Hey folks.

I've just bought a JVC car stereo head unit. One of my criteria was to have a unit that was mp3 player/iPod friendly, as I'd like to start banishing CDs etc from my car.

This unit is "iPod ready" and a connection can be installed so the iPod is controlled via the car stereo unit. But now I'm wondering about people's experience using these types of controls for their iPod/Mp3 players. I haven't tried mine yet (has yet to be installed in my car, which is why I'm asking now)...but it occurs to me it could be more cumbersome to find tunes via the car stereo interface. I know that folders and play lists can, I believe, be accessed via the car unit controls. But I wonder about how easy this access will be, and you loose the nice, easy tactile interface of the iPod itself once it's hooked up to the car stereo (at least my instructions say the iPod's controls are de-activated once it's hooked to the car stereo).

So can anyone talk about their experience in this regard?

I note that some car stereos have what appears to be a small (analog?) input for MP3 players/iPods on their front. Mine, I believe, will be a fully digital hook up. But I wonder if there is a difference in how one controls the iPod and which may be preferable.

Thanks.

Anyone?

I have a Kenwood with both a USB and IPOD interfaces. The radio's control is different and not as intuitive nor as flexible as the IPOD or my Samsung MP3 player. I doubt that the JVC is much different as they were not designed for this purpose. It is still nice to be able to use the data from a jump drive or the IPOD instead of dealing with CDs. I actually like the USB port best because you can make assorments of various genres cheap and small. I made the wife an assortment of Christmas music on a 1gig USB drive that I got for $10.

Thanks for the reply Icaillo.

To anyone else: Is there any particularly friendly iPod-ready car head units stereos? I want to figure out if I'll be keeping this one. Thanks.

I have a Pioneer dehp6800mp and the ipod controls were the best that I've found. New models should be hitting stores within the next couple months so we may see more doing better ipod controls.

some pioneer units have what they call the "Rotary Commander" which will kinda mimic the iPod's ClickWheel. alpine also has a good iPod navigation although i'm not sure if it's only for their video units...

I have a jvc with an ipod controller, and it sounds great, but it is very cumbersome to navigate, and it only displays 8 characters. I did find one shortcut however-It will remember whatever list your ipod was playing, and will automatically play that. So if you want to hear an album or a playlist, just start the album on the ipod BEFORE you plug it in. I bought mine because it includes a front aux-in jack,(as a plan b if I wasn't happy with the interface) but I decided to stick with the ipod connector so I can keep it out of sight. If you leave your ipod hanging from the dash it WILL disappear- guaranteed. MUCH safer to have the ipod in the glove box and the wiring hidden. You are aware that "ipod ready" requires a JVC ipod adapter. About $50 very simple to hook up. I ran mine to the glove box.

BTW there is no such thing as a digital connection to the ipod. The dock's pinout includes connectors for analog lineout, and that's what gets fed to your stereo, but it is a high quality clean connection., and I believe it's a much cleaner signal than going through the headphone jack.

Stay away from the Kenwood IPOD interface adapter. The interface is terrible.

Rich,

Which JVC did you get? Each model seems to have a different panel layout with different controls. I have the KD-G320... got it packaged with the ipod adapter at Circuit City for a great price, so I figured, why not?

The KD-G320 has a round navigation control to the left of the volume knob. It;s really a four-way clicker... left - up - right - down. With the ipod attached, you must control it via the radio, the ipod itself is locked. Click up to get into Menu. Then click right to go through Playlist, Artists, Albums, Songs, etc. Click down to select. Cick right come more to cycle through choices, down to select. When you get to a song, click down to play. Or, you can set "song random" or "album random" by pressing the mode button (far right on the panel) then preset 6. I usually use song random, and then while playing just click right to skip to next song.

The JVC units only display 8 characters, and mine uses large-segment lcd, which is not very readable, IMO. The Pioneers now have 16 characters. Some of the high end units have dot matrix or OEL displays which would look better I think (but I haven't seen any).

With the aux input on the front of the unit, the head unit is really just a set of speakers, so all you get is the music... no display, and you must control it from the ipod. Some people seem to prefer this.

With the adapter, using the 30 pin plug, you control the ipod from the radio (or the radio's remote if it has one -- mine does, but I never use it). You get the display. What you DON'T get is access to the ipod's other menu items like settings for sound check, eq, etc. I'm not sure if these setting even get passed to the radio at all... I tried setting sound check to prevent wide swings in violume between songs from different albums, but it did not seem to work. I also tried setting the ipod eq to "rock", but I couldn't hear any difference from flat eq.

The MP3/WMA disc player is nice too.... like having a bunc of small ipods. Interface works pretty much the same... click right on the nav button to cycle through folders, down to enter a folder, right (or left) to cycle through the contents, down to select. Sounds pretty much the same as the ipod, which is expected 'cause it's similar encoding. If you name your folders beginning with "01", "02", etc, you can access them directly using the presets. It's supposed to suport 8 levels of of folders, but I haven't tried it yet.

Some people say the sound quality of the ipod isn't great, but it sounds good to me. Definitely better than FM radio, even with a good signal.

What I wish I had is bluetooth through the radio. There are a few of these available... Parrot (better known in Europe), Pioneer and Sony each have one, JVC just announced one this year. Most major players have bluetooth add ons for some of their units (Alpine,Pioneer,Panasonic), but I'd prefer builtin. The Panasonic is incoming calls only :(. They are all pretty expensive... but so are the unis\ts with the builtins. Now I use a Motorola visor clip unit, which works OK, but I have to mute the radio myself.

Oh well, guess I droned on long enough.... time to watch "The Office"... :)

RS

The Alpine iDA-X001 looks promising:

http://transportation.engadget.com/2007/01/08/alpines-ida-x001-priced-and-dated/

The Alpine iDA-X001 looks promising:
the alpine does look nice, but i hoped they have used more space for the screen. it looks like it can barely display 8 characters...

BTW there is no such thing as a digital connection to the ipod. The dock's pinout includes connectors for analog lineout, and that's what gets fed to your stereo, but it is a high quality clean connection., and I believe it's a much cleaner signal than going through the headphone jack.
This is for sure? No digital output? That doesn't bode too well if you're going to use any signal processing(xover, delay, EQ-DSP) that the head unit may have.

I've been looking at this myself, but the above is certainly not encouraging.

I have the Alpine 9857. I had the 9835 (which was awesome), but sold it to get the 9857 (which has the newer, better Ipod controls). While the Alpine Ipod interface is outstanding, all of their decks have gone to **** since they started puting them in Best Buy. The 9857 is the flagship receiver (without going to F1 Status, DVD, flipscreen). They dumped the 5 volt pre-outs and used 2 volt. Cut the on-board amp by about 35% and ditched the internal xover. I swear to everything holy that I will never buy another Alpine product again if they can't bring the quality back up to par. VERY disappointed. I will be selling this unit very soon and getting one from Eclipse after owning no less than 8 Alpines over the years.

This is for sure? No digital output? That doesn't bode too well if you're going to use any signal processing(xover, delay, EQ-DSP) that the head unit may have.

I've been looking at this myself, but the above is certainly not encouraging.

They connect via the Ipod docking port. Why is this going to matter in your case? It is just the signal into the headunit. DSP, EQ etc will still be usable. Maybe I am misunderstanding. Plus, if one were that picky about the signalgoing in, they would use the CD, not an Ipod.

Stay away from the Kenwood IPOD interface adapter. The interface is terrible.

Seems Kenwood has come out with some new interfaces for the IPOD. Looks promising, would really like to take these for a test drive.

http://kenwoodusa.com/products/ListCateg.aspx?k1=2&k2=61&k3=220

I have their KCA iP500, and I hate it.The sound is good,but it is sooo slow and cumbersome to use. Especially since I have a lot of music loaded up.

They connect via the Ipod docking port. Why is this going to matter in your case? It is just the signal into the headunit. DSP, EQ etc will still be usable. Maybe I am misunderstanding. Plus, if one were that picky about the signalgoing in, they would use the CD, not an Ipod.
I asked a Pioneer rep about this and he confirmed it's an analog signal. Pioneer has head units with IPod capabilities. My use with the IPod would be with having it loaded with music that has been converted to the Apple lossless audio codec in an attempt to maintain signal quality.

Having the original digital signal when using DSP, crossovers, etc is always more desirable than using an analog signal, but heck, we're talking about a car, so it's not really that big a deal I suppose.

Seems Kenwood has come out with some new interfaces for the IPOD. Looks promising, would really like to take these for a test drive.

http://kenwoodusa.com/products/ListCateg.aspx?k1=2&k2=61&k3=220

I have their KCA iP500, and I hate it.The sound is good,but it is sooo slow and cumbersome to use. Especially since I have a lot of music loaded up.
Somewhat similar to the Pioneer equipment, a box interfaces between the IPod and the head unit and the IPod can be controlled through the head unit..

I'm a little late on this...

Much like the guy a few posts before me, I have the Alpine CDA-9857 with the iPod adapter (422i).

The controls are easy to use but I would definitely make some changes if I could.

A) If you have a lot of different artists on your iPod it can take forever to scroll to an artist in the middle of the alphabet. (Millencolin, Mudvayne, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, etc). The scrolling is nowhere near as fast as it is when using the iPod's controls.

B) There's no "back" (menu) button. What this means is: If you know a song you want to hear, but you're not sure which CD it's on, you can't back out of your first choice, and pick a different one. (Yes. I'm completely aware of the fact that you could click, "all songs", but there are just times when a back button would be nice.

I think those are my only two gripes.

Overall I'd absolutely purchase this combination again. I only listen to the iPod when I'm in the car (never a cd, never the radio, never the XM, etc.)

I've been reading about all these in-dash units with MP3 ports, but here is a cool gadget that will allow you to mount the MP3 port anywhere you want.

Cool MP3 Audio Cable - Dash Mountable (http://www.showmecables.com/viewItem.asp?idProduct=5083)

Do any of these decks (with and lcd screen) allow you to view movies from an ipod video? What I'm looking for is something to mimic the iPod screen on the lcd.

Ideally, I'd like to keep the ipod hidden and use an interface like the Harman Kardon Drive + Play while the ipod screen is displayed on the head unit, videos included.

Do any of these decks (with and lcd screen) allow you to view movies from an ipod video? What I'm looking for is something to mimic the iPod screen on the lcd.

Ideally, I'd like to keep the ipod hidden and use an interface like the Harman Kardon Drive + Play while the ipod screen is displayed on the head unit, videos included.

I'm using a Clarion VRX755VD dvd deck with an ipod. the touchscreen interface controls the ipod functions well but slow when scrolling through a long list of artists / songs. I thought I read somewhere that the latest Clarion dvd decks could display ipod video on it's screen. not absolutely sure but it's worth a look.

this will be a common feature among video units introduced this year. i know for sure that pioneer will have the CD-I200 interface.

BTW there is no such thing as a digital connection to the ipod. The dock's pinout includes connectors for analog lineout, and that's what gets fed to your stereo, but it is a high quality clean connection., and I believe it's a much cleaner signal than going through the headphone jack.

This used to be true, but the 5th generation (video) and up ipods are capable of outputting digital audio through the dock connector, including protected content. The new Alpine iDA-X001 uses this. If you read the description here: Alpine iDA-X001 (http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/products/product.php?model=iDA-X001) under the "Amazing sound quality" heading you'll see that it gets the audio digitally (through USB) to the headunit, and runs it through 24 bit Burr-Brown DACs. It's also not just reading the file structure and decrypting it somehow because it does playback protected content (which has to be decrypted on an authorized device).

I think the Pioneer DEH-P6900UB (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069880_338818745,00.html) works the same way as it's interface with the ipod is also through USB and not though the old serial control / analog dock connector line out.

I've played with the Pioneer in a Best Buy and it really is fast and as intuitive as the ipod. Only three lines of text sucks, as well as the monochrome display (why couldn't this be implemented on one of the nicer pioneers?) but the rotary commander knob is really nice.

This used to be true, but the 5th generation (video) and up ipods are capable of outputting digital audio through the dock connector, including protected content. The new Alpine iDA-X001 uses this. If you read the description here: Alpine iDA-X001 (http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/products/product.php?model=iDA-X001) under the "Amazing sound quality" heading you'll see that it gets the audio digitally (through USB) to the headunit, and runs it through 24 bit Burr-Brown DACs. It's also not just reading the file structure and decrypting it somehow because it does playback protected content (which has to be decrypted on an authorized device).

I think the Pioneer DEH-P6900UB (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069880_338818745,00.html) works the same way as it's interface with the ipod is also through USB and not though the old serial control / analog dock connector line out.

I've played with the Pioneer in a Best Buy and it really is fast and as intuitive as the ipod. Only three lines of text sucks, as well as the monochrome display (why couldn't this be implemented on one of the nicer pioneers?) but the rotary commander knob is really nice.
The Premier model, the DEH-P980BT has a color display. I'm getting a DEH-P880PRS installed today. I was going to go with the 980, but apparently Pioneer has discovered a problem with the Bluetooth portion of it. Granted, it lists at $570 so it's quite a bit more than the 6900...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/keenanj/291159553DEH-P980BTregular.jpg

Are you positive about the 5G IPods having digital out? I asked the Pioneer rep about that a few months ago and he said the IPod fed an analog signal to their head-units...?

The Premier model, the DEH-P980BT has a color display. I'm getting a DEH-P880PRS installed today. I was going to go with the 980, but apparently Pioneer has discovered a problem with the Bluetooth portion of it. Granted, it lists at $570 so it's quite a bit more than the 6900...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/keenanj/291159553DEH-P980BTregular.jpg

Are you positive about the 5G IPods having digital out? I asked the Pioneer rep about that a few months ago and he said the IPod fed an analog signal to their head-units...?


Only the DEH-6900UB (or it's premier counterpart DEH-690UB) have the USB control (hence the *UB designation). They both use the CD-IU50 Cable (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069910_403824506,00.html) to interface with the ipod (included with the premier model). If you look at the picture of the cable, it really is just a regular USB-ipod cable. The cable that is used with the 980 is the CD-I200 Cable (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069910_403472031,00.html) and it plugs into the IP-Bus connector on the head-unit like any other IP-Bus device (changer, NAV, etc) and uses a serial control interface and analog audio.

I can't say how similar the two are as I haven't used the latter, but they claim that the CD-I200 is "...as quick and easy as manipulating the iPod itself. " Personally I think that we will be seeing many new devices using this USB control interface for the ipod in the next year or two. I'd like to see them eventually get to the point where you could load firmware drivers into your headunit to control other devices as well (Zune?)

And yeah, if you read the description of the Alpine iDA-X001 in the link I posted above, it definately says that it gets the audio from the ipod digitally. USB is a digital data interface.

Only the DEH-6900UB (or it's premier counterpart DEH-690UB) have the USB control (hence the *UB designation). They both use the CD-IU50 Cable (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069910_403824506,00.html) to interface with the ipod (included with the premier model). If you look at the picture of the cable, it really is just a regular USB-ipod cable. The cable that is used with the 980 is the CD-I200 Cable (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069910_403472031,00.html) and it plugs into the IP-Bus connector on the head-unit like any other IP-Bus device (changer, NAV, etc) and uses a serial control interface and analog audio.

I can't say how similar the two are as I haven't used the latter, but they claim that the CD-I200 is "...as quick and easy as manipulating the iPod itself. " Personally I think that we will be seeing many new devices using this USB control interface for the ipod in the next year or two. I'd like to see them eventually get to the point where you could load firmware drivers into your headunit to control other devices as well (Zune?)

And yeah, if you read the description of the Alpine iDA-X001 in the link I posted above, it definately says that it gets the audio from the ipod digitally. USB is a digital data interface.
Yes, I bailed on the Pioneer install I had for this morning. After doing a little bit of research and talking with the store owner, who doesn't carry Alpine BTW, he readily admitted that the Alpine interface was the superior connection for use with an IPod.

Now the 690, and the upcoming 790, both appear to have the same connection as the Alpine unit, but I couldn't get a firm answer if that was in fact the case. I had considered those units, but neither one specs out in other areas as well as the 880 or 980, so it looks like Pioneer is not an option for me anymore.

I'm looking hard at the Alpine DVA-9861 as it has quite a few more functional aspects(DVD-A playback, etc) than the iDA-X001, and appears to have the same IPod connection and functionality as the iDA-X001 but I've made an inquiry to make sure. The iDA-X001 is due out in April BTW.

The Pioneer units have the "Made for IPod" logo as the Alpine units do, but the Alpine units also have a "Full Speed" logo, something that I don't see anywhere with the Pioneers. I'm not sure if that's an Alpine specific logo, or if it's a trademarked logo to be used universally

It's still unclear to me at this point in any of the Pioneers actually have the speed and functionality of the Alpine. Even though some of the Pioneers use a USB connection on the 690 and 790, it's not clear if they actually take the digital signal itself, or convert to analog first as it appears the add-on boxes do that are used by the 980 and 880.

Yes, I bailed on the Pioneer install I had for this morning. After doing a little bit of research and talking with the store owner, who doesn't carry Alpine BTW, he readily admitted that the Alpine interface was the superior connection for use with an IPod.

Now the 690, and the upcoming 790, both appear to have the same connection as the Alpine unit, but I couldn't get a firm answer if that was in fact the case. I had considered those units, but neither one specs out in other areas as well as the 880 or 980, so it looks like Pioneer is not an option for me anymore.

I'm looking hard at the Alpine DVA-9861 as it has quite a few more functional aspects(DVD-A playback, etc) than the iDA-X001, and appears to have the same IPod connection and functionality as the iDA-X001 but I've made an inquiry to make sure. The iDA-X001 is due out in April BTW.

The Pioneer units have the "Made for IPod" logo as the Alpine units do, but the Alpine units also have a "Full Speed" logo, something that I don't see anywhere with the Pioneers. I'm not sure if that's an Alpine specific logo, or if it's a trademarked logo to be used universally

It's still unclear to me at this point in any of the Pioneers actually have the speed and functionality of the Alpine. Even though some of the Pioneers use a USB connection on the 690 and 790, it's not clear if they actually take the digital signal itself, or convert to analog first as it appears the add-on boxes do that are used by the 980 and 880.

The iDA-X001 is the only Alpine that has the USB interface at the moment. This is Alpine's third generation ipod interface. Their first was the KCA-420 which is just plain slow as crap and was an external box that plugged into the Ai-Net. A year or two ago they introduced the ipod "full-speed" interface that greatly improved the interface of the KCA-420 just by letting you navigate through your songs and artists much more quickly, and they also added a percentage search that let you "jump" into your list in 20% increments. Both of these still use the analog line out from the dock connector. (I'm not sure what the "high-speed" interface uses for control." The iDA-X001 only uses the ipod for storage and decryption, not for D to A conversion. It uses it's own 24bit Burr-Brown DACs for that. The sound quality (at least for lossless AAC from ipod) should be much better on the iDA-X001 than any other headunit right now. Also, the user input is much better than the previous Alpine's because they actually consulted with Apple on how people would want to use the thing. That's why the screen looks like the ipod's (it's actually the same size and resolution). It does album art and all that good stuff.

http://www.macobserver.com/article/2007/01/alpine3-s.jpg

Okay, so at this point, the iDA-X001 is a one-of-a-kind in the marketplace, as far as you know? At least as far as an actual digital interface for the IPod?

As I understand it then, depending on what format you stored the data on the IPod, the iDA-X001 should be as good as it gets, meaning if it was stored as .wav files it will have the same audio quality as the CD itself.

That's why I started looking into this Ipod/head-unit thing is the first place, I basically want the IPod to act as a hard-drive storage device for the head-unit.

(There's one I don't understand about a lot of these car audio units, why the heck do they all seem to have the display on the far side(right side) of the unit? Were they designed for Japanese right-hand drive vehicles? I suppose I can understand it if the unit did not have remote capability, but with a remote I never even touch the front of my current Pioneer unit.)

Okay, so at this point, the iDA-X001 is a one-of-a-kind in the marketplace, as far as you know? At least as far as an actual digital interface for the IPod?

As I understand it then, depending on what format you stored the data on the IPod, the iDA-X001 should be as good as it gets, meaning if it was stored as .wav files it will have the same audio quality as the CD itself.

That's why I started looking into this Ipod/head-unit thing is the first place, I basically want the IPod to act as a hard-drive storage device for the head-unit.

(There's one I don't understand about a lot of these car audio units, why the heck do they all seem to have the display on the far side(right side) of the unit? Were they designed for Japanese right-hand drive vehicles? I suppose I can understand it if the unit did not have remote capability, but with a remote I never even touch the front of my current Pioneer unit.)


Well, I thought it was one of a kind, but like I was saying, the Pioneer 6900UB also accesses the ipod through strictly USB like the iDA, so as far as I can tell, it works in the same way. The differences are the super nice screen and audiophile components and control (and price tag) of the alpine.

As for storing your music like wav files for the best sound possible, that's what apple made apple lossless for. It's a compression format that makes the file size smaller while reproducing the source material exactly and it's a preset compression format already in itunes.

Can't help you with the right side screen thing though. My guess would be so that the knob winds up on the left of the screen so that your arm isn't in front of the screen while you're trying to do something.

Well, I thought it was one of a kind, but like I was saying, the Pioneer 6900UB also accesses the ipod through strictly USB like the iDA, so as far as I can tell, it works in the same way. The differences are the super nice screen and audiophile components and control (and price tag) of the alpine.

As for storing your music like wav files for the best sound possible, that's what apple made apple lossless for. It's a compression format that makes the file size smaller while reproducing the source material exactly and it's a preset compression format already in itunes.

Can't help you with the right side screen thing though. My guess would be so that the knob winds up on the left of the screen so that your arm isn't in front of the screen while you're trying to do something.
Yes, it looks like my plans for a new head-unit are put on hold, at least until the Alpine unit becomes available.

I've been thinking about using ALAC as the IPod doesn't work with FLAC, I've read that it's rather slow going when encoding though. Of course, once the bulk of the material is done it shouldn't be too bad.

I get why on the knob, but with a remote, who needs the knob, not a big deal, more of an annoyance, it seems like most all current units have that layout. It's one of the reasons I like my current unit and was looking hard at the 880 Pioneer, they have the classic knob at each side with a large display in the middle.

On the 690, I'm still waiting for confirmation that the USB feed is actually going to be processed digitally and not being sent to a ADC as it seems the rest of the Pionneer lineup does. You can add USB capability to the other Pioneers, but apparently it sends out an analog signal.

Yes, it looks like my plans for a new head-unit are put on hold, at least until the Alpine unit becomes available.

I've been thinking about using ALAC as the IPod doesn't work with FLAC, I've read that it's rather slow going when encoding though. Of course, once the bulk of the material is done it shouldn't be too bad.

I get why on the knob, but with a remote, who needs the knob, not a big deal, more of an annoyance, it seems like most all current units have that layout. It's one of the reasons I like my current unit and was looking hard at the 880 Pioneer, they have the classic knob at each side with a large display in the middle.

On the 690, I'm still waiting for confirmation that the USB feed is actually going to be processed digitally and not being sent to a ADC as it seems the rest of the Pionneer lineup does. You can add USB capability to the other Pioneers, but apparently it sends out an analog signal.


IME, Apple lossless doesn't take much longer to encode than AAC, and I'm almost positive that it has a much smaller file size than FLAC.

The other pioneer headunits can add usb capability for thumbdrives with the IP-bus add on box. The box has mass storage device drivers that read the files on the drive, and then they get converted to analog in the box and sent up the ip-bus just like a changer.

Let us know what you hear about the 690, but I'd put a large sum of money on a completely digital transfer from the ipod. Think about it, you can plug a thumb drive or an external MSD class hard drive into the same USB plug, and neither of those have any analog anything. Here's how you hook up the ipod to the 690(0):

IME, Apple lossless doesn't take much longer to encode than AAC, and I'm almost positive that it has a much smaller file size than FLAC.

The other pioneer headunits can add usb capability for thumbdrives with the IP-bus add on box. The box has mass storage device drivers that read the files on the drive, and then they get converted to analog in the box and sent up the ip-bus just like a changer.

Let us know what you hear about the 690, but I'd put a large sum of money on a completely digital transfer from the ipod. Think about it, you can plug a thumb drive or an external MSD class hard drive into the same USB plug, and neither of those have any analog anything. Here's how you hook up the ipod to the 690(0):
I added the ALAC plugin to the dbPowerAMP music converter last night and converted some flac files to ALAC and it went pretty quick. The ALAC files are a bit larger though.

Some examples:

14,319-flac converts to 14,776 alac
50,589-flac converts to 51,503 alac

It was the same for all 13 tracks but nothing to be concerned about though.

I'll post what I find out about the 690, if I can talk my dealer into it I may try the 690 until Pioneer comes out with the 790 which is speced a bit better than the 690. Although, I do remember him saying yesterday that when scrolling through playlists, songs, etc, that there was a definite lag until the display actually caught up. I'm not sure where that lag is being introduced.

Since all the other IPod-ready Pioneer models handle the signal in the analog domain, it wouldn't surprise me if the 690 and 790 do the same once it's in the head-unit itself, regardless of the method of transport to the head-unit. I'll find out for sure though.

Huh.. I really thought it would have been smaller, being newer technology and all...

Does dbPowerAMP let you queue up a list before starting? If not, EasyCDDA audio converter will. It's shareware, but if you do all your FLAC files in one shot, you could just run it overnight and be done. You can really tweak the metadata too if you need/want to.

I noticed that too about the lag when I played with the 6900 in Besy Buy. It's slightly annoying, but compared to all the other headunit interfaces I've used, it's tons better and really is getting close to ideal. I only really noticed the lag when I really gave the knob a good twist to jump down in the list. If you're narrowing it down and going slower, it was fine.

I'm going to order the 690 in the next week or so, so if you don't hear anything back and you still want to know, I can pop the cover off and start pulling up datasheets on components and really tell you what's going on. I did just come across a couple of threads on some ipod forums and they were both talking about the iDA-X001 and the DEH-P690UB headunits being the only USB direct connection headunits right now.

Huh.. I really thought it would have been smaller, being newer technology and all...

Does dbPowerAMP let you queue up a list before starting? If not, EasyCDDA audio converter will. It's shareware, but if you do all your FLAC files in one shot, you could just run it overnight and be done. You can really tweak the metadata too if you need/want to.

I noticed that too about the lag when I played with the 6900 in Besy Buy. It's slightly annoying, but compared to all the other headunit interfaces I've used, it's tons better and really is getting close to ideal. I only really noticed the lag when I really gave the knob a good twist to jump down in the list. If you're narrowing it down and going slower, it was fine.

I'm going to order the 690 in the next week or so, so if you don't hear anything back and you still want to know, I can pop the cover off and start pulling up datasheets on components and really tell you what's going on. I did just come across a couple of threads on some ipod forums and they were both talking about the iDA-X001 and the DEH-P690UB headunits being the only USB direct connection headunits right now.
Yes, please do, although the money I had set aside for the 880 is burning a hole in my pocket, not to mention I already have the 80GB IPod loaded with some stuff that I can't do anything with. :p

dbPowerAMP has a batch processing function, I looked at it last night, seems simple enough to do, I need to check if there is a setting to leave the source file intact though as I need to retain the flac files.

Any links to those IPod threads?

(I sent you a PM)

I' ve just installed a Pioneer 7950UB in my wife's car - this is the international version of the 6900UB referred to. Operationally it is very very close to the ipod itself. The only drawbacks that I can see are:
- the monochrome 3 line interface referred to above (and the lines could be longer). That said its legible under bright sunlight (it replaced a neo car jukebox so this is a huge plus especially as I live somewhere sunny).
- The fact that it doesn't have the composers field that a Gen 5.5 ipod does (I have lots of classical with the performer in the artist tag).
- Not ipod related but you can't name stored radio stations; they're just listed by frequency.

However for a very reasonably priced unit I am very pleased with it. Specifically:
- There is no lag at all in controlling the ipod - it's as fast the ipod itself
- It plays gapless (this is with lame encoded MP3s, I presume that AAC encoded files will also)
- It will use a standard Apple USB to dock cable (Pioneer do sell one but you don't need it).
- It handles audio books and podcasts fine (I've not verified this but its in the manual).

It will only work over USB with current ipods. Ours are Gen 5 ipod videos, firmware 1.2.1 is needed. Earlier ipods won't work with the USB connector.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the Pioneer will also work with a USB harddrive (the USB port has enough power to spin up a 2.5 inch HDD without problem). Just use a \genre\artist\album\ filestructure. Again navigation is instant (it claims USB2). Off a USB HDD the unit will play AAC, MP3 and WMA files CBR and VBR up to 320k bit rates. Sorry no lossless.

I don't know if it will play apple lossless on an ipod.

It will run a CD changer and an analog auxiliary input alongside the USB in.

It sounds decent to me (it replaced a Blaupunkte San Francisco) but I'm not a car audiophile.

Crutchfield have the 6900UB manual for download btw.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Eric

Thanks for the hands-on review Fishy. I got my 690 on Friday. I haven't installed it yet because I have an Alpine IVA-D310 that needs to come out first and I haven't gotten around to it. (Major PITA with the remote interface box). I'm going to miss the touch screen, but not the full minute it takes to get to the letter 'C' in my artists list on my ipod.

Now I just need to figure out what amp I'm going to use to push my Focal 165 K2P's. I have a list of probably six different amps on my ebay watch list right now.

And here's the link I found on iLounge: Alpine vs. Pioneer (http://forums.ipodlounge.com/showthread.php?p=1089399)
Keep your "forum filter" turned on while reading.

I'm a little late on this...
B) There's no "back" (menu) button. What this means is: If you know a song you want to hear, but you're not sure which CD it's on, you can't back out of your first choice, and pick a different one. (Yes. I'm completely aware of the fact that you could click, "all songs", but there are just times when a back button would be nice.


I have the 9856 with the ipod cable

It took awhile to figure it out, but there is a back button.

It is the "func" button

I've reread this thread. If anyone wants to ask me any specific questions on the Pioneer (7950UB aka 6900UB aka 690UB) I'll do my best to answer. However in addition to the above:

- Digital or analog?
The Pioneer has a standard (full size, 4 pin) USB port on a 6 inch permanently attached pigtail at the back. I attached my ipod to it using a standard (white) ipod dock cable. There are no analog connections, it's all digital. Attach a earlier ipod than Gen 5 (without digital out over USB) and you get a "non-USB device connected message.

There is an adapter for earlier ipods but this will be analog, extra money and I've no idea how fast the navigation is.

As I noted you can use the USB dongle to attach a standard USB mass storage device. Playing with the unit on a test bench I used a FAT32 formatted 30Gig 2.5 inch hard disk which worked perfectly, but bear in mind that I've no protected content and the manual says that lossless won't work off a USB HDD.

- Navigation
The navigation system is the same as the ipod itself subject to the limit that "composers" entry on the top level menu isn't there. To the left of the click wheel there is a button marked "list". In Ipod mode pressing this takes you to the top level menu: genre, artist, album, podcasts etc (like the ipod itself you can do this while playback continues).

Navigate through the menus with the click wheel, it rotates to run through lists and also works like a joystick (left, right, up, down) to navigate through menu trees (when playing this is the next/prev track select). Press the click wheel to select/play. You have access to the full ipod contents not preselected playlists etc. The main advantage for me is that response is instant - as fast as the ipod itself.

When I first tried it with my video ipod, navigation worked but the player wasn't updating the song titles when playing multiple tracks (or receiving song duration info from the ipod). Updating the ipod from FW 1.2.0 to 1.2.1 sorted this out.

Schweet fishy. You mentioned that it couldn't playback lossless from an attached MSD class device. Do you have any lossless on your ipod? Does that work?

@Armygreen11
I only use itunes to update firmware (J Rivers MC12 normally). I can try a few Apple lossless but it will be the weekend I'm afraid.

The manual makes no mention of any file type limits with the ipod. This might imply that it can play everything that the ipod can (implying the ipod sends pcm over USB) but I will try at the weekend to confirm.

I'm going to take my 80GB down to my local store tomorrow, have them hook it up and see how it works. I've got plenty of ALAC on it, even some .wav files.

Hello. Two questions:

1)Can anyone tell me if the Alpine iDA-X001 reads FLAC files off a standard USB drive? If not, what are the chances there will be a upgraded firmware that will allow this?


2)Can the Alpine iDA-X001 read normal 3.5 inch 500GB external USB drives?

If the iDA-X001 doesn't read FLAC files, I would be forced to rip my entire colletion to WAV. The unit *does* read wav files, right?

Greetings :)

Three questions:


1)Can you guys go into a bit of detail describing how well the EQ functions? I mean, how many bands does it have? Is it Parametric or whatever it's called? Does the unit have any virtual sound field effects such as "concert", "reverb", "stadium", etc?

2)What's up with the time delay adjustment thing? What does this actually do?

3)Do any of you own the Alpine PXA-H701 DSP Procesor? If so, can the iDA-X001 control the unit? If so, does it offer the flexibility and plethora of controls as the default RUX-C701?

@isamu:

The iDA-X001 was just released today (you can get it on Crutchfield now), so unless someone here was at E3 and actually played with the one on display at the Alpine booth, I'm pretty sure that no one is going to know more about the thing than what can be found with a google search. Just search for iDA-X001 review, and you'll find lots of articles from people who actually played with it. To answer one of your questions though, I did read somewhere that the iDA-X001 is definitely NOT firmware upgradable, so you're pretty much stuck with what you've got.

@everyone else:

I've had my Pioneer DEH-P690UB installed for a couple of days now, and I just wanted to share some of my impressions.

My current setup:
Pioneer DEH-P690UB (rear speaker outs power JL 5.25" coax speakers in the rear doors, front and sub preouts used)
JL amp and JL 10W6 in a sealed enclosure
Eclipse amp and Focal 165 K2P 6.5" components for front stage.

Pros:
- Very flexible installation. There are many different configurations that the head unit can be installed in. I haven't bought a head unit in a LONG time, so they all may be like this now, but I was really surprised to find that the rear speaker outputs could be not only set as dedicated subwoofer outputs, but they can actually be bridged to give you 70W peak into 2ohms! Of course the front speakers can be high pass at the same time. It also has three pair of 4V/100ohm pre-outs.

- Two customizable EQ settings. Along with the standard "Powerful," "Vocal," etc... preset EQ's, there are two custom EQ curves that can be set independently. Only 7 band though.

-independently adjustable X-over points for HP and LP, with 7 points each I think. On the same screen as the LP X-over freq is the sub level. Left and right is X-over freq, and up and down is sub level from -25 to +6db with a dedicated button on the HU to access this screen. Very handy.

- Source level adjustment for each source, based on FM level.

- iPod navigation is fast and menus are used as they are on the iPod... for the most part.

Cons:
- Sound quality could be better. There's definitely an audible hiss, although I do have a slight ground loop between the HU and my amps. I'm working on getting a Zapco amp to power my focal's instead of the Eclipse I have now, so if I do, and use their balanced input converter setup, I'll be able to say for sure weather it's coming from the pioneer or not. The internal amp is spec'd at 5% THD (!!!!) but it doesn't say anything about the pre-outs, or give a SNR for the USB section. It's 94db for the CD player though.

- While the ipod navigation is good, the actual head unit's menu system is a serious PITA to navigate with the commander knob. Maybe I just need to read the manual, but it really gets confusing how to change certain settings, even when you're on the screen that shows them. Using the 5-way joystick on the remote is MUCH more straight forward IMO.

- No continuous list scroll. You either twist the rotary encoder (one click per item) or you press it down, or the joystick on the remote down to move down one item. You can't hold it down to scroll. The lists are looped though, so if you want to get to 'W' you just turn the knob to the left from the beginning to back up from the end. There's also a maximum speed between items, so if you crank on the knob too fast, alot of the clicks don't "count".

- No ipod navigation persistance. When navigating through lists on the ipod, you can go up and down levels just as you would on the ipod, and when you select a song to play, it just stays in the list and you maintain your browsing history. But if you go back to the now playing screen with the current song and album and such, if you reenter the ipod navigation, you start back at the beginning of every list (which from the top menu, playlists is selected). This compounds the no continuous scroll problem as now you have to do it EVERY time you want to pick something else.

- No album / artist / genre selection. On the ipod by itself, if you just want to queue up all songs by a particular artist, you just highlight the artist, and hit play. Same with genres. On the pioneer, you have to get all the way to the song list before you can make a selection, which means the most you can have queued up at one time is either one album, or everything. If you just want to go to the next album by the same artist, you have to start over and start cranking on the wheel again.


Personal conclusion:
Overall, I'm disappointed in a lot of ways. I was really hoping that they got it right this time, but I guess that's what I get for being an optimist. One of my co-workers just ordered the iDA-X001 for his Mini from Crutchfield and should have it installed this week sometime. I'm sure I'm going to like it more than the pioneer, but I don't think I'm going to like it enough to switch. iPod integration keeps improving year to year, so I'm probably just going to wait.

2)Can the Alpine iDA-X001 read normal 3.5 inch 500GB external USB drives?


Yes, it can support that. The problem I see is that the unit must recognize the drive EVERY time you turn the car off then on.

I know the delay for a 2GB drive loaded with ~200~300 songs is already ~5~10 seconds

So extract that out over 500GB and you're waiting a couple minutes before you can play music. LOL


If the iDA-X001 doesn't read FLAC files, I would be forced to rip my entire colletion to WAV. The unit *does* read wav files, right?

Not sure if it reads Flac. If it doesn't go with either WMA Lossless or MP3 Lossless.

Not sure if it reads Flac. If it doesn't go with either WMA Lossless or MP3 Lossless.

No such thing as a lossless MP3.

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah no such thing as mp3 lossless. Perhaps you meant Monkey Audio?

I'm going to copy and paste a reply I posted to a guy on the caraudio.com forums yesterday and want to get your opinion it:




The thing I am noticing is that these usb heads are mostly geared to thumb/flash drives and ipod. It's too bad as I'd much rather just get a 200gig drive and put all my music in a lossless codec of some type.

I guess until the mainstream moves from CDs and Ipods, that will be the focus. I'd sure like a unit that handled FLAC or some of the other nice codecs so we'd at least have the option of doing lossless, etc.




clone.... I cannot tell you how much I feel your pain, brother. I am in the same boat as many of you guys. I want an HU that can read FLAC or ALAC through an external HD and the fact that none exist is a real bummer.

I have been debating whether to install a CarPC with full blown Windows OS or a standard Head Unit in my Mercedes Benz. I was THIS close to deciding on an HU(probably the Alpine iDA-X001) because of its ease of use.

But after doing more research and especially after reading this thread, I am just ready to give up on head units and will probably go for the full blown CarPC. I have over 800 CDs! And the cumbersomeness of navigating through my entire library, as well as lack of playlist support is the dealbreaker for me. Not to mention how small the screen is compared to a nice 7" touchscreen.

After talking to one of the installers at Phantom Electronics today, I was told that I could get a pc installed in the trunk of my ride without any problems. I'm looking at around $3500-$4500 for the complete overhaul including speakers and amp but you know what? Given the ENORMOUS versatility a software player like WinAmp offers you over a dedicated HU, I'd say the extra bucks is well worth it. And no, I'm not rich...not by a LONGSHOT!

Until these head unit makers get their act together, a pc is the way to go IMHO.



Thoughts?

No such thing as a lossless MP3.

I know, it's know of an oxymoron. There is a "lossless" MP3. It's ~600~700kbps or something like that.

Not truely lossless, but in a car it is damn near CD quality

another contender

http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products/2007/multimedia/multimedia_source_units/VRX375USB/us-en-product-pf_1165294998363.html

http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products/2007/audio/source_units/cd/index.html

more usb drives just no dvd

Hey quick question to anyone out there...

Has anyone purchased one of these no-name Pioneer IP-Bus to RCA adapters on ebay? They are like 14 bucks shipped and I want to make sure that they work fine or if I should go OEM.

Thanks!

I know, it's know of an oxymoron. There is a "lossless" MP3. It's ~600~700kbps or something like that.

Not truely lossless, but in a car it is damn near CD quality

The highest bitrate of an MP3 is 320kbps. AAC's at 128k sound better than those. itunes does lossless in the form of Apple Lossless, and it's up around 700-900kbps. Maybe that's what you were thinking. MP3's are 12+ year old technology and the absolute best you can do (EAC, LAME encoder...) still sounds like crap compared to a CD on any decent stereo.

Hey quick question to anyone out there...

Has anyone purchased one of these no-name Pioneer IP-Bus to RCA adapters on ebay? They are like 14 bucks shipped and I want to make sure that they work fine or if I should go OEM.

Thanks!

The Pioneer IP-bus, Alpine Ai-Net, and most all the other proprietary interfaces that were made for changers, have analog audio on them, so it's as easy as tapping into the analog, and probably putting a specific value resistor across the control lines to make the HU think that there's something there. I've never used one, but I'd say that they probably work just as good as any line input.

I just had the Pioneer DEH-P4900IB and the CDI200 cable installed within a few days of eachother. I can say safely say that the response times for the ipod control from the deck and remote were and are nearly as fast as actual ipod control.

I just had a Pioneer Premier DEH-P590IB installed in my car. This is virtually the same unit as the 690UB (armygreen11 reviewed above) above but it has an iPod cable insted of a USB cable. I couldn't find any other differences.

I just wanted to make a couple comments on my experiences.

At first the navigation is confusing, as are the controls and how to get things done. Reading the manual and just trying different things corrected many of the problems I ran into. Once you get use to the controls you can get make changes very quickly.

Ipod navigation. I generally like how the controls work. Pick your playlist, artist, genre, and go. This unit works great for getting right to an album and listening. If you use playlists you can very quickly get to a playlist and you are good to go.
I had been using the iPod plugged into my old headunit via an aux input out of the headphone jack. I can find a song just as quickly with the Pioneer interface as I can with the iPod interface and I got rid of the need to handle the iPod once it was plugged in.

Problems I've run into... When you are jumping around from song to song, you need to hit list, choose artist, choose the album, choose the song. Then start the process over for the next song. I wish you could just back out of the artist you are on at any point, but the way it is you have about 20 seconds to back out and choose a different song. Again make a playlist and you will not have this problem.
No specific Podcast option on the menu. I don't get this, it's on the iPod why is it not on the Pioneer menu?

I have the headunit connected to a 4 channel amp and a mono sub amp. I am not using the Headunits amp at all. I do not hear any hiss or noise in my system. I was worried about this because of the above review and I've not been a big fan of Pioneer. I have some Polk Audio 6 1/2" Components and Polk 6x9's and a Memphis Audio 12" sub, I've never had a better sounding car audio system.

I would just like to say, if you are not real picky about the navigation and can live without the album art (on the alpine), please check out this Headunit. I think it was a great deal at $219, and it gets the job done for me.

I just had a Pioneer Premier DEH-P590IB installed in my car. This is virtually the same unit as the 690UB (armygreen11 reviewed above) above but it has an iPod cable insted of a USB cable. I couldn't find any other differences.

I just wanted to make a couple comments on my experiences.

At first the navigation is confusing, as are the controls and how to get things done. Reading the manual and just trying different things corrected many of the problems I ran into. Once you get use to the controls you can get make changes very quickly.

Ipod navigation. I generally like how the controls work. Pick your playlist, artist, genre, and go. This unit works great for getting right to an album and listening. If you use playlists you can very quickly get to a playlist and you are good to go.
I had been using the iPod plugged into my old headunit via an aux input out of the headphone jack. I can find a song just as quickly with the Pioneer interface as I can with the iPod interface and I got rid of the need to handle the iPod once it was plugged in.

Problems I've run into... When you are jumping around from song to song, you need to hit list, choose artist, choose the album, choose the song. Then start the process over for the next song. I wish you could just back out of the artist you are on at any point, but the way it is you have about 20 seconds to back out and choose a different song. Again make a playlist and you will not have this problem.
No specific Podcast option on the menu. I don't get this, it's on the iPod why is it not on the Pioneer menu?

I have the headunit connected to a 4 channel amp and a mono sub amp. I am not using the Headunits amp at all. I do not hear any hiss or noise in my system. I was worried about this because of the above review and I've not been a big fan of Pioneer. I have some Polk Audio 6 1/2" Components and Polk 6x9's and a Memphis Audio 12" sub, I've never had a better sounding car audio system.

I would just like to say, if you are not real picky about the navigation and can live without the album art (on the alpine), please check out this Headunit. I think it was a great deal at $219, and it gets the job done for me.

I just got the same unit and like it a lot, but have 1 question:

Is there a better way to scroll through albums/artists, etc. ?

Hello guys,

I currently own a 9885 and am quite happy with it, but I'd love to use an iDA-X001 for the screen and the DACs. I have all my music in ALAC, but I'd like to know if someone has tested ALAC in this uint. I ask since I've found no reference that it certainly does, and when I tried feeding my 9885 with a CD that had a mix of ALAC and MP3 it couldn't decode the ALAC files. Obviously using it via teh ipod cable has no problems since it is decoded by the ipod and fed via analog lines.

So, has anyone of you tried the iDA-X001 with ALAC?

Hello guys,

I currently own a 9885 and am quite happy with it, but I'd love to use an iDA-X001 for the screen and the DACs. I have all my music in ALAC, but I'd like to know if someone has tested ALAC in this uint. I ask since I've found no reference that it certainly does, and when I tried feeding my 9885 with a CD that had a mix of ALAC and MP3 it couldn't decode the ALAC files. Obviously using it via teh ipod cable has no problems since it is decoded by the ipod and fed via analog lines.

So, has anyone of you tried the iDA-X001 with ALAC?
Yes, it works fine, I'm using a 5G iPod(80GB). Also works with AIFF files.

I've had the iDA-X001 for about 3 weeks and it takes a little getting used to. I really would like more remote control functionality, as it is, only moving forward and backward through the current playlist/album, pause, mute and volume are available. To be able to move back to the listings and make a selection would be nice.

The 2 volt output has required that I re-adjust the amplifiers sensitivity as my previous Pioneer had 5v outputs, and I'm just not sure I'm getting it how I want it, it seems to lack a bit of dynamic range when compared to the Pio, but that could be the iPod itself, I'm not sure. I will say that some material does sound very good so I know it's possible to get some great sound with this setup, I just have do some more fiddling. The Pio had all sorts of DSP functionality which may have been giving me a "false" sound when compared to the Alpine as it is currently set pretty much at flat. The Alpine has very little in the way of sound customizing(DSP,etc.), and while purists may say that flat response is desirable, we're talking about a car, and IMO, whatever allows it to sound "good" works for me, and the Apline just doesn't give that ability, so far.

I think it's a great first effort, but in future models I would love to see much more functionality regarding song/list selection, and the ability to customize the sound a bit more.

The display is fantastic, readable in just about any light situation it's been subjected to so far, all car head units should use this tech as far as I'm concerned, compared to the iDA-X001 display, all others look pathetic. A bit more customizing on how and what it displays would be nice, such as removing the album art in the song/album/artist display mode would be nice, and allow the clock to be seen on the album art-only display mode, and/or a rotating sequence of all the display modes would be nice.

Those that have never used a remote with a car stereo may have no problem with the iDA-X001, selections, etc, but myself having used one for years, it's taking some getting used to.

Just some thoughts anyway...

Thanks for your reply keenan, it is very useful since I have not been able to track posts from people actually using the HU.

I didn't know it was 2V, I assumed it was 4V. That might be an issue for me as well, since the 9885 does 4v... (I love playing with gains and a multimeter anyway).

BTW, have you checked unicode support? The 9885 doesn't display characters in Japanese or other languages, do you happen to have tracks or album titles that are in UTF8? I am interested in that since I have a lot of Japanese soundtracks. In case the American HU doesn't, I'll need to import a Japanese one...

I am also not that happy about not having a CD player, even if I never use it I like to have the option available.

Thanks for your reply keenan, it is very useful since I have not been able to track posts from people actually using the HU.

I didn't know it was 2V, I assumed it was 4V. That might be an issue for me as well, since the 9885 does 4v... (I love playing with gains and a multimeter anyway).

BTW, have you checked unicode support? The 9885 doesn't display characters in Japanese or other languages, do you happen to have tracks or album titles that are in UTF8? I am interested in that since I have a lot of Japanese soundtracks. In case the American HU doesn't, I'll need to import a Japanese one...

I am also not that happy about not having a CD player, even if I never use it I like to have the option available.
Yeah, the 2v output thing has me a bit bothered, I've heard from the Alpine dealer that it's not a problem(go figure :p ) and the Pioneer dealer says it is a problem, specifically for the reasons I mentioned above. If it isn't an issue, then why do the upper model Alpine have a higher output??

Not sure about unicode, I can try and see if it will take something with Japanese characters, but I'm not sure if I have anything that would work.

I agree about the CD player, for $400 list the thing should have had a CD player in it. Personally, I think the iDA-X001 is overpriced by about $100-$150, but it is unique so far on the market, so it's going to have that exclusivity boosting the price. It will control a CD changer through Alpine's AI-net thing.

I actually preferred just playing with the iPod on my Alpine 9825 as opposed to the interface with my Pioneer Premier 880.

i got my x001 installed today. ill upload pics when i get my post count up. (it says i need 5)

I have the 9857, and it works great if you keep it on shuffle/mix.

Finding individual artists, albums, etc is a real pain in the ass. It can be done, but it's difficult to do. Alpine's new control designs look a little better, but I have no plans to upgrade.

The downside is that I'm always skipping to the next song, but the upside is that I've got the iPod hidden away in the center console and rarely remove it.

anybody know if the jvc kd-dv6200 which has a usb on front is compat.with the 30 g video ipod?

Anybody heard about any new USB ipod interface headunits or accessories out there? I'm sick of my 690UB. It sounds like crap, and I'm already on my second battery in the remote from having to bang the up and down arrows a million times to find a song. I would have switched to the iDA-x001 by now, but the lack of an EQ killed that for me.

I'm thinking about ditching the headunit altogether and just getting an apple ipod dock with the remote and putting that in the dash somewhere where I'll be able to see the ipod screen, and running the output to an Audiocontrol Three.1 or something for x-over, EQ, fade and main volume.

I'm hoping something shows up at CES. At the very least an improved version of the iDA-X001, the biggest thing being more remote control functionality. I've been fairly happy with mine, it required about $800 worth of Boston Acoustic speakers to get real good sound out of it, but it's overpriced and it lacks a lot of features less expensive decks.

Looks like Alpine has 2 new iPod models coming next spring. The remote pictured next to the eX10 device looks interesting. Looks like Caller ID being added to the Bluetooth phone system, that's something I've hated about my Moto/iDA-X100, might be just my phone though.

http://www.floridaspl.com/Alpine_2008.pdf

Nice. I'm still toying with the idea of just running an apple ipod dock into a 1/2 DIN EQ/line driver. I just have to figure out how to mount the dock in the dash. I like that they turned the big search button into an enter button, and I really like that they stuck imprint into it. Bass and Treble just doesn't cut it for a $400 head unit. The marine version on the last page is awesome too. I have a feeling that's going to end up in my buddy's 28 Pantera.

Yes, I'll probably be getting one of the new units as well, the improvements look promising. :)

Kind of makes me wish I hadn't decided to blow off CES this year. :D

So, does anyone know when the new Alpine iPod units will hit the market? I think it was around April last year, maybe the same this year?

They decided again to go with 2v pre-amp outputs. Everything seemed perfect about this except that. Even my 2 year old pioneer headunit has 4v out. I'm a very serious audiophile who spends a lot of time in the car. I have all my albums in a lossless codec. Right now I'm just getting analog signal from the ipod dock, but with the X100 I can go straight digital (gen 5 and up), thats a plus

How badly is my audio going to be compromised by going from 4v to 2v> I also REALLY like Pioneer's Auto EQ and Auto time align feature. My unit has a 13 band EQ that gets autotuned to my interior soundspace. There's Imprint, but you cant get any of that without also purchasing the PXA-H100, which is supposedly $150, and is permanently attached to your headunit, so you're going to need the space for that to.

The X100 only outputs 18w continuous as well, but I don't think this makes much of a difference to those of us who are using external amplifiers already. Although Alpine claims to offer :

Need a power boost? Add the KTP-445 Head Unit Power Pack! It delivers a true 45W x 4 RMS power and is compact enough to install behind the iDA-X100. It plugs right inline with the iDA-X100's wiring harness so you don’t even need additional wires.


If I could get the X100 interface, display, w/ Pioneer's 13 band auto EQ and time alignment already built in. It would be perfect. I was excited about it at first, now the more I find out about it, I'm still going to be searching for the best solution.

The 2V pre-out bothered me when I purchased the first IDAX unit last year, but with careful adjustment of the input sensitivity on the amps I don't really notice any lack of dynamic range. I did upgrade amps and speakers though, went from some mid-market MB Quarts to next to the top Boston Acoustics with a separately mounted tweeter, and from a pair of Pioneer amps to the Alpine PDX series, a 4x150 and a 1x600. The amps and speakers work well together.

The DSP solutions in the Pioneer units are nice, as let's face it, the interior of a car is a horrible place to get the best, cleanest audio and compromises are a fact of life. I would like to see a bit more configuration possibilities with the IDAX units.

OH yah, it doesn't have a disc player. I still use those too sometimes. You'll need the changer add on for that as well.

Yes, for an MSRP of $400 it should have had a CD player as well.