One of the best headunits I've owned
Written: Aug 06 '06 (Updated Aug 18 '06)
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Pros: Advanced, powerful audio tuning controls. Very clean design and appearance.
Cons: Audio tuning interface might be too complex for some. Information display screen requires wallpaper background.
The Bottom Line: Despite a slightly complex interface, this is a great headunit for those requiring advanced and complete audio tuning control of their system.
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| jreiter's Full Review: Alpine CDA-9835 Car CD/ MP3 Player |
After reading the last reviewer's criticisms of this headunit, I wanted to respond with an alternative point of view. I'll address his/her complaints, and throw in a few of my own.
1) Complex interface. This headunit does indeed have a complex interface. However, despite the complexity I feel its layout is well executed given the vast number of features it provides. This is a very powerful headunit with a very powerful DSP, and with this many features interfaces are bound to get at least somewhat complex. In all honest, though, it's really not that difficult to learn. Alpine does provide the i-Personalize feature on their website which allows you to configure some of the core audio-tuning sections of the headunit via their web interface (time alignment, EQ, crossover), but I don't feel it is really necessary. After reading through the manual that came with the headunit and playing around a bit, I was able to easily configure everything. If you are an audiophile and understand what all these DSP features are (such as time alignment, parametric EQs, and crossovers), then configuring this headunit should not be a problem.
2) Bass and Treble controls. There are no "bass" or "treble" controls. This headunit provides a very powerful 5-band parametric EQ which provides a tremendous level of tuning ability. There really is no need for additional bass or treble controls. If I put in an album that needs a little more tweaking, I can easily navigate into the EQ section to quickly and accurately tweak the sound to suit my personal tastes for that album. You can also have 6 saved EQ curves. I have personally created 4 different EQ curves for different situations, and those curves can be easily switched between.
Once again, the buyer needs to understand that this is virtually an audiophile-grade headunit with a very powerful DSP. It is meant to provide very powerful and complete tuning features which generally do require a bit of prior knowledge about sound and tuning. Parametric EQs really aren't too complicated to understand, but they can be a bit daunting if you've never dealt with them before and don't know how they work in general.
3) 24-hour clock. This is a personal taste issue. I prefer 24-hour clocks (all my clocks are such), but others might prefer the AM/PM format. I do find it a bit odd that Alpine doesn't let you simply choose between the two time formats on this headunit, but it's really not that big of a deal. While I do consider it an odd choice on Alpine's part, it doesn't affect my opinion of the unit overall.
4) Information display. The default display provides nice big numbers and is easy to read, but it doesn't show you all the information you might want to see, such as the clock, mp3 bit rate, etc. If you want the full data display, you can simply press the DISP button and it will switch to a full screen view which shows you just about all the data you'd want on one screen, including file/songname, folder/artist, bit rate, clock, etc. Unfortunately, this view also has an animated background behind it. I personally dislike animated backgrounds and wallpapers on my car headunits. I don't understand in the least why Alpine doesn't let you just shut off the wallpapers completely in this display mode.
Fortunately, there is a "night sky" wallpaper/animation you can choose which is very subtle and not so annoying. I choose that one, and it doesn't really get in the way. In fact, at night when the headunit is in "dim" mode (when you turn on your headlights) the clouds almost disappear completely leaving you with only the information on screen.
Overall, this is a very advanced headunit for folks who want complete audio tuning control of their system. I would heartily recommend it for anyone needing those types of features. On the other hand, if you don't have an ear for fine audio tuning and simply don't want to be bothered with all the advanced features of this unit, you might be better off spending a bit less money and getting one of Alpine's lower-end units. Those lower-end units pretty much have the same internals as the high-end 9835, but lack the advanced DSP audio tuning controls. They instead give you the simple "bass" and "treble" controls if those are sufficient for your needs.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 350
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Epinions.com ID:
jreiter
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Reviews written: 1
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