Kenwood Excelon DPX701

USB / AAC / WMA / MP3 / CD Receiver with External Media Control and Digital Sources Galore

By Matthew Valbuena

For those lucky enough to own a vehicle with a double-DIN radio opening and also need a source unit that plays a multitude of digital formats, Kenwood has the perfect solution, the Excelon DPX701. The DPX701 will play MP3, WMA and AAC music files on either CD or USB. While USB technology is nothing new, the increasing appearance of USB connectivity on in-dash source units is noteworthy. In addition to the USB connectivity, the DPX701 also supports a laundry list of compatible external digital sources such as satellite radio, HD Radio, CD or MD changer and, of course, iPod. The source unit also features three sets of 5-volt RCA pre-outs (front/rear/sub) and a rear-mounted RCA auxiliary input for maximum system flexibility.

The DPX701 comes packaged with the usual radio accessories and installation hardware: owner's manuals, wire harness, wireless remote, batteries, ISO-screws, etc. However, before I reached the actual source unit I discovered some unconventional car audio accessories -- a software CD and a short (1.5m) USB cable. These accessories allow the user to encode their music files on a burned CD or USB drive for easier file retrieval when played back on the DPX701. While the software isn't absolutely necessary to utilize the USB connectivity of the source unit, it does make organizing and finding song files on a CD or USB jump drive much easier, as I would later find out.

Installation

After giving the installation portion of the owner's manual a quick read, I installed the unit into a Mazda Proteg 5. As a double-DIN source unit, the DPX701 beautifully filled the spot vacated by the OEM unit without the need of a dash kit or any additional mounting hardware. I simply inserted the double-DIN mounting sleeve into the dash cavity, bent a few tabs on the sleeve, connected my harnesses and RCAs and slid the DPX701 into the dash until it locked into place.

SETUP

Turning the unit on for the first time revealed some handsome accent lighting and Kenwood's 64-color fluorescent display. The minimalist design features a large volume rotary encoder dominating the lower left of the unit, a small joystick control knob occupying the lower right side and a minimal amount of buttons sparsely spread throughout the remaining space. The internal amplifier provided sufficient power to the speakers in the doors and the 5-volt pre-out was more than enough signal for my Class D sub amp.

Adjusting all of the Excelon's initial settings required several minutes of sitting in the car with the owner's manual nearby. The unit comes with six System Q-EX Sound Control preset EQ curves, as well as a speaker settings menu that adjusts the System Q settings according to the type of speakers in the vehicle. Adjusting the subwoofer output, bass, mid, treble, balance and fader functions was straightforward as it just involved pressing the rotary encoder to access the audio control menu and then rotating the encoder to perform the desired adjustments. That was the easy part. Setting the DPX701's System E's+ crossovers and EQ settings took several re-reads of the manual to figure out how to access the control menus to make the desired changes.

DISPLAY

Once the audio was dialed in, it was time to select my display preferences. The DPX701 features a 64-color fluorescent display that you find on single-DIN Excelon units. The multi-color display is capable of five different display types, and each display type can be customized to show the desired source information. Freedom of choice is always appreciated, but this feature requires eight pages in the owner's manual to fully explain each of the available display options!

USB

Eager to test out the USB connectivity of the Kenwood DPX701, I connected my Oakley Thump 2 sunglasses (with integrated 512mb USB drive and MP3 player) to the front of the Excelon unit and went for a quick drive. The DPX701 recognized the USB device and after a second or two of reading the USB drive, music playback began. The audio quality was superb and there was virtually no delay when selecting different music files. Another indirect benefit of the USB connectivity was that I no longer had to worry about excessive bass or potholes interrupting my music. I had 75 MP3s stored on the Thump 2's and since I was familiar with the music files, it was easy finding the songs I wanted.

Keeping track of just 75 tracks is pretty simple, but for people with larger USB drives or devices, Kenwood has bundled the Excelon DPX701 with their Advanced Codec Drive software. The disc contains the PhatNoise Media Manager program and an electronic user's guide. When running the PhatNoise program for the first time, the software searches the computer for any and all applicable music files. The software then copies and converts these files into AAC files that are saved to a library within the Media Manager program. For those with iPods, this program will seem very similar to iTunes. The biggest benefit of this software is how it organizes your digital music files on burned CDs and USB drives. The Media Manager allows the music files to be categorized by playlists, genre type, artist or album title. When the files are transferred to a CD or USB drive and played back on the DPX701, audible voice prompts will announce the artist, album title or genre. The software helps optimize the convenience of playing music from a digital library on the DPX701.

G Whiz

While listening to digital music on the Kenwood DPX701 can make sitting in traffic more enjoyable, the unit's G-Analyzer Display function will make driving fun when traffic starts moving again. The G-Analyzer allows the source unit to calculate G-forces during acceleration, braking and cornering via the DPX701's display. In addition to analyzing the G-forces of the vehicle, the DPX701 also has a horsepower analysis tool that measures the vehicle's horsepower and displays it accordingly. There are four user-selectable displays to choose from: G-Graphic, G-Meter (Graphic), G-Meter (Text) and G-Counter. My personal favorite was the G-Graphic function, which features an image of a vehicle onscreen that mimicked the motion of my Protg 5 as I was driving. When I turned left, the car graphic turned left, and as I turned right, the car graphic turned right. It was almost as if I was playing a video game while driving, which is why Kenwood cautions against using this feature on public roads or highways. With so many useful features and a multitude of digital music sources to choose from, this single cautionary statement doesn't dampen the benefits of the Excelon DPX701.

Kenwood Excelon DXP701

MSRP: $450

www.kenwoodusa.com

Key points

- USB compatible

- Plays a large selection of digital music formats

- Satellite Radio Ready (additional tuner, antenna and subscription required)

- HD Radio Ready (additional tuner required)

- 24 bit D/A converter

- Three sets of 5-volt RCA pre-outs

- Rear-mounted RCA auxiliary input

- CD / MD Changer controls