Cons: slow in fast forwarding tracks, problems with folders
The Bottom Line: This is a good unit for the average user. Sound quality is great, and controls are easy, though they depend on your head unit. I am happy with this changer.
pgmark's Full Review: Alpine CHAS-634 6-Disc CD Changer
I got this changer because I wanted a way to listen to MP3 CDs in my car without having to get a new head unit and all that (a common problem in BMWs). I did not really have a problem with getting a new head unit, except that the buttons on my steering wheel wouldnt work any more, and they have become an essential part of my car audio experience. Also, Im not sure there are many (if any) head units that would fit in the place of the factory unit. So with this in mind, the only way to play MP3 CDs in my car was with an MP3 CD changer.
There are not many of these on the market. There is the Alpine I am reviewing, there is a Sony, and there is one other (the brand escapes me). I chose to get this one because it integrated with my existing (factory) system the easiest. I am not sure the previously mentioned buttons on my steering wheel would have worked with other brands. Anyway, I got the unit for $320, and that included installation and parts. A special adapter was required to make it work with the BMW system.
I have been happy with the operation of my changer. I have never had any problems with the operation of regular CDs in the unit. The unit is mounted in my trunk, and you use it by opening the sliding door and pressing a button. This button causes the rack of CDs to eject. One that comes out, you can load up to 6 CDs into it. Each one is held in a very thin drawer which comes all the way out so you can change its spot without removing the CD from the drawer. I have never had any problems with inserting the drawer or rack the wrong way.
The CDs load relatively quickly. You will certainly notice when a CD is done playing and the old one comes out and a new one is inserted. It takes maybe 10-20 seconds for this to happen, but its not that bad. You get used to it.
Operation is a little different for MP3 CDs though. First off, I have not been able to get a CD-RW to work in the unit. With the dropping cost of CDRs, I have not found this to be a problem; rather, a disappointment. My factory head unit does not display ID3 tags, but I believe if you have a normal, non-factory head unit, it will display. Sometimes it takes a little while switching between tracks (~2-5 seconds), but this is normal. There have been times though when a track will just not load. The unit will try for several minutes and never get it. I have to switch to a different CD then come back. Of course, if this happens, it will take a while to recognize that you are trying to switch CDs and to actually do that. However, once you go back to the troubled track, it will play perfectly. This happens to one track on an MP3 CD once every 15-20 plays, so its rather uncommon. In the everyday operation of the MP3 CD, the only real problem I find is that it is very slow advancing between tracks. If you know you want to listen to track #52 on an MP3 CD, you would have to press the next track button a whole bunch. Unfortunately, you cant just press it a bunch and see where that gets you. It practically has no short term memory for what buttons you press. So the thing is, in the end, if you press the next track button once a second for 10 seconds, maybe you'll advance 4 tracks. Maybe. The other bad thing is it runs into trouble with folders. It starts on the highest up directory, plays everything in there, then it goes to the subfolders. I am not real big into folders, so I dont use them much. However, this is what I have found. It goes through the highest directory, no problem. Then it gets into the folder. It plays all the songs in there, then it repeats the songs in that folder. The only way I get out of that folder is by telling it to play a different CD. Now, since I only have one folder max per CD, this has not been a problem for me. However, I dont know how it would work if I had several folders, let alone several folders on the same level. I have found these to be the only real problems for this unit.
As for the sound quality, I find it hard to say. This changer is the only after market part of my car's audio system. Also, since a changer's main purpose is to increase the number of CD's available to play at a time, not to enhance or change the quality of audio produced (as opposed to a subwoofer, amp, speakers, or maybe head unit), its hard for me to comment on this. The music coming from the changer sounds good, as good as when I just had the single CD in the head unit. Of course, this is better than anything you will hear on FM or AM. So with all this in mind, the sound quality is good, but the sound quality you receive with this unit is more a matter of the rest of your system and how this is installed. The installer offered one cheaper alternative that I declined because he said the sound quality would be about that of an average FM station, whereas with my current setup its more like a regular CD. Bottom line for sound quality is this: my sound quality is good, but take that with a grain of salt; results may vary.
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