Good Mid Priced Head Unit
Written: Nov 10 '03 (Updated Apr 10 '04)
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Pros: One of the only decks that decodes WMA files in this price range.
Cons: Media Expander isn't all it's cracked up to be, Volume knob clumsy to use.
The Bottom Line: In this price range this deck is tough to beat. Good expandability, MP3 and a WMA decoder, and clear sound.
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| manroot's Full Review: Alpine CDA-9807 Car CD/ MP3 Player |
When buying a new truck or car, replacing the factory stereo is a must. This unit is a great buy, especially since it has dropped about $75 from when I bought it. The main reason I bought it is because it also has an WMA decoder. I burn most of my music to WMA format, I think it holds the low end better than MP3, and this is one of the few mid priced units that decodes WMA.
The built in bass engine is nice, allowing you to not only boost or decrease bass level, but also to allow you to pick which frequency band to boost or decrease. This is helpful especially when using a sub. You can really fine tune the bass much better than on a standard deck.
The head unit is a bit bright, but it's not really that bad, and it includes a black out mode. Alpine changed the color on these models to an aqua blue which is a nice change from the green they have been using for so long.
But the main reason you should buy this deck is for the sound quality. I tried a lot of decks and for the money, this is arguably the best head unit in this price range. Alpine has a reputation as an innovator in the industry, they don't just sit back and use the name they built up so well in the 80's just to market subpar equipment as top notch gear.
The controls look funky at first but are surprisingly easy to learn. The file/folder search function for MP3's/WMA's works well and is easy to use. (Which is a must when you have burned a CD that contains every major Rush album to date.)
The only problems/things I don't care for are the spartan display line. It's something like 10 or 12 characters, which isn't enough for most songs, and the main volume/search knob. It has a nice rubberized grip, but it doesn't protrude out much from the deck and in my Ram 1500, is a little awkward to use sometimes. also when searching for files using the knob, your hand is in front of the display line making it difficult to see what you are looking for.
Also the "MX Media Expander" seems to be nothing more than a glorified EQ preset. The manual makes it sound like there is a little processor inside that analyzes your mp3 files and restores the lost bits, but I find that no matter what I listen to with the expander, it always sound the same. Like I said earlier, I think it's just an EQ Preset with a 3 or 4 db boost. The Bass and High end get boosted, but if you run a sub, the bass becomes to muddy, and the high end almost always winds up sounding thin a brittle. You have to experiment, some CD's sound good with it on, some don't. I find generally if you are downloading MP3's/WMA's off the net in the 96 to 128k range the MX Media Expander works well. But when I rip my own cd's I generally use the WMA format at it's highest setting or MP3 format in the 256k range, on these settings the Media Expander seems to OVER emphasize the low frequencies, so I generally disable it for those CD's.
If you have the dough, the CDA9815 is a very nice deck, but this deck (CDA9807)can't be beat for the price.
(Also, Although Alpines decks are consistently some of the best on the market, (and have been for the last 20 years)...don't waste your money on their speakers. I've had much better luck with Boston Acoustic and Kenwood.
**UPDATE** (4-10-4) Now that I have had this player for almost a year there is one thing I would like to address. Over the winter after the heat had been on a while or when the truck was extremely cold. The player often had problems ejecting cd's. It seems to almost alwyas happen with home made cd's. It seems to be a problem with the computer printed labels I put on the CD's. Glossy or Matte, it doesn't matter. However factory made CD's (commercially bought), don't seem to have this problem. In either case luckily when it does happen, you can take the face plate off, and grab the CD with your fingers to pull it out. Then just pop the face plate back on and your good to go. After a year with this player, this is the only problem I have had with it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 329
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Epinions.com ID:
manroot
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Location: Boston/South Shore, Ma
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 4 members
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