -at least, when should be standard feature for those lines.
> 
> Just don't understand...


Idk why the keep putting DVD players in them. I haven't bought a DVD in years..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Babs said:


> Funny I'm going the other direction with a 99RS. I am going to test that AD/DA theory though by doing a tune bypassing the Helix, then a tune via the Helix.
> 
> Here's the thing about feeding a DSP analog though.. If you feed it a volume controlled analog signal prior to DSP, you will not get the results you would get from feeding full volume to the ADC of the DSP, controlling volume downstream at the DSP or even post-DSP with something like JL's amp volume control.
> 
> ...


Babs, I didn't even think of it like that but your right. The full strength signal would be very different than a weak signal. :\

Yeah with the minis in line and completely bypassed filters so it acts strictly as a AD/DA the p99 by itself is very much noticeably better in many ways. 

The eq filters on p99 react to the signal in a really crappy way when it's going through the mini. By itself it's fine. That just did it for me what I tried that. 
But yeah, level would matter. Mmmmmmmmm maybe I should retest and get the p99 wide open throttle.


----------



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Coppertone said:


> What about using a mini dsp like this ?
> 
> https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidsp-in-a-box/c-dsp-6x8


Yeah the 6x8 is great. 

It's not a helix , but it's good. A pair of 2x4HDs is bettter. 
96k sample rate, plus fir. 

The lower sample rate on the 6x8 will have better sounding sub filters tho. (Under 50hz) but I don't use subsonics and I generally don't do a whole lot of eq under 50hz so it doesn't affect me that much and having 96k with 96k music to me is nice just knowing there's not a bit of downsampleing going on. (Not that I would hear the difference anyway  )
We'll see what happens when I play my 24/96 on the clairion into the minis.
I hope it will all be worth it.


----------



## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

TrickyDIck said:


> Can someone answer, if the screen can be seen clearly while wearing polarized sunglasses? The polarized prescription sunglasses I wear cause interference and distortion while viewing many displays. Annoying. This is on my short list of replacement head units along with the Pioneer 8200 and possibly one of the newer alpine units.
> 
> Thanks.
> TD


I'd also like to know if the screen can be seen clearly while wearing polarized sunglasses???


----------



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> I'd also like to know if the screen can be seen clearly while wearing polarized sunglasses???


Will let you know on December 26th


----------



## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

bbfoto said:


> I'd also like to know if the screen can be seen clearly while wearing polarized sunglasses???





oabeieo said:


> Will let you know on December 26th


Thanks, Merry Christmas in advance.


----------



## Onyx1136 (Mar 15, 2009)

oabeieo said:


> The lower sample rate on the 6x8 will have better sounding sub filters tho. (Under 50hz)


Can you elaborate on that statement a little bit? I feel like I'm not quite understanding what you're saying there. Are you talking about crossovers or fir filters? I'm more than a little confused by that sentence and the meaning you're trying to communicate.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Cant frikkin wait , got the sxm tuner for free with it and a 70$ visa gift card from sxm. 

I asked the wife if I can put it in and open empty the box on Christmas...that didn't work too well. It just chillin in the closet makin me wonder how it's going to sound. 

She also got me the p99 box you see there two years ago for Christmas...

upload pic


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Onyx1136 said:


> Can you elaborate on that statement a little bit? I feel like I'm not quite understanding what you're saying there. Are you talking about crossovers or fir filters? I'm more than a little confused by that sentence and the meaning you're trying to communicate.


No IIR filters.

Higher sample speed makes low frequency resolution more difficult in the IIR and the FIR. But I was speaking strictly about IIR crossovers and EQ. 

Here is a post taken from this thread and the co founder of minidsp even says it's on all platforms ( which makes sence because it's a math problem) 

Here is link to actual thread 
https://www.minidsp.com/forum/softw...problems-in-low-frequency-ranges?limitstart=0




Minidspfourm said:


> @nyt,
> 
> Let me try to give you a bit more background information of how things run inside an engineering company. The fact that we're very open and been very much listening to the DIY community, doesn't mean we're telling you EVERY single task we're up to. Hope you understand that first point.
> 
> ...


----------



## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Wow we are almost like twins .....


----------



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Coppertone said:


> Wow we are almost like twins .....


:O

Woot woot !!! 

I got some optical cable and splitters on eBay for cheap.
Now I hope they work. What kind optical cables you going to use?


----------



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

And to make relevant that last few posts about the minidsp LF/FR 

If there's known issues with LF resolution by high sample rate that tells me there's got to be more "math" problems with harmonics.

I've watched videos of these nerds work and make filters and design DSPs and such.
They only really care about frequency response. If the signal looks good the same coming out as it does going in they think there's a success ... well the more I study how "digital" works and how "digital to analog" works the more I learn that the math that happens has rounding errors when trying to make a very complex dynamic signal the same as coming in. 

This is what made me want to do the switch to optical. It will take out 1/2 of the math out of the signal chain leaving the signal a clean digital signal to be manipulated.
The rounding errors on the fundamental amplitude response isn't what I'm worried about. 96k A2D is fast enough to eliminate any inconsistencies between input and output amplitude or wave shape. The magnitude, or more what embedded deep in the magnitude response is what concerns me. The detail and fine nuances would not come out perfect. Is it a tiny amount of error? Yeah it's pretty small, but the error would be noise to us and to have to hear double the amount of non linear digital noise. No thanks. The whole process of dsp is already problematic to the fidelity of the original signal, but we don't hear that way so I'm not bothered by it. Just the thought of it is what drives me nuts. 

But to sum it up , avoiding another a2d really is more worth having the dsp in place at all. At least to me. I've been trying to get past it for months now trying to give the minis a second, third , fourth chance using the analog input. I can do wonders in sq as far as changes I can make but I just can't get a real good clean signal out. Even if I don't do anything as far as dsp just using it as a a2d D2A with no dsp applied I can hear a distortion that just wasn't there before. It sounds digital and artificial.

Hopefully the clairion is all it's cracked up to be and I'm hoping this fixes these issues. 
I know it's not dsp related because the p99 sounds amazing and it has dsp in the chain.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Ok headunit is installed, yet nothing else is hooked up yet. I still have some major issues knee wise that have to be addressed before doing the full " optical out" on this.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Coppertone said:


> Ok headunit is installed, yet nothing else is hooked up yet. I still have some major issues knee wise that have to be addressed before doing the full " optical out" on this.


What u mean knee wise? 
**** you got me all worried now.


Looks nice tho


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

I'm seeing toslink cables on crutchfield for 150$
I got 3$ cables.
What should I be using.


----------



## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I had knee surgery but there is complications and lots of swelling. Do you have a link for those $150.00 cables please ?


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

oabeieo said:


> I'm seeing toslink cables on crutchfield for 150$
> I got 3$ cables.
> What should I be using.


Prolly not the $150 cables I'd think.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Coppertone said:


> I had knee surgery but there is complications and lots of swelling. Do you have a link for those $150.00 cables please ?


AudioQuest Cinnamon OptiLink (5 meters/16.4 feet) Optical digital audio cable at Crutchfield.com


If you feel fancy how about these at 228$


AudioQuest Vodka OptiLink (1.5 meters/5 feet) Optical digital audio cable at Crutchfield.com


Is it worth the extra$$$ what's the benefit ? 
Does cold weather play a role at all ?


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Babs said:


> Prolly not the $150 cables I'd think.


Yeah i would hope not.... lol 

The 3$ cables are POF but I can also find 40$ cables that are POF also.
Not sure what I'm gaining....

The real glass ones maybe....but why? I can't find any info on the benefits


----------



## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Ben, I'd be interested in your opinion of the NX706 SQ (but also the ease of use and intuitiveness of the Touch GUI) once you get it up and running.

For Toslink Optical cables check out Blue Jeans Toslink Digital Optical Cable made with the highest grade Mitsubishi Eska POF (Plastic Optical Fiber). You could spend as much as you want for a "better" cable and not get any more than .01% better performance. Also, one of the most important aspects of a Digital Optical Cable is how the ends are terminated and polished at the entry & exit tips/apertures.

I would shy away from actual glass fiber cables for Car audio installs. Read the Blue Jeans info about optical cables...anyway the glass fiber cables do not meet the Toslink (Toshiba) optical aperture/size spec due to the glass fibers being extremely small diameter and the need to use a substantial bundle of them (many tiny strands) to get to the spec'd aperture size. YMMV & Just my .02

Digital Audio Cables at Blue Jeans Cable


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> Ben, I'd be interested in your opinion of the NX706 SQ (but also the ease of use and intuitiveness of the Touch GUI) once you get it up and running.
> 
> For Toslink Optical cables check out Blue Jeans Toslink Digital Optical Cable made with the highest grade Mitsubishi Eska POF (Plastic Optical Fiber). You could spend as much as you want for a "better" cable and not get any more than .01% better performance. Also, one of the most important aspects of a Digital Optical Cable is how the ends are terminated and polished at the entry & exit tips/apertures.
> 
> ...



Thx for the link  
Interesting read lot I didn't know


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Well I've been playing with it off and on sporadically. One thing that I can say is that the response when I turn my truck on is quick. The menu features will be addressed this weekend when I'm actually able to pull my truck into my garage. I plan on spending at least three hours out there getting to know it.

Thank you kindly for the link and I'm not a firm believer in paying more just to gain a little. I'm definitely going to look into what you've suggested and purchase accordingly.


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

ErinH said:


> I've been tempted to order one a couple times but I'm not sure of Sonic's return policy. I know what it says; I don't know how that works in real life when you actually try to send something back. I've dealt with Crutchfield for a long time and never had an issue returning with them. So I'm more apt to wait for CF to get it in stock before I risk $1k.


I've been dealing sonic for many years and their return policy is top shelf..


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

^^^. I totally agree with this.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

So what's the disadvantage of going variable optical into a dsp? Erin explained it to me a while back n I forgot. Is it at low volume the amps will will have the amount of noise as it would at high volume? 

Or does it do something to the signal that makes eq different or something...

Quick refresher would be fantastic if anyone knows. 

Cheers


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

Has anyone tested the limits of files/folders accessible via USB? The manual states a maximum of 65,535 folders with 65,535 files per folder, which would be over 4 billion files! I recently had my 4100NEX stolen (along with a Butler Tube Driver amp, Eclipse sub amp, Alpine sub, more. ) and had - via the SD card and two USB inputs - a total of over 30,000 files at hand, about 80% FLAC. I loved having so much music (roughly 3,000 CDs worth) at my fingertips, even though with that many files it was rather laggy. Clarion is the only maker that claims more files/folders than Pioneer, who claim 1.5K folders/15K files. This, as I tested out, is per input, making the total more like 4.5K folders and 45K files, although it does begin choking on a lot of files. I ended up with about 10K per input and could live with that, but if the Clarion really has the ability to deal with more files - or roughly equal - that would be a huge selling point.

The thought of going digital out to DSP is also very compelling.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

ON SALE NOW at AMAZON with PRIME Shipping for $550.75 

http://www.amazon.com/Clarion-NX706-Multimedia-Station-Navigation/dp/B01BI4TQCY


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Well that beat my cost of $630.00 lol.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> ON SALE NOW at AMAZON with PRIME Shipping for $550.75
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Clarion-NX706-Multimedia-Station-Navigation/dp/B01BI4TQCY



I WOnder if sonic will return it so I can save the 150$ ...gee I shoulda waited 2 weeks


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Just ordered another one , will return the one from sonic tomorrow 

Great find bbfoto thank you !


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Coppertone said:


> Well I've been playing with it off and on sporadically. One thing that I can say is that the response when I turn my truck on is quick. The menu features will be addressed this weekend when I'm actually able to pull my truck into my garage. I plan on spending at least three hours out there getting to know it.


Thanks. Seems like a good initial impression. Double-Din Touchscreen HU's with a slow boot-up when first starting the vehicle is a pet peeve of mine, so I'm glad to hear that it's quick to start up. Interested in what you find after some more time with the unit. Thanks again.



oabeieo said:


> Just ordered another one , will return the one from sonic tomorrow
> 
> Great find bbfoto thank you !


LOL, no worries. Hope it works out so you can put $150 back in your pocket or buy your significant other something extra for Xmas with the savings.  ***Maybe see if Sonic will Price Match Amazon before going through the hassle of returning it to Sonic??? Tho' I guess it's too late and you'd be stuck with 2 of them, haha.


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

bbfoto said:


> Double-Din Touchscreen HU's with a slow boot-up when first starting the vehicle is a pet peeve of mine, so I'm glad to hear that it's quick to start up.


Me too, my old Kenwood would allow Turn-On Thump because it's so slow to boot, not my Sony though, dead-silent until you turn the gain up..

Much faster processor in the Sony..


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

bbfoto said:


> ON SALE NOW at AMAZON with PRIME Shipping for $550.75
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Clarion-NX706-Multimedia-Station-Navigation/dp/B01BI4TQCY


I'm not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing that I don't have $600 burning a hole in my pocket. Otherwise, this might be showing up under the tree for my wife's car. Given as much positive feedback as the NX706 seems to be receiving since the firmware update.


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## theothermike (Dec 20, 2006)

i decided to keep my order from sonicelectronix, because i planned on buying the sirius xm adapter anyways and they are giving me a 70$ visa card which i can use to order a backup camera. its a wash for me. but good deal for someone who just needs a unit


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

rton20s said:


> I'm not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing that I don't have $600 burning a hole in my pocket. Otherwise, this might be showing up under the tree for my wife's car. Given as much positive feedback as the NX706 seems to be receiving since the firmware update.


Would be cool to get your take on it again post-update. Do eeet!


----------



## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

bbfoto said:


> ON SALE NOW at AMAZON with PRIME Shipping for $550.75
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Clarion-NX706-Multimedia-Station-Navigation/dp/B01BI4TQCY


thanks for the heads up, dude! I just posted in the Hot Deals section and gave you props.


----------



## nineball76 (Mar 13, 2010)

Anyone tried an external hard drive with this? I might consider this over a CarPC


----------



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> Thanks. Seems like a good initial impression. Double-Din Touchscreen HU's with a slow boot-up when first starting the vehicle is a pet peeve of mine, so I'm glad to hear that it's quick to start up. Interested in what you find after some more time with the unit. Thanks again.
> 
> 
> 
> LOL, no worries. Hope it works out so you can put $150 back in your pocket or buy your significant other something extra for Xmas with the savings.  ***Maybe see if Sonic will Price Match Amazon before going through the hassle of returning it to Sonic??? Tho' I guess it's too late and you'd be stuck with 2 of them, haha.



Sonic wouldn't price match ...they did refund the entire order 100% and emailed me a shipping label....
Last night I ordered the amazon one and it showed up today...I'm like flabbergasted, it got here in one day...what's even weirder is I ordered it about this time last night. So you would think the order wouldn't process or ship till today...nope , I frikkin got at 6pm tonight...it shipped from amazon warehouse from what I can tell ...anyway less than 24hrs I have 110$ back and have same exact unit ...


Amazon charged me 40$ Tax so order was 590.00 where as sonic was un-taxed and 699.00 so still 110 bucks in my pocket in less than a day and all I had to do was print a label ...


Man thanks again!

And yes I'll definitely keep y'all posted as to its performance...I have a 2T drive filled with 24:96 waiting to try it out


----------



## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

ErinH said:


> thanks for the heads up, dude! I just posted in the Hot Deals section and gave you props.


Nice! Don't know why I didn't think to post it in Hot Deals as well. :blush: So thanks!



oabeieo said:


> Sonic wouldn't price match ...they did refund the entire order 100% and emailed me a shipping label....
> Last night I ordered the amazon one and it showed up today...I'm like flabbergasted, it got here in one day...what's even weirder is I ordered it about this time last night. So you would think the order wouldn't process or ship till today...nope , I frikkin got at 6pm tonight...it shipped from amazon warehouse from what I can tell ...anyway less than 24hrs I have 110$ back and have same exact unit ...
> 
> Amazon charged me 40$ Tax so order was 590.00 where as sonic was un-taxed and 699.00 so still 110 bucks in my pocket in less than a day and all I had to do was print a label ...
> ...


Great to hear.  CRAZY that you got it so fast. Gotta love Amazon Prime. Unfortunately if I ordered it from either SonicElectronix or Amazon I would be paying sales tax, but it's still a fairly decent deal. 

It looks like Sonic just dropped the price another $50 to $649...(wasn't it $699?) and they also give you a Free Dash Kit, Wiring Harness, and XM Tuner + $70 Gift Card. So that might be a decent deal as well compared to Amazon if you don't have to pay sales tax and want/need those extra goodies.

Crutchfield would be no tax for me plus they give you a Free Clarion BackUp camera ($100 value) + $50 Gift Card, and Dash Kit + Wiring Harness...and a $70 rebate _if _you buy the XM Tuner. But at $999 it still doesn't come close to the Amazon deal.

Also, if you sign up for EBATES you can also pick up another 2% off from Sonic or Crutchfield, probably from Amazon as well. So far, just for 2016 I've received about $340 as cash back from EBATES from all of my online shopping. Their cash back usually varies from 1% to 10% or more depending on the online store, and it works for some in-store purchases as well. :thumbsup: Now, it doesn't work for _ALL_ online or retail stores, but they have a fairly completel list of major stores that do offer cash back and/or special deals.


Anyway.....





I just pulled the trigger on the Amazon deal as well.  It can always go back if it doesn't pan out. Don't know when I'll have time to test it and/or install it tho!

Good luck, man.


----------



## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

oabeieo said:


> And yes I'll definitely keep y'all posted as to its performance...I have a 2T drive filled with 24:96 waiting to try it out


I'm very interested in hearing your results. Could you list the number of files and folders you'll be testing with?


----------



## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

hella356 said:


> I'm very interested in hearing your results. Could you list the number of files and folders you'll be testing with?



I'm hoping it will Read the entire drive, the wife insists I wait to open it on Christmas, even tho I let her open her new Gucci bag early   

So if all goes well I'll know by the 26th  

I have all files ready , wav , FLAC , Alac , dsd, and a few pcm ....
Can't wait to see what it does and doesn't do


----------



## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

oabeieo said:


> I'm hoping it will Read the entire drive, the wife insists I wait to open it on Christmas, even tho I let her open her new Gucci bag early


Did she just open and look at the bag, or is it in use? If in use, all bets are off. Get that NX706 installed.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

oabeieo said:


> I have all files ready , wav , FLAC , Alac , dsd, and a few pcm ....
> Can't wait to see what it does and doesn't do


I'm fairly certain that it will not play the ALAC or native DSD files (.dsf or .dff files). It *might* play PCM files and DSD files that have been converted to PCM as long as they don't exceed 24-bit/96kHz bit depth & resolution. I will test this as well when I receive mine, though at this point I don't know when I'll have the time to do that. :/


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Holy crap, my NX706 just showed up from Amazon via USPS Parcel Select eVS!

Just a heads-up, mine was shipped bare...just a shipping label slapped on the OE box and my last name "Sharpie'd" on the side of the OE Clarion box (I hope that this is not a problem if/when I want to return it). The NX706 was NOT shipped inside of another cardboard box for protection. I expect more from Amazon, especially when paying for "PRIME" services.

Luckily, none of the corners are dented and the box looks to be in perfect shape, but wow. I would be worried for some people who may have problems with doorstep or porch package thieves, especially around the holiday season.


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## Dan750iL (Jan 16, 2016)

bbfoto said:


> Holy crap, my NX706 just showed up from Amazon via USPS Parcel Select eVS!
> 
> Just a heads-up, mine was shipped bare...just a shipping label slapped on the OE box and my last name "Sharpie'd" on the side of the OE Clarion box (I hope that this is not a problem if/when I want to return it). The NX706 was NOT shipped inside of another cardboard box for protection. I expect more from Amazon, especially when paying for "PRIME" services.
> 
> Luckily, none of the corners are dented and the box looks to be in perfect shape, but wow. I would be worried for some people who may have problems with doorstep or porch package thieves, especially around the holiday season.


Scary thought for someone that just clicked "Place your order" about 2 minutes ago. I don't think I've ever seen Amazon do that.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> Nice! Don't know why I didn't think to post it in Hot Deals as well. :blush: So thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yep, 699.00 but I did get the xm tuner with it and the 70 visa gift option. And that went back too, I can get a sxm tuner from work for 11$ and still get the 70$ visa gift card (which I will do) so no harm done , still get the sxm and 70$ visa offer and the better price..... 


That's great that you picked one up. I just read a great article ( props to Erin for sharing) about the digital variable volume. So it's Basicly said it's almost inaudible sq difference. It went on to say that it Basicly compresses or chops off part of the digital headroom. from what I understood the lower the volume the more compressed it gets. 

After reading that I felt a lot better about it , I listen loud but not too loud, I like my amp gains extremely low and don't care for a ton of additional headroom that I won't use on the volume controls. I like to be able to go up all the way when I listen for max signal, so when the volume is up all the way the digital signal will be unaffected. 

It had a scale on the page that showed noise vs signal and the lower you go on the volume control the more exponentially it chops the bits up. So 1/2 to full volume was virtually the smallest differences, so there still is a very decent amount of overall gain to be used in a digital volume without excess noise or lost headroom. The under 1/2way , who cares , in a car with road noise I wouldn't be at all concerned about dynamic range , all I do at 1/4vol is listen to talk radio or the occasional quiet drive with family or whatever where it's not even a concern...Basicly like a compressor/limiter in reverse 

I was kinda worried because I thought I heard from someone that it was horrible and I would hear all the amp noise at all volumes , which isn't completely true...

The only inherent noise would be from the pre-amp (dsp for us) which is moot at 129dbn 

So that was good news!


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

rton20s said:


> Did she just open and look at the bag, or is it in use? If in use, all bets are off. Get that NX706 installed.


Oh she's rockn it already....thing is I got her the bag and three other things. This is the only thing I'm getting so she wants me to have something to open and unwrap....I'm cool with opening a empty box ....she ain't havin it tho... damm womenn


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

oabeieo said:


> Oh she's rockn it already....thing is I got her the bag and three other things. This is the only thing I'm getting so she wants me to have something to open and unwrap....I'm cool with opening a empty box ....she ain't havin it tho... damm womenn


Well we know who wears the pants in your household, LOL. 

Just messin'. 

Just buy a ~$20 Broken DD head unit off of eBay or grab a customer's old unit from work and put it in the NX706 box so it looks like you are really opening the box with HU on Xmas morning.   

...and install the real deal now!




Dan750iL said:


> Scary thought for someone that just clicked "Place your order" about 2 minutes ago. I don't think I've ever seen Amazon do that.


[email protected] Good luck, Amigo.

I once ordered a few expensive Zildjian cymbals for my drum kit from Amazon about a year ago. The way over-sized, cheap cardboard box arrived with absolutely NO PADDING and was busted open along one entire side with one of the cymbals sticking halfway out of it and slightly bent. The other cymbal that was still somehow in the box was completely bent with a crease about 1/4 of the way in from the edge...basically ruined...cymbals do not bend back into shape when there is a crease like that, and any bends or creases completely destroy the magic and life of the cymbal.  Of course I took pictures and sent them back for a refund.

Luckily in this case the NX706 arrived unscathed!


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> Well we know who wears the pants in your household, LOL.
> 
> Just messin'.
> 
> ...



Lmao  

Ingenious


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

bbfoto said:


> Well we know who wears the pants in your household, LOL.
> 
> Just messin'.
> 
> ...


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## AyOne (Sep 24, 2016)

If you buy from amazon there is a box you can check that will have them ship it in an extra box. I'm not sure if they'll secure it in that box though. So it might just bounce around in a bigger box. Working for UPS I would say the latter is worse.


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## Dan750iL (Jan 16, 2016)

bbfoto said:


> [email protected] Good luck, Amigo.... Luckily in this case the NX706 arrived unscathed!...


Mine arrived today the exact same way. No reboxing but with a UPS label stuck on it. It showed as delivered at 11:18 this morning and I got home at about 7:30 this evening. So they basically left an obviously expensive package right on my step for over 8 hours. Amazon has a link to rate their packaging on the order details. They're getting lit up on this one. Fortunately, like yours,the box is in perfect condition.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Dan750iL said:


> Mine arrived today the exact same way. No reboxing but with a UPS label stuck on it. It showed as delivered at 11:18 this morning and I got home at about 7:30 this evening. So they basically left an obviously expensive package right on my step for over 8 hours. Amazon has a link to rate their packaging on the order details. They're getting lit up on this one. Fortunately, like yours,the box is in perfect condition.


Glad to hear that yours arrived in good shape and didn't walk away from your doorstep after it was delivered! Sigh of relief fo' sho'!

Amazon should make that "shipping box" check box more prominent and/or have a large note saying that it will be shipped in original packaging/box.

But I agree with AyOne that it would be worse if it was put in an oversized box (which I find Amazon does in most cases) with little to no padding or fill material where it could just shift around loosely.

IME, Amazon's padding or protection for boxed items is a joke. I guess that's how they save money overall in order to offer the "Prime" service. But you would think that this practice would cost them a lot more time and $ in the end due to damaged items and returns, but I'm sure that they've done a cost analysis and determined that they are still more profitable by "cheaping out" on the packaging.


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## AyOne (Sep 24, 2016)

Mine arrived today in perfect condition.  I'm still not sure if I'm gonna use it though. I had to jump on the price just in case.


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## RobertS (Mar 10, 2016)

Dan750iL said:


> Mine arrived today the exact same way. No reboxing but with a UPS label stuck on it. It showed as delivered at 11:18 this morning and I got home at about 7:30 this evening. So they basically left an obviously expensive package right on my step for over 8 hours. Amazon has a link to rate their packaging on the order details. They're getting lit up on this one. Fortunately, like yours,the box is in perfect condition.


I have Amazon Prime and mine was shipped in a shipping box. I just got it today! If it wasn't in a box I would had called Amazon and expected compensation. Although Amazon always seems to use a shipping box unlike places like best buy.


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## AyOne (Sep 24, 2016)

Did you check the box? Was it loose in the box or was it secure?


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## RobertS (Mar 10, 2016)

AyOne said:


> Did you check the box? Was it loose in the box or was it secure?


it was in a shipping box slightly bigger than the HU box. only a very small dent in the bottom right corner of the box... that may had been there from the beginning(shown in photo). 

the trick to have Amazon use a shipping box may be to ask for a *Gift Receipt*. I have attached a photo for all to see.....


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## ANDRESVELASCO (Dec 7, 2015)

And to match with your new hu... 

Clarion Z3 Dsp is now on sale at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Clarion-Z3-D...bp_QL65&qid=1482015511&ref_=mp_s_a_1_1&sr=8-1

(very Good price point if you consider it is dcr and hi-end tweeters included!)


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

When I bought mine earlier this year I tried it with an iPod classic (5th gen) and it didn't work. The manual doesn't say that it will so I didn't expect it to.

That said, I know there have been firmware updates... has anyone tried (or can anyone try for me) to see if the iPod classics will work with this headunit now?


----------



## felix509 (Dec 17, 2006)

ANDRESVELASCO said:


> And to match with your new hu...
> 
> Clarion Z3 Dsp is now on sale at Amazon:
> 
> ...


From looking at it, it is designed to work with their digital speakers only.. That is the first time i had looked at the manual. Prior to looking at the Instal manual I had assumed it had pre outs like other DSP units..


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## ANDRESVELASCO (Dec 7, 2015)

felix509 said:


> From looking at it, it is designed to work with their digital speakers only.. That is the first time i had looked at the manual..........


Its maximum potential is to handle its propietary full digital self-powered speakers system, but It has also a pair of RCA (4v) output.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

The system is designed to only work with their digital speakers. The RCAs are alternate sub out only. In case you want to use a different subwoofer and amplifier instead of the powered Clarion digital subwoofer.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

ErinH said:


> When I bought mine earlier this year I tried it with an iPod classic (5th gen) and it didn't work. The manual doesn't say that it will so I didn't expect it to.
> 
> That said, I know there have been firmware updates... has anyone tried (or can anyone try for me) to see if the iPod classics will work with this headunit now?


Erin, no promises but I'll try to test it in the next few days. I have an iPod Classic 160GB (stock).


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## CobraVin (Jul 31, 2007)

bbfoto said:


> Erin, no promises but I'll try to test it in the next few days. I have an iPod Classic 160GB (stock).


Please post as soon as you find out, that will be a deal breaker for me if it doesn't work with the classics. Thanks


----------



## sbeezy (Nov 22, 2008)

I'll just use a PNY 480GB ssd since they can be had from best buy for under $130 and the one thats currently in my Laptop has dramatically made my 3yo ivy bridge based unit snappy as hell and the transfers will be snappy too! and no moving parts to be damaged!


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## nineball76 (Mar 13, 2010)

Think I'll be putting 2 E3io CarPC units up for sale to grab a pair of these instead. 

Bnib units, 1 full size, 1 the smaller model.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

sbeezy said:


> I'll just use a PNY 480GB ssd since they can be had from best buy for under $130 and the one thats currently in my Laptop has dramatically made my 3yo ivy bridge based unit snappy as hell and the transfers will be snappy too! and no moving parts to be damaged!


I modify my iPod(s) for sdxc chips. 512gb in one of them. Also used SSD but the SDXC versions are better. 

I still need an iPod. I use it at work and on travel. So it's a multi-use product for me. Which is why I cared enough to ask someone to verify if this unit still cannot control iPods.


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## nineball76 (Mar 13, 2010)

ErinH said:


> I modify my iPod(s) for sdxc chips. 512gb in one of them. Also used SSD but the SDXC versions are better.
> 
> I still need an iPod. I use it at work and on travel. So it's a multi-use product for me. Which is why I cared enough to ask someone to verify if this unit still cannot control iPods.


Have you seen there's a new tarkan iFlash for quad micro sd? So there's potentially 1tb with the new Samsung 256gb. There's also a new dual sdxc I think. I'm still using the msata. What would you say the advantage of sdxc is over msata?


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

nineball76 said:


> Have you seen there's a new tarkan iFlash for quad micro sd? So there's potentially 1tb with the new Samsung 256gb. There's also a new dual sdxc I think. I'm still using the msata. What would you say the advantage of sdxc is over msata?



(I don't wanna get too OT here so I'll answer this but request a separate thread be made if you guys want to continue the iPod mod discussion.)

I have. Though, one could do dual 512 sd's for about $200 cheaper than a quad of 256 micros (currently). Obviously prices vary based on sales, but that's generally the case. 

SDXC has faster access times and better battery life based on my experience in my modded iPods. Msata was the better choice due to cost but the large sd cards are cheaper than they were a year ago so I choose that route now. Just to reiterate, I'm talking with respect to modified iPods. Not regular computer usage.


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## nineball76 (Mar 13, 2010)

Bringing the iPod debate back on topic.... Has anyone tried a 5.5g iPod video on the clarion yet? I had a 5.5 on a Kenwood Excelon and it was fully functional, but tried moving it to several Alpines and it lost many functions. I have a 512gb modded 5.5 I'd prefer to use for one anx a 7th that I'm keeping on an alpine for the time being until I get rid of that vehicle.


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## sbeezy (Nov 22, 2008)

ErinH said:


> I modify my iPod(s) for sdxc chips. 512gb in one of them. Also used SSD but the SDXC versions are better.
> 
> 
> 
> I still need an iPod. I use it at work and on travel. So it's a multi-use product for me. Which is why I cared enough to ask someone to verify if this unit still cannot control iPods.




I have an iflash dual in one of my 30gb iPods I'm just tired of having to transcode everything and then iPod transfer speeds suck no one wants to wait 10hrs to transfer 400GB+of music. For me the ssd is the better option


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## nineball76 (Mar 13, 2010)

sbeezy said:


> I have an iflash dual in one of my 30gb iPods I'm just tired of having to transcode everything and then iPod transfer speeds suck no one wants to wait 10hrs to transfer 400GB+of music. For me the ssd is the better option
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Let's not get too off topic about the mods. I created this thread http://diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315457


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## sbeezy (Nov 22, 2008)

nineball76 said:


> Let's not get too off topic about the mods. I created this thread The iPod mod thread - Car Audio | DiyMobileAudio.com | Car Stereo Forum


That was supposed to post earlier but i was stuck somewhere with crappy signal all day


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

I have a iPhone 4s 30pin I'll try I have one those , I don't have an older iPod tho. Should read the same tho.

I have a 1TB hard USB hard drive , 
I don't know yet what will or won't work. 
I'll try everything I have and post results. Install day coming near. 


What's the biggest portable device y'all think I can put last of hires on and play back?
What is this modded iPod Erin's talking about? Is it for storage that will read on a deck? 
If so what do I need to make one


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## sbeezy (Nov 22, 2008)

Yeah search tarkans iflash


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

oabeieo said:


> I have a iPhone 4s 30pin I'll try I have one those , I don't have an older iPod tho. Should read the same tho.


The iPod touch/iPhone 30-pins work with the nx706 according to their manual. But what I'm specifically asking about is the older 'classic' or 'video' iPods. The 'regular' ones, if you will. 

I bought this unit earlier this year and tested for that functionality and found it didn't work. I've posted it again below. But what I'm curious if if there have been any new FW updates that might have fixed this problem. 



ErinH said:


> I put this on 'the bench' last night and played with it for about an hour.
> 
> [snip]
> 
> The iPod video/classic is *not* supported, even though the box and manual both show the ipod classic in the apple "made for iPod" branding (here, page 4). To be fair, the website only mentions use of the touch/phone and never specifically mentions the ipod classic. Still, it seems misleading. That said, I knew of this going in to it (if you read the CES thread you can see it discussed there). I was hopeful maybe a last minute update would have remedied that.









oabeieo said:


> What's the biggest portable device y'all think I can put last of hires on and play back?
> What is this modded iPod Erin's talking about? Is it for storage that will read on a deck?
> If so what do I need to make one


I started modding iPods a couple years ago and offered them for sale here for a while. I've modded them for up to 1tb (but it's super expensive). You can find some info about it here.


I've modded probably close to 30 of these now. I've since seen a lot of people doing the same and posting them for sale here so I quit offering my services up. 

As others have said, just google "Tarkan iPod"and you'll find all you need to know if you want to do it yourself.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Again I read all of it and some.
Hey that's pretty nifty . I think I just might want a few ....the hunt is on. I'll pimp out CL and see what I can wtb


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Well mama finally let me open the box for a peep.
Kids are inbed opened it and say transport screws
Ugh ....I thought only the cheezy cheapo decks came with those 

Kinda made my stomach sour, is this thing a piece of junk? 
If it can't ship normally what will happen in a car bouncin down the road

Otherwise it looks nice .

Also saw it has windows stuff....what's that! ????? (Last pic)














screen capture


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

^ Thanks for the Pics!


bbfoto's CLARION NX706 BENCH TEST NOTES:

This is mostly a subjective review with notes pertaining to operational & usability aspects. I haven't done any objective testing of the signal quality or output yet.


Here is the latest that I could find regarding Firmware for the NX706. If you find something more recent, PLEASE post a Link here!

Clarion U.S.A | NX706 Software Update Instructions

From the link above...

"4) Confirm that the following software versions have been successfully updated: 

WOS_V1.00.0_8288_20160223
EB2CLS00D_20160223
APP_V 2.5.4_0FW3_160408
MCU_2.1.26_0FW3_160225
MPEG_V 4.0.71_0FW3_160323_2.3"

FYI, my Bluetooth version is v1.1.13

I made sure that I have the latest firmware version installed as per the information above.

First off, Sorry, Erin. Bad news...

- iPOD COMPATIBILITY: I tested my iPod Classic 160GB (stock, 6th Gen Model #MB145LL) and it is NOT Supported.  The NX706 will charge the iPod Classic, but when you plug it into the iPod/iPhone USB connector using an Apple USB to 30-pin charging/data cable, the screen says, "Connected device is not supported".

Other observations:

- VOLUME CONTROL: I much prefer DD HU's that have a Round Knob for Volume Control. Those tiny pushbuttons along the bottom just don't cut it. Having said that, I will be using the Helix DSP PRO for Source Volume Control with a remote and the Fixed-Volume Digital Toslink Output on the NX706. Still, I would like a Touch-Controlled Volume icon on every "page" of the DD display. There is no volume control on the actual touch screen. However, there is a MUTE icon on the Home Screen Source Selection screens. It is just below the horizontal row of larger, slanted Source icons. But it has an odd icon. Instead of a small speaker icon with a "slash" through it, it is displayed as a musical note with a small "X" next to it. This theme carries throughout the GUI. You'll read below where I discuss the GUI and icons in a bit more detail.

- POWER ON/OFF: Power On/Off is done by pressing the small, physical "MAP" button below the display. WTH?! Weird. It's a simple press to turn On and long-press to turn Off, but there isn't a standard-looking "power" icon or logo here. The unit starts up with the Source and Track Location that you were last playing when you turned the unit off or shut off the ignition/ACC on your vehicle (as long as that source is still connected/there is a Disc in the drive). It usually takes about 12 seconds to "boot up", but might take longer if it's in the NAV/GPS/MAPS mode while it acquires a GPS signal.

- REAR CHASSIS COOLING FAN: There is a small cooling fan on the back of the chassis. IMO it is fairly loud and WILL be noticeable during quiet, engine off listening or tuning sessions. I can't say for sure how noticeable it will be as I haven't actually installed this yet. I've just tested it in open air "on the bench". I did Disable the Internal Amplifier that drives speakers directly in hopes that this would minimize the "Fan ON" time, but the Fan ran at least 75% of the time when using all the various sources, so don't expect the fan to not come on...and remember that this was with the unit in "open air" at standard room temp.

- CD/DVD DRIVE: I just tested standard Redbook Audio CDs so far. It's a bit slow to load and start playing compared to most single-DIN HU's but once it's going it responds quick enough when changing/skipping tracks, etc. Do note that you Must Remove 2 Screws from the Top of the Chassis to Release the CD/DVD transport BEFORE USING IT! The unit displays and scrolls album information (CD Text) quite nicely showing Artist/Album/Track info with both Vertical and Horizontal Scrolling.

- NAV/GPS/MAPS: I didn't really test the NAV but I noticed that the installed maps are from 2015. :/ For reference, my unit was manufactured January 2016. From inside my house in California, I picked up 5-6 strong satellites (all green signal bars) and the unit says, "High Accuracy". 

- XM/Sirius RADIO: I didn't get the XM tuner module so I didn't test this.

- DISPLAY DIMMER: You can have the unit Automatically or Manually switch between Day or Night Mode color schemes for the LCD display. If you Long-Press the "NAV/AV" button, you can manually adjust the dimmer for the display. This does not control the physical button's backlight. That is controlled separately or with the "Illumination" control from your vehicle's IP/dash lighting dimmer.

- PHYSICAL BUTTON BACKLIGHT COLOR: You can set the backlight color for the row of physical buttons on the bottom to just about any color you'd like.

- You can completely Turn Off the LCD Display by long-pressing the physical "MENU" button on the bottom of the unit. You simply touch anywhere on the display to bring the screen back to life.

- DISPLAY QUALITY: In general the display is nice and vibrant with good color saturation. It has a good range of dimming control and seems to get both plenty bright and dark. However, I've only tested this indoors "on the bench" so I can't say how it looks in full sunlight, or everyday conditions, or night-time driving, so I'll hold off on that determination. However, again I have to rant about these low-quality, low-resolution DD displays in this day and age of excellent smartphone displays that are available, even on ~$200 smartphones. The viewing angle on the NX706 display is quite bad and it just lacks that "Punch" and clarity of even an average smartphone display. I do have to remind myself that I am used to the high-contrast, high-resolution, and vivid color of the best SuperAMOLED smartphone and tablet displays. But the NX706 doesn't even compare favorably to the 1st Gen iPad Mini display, and I feel that should be the minimum benchmark at this point in time.

- TOUCHSCREEN RESPONSE: Every operation with the touchscreen required a very Precise and Positive "Press" on each icon or "button", and sometimes it took 2 or 3 tries to get it to respond. For most operations the touch response was just a bit delayed...definitely not instantaneous, but not too laggy for the most part. There were some instances where it did lag just a bit more than normal, but overall touch response was just "okay". Though again, in my case, I really needed to make an accurate and distinctly positive "press" on each icon or button to get a response. I did go through the Screen Calibration Setup beforehand. If you are expecting instantaneous or very fast touchscreen response on par with a newer smartphone, you will be disappointed unfortunately. It's not horrible, but it's not great or satisfying either.

- GUI: I'm not really a fan of the Color Scheme and Slanted Source Icons in the GUI. They waste space and are just awkward to interact with. As boring as it is, a simple set of square icons in a grid orientation is the most user-friendly, IMHO. The icon logos are also not the best. They really need to hire a proper Graphic Artist for the GUI design and layout on these units. The GUI works mainly with direct touch selections of individual icons or track names, or UP/DOWN & LEFT/RIGHT Arrow presses to Scroll through Source Lists or Track Lists. It really falls flat on its face if you try to Scroll UP/DOWN by Dragging your finger on the Track List...it's very laggy when you try to do that.  When playing files from USB (and I assume iPhone/iPod Touch as well), the "Pause/Play/FF/REW" icons are very Small and close together. In addition, any time that you press the Volume Up or Down button, the pop-up volume display covers the track controls (Pause/Play/FF/REW) for about 4 seconds, so those controls are unavailable during volume adjustment. By using a small ">" icon in the lower left of the screen you can display a Pop-Up "Quick Menu" that will show across the lower part of the display in order to choose another source quickly. However it also covers the Track Playback Controls while it is displayed, and doesn't disappear until you press the ">" icon again. Overall, this GUI "works", but it is probably near the bottom of my list compared to some of the other GUIs that I've had experience with.

*Here is a fairly thorough YouTube review of the NX706 that will show you nearly all of the Display icons, Functions, and GUI. (This review unit is using the OLD Firmware)... *







- REAR VIEW/BACK-UP CAMERA: I also purchased the new Clarion CC720 Backup Camera to go with this unit. This is a just-released camera that is at the top of the price range. This specific back-up/rearview camera has a Microphone built-in and the NX706 supports Audio for the backup camera when it is activated so you can also hear your surroundings outside when backing up. I think that's smart. When you drive a vehicle with a very quiet interior such as our highly sound-treated SQ or a quiet luxury vehicle, this makes a lot of sense. This camera's specs list a slightly better resolution than most, and advertises a clearer, HQ image, and also better low-light sensitivity than most. However, I was quite disappointed with the quality on the NX706 screen. I tested the camera at night, but in a VERY well-lit room inside my house and it seemed really grainy, the colors were washed out, and it was grainier and also a lot more pixelated towards the outer edges of the screen. I've had $20 eBay Back-Up cameras that looked just as good or better. I couldn't find anywhere in the menus to adjust the camera but I'm sure that I overlooked them...there has to be some place to turn off the distance grid lines and or set it to mirror image. I'll check this again and report back. As it was, the Yellow Distance Line had my finger just 4 inches from the lens and my finger was just 1.5" from the lens when it "showed up" at the Red Distance Lines...way too close!

- HI-RES FILES: I tried some 24-Bit/96kHz FLAC files loaded onto an older and quite slow 16GB USB 2.0 Thumb drive that was about 75% full with a large mix of other FLACs and MP3s. The larger FLAC files loaded and started playing within about 1.5-2.5 seconds and FF/REW or switching tracks was fairly quick as well...on average I'd say it took about 1 second or slightly less. I listened to the output of the Hi-Res FLACs via the Front L/R Analog RCA Preamp Outputs as well, and they seemed nice and clear, with great separation and detail. It does display Album Artwork from the USB Hi-Res FLAC files and standard MP3 as long as the image is embedded in the file. However, the Album Artwork is displayed very small, about 1" square. 


- BLUETOOTH / BT AUDIO / HANDSFREE CALLING: I no longer have an iPhone to test the BT function. I can tell you that my NX706 did NOT want to Pair or Connect with my older Samsung Galaxy Note II (yeah it's old!). Next, I tried my 8" Phablet, a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 (#SM-T715Y) Cell Phone/LTE Tablet. The NX706 "found" it and Paired + Connected with it instantly. And then, magically, it immediately "saw" my Galaxy Note II and Paired/Connected with it perfectly. You can have up to 5 BT Devices Paired to the NX706 and Select or switch between them quite easily via the Phone menu. So if, for instance, you and your wife both have your smartphones paired to the NX706 while driving together, you can easily switch back and forth between them. I did make a quick BT call to the automated Cal-Trans HWY Information Hotline (just using the NX706's internal microphone) and the system had a hard time recognizing my voice input, even when just saying, "405" or "101" when prompted for the HWY #. The SQ from the RCA Analog Output of the computerized woman's voice from the call wasn't too good either...quite "fuzzy" and with some drop-outs. I had at least 3-4 bars of signal strength for the cellular connection. The NX706 does come with an External Microphone for BT Calls and AFAIK it is supposed to work in conjunction with the internal microphone to provide echo- and noise-rejection, and better Voice SQ overall when on Hands-Free BT calls. Unfortunately I haven't tested it with the Ext. Mic. yet, sorry. Also note that this unit does not support the better Apt-X/CSR Bluetooth connection for "near CD-quality" BT streaming. Music did sound decent through the standard BT connection, and much better than the SQ during the test phone call that I made.

Well, that's enough for now! I commend you if you made it through to this point, LOL. I haven't decided whether I will keep the NX706 or send it back. I was hoping for just a bit more in several aspects of operation, but namely the GUI. Of course, the main feature and desire for this unit is the Optical Output and the 24/96 FLAC playback capability, and it does deliver solidly in that regard, where no other single unit that I'm aware of can accomplish both of these. And at $550, it does offer quite a bit of value and a well-rounded list of features. But other than the digital output and 24-96 FLAC capability, it seems to be more of a "jack of all trades, but master of none" device.

Just my experience and opinions. YMMV, but hope this helps. 

Billy B.

*EDIT: Below, in Post #223, I've made some additional comments that may be beneficial!*


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Thanks for taking the time to go through the review process and post your thoughts here Billy! It is greatly appreciated. 

As most know, I have been one of the most outspoken critics of the NX706 since I got my hands on a pre-release unit almost a year ago. With several NX706 owners praising the unit once the firmware upgrade is applied, I have been giving it second thoughts. With the new low price of the unit, it has become a serious contender to replace either a DEH-80PRS (mine) or CDE-147BT (wife's) or possibly both. 

Unfortunately, with Billy's review it has me thinking I would be better to save my money for now. If Clarion truly lived up to what the NX706's potential was on paper, it would probably be a no brainer. I will probably wait and see what CES 2017 holds given my own experience on the pre-release unit, other reviews like Erin's and Billy's comments.

The primary comments I am referring to are these...



bbfoto said:


> However, again I have to rant about these low-quality, low-resolution DD displays in this day and age of excellent smartphone displays that are available, even on ~$200 smartphones...But the NX706 doesn't even compare favorably to the 1st Gen iPad Mini display, and I feel that should be the minimum benchmark at this point in time.





bbfoto said:


> Every operation with the touchscreen required a very Precise and Positive "Press" on each icon or "button", and sometimes it took 2 or 3 tries to get it to respond... If you are expecting instantaneous or very fast touchscreen response on par with a newer smartphone, you will be disappointed unfortunately. It's not horrible, but it's not great or satisfying either.





bbfoto said:


> It really falls flat on its face if you try to Scroll UP/DOWN by Dragging your finger on the Track List...it's very laggy when you try to do that. ... Overall, this GUI "works", but it is probably near the bottom of my list compared to some of the other GUIs that I've had experience with.





bbfoto said:


> I haven't decided whether I will keep the NX706 or send it back. I was hoping for just a bit more in several aspects of operation, but namely the GUI.


In my mind, if you even have to question whether or not the unit is worth keeping it is probably better to look for something else. At least for me personally. Maybe it is time to just convince the wife that an iPad in the dash isn't as crazy as it sounds.


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## AyOne (Sep 24, 2016)

Thank you for the in depth review! I purchased the NX706 on a whim because of the price. After reading your review I have decided to return it. I need iPod classic conpatability and would definitely want something more responsive with better resolution. 

Thanks again.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Mine is going to stay in the Ram until I find a radio that suits my needs.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Coppertone said:


> Mine is going to stay in the Ram until I find a radio that suits my needs.


Cool Ben. I'm probably gonna keep my NX706 as well until something bigger and better comes along. 

Curious...What other features or functionality are you looking for in a DD unit?

What are your likes and dislikes regarding the NX706?

By looking at your signature, it doesn't look like you are using the NX706 in conjunction with a DSP. Is that correct? If so, have you been satisfied with the SQ and output of the 2V RCA preamp outputs?





AyOne said:


> Thank you for the in depth review! I purchased the NX706 on a whim because of the price. After reading your review I have decided to return it. I need iPod classic compatibility and would definitely want something more responsive with better resolution.
> 
> Thanks again.


No worries. Yeah, if your main criteria is to have compatibility with the iPod Classic or iPod Video, then unfortunately this is not the DD HU for you. 

I _am_ really disappointed that it does not support the iPod Classic/Video devices. As others have stated, the iPod Classics allow you to own a single, compact PMP device with the potential to carry a substantial music library everywhere you go. It works with/or is compatible with most OEM stereo systems (think road trips with friends or when using a rental car), and it's compact if you do a lot of traveling, or if you use it while jogging/working out, or on an airplane/train/bus, etc. A big advantage is just needing to manage your music library on ONE device instead of 2 or 3. That's huge.


FYI I will most likely keep the NX706. I realize that my review is quite critical of the screen quality and GUI, but that is mostly in comparison with modern smartphones and tablets. Please realize that other DD head units in this price range are _fairly_ similar in this regard, and while some may be better at this or that, it is usually not by leaps and bounds, but just incrementally better in most cases.

Personal preference also comes highly into play here. By comparison, some will either love or hate how another manufacturer's GUI looks and functions. Some like Alpine's GUI, some Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, etc. It comes down to what units you've had experience with in the past (or currently) and how different or similar the Clarion is in comparison.

In some regards it is good that the touchscreen needs a very positive and accurate "press" to activate a desired response. A screen that is overly sensitive to touch will often result in many undesired actions when trying to operate it in a moving vehicle. However, I did find overall that in my "bench" test, trying to press _some_ functions were a bit frustrating and would take too much of my time and attention away from driving. However, there may be something to mitigate this...

*SWC*: Note that I am someone who will usually have a particular Playlist going, or just a Random/Shuffle Play of my entire library or a certain Genre. So if you have *Steering Wheel Controls,* it is easy to do most of the basic functions easily, such as Skip or Repeat Tracks, Change Modes or Sources, etc. So if you are someone who tends to always use your SWC buttons, this can make quite a difference in your overall experience. 

At this point I also doubt that there will be any more firmware updates to the NX706, especially any major updates, so I would make my decision on the features it has today and not hope for future functionality.

All that being said, it is still the only DD HU currently on the market (AFAIK) that offers playback of up to 24/96 FLAC files while also having an Optical Digital Output that sends out that 24/96 bit depth and resolution to downstream devices. That is a key feature for me.


If you are deciding between keeping the unit or sending it back, I would strongly encourage that you test it out for yourself if at all possible. Your criteria for a pass or fail overall (or regarding specific features) may be different than mine. And for better or worse, my thoughts and reviews of any product's design and usability tend to lean towards the overly pessimistic and critical side.  So, again, YMMV.

Also, as _ErinH_ and _rton20s_ mentioned, CES is just a few days away and who knows what might be announced that may compare favorably or compete with the NX706? So there's that.

***** P.S. This unit also comes with an *IR Remote Control*. It looks as if it does provide an extensive array of functions. But due to that, it has quite a few closely-spaced buttons to navigate. (See the photo of the remote in post #218). I didn't test the remote at all because I typically never use them, and I prefer not to unless a certain function that I really need is only available by using the remote. *BUT*, if you are someone who doesn't mind using a remote, it *may* offer substantially better interaction with the HU, particularly if you need to scroll through a large number of tracks on a USB Thumb Drive, SSD, or iPhone, etc. Remotes can also be nice if the Head Unit's display is a long reach from your seated driving position. Just wanted to throw that out there!


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

*Here is a fairly thorough YouTube review of the NX706 that will show you nearly all of the Display icons, Functions, and GUI. (This review unit is using the OLD Firmware)... *


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

As far as my dislikes and what I am looking for, I can't stress my wants enough lol. One a dedicated volume knob, I'm old school and have big meaty claws. When I'm driving and need to turn the volume down quickly, I want to do that via a twist. Also call me old fashion but when was a " mute button " an afterthought ? Yes I know that it has one, it's just diffenet to put it nicely. When I'm driving and need to swap between sources, I have to really push those arrows to make that happen.

To be honest I knew before purchasing that I would have my doubts about it being my " be all " head unit. Hecnce why I also ordered an 8200NEX as back up. These things that I am stating are a negative for me are just that. For others with smaller fingers and no need or complaints about having to push, it will be a nice unit. 

I also agree that when you start out on navi , it takes several seconds as it's always looking for a gps signal. That is my only navi complaint as it's finding, guiding me every where I go like a champ. The main reason why it won't be staying is that my wife loved the 4100NEX that was there before. Just lack of gps was a deal breaker for her. Is the 8200NEX overkill, according to my read yes. But the NEX series has served me well ( minus volume knob lol ) so until they come out with a wow radio, it's what I will have to do.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

This is what I usually see nav wise...


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## Timelessr1 (Feb 12, 2010)

Coppertone said:


> As far as my dislikes and what I am looking for, I can't stress my wants enough lol. One a dedicated volume knob, I'm old school and have big meaty claws. When I'm driving and need to turn the volume down quickly, I want to do that via a twist. Also call me old fashion but when was a " mute button " an afterthought ? Yes I know that it has one, it's just diffenet to put it nicely. When I'm driving and need to swap between sources, I have to really push those arrows to make that happen.
> 
> To be honest I knew before purchasing that I would have my doubts about it being my " be all " head unit. Hecnce why I also ordered an 8200NEX as back up. These things that I am stating are a negative for me are just that. For others with smaller fingers and no need or complaints about having to push, it will be a nice unit.
> 
> I also agree that when you start out on navi , it takes several seconds as it's always looking for a gps signal. That is my only navi complaint as it's finding, guiding me every where I go like a champ. The main reason why it won't be staying is that my wife loved the 4100NEX that was there before. Just lack of gps was a deal breaker for her. Is the 8200NEX overkill, according to my read yes. But the NEX series has served me well ( minus volume knob lol ) so until they come out with a wow radio, it's what I will have to do.


I just ended up picking up a 4100nex for my commuter car. I was tempted to go for the Clarion so that i can go digital right into my helix, but after much thought, I opted for the pioneer. I still can have Nav with it using my iphone and Carplay...so no biggie, and im just going to use the analog of the pioneer to go into my DSP. In this car id rather trade comfort and ease of use then using the digital output.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Everyone! 

Ben, thanks for posting your thoughts. 

All good points that you've made and they line up with my experience as well. I completely understand the want or need to switch to the Pioneer. The AVIC-8200NEX is basically the perfect combination of features for me. I prefer the Pioneer NEX GUI by a large margin over the Clarion, and the NAV graphics and layout as well. It has the 24 bit/192kHz FLAC file playback support, but adds a Capacative Touchscreen HD Tuner with RDS, Auto EQ & Time Alignment if you get the optional microphone, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, supports Playlists, support for the iPod Classics, and has 4v Preouts as opposed to 2V on the Clarion. It ticks all of the boxes for me except Apt-X/CSR Bluetooth and Optical Output. Hope we see this unit updated at CES to include those two!

One more Question...Do you hear the small Cooling fan that's on the back of the NX706 at all when in your RAM???



BTW, I'm also one of those guys who much prefers a physical Volume Knob. However, since I will be using the DSP's remote knob (or a level control knob hooked up to the amps) to control volume for all sources, it's not an issue for me on this particular install.

A few other things I've noticed:

My unit doesn't seem to be reading my GENRE tags, so I can't get the unit to play only the files from a specific Genre, which I do quite often and use a shuffle play/random play of that genre. I also setup duplicate tracks in my library with the Genre saved as "SQ DEMO" and other descriptors so I can playback just that group of tracks in lieu of using a playlist. And good thing, because I've discovered that this unit IS NOT capable of creating an "on the go" Playlist or using existing Playlists for the USB Storage playback. If you've found a way to do this, please post it here.

I'm fairly thorough about making sure that all of my IDv3 Tags are correctly set and assigned, so I'll have to explore this further to see if there is something wrong or missing in the Genre tags of my files. But the tags have always displayed properly with all of my other playback devices, so???


***EDIT: Ok gents, I've double-checked all of my IDtags and they all seem to be correct and in place. I confirmed this with the "MP3Tag" program, MediaMonkey, and iTunes. The Genres are listed for each file in all of my other Media Playing devices. Again, specifically, the GENRE tag is not showing any files in the NX706 when playing both MP3 and FLAC files from a USB Thumb Drive.

Can any of you who own and have this unit installed test your NX706 for the following?:

1. Use a USB Memory Storage device that has MP3, FLAC, or AAC files loaded on it with complete ID3 Tags. Plade the USB Storage Device (Thumb Drive, HDD, SSD, etc) in the USB Port on the back of the NX706.

2. Select "USB Audio" as the Source, and Click on the GUITAR icon at the bottom of vertical row of icons on the Far Right of the display. The Guitar icon represents "Genre".

3. Let me know if ANY of your music tracks show up in the List when you select the "Genres" by selecting the Guitar icon. My NX706 does NOT show ANY files whatsoever in the Genre list. 

This is a simple and basic function that any Media Playing Device should have, along with Playlist compatibility. If playback by Genre is not supported, that is probably going to be the "deal breaker" for me, in combination with the lack of Playlist support (via USB). I'll check in the manual to see if it states what format or version of ID3 tags the unit will support, but AFAIK ID3v2.4 tags are backwards-compatible with earlier versions.

Other reviewers also state that when playing a Playlist from their Apple iPhone or iPod Touch that it will only play the tracks that are in the Playlist in ALPHABETICAL ORDER, and not in the order of that was setup in the playlist via iTunes.



NAV MAPS & POI UPDATES:

I found that the latest NAV/GPS Map Updates on the NaviExtras website for Clarion show that the last time that these TomTom-provided maps were updated for North America is Q3 2015.

My unit that was manufactured in January 2016 came with the Q3 2015 maps & POI's installed, and I'm doubtful that these maps will be updated in the future. Check in your NAV settings to see the date of your installed Maps & POI.

If you register your NX706 with Clarion and on the NaviExtras web site, you have 30 Days from the Date Of Purchase to Download a FREE UPDATE of the Maps with POI. After the 30 days you would need to pay for any map updates. But you most likely have the latest maps & POI installed already. 

See:

https://clarion.naviextras.com/shop/portal/newCatalog?view=item&salesPackageCode=62110


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

Anyone been able to test the USB file/folder limits?


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

hella356 said:


> Has anyone tested the limits of files/folders accessible via USB? The manual states a maximum of 65,535 folders with 65,535 files per folder, which would be over 4 billion files! I recently had my 4100NEX stolen (along with a Butler Tube Driver amp, Eclipse sub amp, Alpine sub, more. ) and had - via the SD card and two USB inputs - a total of over 30,000 files at hand, about 80% FLAC. I loved having so much music (roughly 3,000 CDs worth) at my fingertips, even though with that many files it was rather laggy. Clarion is the only maker that claims more files/folders than Pioneer, who claim 1.5K folders/15K files. This, as I tested out, is per input, making the total more like 4.5K folders and 45K files, although it does begin choking on a lot of files. I ended up with about 10K per input and could live with that, but if the Clarion really has the ability to deal with more files - or roughly equal - that would be a huge selling point.
> 
> The thought of going digital out to DSP is also very compelling.





hella356 said:


> Anyone been able to test the USB file/folder limits?


Hella356, Sorry to hear about your loss...that blows. 

I haven't tested the file/folder limits yet, sorry. But I don't see any reason that it shouldn't handle what the manual states. However, I would expect the NX706 to get very laggy when trying to access that many files and folders via USB 2.0 memory storage. It's not exactly a speed demon as it is, even with more popular and very fast 64gb-256gb size USB storage media. 

I would really like to see the head unit manufacturers start using USB 3.0/USB 3.1 ports, or even USB-C connections. USB 3.0 has been the current standard for several years now, and this would vastly increase access times to your large collection of audio files...especially now that so many of us are using much larger 24-bit Hi-Res files, and/or moderately large 16-bit/44.1 FLAC files instead of MP3.

I did find that the NX706 works with Lexar's latest USB 3.0 SD Card Reader plugged into either of the USB pigtails on the back of the unit, and in combination with some of Lexar's Professional UHS-II SDXC cards (see links below).

This is a simple dongle-type USB 3.0 card reader, but in my own tests on TOTL Mac Pro, MacBook Pro and Windows 10 Pro machines it has been the fastest card reader available, even among some of the very expensive Professional card readers.

Links below to the Lexar card reader and the very fast SDXC cards that I used, which all worked with the NX706:

Lexar Professional 2000x 64GB SDXC UHS-II Card with READER

and this card with the above reader as well:

Lexar Professional 1000x 256GB SDXC UHS-II Card

Using the Lexar 256gb 1000x SDXC card loaded with a mix of MP3 and FLAC files contained within just 20 individual Folders that held a total of 276 files, the NX706 still stuttered occasionally and temporarily froze the file list when trying to "swipe" through or scroll through the files using the Touchscreen. For instance, when swiping through the file list by touch with my index finger, it would freeze the list and then quite often it would select a file in the scroll list and play it when I was just trying to continue scrolling through the list. 

However, the current file that was playing in the background off of the USB never stuttered or froze while scrolling through the list, except when it switched to the accidentally-selected file that it decided to choose when I was just trying to swipe through the list.

So then I thought, let's try scrolling through my giant USB file list using the Remote Control and select the file that I want to play with the remote instead of the glitchy Touchsreen. Well, that works...sort of...

While the remote does allow you to scroll through the list of files on your USB Storage very smoothly (by using the ^ & v arrow buttons), the "ENT" button that's centered in the "arrow joystick" on the remote will NOT Select and Play any of the files that you scroll to! IOW, a single track in the list does not stay highlighted, which would allow it to be selected and played by pressing the "ENT" button. So while you can _Scroll_ the list with the remote, you must use the Touchscreen to Select & Play the file that you scrolled to. ...IMO, that's half baked. 

In addition, the buttons on the remote labelled "SRCH", "BACK", and "ROOT" do absolutely nothing when in USB storage playback mode. You would think that those buttons would allow you to SEARCH for a file, go BACK one step in the menu, and take you to the ROOT directory on your USB storage device. But they do nothing. You can, however, do all of these functions using the Touchscreen.

I've found the back and sides of the remote control to be very slippery and not the easiest to hold and operate using one hand...









There is also a button on the remote that's labelled "BAND", which you would think would take you directly to the AM/FM Tuner if you pressed it while playing any source. Well, that doesn't work. The "BAND" button only works if you are already in the AM/FM Tuner mode. Okay, no biggie. I also could not get the "Angle" button to pivot or change the angle of the screen. You can do this on the unit itself by long-pressing the "Open" button.

FYI, each time you press the "SRC" button on the Remote, it toggles you through each source one-by-one and highlights it going from left to right. Unfortunately, this is a bit laggy and sometimes you will pass up the source that you wanted. Again, there are 4 pages of source icons to scroll through. I'd much rather see an iPhone- or iOS-like home page of icons with only the _user-selected_ sources displayed on ONE page in a simple grid pattern...no scrolling needed.

I still haven't been able to get the unit to show any of my music files via the "Genre" icon (guitar icon) even though it obviously has that icon and option on the USB storage playback screen. The manual shows the Genre icon in the screen shots, but states that the unit will only display ID3 Tags for "Artist", "Album", and "(song) Title".  FAIL ...and that's really deceptive to consumers who see that Genre icon and feature in the screen shots that Clarion uses in its ads.

QUICK MENU: The unit allows you to choose 5 of your most-used Sources and put their icons into a Pop-Up "Quick Menu" that is accessible on any of the main source screens by pressing a ">" icon at the lower left of the screen. You then have to press the "<" to close the quick menu. The "Quick Menu" is the icon bar that you see along the bottom of the FM Tuner screen pictured below. In the settings, you can drag and drop whatever Sources you want into that pop-up menu. However, I'd really like to be able to just "Hide" any source icons that I don't use in the Main Source List that scrolls side-to-side. It doesn't allow you to do that. You must scroll through ALL of the sources (4 pages). The problem with the "Quick Menu" is that when it pops up it sometimes hides or covers the Playback Controls or other functions.










Main Source Selection Screen that shows up when you press "MENU" on the front of the HU. Only 4 Source Icons per Page...WTH?! There are 4 Pages of Icons and you Can Not rearrange their order...











FYI, the NX706 uses Windows CE 6.0 as its OS.

So I've made my decision and this unit is going back. I'll wait until after CES to see what's announced and then make my decision on what to use as my main "head unit". If nothing new with Optical Output & 24/96 FLAC capability is announced, it's looking like it's going to be the Pioneer AVIC-8200NEX for its Capacitive Touchscreen and 16gb of memory. The other NEX models do not have the Capacitive screen and have just 8gb of memory.

So unless Clarion makes some MAJOR changes and GUI updates to the NX706, or unless they announce a completely new model that is a completely redesigned GUI, with a fast, responsive, capacitive touchscreen, I honestly feel that their entire "Full Digital Sound" system is doomed.

Anyway...


hella356, I think you'd be happier sticking with one of the Pioneer NEX units. The TOTL Pioneer AVIC-8200NEX has a Capacitive Touchscreen and 16GB of memory, while all of the NEX models below it have Resistive Touchscreens and only 8GB of memory. All of the reviews praise the 8200NEX specifically for being extremely smooth and fast, and I think that the extra memory has something to do with it. The capacitive touchscreen works much better for pinch and zoom, and overall touch response. If you really watch for a deal you can find these for under $800 new, which I realize may be more than you wanted to spend, but this is one of the few units that I've never heard any complaints about regarding lag or touchscreen response issues.


Does anyone have any suggestions for the better Alpine models to look at? I haven't been a fan of Kenwood or Sony DD's. Start a new thread or link to existing threads.

Requirements are:

1. Must fit in standard DD opening.
2. 24-bit/96kHz FLAC file playback via USB storage device.
3. Genre selection via USB playback
4. Back-Up Camera capable
5. CD/DVD playback
6. With or Without NAV
7. SWC capable with adapter or built-in
8. Reasonably Fast "Boot Up" time
9. Android Auto & CarPlay preferable
10. AM/FM Tuner...HD Tuner with RDS desired but not a dealbreaker
11. Apt-X/CSR Bluetooth Streaming Capability
12. Prefer Capacitive Touchscreen if possible
13. Digital Toslink Optical or Coaxial Digital Output a HUGE bonus, but AFAIK N/A ATM.
14. PLAYLIST support via USB storage playback.
15. iPod Classic 160gb 6th Gen Compatibility preferred
16. Price under $1400

Too much to ask?


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Today's install date for me


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

Thanks for the informative post, bbfoto. I totally agree about USB 3.0/3.1 ports; it simply appears the makers are cheaping out on us. This has led me to consider building a car PC to satisfy my wants/needs, of which having access to a massively large (by car stereo standards) body of lossless files is foremost. The Pioneer allowed me to have about half of my music library on-hand, which was really great, but I'd love to get the other half in the mix! I don't like the idea of losing built-in SiriusXM tuner capability (I'm a huge Howard Stern fan with a lifetime subscription), but I think I could live with an outboard tuner attached to a line-in plug. It appears to me that the most effective path to the highest quality sound would be a digital output to an outboard DSP which incorporates D/A conversion, and fine-tuning of crossovers, TA, and EQ. If the Clarion can match the storage capabilities of the 4100NEX I lost, I could probably live with the GUI deficiencies if it meant better connectivity to a DSP. Had I not had the 4100 stolen, it's downsides would not have been enough for me to bother replacing it, but since I'm starting with a clean slate, I'm widening my search. It's a pity that Clarion has withdrawn from brick and mortar stores, which means I can't give the 706 a try without buying and installing the thing, which I'm loathe to do.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

It's in! 
So far so good , 
It's not sluggish in the least , Kenwood's are sluggish this is not. Boot up is fast , menus are fast , The optical works great just as planned , The HDMI screen mirroring works really good on my iPhone so far it's very nice the navigation is good and now it's time for me to get in and start doing some tuning and playing around The HDMI screen mirroring works really good on my iPhone so far it's very nice the navigation is good and now it's time for me to get in and start doing some tuning and playing around and seeing what this thing can actually do as far as Hi-res and directory size


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Thx for the write up bbfoto , that saved me a bit of time .

I'll try a few different things.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

oabeieo said:


> Thx for the write up bbfoto , that saved me a bit of time .
> 
> I'll try a few different things.


No worries. I'd be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on the NX706 since it looks like you install many other brands and models at your shop.

Happy tuning.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

I guess we have at least somewhat of an answer as to why the price on the NX706 was dropped. Looks like it was probably an attempt to clear out inventory and make room for the new NX807. Judging by the press release the NX807 is an NX706 with the addition of CarPlay. 

Clarion Releases Premium Double-DIN Multimedia Source Unit with Apple CarPlay Support

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/4377857-post53.html


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

rton20s said:


> I guess we have at least somewhat of an answer as to why the price on the NX706 was dropped. Looks like it was probably an attempt to clear out inventory and make room for the new NX807. Judging by the press release the NX807 is an NX706 with the addition of CarPlay.


Yeah, I think you're right about CarPlay being the only difference. For non-Apple users like myself this is good, as I wouldn't have any need to buy the newer model and should be able to get the 706 for (relatively) dirt-cheap once the 807 is released. I was hoping, but not at all expecting, that we might see USB 3.0/3.1 ports, coaxial digital out, SD card, something that suggests higher CPU-related performance, but it looks like all the big makers are determined to stick with 10+ year old technology in perpetuity. My 4100NEX was slow compared to my 6 year old Galaxy S2 phone - and smartphones run on batteries, with essentially no physical space reserved for cooling, things that are not issues with head units. Yet none of the big name car stereo makers can seem to be willing to spend an extra, I don't know, $50? in hardware to make a truly great head unit? I applaud Clarion for at least having digital out, even though it appears to only be happening so they can sell their digital speaker system.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> No worries. I'd be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on the NX706 since it looks like you install many other brands and models at your shop.
> 
> Happy tuning.


 Sorry everybody I haven't had time to try out all my drives and all my high razz 

I've been focusing on getting my Dirac unit to work I just found out I have to buy a new laptop to make it work so anyway about the radio 


Overall I actually quite in love with this deck I really like the user Interface I like how the images are classy looking and contemporary and don't have a bunch of wild squiggly artwork in any of the backgrounds it's clean and fresh so I really like it and the color scheme is very classy as well it's what I would expect from a high-end radio . 

It's not very sluggish it works just fine I really really like the HDMI port I like watching YouTube videos while I drive , 

The 90 6K variable optical works fantastic across all my many DSPs . Siri voice is pretty cool I actually like the featured quite a lot . 
It's arguably just as good as the pioneer although the nex Apple CarPlay and android auto sure is a nice feature that would've been nice but it's OK because I have built-in navigation that I really like the interface I like that it shows highway signs on the screen and I like the points of interest interface , I like that I can cheese with more than two voices for dialogue . 

I also like that the CD deck has a bigger opening where the felt strip is so that way my CDs don't get scratched when you go in .

I actually like the user interface better than the pioneer Or the Kenwood 
For a person using external DSP this really is the hot ticket .

If you were to use the analog outputs there is a lot to be desired there is no TA and no active crossovers to make a band pass filter . But that's not what I'm using it for so it doesn't bother me it would've been nice if they just made it strictly high-end put a copper Chassis on it got rid of the built-in amp and done away with all the dsp eq that it has built-in even though I can use it as such I would have thought it would've been a much nicer deck that way . 

Overall in very very pleased with it the only thing I don't like is that the nose of the radio sticks out a tiny bit because they made the face plate so thick compared to a pioneer or a Kenwood or alpine . But it doesn't bother me because I'm not picky about that kind of stuff 

I did burn some of my high razz to a CD and it plays FLAC and wav 24-96 
Alac through my iPhone no problems either . 

I'm going to be loading up more music soon soon as I get my Dirac situation figured out


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

Thanks, oabeieo! That's all very encouraging. So does the on-board EQ work while going digital out? My assumption would be to dial the system in via DSP, but with some sources, on-the-fly EQ can still be useful. For example, lot of modern recordings (and the Howard Stern show) are way too bass-heavy, to where even a perfectly flat overall response can use some adjustment while listening to certain music.

I agree that it would be nice to see a true high-end SQ treatment be applied to a DD touch screen unit: no built-in amp, more chassis attention, just basic EQ for situations like the above, and - to me, since I ripped all my CDs to FLAC - mechless with a minimum of two USB ports, but preferably 3 or 4 USB 3.0. Trading in my heavy, bulky 400 CD booklet for about 10X the amount of lossless and hi-rez via USB has been a revelation, and I'm determined to never use optical disks ever again!


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

hella356 said:


> Thanks, oabeieo! That's all very encouraging. So does the on-board EQ work while going digital out? My assumption would be to dial the system in via DSP, but with some sources, on-the-fly EQ can still be useful. For example, lot of modern recordings (and the Howard Stern show) are way too bass-heavy, to where even a perfectly flat overall response can use some adjustment while listening to certain music.
> 
> I agree that it would be nice to see a true high-end SQ treatment be applied to a DD touch screen unit: no built-in amp, more chassis attention, just basic EQ for situations like the above, and - to me, since I ripped all my CDs to FLAC - mechless with a minimum of two USB ports, but preferably 3 or 4 USB 3.0. Trading in my heavy, bulky 400 CD booklet for about 10X the amount of lossless and hi-rez via USB has been a revelation, and I'm determined to never use optical disks ever again!



No access to it when toslink is enabled, I think that that's a good idea to maintain the integrity of the signal , 

It does have two USBs which is really nice , as a source strictly he does everything anybody really needs in with HDMI interface Apple CarPlay really isn't a big deal because you can mirror . CarPlay isn't that cool . IMO 

But yeah I totally agree I'm gonna start ripping all my stuff to wav very soon 
I have about 3000 CDs


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

I can see why disabling the onboard functions when toslink is enabled would be beneficial, although it would also be nice to have some control from the touchscreen, rather than the outboard controller of a DSP, but I suppose using DSP presets could provide on-the-fly EQ functionality for such situations.

Thanks again for posting your findings! Super helpful.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

hella356 said:


> I can see why disabling the onboard functions when toslink is enabled would be beneficial, although it would also be nice to have some control from the touchscreen, rather than the outboard controller of a DSP, but I suppose using DSP presets could provide on-the-fly EQ functionality for such situations.
> 
> Thanks again for posting your findings! Super helpful.


Yeah, I think T hats a big reason helix added bass n treble to there director 
Such a good move on there part. 

I guess that's why I have 4 configurations to select also but a bass n treble would be a perfect thing HAVE with external dsp


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## felix509 (Dec 17, 2006)

oabeieo said:


> But yeah I totally agree I'm gonna start ripping all my stuff to wav very soon
> I have about 3000 CDs


It is not a very fun process, and just aggravating when you get CDs that just won't rip... DBPoweramp to the Rescue


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

Yeah, ripping CDs is a slow, tedious process, but the payoff is well worth it. It took me months to go through at least a couple thousand disks, but I haven't touched a CD since I got a head unit that read USB FLAC files.

Man, that Helix Director is over $300! If I get the NX706, not having any tone controls while driving might affect my choice of DSP. I might need more than 4 presets. Is head unit subwoofer control lost over Toslink? Might also need something that can have sub level selected for the outboard controller.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

oabeieo,

Thanks for posting your thoughts on the NX706. I'm glad that you are liking it!

Once you rip some more of your CDs to FLAC or another file format that supports ID3 Tags, can you please test to see if any of your files show up via "GENRE" when playing back from the USB Storage?:

1. Use a USB Memory Storage device that has MP3, FLAC, or AAC files loaded on it with complete ID3 Tags. Place the USB Storage Device (Thumb Drive, HDD, SSD, etc) in one of the USB Ports on the back of the NX706.

2. Select "My USB1" or "My USB2" as the Source, and Click on the GUITAR icon at the Bottom Right of the screen. The Guitar icon represents "Genre".

3. Let me know if ANY of your music tracks show up in the List when you select the "Genres" by selecting the Guitar icon??? 

I could not get this to work via USB playback on the NX706 and it is something that I use quite often to select a group of music tracks.


RIPPING or CONVERTING your CDs:

On another note, since it seems that you will be "starting from scratch" to Rip all of your CDs to files, I strongly advise that you come up with a logical File Naming syntax so that all of your files are easily searchable and grouped together when organizing or searching by File Name Only. This will allow easy organization of your files when you are not using a program that reads ID3 Tags to sort them.

Also make sure that your ID3 Tags are applied correctly and thoroughly to all of the files the first time that you Rip them!!! Trust me, you Do Not want to go back through all of your 1000's of files to manually or individually change the File Names, or to apply proper ID3 Tags! If you do need to do this, or to check all of your existing files for proper ID3 Tags, a great program that is Free is "MP3Tag". Just Google search for it.


FILE FORMATS:

If you are going to rip all of your CDs only to Uncompressed and Lossless WAV format (.wav files), know that not very many Media Playing Devices or Ripping/Converting Software use WAV's "INFO" tags properly or at all. "INFO" tags are different than the more universal ID3 Tags.

Audacity can write WAV files with INFO tags, and dBpowerAMP Music Converter can do this, too.

I chose to use the FLAC file format for most of my files because it supports bit depths and resolutions higher than 16/44.1, it supports ID3 Tagging, and is a smaller "compressed" file but is still Lossless. FLAC files are typically Half the file size of the original WAV or AIFF file. FLAC is a universal standard that can't be bought or limited by a particular company via trademark, licensing, or patent dispute. "FLAC" stands for "Free Lossless Audio Codec" and is public domain.

If I want to use a "lossy" compressed format, my first choice is MP3. This is mainly because of it's universal, cross-platform compatibility, and ID3 Tagging support.


FILE NAMING:

For standard songs in an Artists Album, here is the syntax that I prefer when naming each file (providing the length of the filename isn't too long):

Artist Name_Album Name_(Track #xx)_Song Title

...which would look like this...

*Rolling Stones_Hot Rocks 1964-1971_(03)_Play With Fire.mp3*


If the specific track or song is a "Live" recording, I label it as such after the Song Title, e.g.:

*Rolling Stones_Hot Rocks 1964-1971_(03)_Play With Fire (Live).mp3
*


If it's a Boxed Set or the Album has more than one Disc, I put the Disc# then Track# _Before_ the Song Title, e.g.:

Artist Name_Album Name_(Disc#xx-Track#xx)_Song Title

...which would look like this:

*Rolling Stones_Hot Rocks 1964-1971_(02-03)_Play With Fire.mp3*
*Rolling Stones_Hot Rocks 1964-1971_(02-04)_(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.mp3*


This naming syntax helps to keep all songs by a particular Artist grouped together, and also all of the Albums by that Artist grouped together, then the songs on each Disc are kept together (if there is more than one CD in the Album), and then all songs from that Album and Disc # will be in Order by Track #.

I know that this seems like a huge PITA, and it IS, but it's MUCH more work to change or add that information later on when you realize that the 1000's of files in your collection are impossible to search or organize!

I also do not use "The" at the beginning of the Artist's Name or Group's Name unless it makes sense to do so. If you do use "The" before the Artists Name, when searching you have to scan through a sh!t ton of *The*'s, e.g.:

The B-52's...
The Black Crows...
The Clash...
The Fixx...
The Harry James Trio...
The Kinks...
The Righteous Brothers...
The Rolling Stones...
The Tubes...
The Waterboys...

If it is a Compilation Album that includes Various Artists, I will put the "Album Name" first in the file name, e.g.:

*Encomium (A Tribute to Led Zeppelin)_(Track#xx)_Artist Name_Song Title.flac*

Hope that helps! Happy Rip'ing!


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

hella356 said:


> Yeah, ripping CDs is a slow, tedious process, but the payoff is well worth it. It took me months to go through at least a couple thousand disks, but I haven't touched a CD since I got a head unit that read USB FLAC files.
> 
> Man, that Helix Director is over $300! If I get the NX706, not having any tone controls while driving might affect my choice of DSP. I might need more than 4 presets. Is head unit subwoofer control lost over Toslink? Might also need something that can have sub level selected for the outboard controller.


Yes, you lose independent Subwoofer Level control from the Head Unit when using Toslink Digital output from the NX706 (and all head units AFAIK when using Digital Output).

If your DSP doesn't have a Remote that includes independent Subwoofer Level control, check to see if your specific amplifier has a Remote Subwoofer Level control knob that plugs into the amp for just the subwoofer or mono channel. This will not work properly if the Amp's remote knob only controls "Bass Boost" level or bass EQ.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> oabeieo,
> 
> Thanks for posting your thoughts on the NX706. I'm glad that you are liking it!
> 
> ...



DOOD! Okay! Yes this is good info. Okay okay I going try it.. 
and ****! I already ripped 1T 
I want fast file searching .

Okay on the tags yes I frikkin didn't even pay attention. Oh yes I will find out. 
Tonight I'll take pics and make a video


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

It reads my entire 2 TB hard disk drive and all my ID tags work








image sharing sites


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

There's about 1600$ worth of HD tracks on this HDD all of it reads and tags work

The rest was wav rips. Some of which was given to me and some I ripped. 
I'll try n find out what was done to get it to work right. 
I can't remember on the stuff I did , I do remember downloading a rip platform that someone on here told me to use. I since wiped my windows and did a format on drive so now I can't remember what I used. I can find out tho I need to find the thread that had the info in it . From about 4 mo ago IIRC. 

I'll find out. So far my file structure works very fast and files are a breeze to find. I do remember getting it organized, I'll double check it tho .


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

Wow, that sounds good. How many files and folders? Did it go through a looooong first read, and is there a delay before any music will play upon boot, like the Pioneers do? This happens with the AVH-X2800BS and, to a slightly lesser degree, 4100NEX. When accessing a 256GB SD or USB flash drive with about 10K files, it took about an hour for first read - after about 5 minutes it would start playing music, but would jump around to different songs. After the drive was indexed (or however it did its thing) it would still take about 2 minutes of silence at boot before it caught its breath and started making music. Annoying, but maybe the Clarion gets around this?


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

hella356 said:


> Wow, that sounds good. How many files and folders? Did it go through a looooong first read, and is there a delay before any music will play upon boot, like the Pioneers do? This happens with the AVH-X2800BS and, to a slightly lesser degree, 4100NEX. When accessing a 256GB SD or USB flash drive with about 10K files, it took about an hour for first read - after about 5 minutes it would start playing music, but would jump around to different songs. After the drive was indexed (or however it did its thing) it would still take about 2 minutes of silence at boot before it caught its breath and started making music. Annoying, but maybe the Clarion gets around this?


I had full access to 2TB in about 20 sec 
It's pretty dang slick 

Haven't tryed playing all of them that fast , I did try out a few wav and FLAC files pretty fast between. 
It mixed up track order on my HD tracks stuff tho. Just that folder track number was mixed and song title alpha took precedence.


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

oabeieo said:


> I had full access to 2TB in about 20 sec
> It's pretty dang slick
> 
> Haven't tryed playing all of them that fast , I did try out a few wav and FLAC files pretty fast between.
> It mixed up track order on my HD tracks stuff tho. Just that folder track number was mixed and song title alpha took precedence.


Thanks, oabeieo. What file format did you use, FAT32, NTFS? That speed of recognizing files sounds pretty impressive, particularly with a hard drive rather than an SSD! 

The total number of files is very important to me, as my current collection consists of roughly 50K FLAC files (mostly 16b/44K, with some hi-rez, as well) totaling 1.7TB; 40K MP3 files totaling 300g; some other formats add probably 1K more files. All told, almost 100K files. Ideally, I wouldn't need to pare the list down and the NX706 would allow me simply attach everything, which would be a car audio dream come true to me! I would guess your 2TB of 24b/96K files numbers somewhere around 15K-20K files?


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

hella356 said:


> Thanks, oabeieo. What file format did you use, FAT32, NTFS? That speed of recognizing files sounds pretty impressive, particularly with a hard drive rather than an SSD!
> 
> The total number of files is very important to me, as my current collection consists of roughly 50K FLAC files (mostly 16b/44K, with some hi-rez, as well) totaling 1.7TB; 40K MP3 files totaling 300g; some other formats add probably 1K more files. All told, almost 100K files. Ideally, I wouldn't need to pare the list down and the NX706 would allow me simply attach everything, which would be a car audio dream come true to me! I would guess your 2TB of 24b/96K files numbers somewhere around 15K-20K files?



Lol not even close . There's maybe 800-1000 tracks on there And it's 89%
I've been calling it a hard disc drive i'm actually not sure what it is .
I put a system in a guys car and he gave it to me as a gift super awesome guy and he even loaded it with all the HD tracks heck I couldn't afford all those tracks . And then I added a bunch of my own stuff but yeah I guess it is important I'm not sure what it is here's a picture . I don't know how it's formatted I never looked (my guess ntfs). I'll have to find out 


image hosting 10mb limit

The HD tracks which is all 2496 takes up a ton of space , if I remember correctly he purchased everything they had to offer in 2496 
From about two years ago , but I definitely know each folder has a ton of data on it


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

Holy smokes, I have some 24/96 files, but I hadn't thought about how quickly they'd fill a 2TB drive. Inateck makes enclosures, I would guess you have a HDD, unless that nice guy gave you a $500+ 2TB SSD. Nice score no matter what, though.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

oabeieo,

Do any tracks show up in the GENRE list from your USB HDD when you press the GUITAR icon at the bottom right of the NX706 screen???

That _should_ allow you to choose the files by GENRE, but nothing shows up on my NX706.

Also, I do not see any album artwork in the one photo that you posted of the screen with the HDtracks file playing. Do any of the album covers show up?

The album art _does_ show up on mine with all files that have the artwork (photo) embedded in the file.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

hella356 said:


> Holy smokes, I have some 24/96 files, but I hadn't thought about how quickly they'd fill a 2TB drive. Inateck makes enclosures, I would guess you have a HDD, unless that nice guy gave you a $500+ 2TB SSD. Nice score no matter what, though.


The USB cable says "ss" on it ??????

And the guy that gave it to me ....well let's put it this way his system install alone was 19Gs and he easily has 50grand into the system 
I'm pretty sure he only buys nice things.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> oabeieo,
> 
> Do any tracks show up in the GENRE list from your USB HDD when you press the GUITAR icon at the bottom right of the NX706 screen???
> 
> ...



Ooh okay I will try that's right ....okay give me a few my wife's take nap I'm watch kids at moment 


On way home from work today (I had inventory yuk ) I was playing the drive and it booted me off and it defaulted to radio 
I tryed to go back to USB and it was frozen for about 30sec than it started working again. I think it was just the USB cable not seated all the way it hasn't done it since but still something I want to stay on top of 

But yes I'll go look here very soon


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

oabeieo said:


> The USB cable says "ss" on it ??????
> 
> And the guy that gave it to me ....well let's put it this way his system install alone was 19Gs and he easily has 50grand into the system
> I'm pretty sure he only buys nice things.


Dang! And people think I'm crazy for having spent about $6K. The easy way to tell - assuming your enclosure is 3.0 - is transfer speed on your computer. 

Keep up the good work, the 706 is pushing its way to the top of my list!


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

bbfoto said:


> oabeieo,
> 
> Do any tracks show up in the GENRE list from your USB HDD when you press the GUITAR icon at the bottom right of the NX706 screen???
> 
> ...





oabeieo said:


> Ooh okay I will try that's right ....okay give me a few my wife's take nap I'm watch kids at moment.
> 
> But yes I'll go look here very soon


THANKS!!!



oabeieo said:


> The USB cable says "ss" on it ??????


The "_SS_" on the USB Connector simply means that the cable is a USB "_Super-Speed_" cable which is USB 3.0/3.1 compatible. *Most* of these USB 3.0/3.1 Super-Speed cables also have a Blue-colored insert inside the end of the connector.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

AAh ..... okay I been out of the computer loop for about 8years.

Okay thank you! 

So the guitar icon does nothing it's greyed out 
Maybe my lib doesn't have genre tags


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

So ....a small issue I will have to work through and figure out.

It boots me off the drive every so often 
It happens at least once every time I drive 
Maybe it's my drive ....maybe my cable ...don't know at this point


----------



## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

oabeieo said:


> So ....a small issue I will have to work through and figure out.
> 
> It boots me off the drive every so often
> It happens at least once every time I drive
> Maybe it's my drive ....maybe my cable ...don't know at this point


Yeah, double-check your USB cable and connections. Try to use the shortest USB cable possible.

However, the problem is probably due to a lack of power (current in milliamps/amps) that the NX706 USB ports provide to the HDD/SSD/Enclosure combination.

Try to buy a short USB 3.0/Super-Speed "Y" cable with two USB Type-A male connectors that combine into one appropriate type connector that plugs into your drive. One of the "Y" ends provides Power + Data, and the other connector on the "Y" end provides Power Only (to add the power or current needed to run the drive, or the electronics in the enclosure).

However, I would plug the Power Only side of the USB "Y" cable into a separate 1.5-2.0 amp tablet cigarette lighter charger instead of into the second USB port on the NX706, because I think that the two USB ports on the NX706 "share" a single internal power supply. 










https://www.amazon.com/35cm-SuperSpeed-External-Seagate-Toshiba/dp/B00MFL4HQU/
.
.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

oabeieo said:


> AAh ..... okay I been out of the computer loop for about 8years.
> 
> Okay thank you!
> 
> ...


Bummer. Thanks for checking! I bet that your tags are fine. I'm fairly certain that the NX706 simply does not support Genre tags, and only supports or uses the Artist, Album, and, Song Title tags.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> Yeah, double-check your USB cable and connections. Try to use the shortest USB cable possible.
> 
> However, the problem is probably due to a lack of power (current in milliamps/amps) that the NX706 USB ports provide to the HDD/SSD/Enclosure combination.
> 
> ...


Brilliant ! Yes I have seen those and in fact had to use one on a bitplay once. Well I was asked to install it but never really knew what it was for . 
Thank you. I will try that for sure . my gut says your right. It's seems when the drive is working hard it goes out and completely loses power. And the weird part the nx won't let me go back is USB source for a few min 
Thank you!


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> Bummer. Thanks for checking! I bet that your tags are fine. I'm fairly certain that the NX706 simply does not support Genre tags, and only supports or uses the Artist, Album, and, Song Title tags.


Than why have the guitar icon at all? 

Is there two types genre tags? I would like to find out.

Isn't there some kind of online service that can scan a drive and add tags to your files?


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Just ordered one


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

oabeieo said:


> *Than why have the guitar icon at all? *
> 
> Is there two types genre tags? I would like to find out.
> 
> Isn't there some kind of online service that can scan a drive and add tags to your files?


(^Bold Text) EXACTLY! That's what pissed me off and was the final straw that made me decide to send it back. 

I triple-checked all of my ID3 Tags and they were all good. You can download the "MP3Tag" program for free or donate some $ to the creator if you like it. It does a good job of managing and applying proper ID3 Tags.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

bbfoto said:


> Bummer. Thanks for checking! I bet that your tags are fine. I'm fairly certain that the NX706 simply does not support Genre tags, and *only supports or uses the Artist, Album, and, Song Title tags.*


I found in the user's manual that it actually states this for Playback of USB sources. So why advertise, show screen shots, and actually include a Genre icon in the GUI at all? IMO, it's kind of deceptive on Clarion's part. :mean:


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

oabeieo said:


> Brilliant ! Yes I have seen those and in fact had to use one on a bitplay once. Well I was asked to install it but never really knew what it was for .
> Thank you. I will try that for sure . my gut says your right. It's seems when the drive is working hard it goes out and completely loses power. And the weird part the nx won't let me go back is USB source for a few min
> Thank you!


That's a possible clue that you've got a hard drive rather than an SSD, as the higher power draw of a spinning disc might be pushing the power limits. Good luck!

That is bizarre that there is a "genre" button that seems to do nothing. I go strictly by folder, so it wouldn't affect me, but it's weird and disappointing that they'd flub something that lots (probably most) would like to use. They might be mapping it to the wrong tag ID? Might be useful to hound Clarion for a software update to fix it?


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

hella356 said:


> That's a possible clue that you've got a hard drive rather than an SSD, as the higher power draw of a spinning disc might be pushing the power limits. Good luck!


True, but the NX706 would not power up or read one of my Samsung 850 PRO 256GB SSD drives in an enclosure, even with a "Y" cable for extra power, so IDK??? The blue LED on the enclosure would light up, but it wouldn't read it. I think that it is formatted NTFS or maybe FAT32, I'll have to check.

EDIT: Yep, my Samsung 850 Pro 256gb SSD was formated as NTFS.



hella356 said:


> That is bizarre that there is a "genre" button that seems to do nothing. I go strictly by folder, so it wouldn't affect me, but it's weird and disappointing that they'd flub something that lots (probably most) would like to use. They might be mapping it to the wrong tag ID? Might be useful to hound Clarion for a software update to fix it?


I guess it's worth a try, but I'm not liking the GUI or the HU overall, so it's gone back to Amazon.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Looked my drive up its fat32 and only 1T I was mistaken 
Starting to make sence now ...


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

How long for this thing to start up and play music from when the car is off?


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

AAAAAAA said:


> How long for this thing to start up and play music from when the car is off?


Sometimes it never shuts off 

Sometimes within a min or two.
I think I found the problem. I have a pioneer USB cable installed and it's old as snot , when I wiggle cable it cuts off. I'm going fix today


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

I'm looking for a decent double DIN, and my problem is I hate waiting for things to boot up. Most OEM's now, even though they have a bunch of built in features, start right away and I want that as well. I've manage to find a persone saying 15 seconds...does this seem right?
Are all after market touchscreen units super slow still?


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> (^Bold Text) EXACTLY! That's what pissed me off and was the final straw that made me decide to send it back.
> 
> I triple-checked all of my ID3 Tags and they were all good. You can download the "MP3Tag" program for free or donate some $ to the creator if you like it. It does a good job of managing and applying proper ID3 Tags.


 Don't send it back . 
We can work though these small issues 
I mean it's your call. There is a thread on DIY I can find it that talks about ADC and how it leaves ringing in the impulse . It even has screenshots it's pretty conclusive . And it makes sense why the CLARiiON sounds Nitin day better . 

try and find it


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Yep that fixed it I had a pioneer USB cable acting as an extension that just need to come out hard drive works perfect now


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

AAAAAAA said:


> How long for this thing to start up and play music from when the car is off?





AAAAAAA said:


> I'm looking for a decent double DIN, and my problem is I hate waiting for things to boot up. Most OEM's now, even though they have a bunch of built in features, start right away and I want that as well. I've manage to find a persone saying 15 seconds...does this seem right?
> Are all after market touchscreen units super slow still?


The slow boot time on most of these DD HUs is pet peeve of mine as well. If you look back in this thread I have a fairly thorough review of this unit. I found that it usually boots up from a cold start (vehicle off) to Playing Music from a 256gb fast USB memory source in about 12 Seconds, which on-average is faster than most DD head units which take from 20- to over 30-seconds to boot up.

If you were in the NAV/MAPS/GPS mode when the _NX706_ was last shut down, and then start the vehicle, it can take quit a bit of time to get going while it searches and acquires a GPS signal. Once it has a GPS lock it is very solid.

The rearview-backup camera comes on in about 5 seconds even if the _NX706_ head unit is completely off when you put the vehicle in reverse. If the NX706 is already on, the rear-view/back-up camera comes on in 3 seconds from when you put the vehicle in reverse or press the camera icon on the screen.



oabeieo said:


> Don't send it back .
> We can work though these small issues
> I mean it's your call. There is a thread on DIY I can find it that talks about ADC and how it leaves ringing in the impulse . It even has screenshots it's pretty conclusive . And it makes sense why the CLARiiON sounds Nitin day better .
> 
> try and find it


Thanks. Well, I'm already getting a bit-perfect digital output directly from my _Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0"_ Phablet (#SM-T715Y) connected to an _SMSL X-USB XMOS to Digital converter_ which sends Digital Toslink or Coaxial directly to my _Helix DSP PRO_.

The _Galaxy Tab S2 8.0_ has a super sharp and bright superAMOLED display and is also a Cell Phone with LTE data (international version) so I can take and make my calls hands-free while driving.

I use a JoyCon EXR+ module to control the phablet's music playback functions via the Steering Wheel Controls, and I have a SWC button mapped to activate Google Now and Samsung's S-Voice commands, e.g. "Play Bruce Springsteen", or "Text Mom...I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner...I'll be there in an hour!", or "Navigate to Chipotle", etc.

I usually use Google Maps/NAV for navigation anyway, and the _Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0_ has that built-in of course, and is nice with the sharp 8" display.

I use the _USB Audio Player Pro_ Android app to play back all of my music files including Hi-Res, and it will work with most portable Wi-Fi media server/storage & streaming devices to play music over WiFi from a SSD/HDD/SD card/microSD card/Thumbdrive streamed to the Phablet and out through the SMSL X-USB XMOS converter.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016ZWS9ZE?psc=1

You can also plug in any type of wired USB storage device to the _Tab S2_ to use as music file storage if you use a powered USB Hub. But the _Tab S2_ already has a built-in microSD card slot, so I can keep up to a 256gb microSD card in it for music storage without having to go "outside the box".


The main reason I was looking for a nice DD head unit with Digital Output is because I still want to have a really good AM/FM Tuner (preferably with _HD Tuner_ capability), a Back-up/Rear-View Camera, and the convenience of a built-in CD/DVD transport.

I can do all of those things with my phablet setup, but it is a hot mess of outboard modules, wiring, and a lot of tedious setup/configuration. And especially the radio Tuner solutions that I've found so far have all been janky and don't receive radio stations nearly as well as a standard OEM or aftermarket car stereo. EDIT: Of course I can use the TuneIn Radio app, or any other similar app to STREAM radio stations, but for emergencies or where there is no cellular data available, I like to have a good old-fashioned AM/FM Tuner.

A WiFi backup camera works fine with the phablet, but it takes more time once initiated to display the picture compared to standard wired cameras connected to a DD unit. But the quality of the Wi-Fi camera's picture is a lot better than most standard back-up cameras, and/or the great display on the _Tab S2_ provides better viewing of the camera's output.

For CDs, I have a portable _Sony D-EJ711 Discman_ CD player which is not much larger than the CD itself which I keep in my center storage compartment. It has Toslink mini optical output for the rare times that I want or need to play a CD. The Toslink output connects along with the digital output from the _Galaxy Tab S2_ phablet to a 4-input/1-output auto-selection Toslink-Coaxial source switcher, and on to the DSP Pro. EDIT: I also have a portable iBasso DX90 Hi-Res PMP that connects to the switcher via Digital Coaxial. It's roughly the size of an iPod Classic, just a bit thicker.

Overall it would be great to find a High Quality DD head unit that matches or exceeds the quality and features that I can get via my phablet setup and would provide a much easier "Plug N Play" setup. But so far I haven't found anything traditional that matches the GUI/Screen quality and features of my phablet setup.  

For reference, I probably have about $850-$900 into my complete tablet setup and that includes all of the outboard modules, cables, Wi-Fi camera, USB Hub and PSU, 256gb microSD card, etc.

And the upside to my Phablet setup is that by unplugging just the charger/data cable from the microUSB port, I can take the Phablet with me so it's still completely usable as an everyday tablet with backup cellphone and LTE data. Plus, the _Galaxy Tab S2 8.0_ actually fits into almost all of the back pockets of my pants or shorts, and easily into a cargo pocket.

Still, a fixed, high quality DD head unit with optical output would be nice.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

oabeieo said:


> Yep that fixed it I had a pioneer USB cable acting as an extension that just need to come out hard drive works perfect now


Great to hear.


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

Thanks bbfoto, much appreciated.

What if it's a smaller usb key or if it starts up on the radio? Is it quicker then?
You know how long it takes to connect to bluetooth ?

I'm also considering the nx405 that has less features and a smaller screen... but I don't know if I can handle the wait time.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

AAAAAAA said:


> Thanks bbfoto, much appreciated.
> 
> What if it's a smaller usb key or if it starts up on the radio? Is it quicker then?
> You know how long it takes to connect to bluetooth ?
> ...


Starting up the NX706 with it in AM/FM Tuner mode doesn't change anything...it's 12-13 seconds to music playing via the AM/FM Tuner from a cold boot.

21 Seconds for the NX706 to connect with my Smartphone via BT from a cold start. This is with the smartphone's BT already paired to the NX706 and BT turned on before starting up the NX706...as would be the case if you always leave your phone's BT turned on and then hop in the car and turn the HU on.

19 Seconds to start Playing Music from a cold start using an older 32GB SandDisk USB 2.0 Thumb Drive that is about 75% full with a mix of MP3 and FLAC files. This thumb drive is an older, basic model, with slow Read/Write times compared to a mid-line device that you'd get today.


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

Thanks again.
I can't believe these things are still in the dark ages like this, with crap touch screen tech and **** resolution and ridiculous start up times. It's nuts.

I appreciate all of your data, it's become clear I wouldn't be able to live with it...


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Yeah. The tab sure sounds pretty sweet -the lack of Cd drive . 
Although your input on it is well noted and yeah it's not a 8200nex by any means as far as quality, but for a unit 1/2 the price of a 8200 that so far plays all my Hirez stuff and is digital and my swc works and I didn't have to make a dash kit out of bondo and wood I'm pretty happy with it . Yes your absolutely right, there's is a lot to be desired from a "high end" deck. But for what's available in DD it has what I need to get by and the UI is nice enough. Yeah boot times etc etc ....whatevs I guess, my music is playing before I get out of the driveway so it's not that bad. 

If I'm feeling creative after I finish the rest of my system I'll definitely give a tab a 2nd look


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

That all sounds better than what my stolen 4100NEX did in terms of waiting times. 

bbfoto, your unorthodox method with the tablet is pretty amazing. I've considered doing something like that, but being able to use a SiriusXM tuner is one of my big needs, which unfortunately leaves me stuck with a head unit.

bbfoto or oabeieo, if you don't have the capability to test this with your own files/drive, if I sent you a drive with a massive number of audio files (would be at least 50K files, a mix of FLAC and MP3), would you be willing to test it in your unit? I don't have any interest in Pandora or similar, and SiriusXM for me is strictly for Howard Stern since the audio quality is horrendous for music, so accessing a huge variety of music is the absolute highest priority for me.


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

hella356 said:


> That all sounds better than what my stolen 4100NEX did in terms of waiting times.
> 
> bbfoto, your unorthodox method with the tablet is pretty amazing. I've considered doing something like that, but being able to use a SiriusXM tuner is one of my big needs, which unfortunately leaves me stuck with a head unit.
> 
> bbfoto or oabeieo, if you don't have the capability to test this with your own files/drive, if I sent you a drive with a massive number of audio files (would be at least 50K files, a mix of FLAC and MP3), would you be willing to test it in your unit? I don't have any interest in Pandora or similar, and SiriusXM for me is strictly for Howard Stern since the audio quality is horrendous for music, so accessing a huge variety of music is the absolute highest priority for me.


There is a SiriusXM app available for Android and iPhone/iPad. Dang, even my TV has a SiriusXM app available for it. So you can use a phone or tablet as a head unit. I use my phone and I have a 200GB micro SD card full of FLAC files, that works well for me. ALSO, I have recently started to give Tidal HiFi a go and so far I am pretty impressed with the sound quality, they are streaming FLACs. There is a one month free trial going on right now for Tidal if you want to give it a go. As far as loading time goes, it is negligible as I usually open VLC or Tidal as I walk to my car so the apps are already open when I start the car. I turn on the car and while I put the phone in the holder my stereo is already up and running. Wait time is not an issue for me, but that is my routine.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

hella356 said:


> That all sounds better than what my stolen 4100NEX did in terms of waiting times.
> 
> bbfoto, your unorthodox method with the tablet is pretty amazing. I've considered doing something like that, but being able to use a SiriusXM tuner is one of my big needs, which unfortunately leaves me stuck with a head unit.


Yes, the Clarion NX706 is actually one of the faster DD units in regards to booting up from a cold start and starting various functions. The Backup/Rear View Camera takes a bit longer than some, however...not much, but a second or two.

And as mentioned by _fcarpio_, there is a _SiriusXM_ app available for Android and iPhone/iPad.

As I stated, there are Pros & Cons to my Phablet setup, but after using it, it is really difficult to go back to a sluggish, feature-deficient GUI and Low-Res resistive touch display. And not having the Voice Commands was a big deal for me. The NX706 does have a _*Siri Eyes Free*_ (Voice Command) hardware button on the front panel for Apple iDevices, but not Apple CarPlay. I'm using Android devices now and not an iPhone/iPad, so I couldn't test this feature. It *may* work great.

I have left my basic OEM head unit installed in my DD vehicle, and have a sturdy mount for the 8" Phablet. I always take the _Tab S2_ with me when I leave the vehicle, so there isn't a fancy aftermarket DD stereo for any potential thieves to see. With my photography business, I travel to all types of areas for my shoots, both good & bad, so the less eye candy for thieves to see, the better.

One other advantage is that since my Phablet "head unit" is portable, I can also easily use it in my other vehicles, so I always have "all of my music with me" no matter what vehicle I decide to drive that day.



hella356 said:


> bbfoto or oabeieo, if you don't have the capability to test this with your own files/drive, if I sent you a drive with a massive number of audio files (would be at least 50K files, a mix of FLAC and MP3), would you be willing to test it in your unit? I don't have any interest in Pandora or similar, and SiriusXM for me is strictly for Howard Stern since the audio quality is horrendous for music, so accessing a huge variety of music is the absolute highest priority for me.


Sorry, I've returned my NX706 so I can't test this for you unfortunately. FYI, I tried two different USB drives with the NX706 and the NX would not read or connect to either of them. One was the _Oyen Digital MiniPro 2.5" FireWire 800/USB 3.0 External Aluminum HDD/SSD Enclosure_ loaded with a _SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SSD #MZ-7PC256D/AM_. This Enclosure/SSD combination normally works with all of my other devices with just USB Bus Power, however it does have a USB 3.0 "Y" cable for extra power, and a separate wall-wart power supply. I tried it all 3 ways and it was a "no go".

https://www.amazon.com/MiniPro-FireWire-External-Aluminum-Enclosure/dp/B00684WPW8/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T3GQ0G/

I also tried the above-listed _Samsung 830 Pro 256gb SSD_ connected via a simple _Sabrent USB 3.1 to SSD/2.5-Inch SATA Drive Adapter #EC-SS31_, and the NX706 would not access or read the SSD.










https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017NIDXF0/

The other USB 3.0 drive was a 3.5" HDD...a _Seagate #SRD0SD1 GoFlex 3TB USB 3.0_ External Powered HDD with the external wall-wart power supply connected. This HDD was loaded with about 2TB of music files on it. The NX706 would not read or access this HDD.

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Backup-Desktop-External-STCA3000101/

Both drives were formatted NTFS, so maybe that is the problem?

oabeieo's 1TB drive does work, so IDK what to tell you?


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

fcarpio said:


> There is a SiriusXM app available for Android and iPhone/iPad. Dang, even my TV has a SiriusXM app available for it. So you can use a phone or tablet as a head unit. I use my phone and I have a 200GB micro SD card full of FLAC files, that works well for me. ALSO, I have recently started to give Tidal HiFi a go and so far I am pretty impressed with the sound quality, they are streaming FLACs. There is a one month free trial going on right now for Tidal if you want to give it a go. As far as loading time goes, it is negligible as I usually open VLC or Tidal as I walk to my car so the apps are already open when I start the car. I turn on the car and while I put the phone in the holder my stereo is already up and running. Wait time is not an issue for me, but that is my routine.


Thanks for the input, fcarpio. Other than BT calling, I'm trying to avoid involving my phone with the stereo, along with any additional monthly charges, like Tidal - which I've heard really is a great service. Plus, I had over 700GB of music (mostly FLAC) via SD & 2xUSB drives in a 4100NEX, which all got stolen recently. I was on Cloud 9 having such a huge variety of music at my fingertips and I can't bear the thought of a backwards step in that regard. Even the 700GB was pared down from a bit over 2TB of my collection, and if the NX706 can support as many (hopefully WAY more) files as the NEX, I'll be sold on the Clarion.

Funny, my current "car stereo" (ugh) is a JBL Charge 2 BT speaker in the cup holder, through which I only play SXM Howard Stern via BT from my Galaxy S7.


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

bbfoto said:


> Yes, the Clarion NX706 is actually one of the faster DD units in regards to booting up from a cold start and starting various functions. The Backup/Rear View Camera takes a bit longer than some, however...not much, but a second or two. And as mentioned by _fcarpio_, there is a _SiriusXM_ app available for Android and iPhone/iPad.
> 
> As I stated, there are Pros & Cons to my Phablet setup, but after using it, it is really difficult to go back to a sluggish, feature-deficient GUI and Low-Res resistive touch display. And not having the Voice Commands was a big deal for me. The NX706 does have a _Siri Voice Command_ hardware button on the front panel for Apple iDevices, but not Apple CarPlay. I'm using Android devices now and not an iPhone/iPad, so I couldn't test this feature. It *may* work great.
> 
> ...


Really appreciate your many detailed responses, bbfoto. I know the NEX models work much better with FAT32, so maybe the Clarion is the same. If there was a DD unit that also had the great features of your tablet, THAT would be a no-brainer. Makes me wish I had the time/resources/know-how to design and market a true high-end DD unit. The NX706 is looking like the closest thing to that for my purposes, but there's no way to check the thing out without buying one. oabeieo is working fine with a huge USB drive, but he only has around 1-2K files on it. I had over 30K hooked up to my Pioneer, so I'm trying to ascertain whether the Clarion can at least match that, and hopefully access 100K+ files. Since replacing my 10+ year old Eclipse nav unit with the Pioneer, I've come to realize having such a massive choice of music is my #1 priority, and if I can have that with digital out, even sweeter!


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Well my NX706 will be coming out. I liked what it had to offer, but the deal breaker for me is that FAN. Even when you have the volume on zero, the fan is still moving and it to those who have heard it, its loud. I've had all kinds of suggestions as to what to do, but honestly I shouldn't have to. I didn't mind the fact that it protrudes more then my other radios. Nor the fact that the on button takes soooo long. The deal breaker for me is my truck is quiet when at idle, so why can't my radio ? Looks like I'll be doing a 4200NEX and using my gps for my nav.


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

Coppertone said:


> Well my NX706 will be coming out. I liked what it had to offer, but the deal breaker for me is that FAN. Even when you have the volume on zero, the fan is still moving and it to those who have heard it, its loud. I've had all kinds of suggestions as to what to do, but honestly I shouldn't have to. I didn't mind the fact that it protrudes more then my other radios. Nor the fact that the on button takes soooo long. The deal breaker for me is my truck is quiet when at idle, so why can't my radio ? Looks like I'll be doing a 4200NEX and using my gps for my nav.


Ooh, that's troubling. I wonder if that's an issue with your particular unit or if they all are that way? I suppose the fan could be replace by a quieter one, but I agree we shouldn't have to modify a new device like that.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

hella356 said:


> Really appreciate your many detailed responses, bbfoto. I know the NEX models work much better with FAT32, so maybe the Clarion is the same. If there was a DD unit that also had the great features of your tablet, THAT would be a no-brainer. Makes me wish I had the time/resources/know-how to design and market a true high-end DD unit. The NX706 is looking like the closest thing to that for my purposes, but there's no way to check the thing out without buying one. oabeieo is working fine with a huge USB drive, but he only has around 1-2K files on it. I had over 30K hooked up to my Pioneer, so I'm trying to ascertain whether the Clarion can at least match that, and hopefully access 100K+ files. Since replacing my 10+ year old Eclipse nav unit with the Pioneer, I've come to realize having such a massive choice of music is my #1 priority, and if I can have that with digital out, even sweeter!


No worries. I think that my SanDisk USB 2.0 Thumbdrive and Lexar Pro USB 3.0 SD card reader with a Lexar Pro 256gb 1000x SDXC memory card were both formatted in either FAT32 or eXFAT, and both of those worked fine.

I'm sure that the NX706 will handle what it claims in the manual regarding File/Folder/Size compatibility. The Big Problem will be how you Search or Access all of those Thousands of files! This is where the "Genre" or "Playlist" functionality really saves the day for me. The NX doesn't support either. 

The NX706 only displays 6 files at a time on the USB playback screen. That list displays the Actual File Names, not info from your ID3 Tags. You press the Up/Down Arrows to jump to the next page of 6 files. I couldn't reliably "swipe" with my index finger on the touchscreen through the file list to select between just 280 files on my Thumb Drive without the list freezing and/or the unit accidentally selecting & start playing one of the files while I was just trying to swipe through the list. 

There is a "Search" function where you type in the Title or Keyword using an on-screen keyboard. HOWEVER, when you search this way, it will NOT find the song title or file by keyword unless you are already in the Exact Folder that contains the file you are searching for! IOW, if you try to Search for a File or Song Title from your Root Music Folder of the USB storage, it Will Not show any results! I even tried searching for the Exact Names of several of my Sub-Folders that are in my Root Music Folder, and it did not find any of them! Major Fail! 

Instead, the failed search says, "Not exist" at the top of the screen, LOL.

So I'm not sure of another way to easily scan or search through that many files. And if you read my long posts/review a few pages back, the Remote Control doesn't really make it much easier or faster to scroll through your files.




Coppertone said:


> Well my NX706 will be coming out. I liked what it had to offer, but the deal breaker for me is that FAN. Even when you have the volume on zero, the fan is still moving and it to those who have heard it, its loud. I've had all kinds of suggestions as to what to do, but honestly I shouldn't have to. I didn't mind the fact that it protrudes more then my other radios. Nor the fact that the on button takes soooo long. The deal breaker for me is my truck is quiet when at idle, so why can't my radio ? Looks like I'll be doing a 4200NEX and using my gps for my nav.


Sorry to hear that, Ben. Yeah, that was another issue that I had with my NX706 as well. That fan is loud and it runs almost constantly, even when you disable the internal amplifier.


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

bbfoto said:


> No worries. I think that the SanDisk USB 2.0 Thumbdrive and Lexar Pro USB 3.0 SD card reader with a Lexar Pro 256gb 1000x SDXC memory card were both formatted in either FAT32 or eXFAT, and both of those worked fine.
> 
> I'm sure that the NX706 will handle what it claims in the manual regarding File/Folder/Size compatibility. The Big Problem will be how you Search or Access all of those Thousands of files! This is where the "Genre" or "Playlist" functionality really saves the day for me. The NX doesn't support either.
> 
> ...


My goodness, it seems none of the major manufacturers could really nail a touchscreen HU in 2016 and it's looking unlikely this year, too. This is loaded with Major Fail! The lagging during scrolling gives me pause, although the NEX was hardly good in this respect.

The potential saving grace for me is that I have spent many, many hours going through all my files and carefully naming them and the folders they reside in, along with their tagging - although it appears the tags would be worthless with the Clarion. I have all my music in folders by artist name, a folder for each album, and strictly browse via folder browser. I pretty much always listen to entire albums and never once did a genre or any other type of search on the Pioneer and was perfectly fine with that. I'm probably in a small minority in my habits, but this bothers me even though it probably wouldn't affect me.

Who the hell designs these GUIs? One big appeal to the Chinese Android units is that several of them are rootable, allowing for extensive interface customization and choice of music players/video players/navigation, etc. from what I've read. This speaks to your experiences with your tablet, which undoubtedly is WAY more user-friendly than the NX. Unfortunately, those Android head units are not at all geared towards car audio enthusiasts and don't support SiriusXM, but many do have higher resolution (commonly 1024x600) capacitive screens and are a lot more versatile. Nothing is easy when it comes to zeroing in on the best HU/HU alternative! :undecided:


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Just for reference, here is a Link to Sonic Electronix photos for the NX706. This will show you all of the Screens for the different Modes, as well as a NAV screen, and all of the Settings screens.

Picture 1 of 37 for Clarion NX706 Hi-Res Digital Sound Stereo


You can Download the User Manual here:

https://pdf.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20160601085400/Manuals/020/020NX706.PDF


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

hella356 said:


> The lagging during scrolling gives me pause, although the NEX was hardly good in this respect.
> ....
> 
> The potential saving grace for me is that I have spent many, many hours going through all my files and carefully naming them and the folders they reside in, along with their tagging - although it appears the tags would be worthless with the Clarion. I have all my music in folders by artist name, a folder for each album, and strictly browse via folder browser. I pretty much always listen to entire albums and never once did a genre or any other type of search on the Pioneer and was perfectly fine with that. I'm probably in a small minority in my habits, but this bothers me even though it probably wouldn't affect me.


I have also been very particular about properly Naming my Files, and organizing them in Folders by Artist, then Album, and making sure all of the ID3 Tags are in place. Your tagging regimen wouldn't be completely worthless with the Clarion.

Just to be clear, with the NX706 you _can_ view or browse the contents of your USB Drive by Folders, and if your individual files are all properly tagged, you can sort/browse by _Artist_, _Album_, and _Song Title_. So if you just like to sort, view, and select by Album name, you _can_ do that.

But as I mentioned previously, it just didn't work well for *me* when I tried to swipe through them quickly to find one file or folder out of a long list, or to get from the "A's" to the "J's" quickly, etc.

And "Paging Up or Down" with the Up/Down arrows by groups of 6 just didn't cut it for me when I have Thousands to go through. The way that the remote worked wasn't that much better.

The _Search_ function didn't allow me to find ANY Folder at ANY Level in the hierarchy or directory structure. You would think that you could just type "R" in the search to jump to all folders (and/or files) that start with the letter "R". But that didn't work for me. I could only search for _Files_, but they would only show up if I had manually navigated to the exact Folder that the file was in. :-/

And I didn't find any other way to scroll quickly through any of the lists or "jump to" a group of files or folders Alphabetically.

I couldn't test it, but I would guess that the Siri Voice Command would only search through and/or play the music files on your iDevice, and would not work with a generic USB storage device.

I guess that this is the dilemma that we face in this day and age of having/wanting a giant library of music files that we want access to instantaneously.


I've also thought about trying to develop a "High-End" DD Android head unit with all of the features that we want, and possibly fund it through Kickstarter or Indiegogo, etc. But I know that it would take A LOT more of my time and resources than I have available at the moment.

I honestly think that Andy Whemeyer at Audiofrog would be the ideal person to tackle this! Hint, hint, Andy!


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

hella356 said:


> Who the hell designs these GUIs? One big appeal to the Chinese Android units is that several of them are rootable, allowing for extensive interface customization and choice of music players/video players/navigation, etc. from what I've read. This speaks to your experiences with your tablet, which undoubtedly is WAY more user-friendly than the NX. Unfortunately, those Android head units are not at all geared towards car audio enthusiasts and don't support SiriusXM, but many do have higher resolution (commonly 1024x600) capacitive screens and are a lot more versatile. Nothing is easy when it comes to zeroing in on the best HU/HU alternative! :undecided:


This is basically what I just did. Not only that but these Chinese no names brands have figured out what the established brands haven't

1:Integration! 
-These things plug right into factory wiring and maintain steering wheel control and all that stuff. 
-They also LOOK stock where they fill up the entire console whole instead of having some big cheep ass plastic trim.

2-Price
Oviously this being from China

3-Desirable features
-quad core 1gb ram
-capacitive multi touch screen with a bit better resolution
-GPS is always included..and likely can use google maps with the best traffic data and routing(when connected to internet)
-android that can run a bunch of apps, all the apps
-wifi connections\3g dongles
-SPDIF

4-Quick power on
-yeah one of the biggest things missing in mainstream line ups. Why are these things so damn slow when OEM is instant. Why would anyone want one of these overprices slow crappy decks?


Of course this Chinese no name do it all might be a piece of crap in terms of reliability... I guess I'll find out.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

^ Cool. What particular unit did you find with SPDIF output, and does the SPDIF output pass the signal for ALL of the sources?


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

bbfoto said:


> ^ Cool. What particular unit did you find with SPDIF output, and does the SPDIF output pass the signal for ALL of the sources?


I looked at a bunch, I recall a few had it but it's only for my vehicule make. You'd have to search for your make and have a look. The one I chose had specific details about sound playing within 2 seconds and back u camera within 3 haha. I can't recall the one I found with SPDIF and have no details about how it might work.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

I can see you he screen just fine with polarized sunglasses on 

Don't remember who asked


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

This isn't a thread bashing the NX706, but I'm taking mine out. It seems once a week when I go and start my truck, the radio has lost everything that I've stored in it. No presets, no home on navi, just turns on to static on my radio. All connnections have been checked and a reset has been done, all to no avail. So this radio will go back to where it came from, and another 4100NEX will replace it.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Thanks for the information, Ben. That's a bummer...and strange, because my NX706 AM/FM Tuner seemed to keep all of the Radio Presets even when I disconnected power completely. I was using a bench-top 12V power supply. I actually tried to find a way to clear the Presets before I returned my unit, but even a Reset with the front panel button or via the settings menu, and/or removing power completely didn't clear the Tuner Presets. 


This HU has so much potential, but just too many things ended up in my personal "Cons" list to keep it. Others may be fine with the things that I don't like about it and that's cool.

Besides functionality, my main gripe was with the "Fisher-Price" GUI and color scheme, LOL.

I just don't get why or how in this day and age of modern technology these Car Audio DD manufacturer's can't "get it right" feature-wise, functionality-wise, quality-wise, and GUI-wise.

Don't get me wrong because a select few of the Alpine and Pioneer units come very close to perfection for me, but then I compare them against my 8" Phablet and I'm disappointed overall.

We all know that if a manufacturer actually "nailed it" with one of these units that they would sell like hotcakes as long as they had a semi-reasonable price, even to the general car audio enthusiast population, because rave reviews on Amazon and SonicElectronix would persuade a lot of people to buy them.

I would say $800-$1400 should be the most you should need to pay for a full featured unit. I mean, you can buy a very nice Intel Core-i7/SSD Laptop with a 12"-15" 1080p or Retina-level Capacitive Touchscreen for that kind of money, and I can't see the B.O.M. on DD head units being anywhere near what a laptop is.

All they really need to do is basically copy an Apple iPad Mini Retina, or 7"-8" Android Tablet, and:

- add a few more front panel hardware buttons for "key functions" such as Power/Source, Mute, and Voice Commands.
- add a front panel Volume dual-action Knob (Volume & Subwoofer Level) and/or wireless "Rotary Command Dial" like Sony's RM-X90
- Apple CarPlay & Android Auto with _Siri Hands Free_ & _Google Now_ Voice Commands.
- add an AM/FM HD Tuner with antenna connection.
- Apt-X Bluetooth Audio Streaming or WiFi Streaming
- USB 3.0 inputs, 1 Front, 1 Rear, or maybe USB Type-C at this point.
- SDXC memory card slot in front panel.
- Digital File Playback support for up to 24/192 ALAC, WAV, FLAC, AAC, and MP3.
- add universal SWC capability (maybe an Add-On snap-in module?)
- add Analog 4v-5v pre-outs.
- Digital Output (Toslink & Coaxial) option via a small modular Add-On adapter ~$50.
- Make one version with a CD/DVD/BluRay mech. & HDMI out
- Modular Add-On 4-Channel "Built-In" amplifier for the folks who want to keep it simple.
- iDataLink Maestro connectivity for OEM integration features. again via a standard but optional plug-in module. 
- EDIT: Oh I forgot iPod Classic/Video 5th-7th Gen device support for me and ErinH! 

Done. Take My Money!

The main hindrance for the manufacturers when trying to implement a "Fully Featured" Smartphone or Tablet-like GUI is the Legal Restrictions that are placed on these types of devices while driving, especially concerning Video...you know, the lovely Pop-Up Warning & Disclaimer Screens...that drives me bonkers. Let me opt out once and be done!

Maybe they can incorporate the GPS to detect if the car is moving to restrict video, etc? And that's where a solid Voice-Command system combined with universal SWC compatibility would make the most sense. Program a SW button to long-press to initiate a voice command if you can't just say "Ok Google" or "Hey Siri".

Anyway


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Well written sir, well written.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Coppertone said:


> So this radio will go back to where it came from, and another 4100NEX will replace it.


I happen to know someone with an 8100nex refurb for a heckuva price if you're interested. 




Also, I find it kind of funny how the thread title has turned out to mimic (some) people's reaction to this deck. They install it for a bit, then uninstall it. Then tell the folks here the Clarion NX706 is out (of their car).


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## nineball76 (Mar 13, 2010)

And the price went back up.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

ErinH said:


> ...Also, I find it kind of funny how the thread title has turned out to mimic (some) people's reaction to this deck. They install it for a bit, then uninstall it. Then tell the folks here the Clarion NX706 is out (of their car).


LOL, I didn't see that until you pointed it "out", haha.

Luckily, I just tested the NX706 on the bench and didn't waste any time installing it. If I didn't have the Galaxy Tab S2 8" phablet setup, your 8100NEX would be calling my name.


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

bbfoto said:


> Thanks for the information, Ben. That's a bummer...and strange, because my NX706 AM/FM Tuner seemed to keep all of the Radio Presets even when I disconnected power completely. I was using a bench-top 12V power supply. I actually tried to find a way to clear the Presets before I returned my unit, but even a Reset with the front panel button or via the settings menu, and/or removing power completely didn't clear the Tuner Presets.
> 
> 
> This HU has so much potential, but just too many things ended up in my personal "Cons" list to keep it. Others may be fine with the things that I don't like about it and that's cool.
> ...


Totally agree about a unit like that. What I'd also like to see:
- SiriusXM capable
- HDMI input for smartphones
- Personally, I'd prefer 2-4 USB 3.0/3.1 ports on the rear, as I don't like USB sticks or wires protruding from the front - too easy to snag on something
- USB hub capable
- Enough CPU/RAM performance to support an essentially unlimited number of files over USB/SD without lagging
- Mechless
- No internal amplification
- Connectivity to an external DSP where all tuning functions could be controlled via the head unit
- 720p or 1080p AMOLED screen

Done. Take My Money, Too!


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

hella356 said:


> Totally agree about a unit like that. What I'd also like to see:
> - SiriusXM capable
> - HDMI input for smartphones
> - Personally, I'd prefer 2-4 USB 3.0/3.1 ports on the rear, as I don't like USB sticks or wires protruding from the front - too easy to snag on something
> ...



The only reason that I might want to have 1 USB 3.0 Port on the front is for these little guys. Right now they are only available with up to 128GB capacity, but I'm sure that will change soon as this technology advances at a very rapid pace. It would even be better if it was a USB Type-C port, which would take up less space and thumb drives are starting to become available now with that connector. But USB 3.0 for now....




















SanDisk and Samsung have similar USB 3.0 dongles available...










What are the Best Mini USB 3.0 Drives? | Everything USB


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

Yeah, those would actually be OK. 128GB is somewhat limiting - I had two X 256GB in my 4100NEX and would have preferred a couple of 512GB if they weren't so expensive. And since the 256GB had about 10K files each, they were already pushing the limits of what the NEX could handle, so going larger wouldn't have gotten me much more. But eventually those tiny USB sticks will get to 256, 512, etc.


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## hella356 (Dec 11, 2016)

Looks like Clarion is releasing a new model which looks like the NX807 without navigation, which presumably will be cheaper. Not clear if there's any difference between the NX807 and NX706 other than CarPlay.

Link to VX807


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

hella356 said:


> Looks like Clarion is releasing a new model which looks like the NX807 without navigation, which presumably will be cheaper. Not clear if there's any difference between the NX807 and NX706 other than CarPlay.
> 
> Link to VX807


Mutherfucher .....

Gosh dam now I have to buy a different deck. 
I would much rather have Apple CarPlay Google maps or bomb 
I'm going to get the first one


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

The entire FDS system from Clarion has me captivated, only thing holding me back is the $3350 price tag but I really want to hear this system in person, especially the subwoofer.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_700FD...&awnw=g&awcr=114034698385&awdv=c&awug=9060467


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

gstokes said:


> The entire FDS system from Clarion has me captivated, only thing holding me back is the $3350 price tag but I really want to hear this system in person, especially the subwoofer.
> 
> https://www.crutchfield.com/p_700FD...&awnw=g&awcr=114034698385&awdv=c&awug=9060467


Yeah. Good luck with that. I've heard the system on a board at CES. There was nothing about it that wowed me, or seemed exceptional. Certainly nothing significant enough for me to recall at this point. Chances of hearing the system in a car are slim and none.


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## airdevin (Sep 20, 2014)

hello , as anybody been able to update the nx706 to nx706e with european update ?


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## haakono (Apr 5, 2009)

Hey guys, I ran into a problem with my NX706 this evening. 

It stops at the loading screen (Clarion logo on screen) and wont start up. The only troubleshooting tip in the manual is to reset the unit (processor) but the same thing happens after as well. 

Also tried disconnecting it from power (disconnected car battery) both before and after resetting, but no difference.

What to do next? I bought it from the US, but I'm living in Norway, so returning it will be a major hassle and cost. So I'll try just about anything before going to that step.


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## Jared.P (Dec 18, 2015)

I'm going to bump this - since it's sort of related has anyone tried out the clarion vx807 or nx807? Apparently the GUI is completely different (what I've heard) from the previous model along with the addition of car play. Pics show the icons and screens are a little more appealing as well (at least to me). Im Looking for a good unit with car play and optical out and the vx807 is currently edging it's way to the top of my list


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