New Sony Marine Head unit with non-volatile memory (holds settings without power)

[Scottie]

I just wanted to put this out there since I've been looking for a long long time. I turn my battery switch off when leaving the boat, like most of you do I'm sure. I had a Sony marine stereo in the boat already, and of course it reset everything, every time the power was turned off. I could've run a wire directly to the battery, but I just didn't want to. The only head units with non-volatile memory were a line of "Heavy Duty" units made by Jensen. I looked at them many times, but I'd lose my wired remote on the swim deck, and they haven't been updated in quite a few years. Enter this new unit from Sony. https://www.sony.com/electronics/marine/dsx-m80. I installed it in my boat yesterday and it's great. It was a simple wire swap since I already had a Sony stereo installed. It has all the features you could want, with a nice display for SiriusXM which includes station names, song titles, etc (I didn't have that before). It has a nice app for smartphone control from anywhere in the boat, AND it retains all settings, favorites, phone pairings, etc when the battery is turned off. Just though I'd pass along a great option for anyone with a single DIN stereo in their boat.

 

[captainhook]

Nice find. I have the Sony unit in my boat from the factory as well and if drives me nuts to reset it each time even though I only use the AUX in function.

Does it have a rear unit? I don’t see one one the website or Crutchfield review video.

Since I otherwise liked the heat unit for the most part, I just spent 45 bucks on a Bluetooth adapter. I may have looked at this instead if I knew it was an option two weeks ago.

 

[Scottie]

I had this remote on the swimdeck already. I don't know if this is factory or not as I bought the boat used, but it connected to the new radio exactly like the old one, and works just like it always has. CPS Wired Marine Remote for Sony Radios

 

[captainhook]

Gotcha, mine is a little bit different. And of course I just figured out today that my transom remote stopped working!

 

[MacAR210]

I bought a DSX-80 radio also. I have it wired just like the factory Clarion radio. Mine does not remember any of my settings. Any idea what’s wrong? I got the 12v, ground, and red ACC wires all matched up. Every time I turn my battery switch off it loses everything.

 

[Scottie]

I went through this myself and actually contacted Sony support, who were very helpful. When you turn the radio off, you must hold down the off button for 10 seconds. This commits all settings to the internal memory. Obviously you must do this before disconnecting the batteries, and you must do it every time you turn it off, whether you changed any settings or not. That's not mentioned anywhere in the manual, but it does work. I don't love it, but it is still better in my situation than the alternative. Here is a sony support article just for reference.

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00247942

 

[MacAR210]

I went through this myself and actually contacted Sony support, who were very helpful. When you turn the radio off, you must hold down the off button for 10 seconds. This commits all settings to the internal memory. Obviously you must do this before disconnecting the batteries, and you must do it every time you turn it off, whether you changed any settings or not. That's not mentioned anywhere in the manual, but it does work. I don't love it, but it is still better in my situation than the alternative. Here is a sony support article just for reference.

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00247942

hey thank you for the info I’ll give it a try next time out!