Absolutely Heaven - A True All-In-One Solution to Mobile AudioPhile Addiction
Written: Jan 21 '04
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Pros: SQ, Versatility, Usefullness- A Truly Spectacular Solution for Any Mobile HiFi application
Cons: None- The time required to use properly is not a con. This unit is flawless!
The Bottom Line: The only review where I can honestly say the piece deserves 6 stars- this unit is as close to perfect as is possible- Read The Review!
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| nick1326's Full Review: Alpine CDA-9815 Car CD/ MP3 Player |
I have to step back and laugh at alot of what I see going on in today's mobile audio market. In my opinion, so many people lose sight of the importance of excellent sound quality in their cars- you can spend tons on a home system, WELL JUSIFIABLY- after all, the acoustic environment in your home is alot more controllable and predictable than your car's!!! However, you have to consider that, at least for those of us who drive frequently or commute in our cars, we spend ALOT of time in our vehicles, and if music is important to us, than isn't it worth it to have excellent sound in your car?!?!? Alot of mobile audio enthusiasts want all bass- or SPL (sound pressure level) - for me, I could care less about SPL- my goal is ultimate SQ (sound quality). That considered, there are a few univeral rules to adhere to in the quest for ultimate sound, but the 2 most important are:
1) GiGo (garbage in, garbage out- use a crappy source signal and you're gonna get that level of sound
2) Your chain is only as strong as its weakest link: You can spend thousands on great amps, speakers, wires etc- but skimp on the source (the head unit) and quite honestly, you're screwed!
Entre the Alpine 9815- as if Alpine didn't already make a killer product, they really stepped up to the plate on this one, because it incorporates a host of new features and slick bells and whistles that REALLY make a tremendous difference in the ambient feel and character of your sound. Make no mistake- the 9815 is really at its best when used by someone who understands audio, understands good sound, KNOWS what she/he wants out of their system (and thus has chosen realistic objectives and goals) AND wants to take their system to a completely new level. Given this units incredible quality and ultra-adaptable features list, it's also ideal for someone building a system geared towards optimal sound quality- trust me, this one is a rare gem!
The features list is incredible on this head unit- as quoted from Alpine:
"• 60W x 4 V-Drive™ Amplifier
• Bass Engine® Pro
- 6-Channel Digital Time Correction
- 6-Position HP/LP Digital Crossover
- 5-Band Parametric EQ
- Subwoofer Level Control with Phase Selector
- 3-Way or 2-Way Digital Crossover
• Media Xpander™
• XM Satellite Radio Ready
• MP3/WMA/CD-R/RW Playback
• CD Text and MP3/WMA Tag Informtation Display
• 2-Line Color Display
• Quick Search Function
• CD Text, CD Text Display, CD Text Scroll
• Versatile-Link™ Ready
• MaxTune SQ Tuner
• BlackOut Display
• Regulated 1Bit DAC
• 3 PreOuts (4 volt)
• MM Driver (Hard Disc Drive) Ready
• MobileHub™ Ready
• i-Personalize
• Swing Mechanism with Detachable Face
• RUE-4187 Wireless Remote Control Included"
Understand, I already knew the tremendous quality of Alpine source units- which is why I have used, and continue to use them for the last 14 years! I actually was using an Apline 7940 (pre-amp only) before switching to the 9815- despite the 7940's incredible sound quality and hi s/n ratio, the 9815 actually exceeded it spec-wise AND incorporated the key adjustament features I required in order to complete my install successfully- most importantly, timing-correction (alignment) and cross-over adaptability.
Currently, my system is structured with:
Alpine 9815 head
a/d/s/ P640 amp, powering MB Quart RCE216s upfront (bi-amped) + boston pro 6.5lf's in rear deck (no tweets, mid-basses only, for fill)
PPI 2125, powering 1 single boston pro 12.5 sub - I recently changed from JL 500/1 to the PPI- the PPI is a touch better, but has other features which lead me to choose it over the JL
you can see the reviews on the PPI, Boston Pro 12.5, JL 500/1 and Boston Pro 6.5's here (respectively)
http://www.epinions.com/content_126664019588
http://www.epinions.com/content_125976022660
http://www.epinions.com/content_125856026244
http://www.epinions.com/content_95558405764
Again, having already been using a fanastic head unit, the Alpine 7940, why would I switch to another Alpine? The reasoning is simple- I am fanatical about my pursuit of sound quality and heard the limitations of the 7940 years ago, when I first got it full set up as close to "perfect" as I could get. Naturally, "perfect" is a relative term- and although i was super impressed with the results, the 2 things I most wanted were 1) a crossover and 2) an adjustable timing feature- the 9815 had both- BINGO: REAL SOLUTION!
The 2 toughest things to compensate for in a cars inherently BAD sonic environment are the fact that you don't sit in the center of the cockpit (unless of course you drive a Mclaren F1- and if this is the case, you'll probably have enough cash to buy this head unit without caring enough to read a review, as you'll probably have a custom install shop recomend the 9815 to you already!!). The second piece we need to compensate for are the natural peaks and valleys omni-present in all cars' interiors. This is simple physics- while at home you have a much closer picture to "ideal" sonic environment (namely a box) your car is much different: You have seats, carpet, unusually shaped "room" so to speak, not to mention the aforementioned issue of the driver (or any passenger for that matter) NEVER sitting in the ideal listening location!!! Right off the bat, your car's sonic foundation is compromised- and thus, you need to compensate for this disadvantage or else the results will never be quite right.
So, for reasons above I decided to pony up 360 for this head unit- excellent street price BTW- you should seek to pay under 400- that is a good solid price barrometer- under 400. Nevertheless, if 425 was the difference between getting it at a local shop or waiting 2 weeks for an online store to get it to you- I would take the local shop- at least you have them for questions, advice, service (though in 4 years of the 7940, AND bouncing it from car to car, I've not had a problem FYI). The 9815 is worth its weight in gold- although it is not a simple plug-and-play solution -- You need to set aside some time and carefully and crtically evaluate in order to achieve the appropriate settings.
The 9815 is equipped with a pretty damned extensive and elaborate host of tweaking tools- ranging from the time-correction feature, the a multi-band parametric EQ, from which you can select 5 refefence bands and adjust your car from those 5 points- the points are selectable as a user-definable input reference- you can select the points based on where the system is lacking- while an RTA makes EQing easier (or at least more methodical) you can use your ears if you at least possess a rudimentary understanding of sound- otherwise, I would say it's in your interest to pay a shop to install the unit, provided they help you configure it- any reputable shop should be willing to do this. You can save up to 6 preset EQ curves and profiles. In addition to the EQ settings, you can can also adjust and save the time-correction profiles in conjunction with the EQ curves. The unit also has its own preset sound environments- these are pretty solid- they're designed for mobile use, so there's a good chance you can find a curve which appeals to your ear, if you wanna do the install yourself and NOT bother with 1) paying for tweaking or 2) spending a year and a day adjusting to the last little bit.
The unit uses Alpines "Phantom Display" which is a face panel that actually retracts into the unit when not in use or when changing discs- this allows Alpine to utilize more pixel space on the face to make an easier to read display- since they need not waste the space typically needed for a disc slot- that is hidden beneath the face when its in play position. The face is adjustable 3 ways- meaning the unit tilts the faceplate from flush with the chassis, to slightly angled upward, to more angled upward based on what position the unit is mounted compared to how much higher your eye level is- the face is always easy to read and this feature is killer! The head also plays MP3, which is nothing shocking now- I could care less because MP3 is audiophile code for "not ideal quality sound" - nevertheless, it's great to have MP3 ability because you can burn up 10 hours of music on 1 MP3 disc - do this 10 times and I'd say you have plenty of material to listen to on any road trip, no matter how long! The folder structure isn't exactly detailed to sub-folders- it sticks all folders on one "level" however this is fine- you can still browse without sacrificing searchability or usefulness.
S/N Ratio is a tight 105dB on CD playback- this is fantastic- combined with a hi S/N amp, your signal is going to be clean- AND if you use the built in Alpine amp *(which they call 60w, but which actually delivers 27watts RMS) you are getting a nice clean output to work with. Because of the built in crossover points, you could easily use the deck to run the rear speakers (which are only for rear fill) and this would free up your amplifier so you can effectively run more with it and not waste good channels on the rear- the Alpine is already crystal clear both pre-amp AND output stage- in fact their proprietary amp is based on the ALpine "V" technology which is actually very respectable- while I much prefer PPI or Soundstream or a/d/s/ over alpine amps, this head unit has the best sounding amplifier section I've yet heard (although I don't use it myself because I already have designated amp channels to run everything using the head as a per-amp only)
All in all, I couldn't be happier with the quality of my system's sound- The 9815 is a VAST improvement over the 7940 just because of the timing and Eq features- the built-in cross-overs make it even better!!! This unit is capable of extremely diverse applications and can be the center piece of just about any install, no matter how exotic or complex, and in all my years of experience and custom installs, I literally can't think of a single application which would not make excellent use of this head, except there are a limited few which would be ever better making use of ALpine's H700 processor. All in all, this is the best 360 bucks I ever spent on a system- CUT AND DRY. The sonic improvements outweight any change I've ever made to amps, or other electronics. There is no way that anyone could switch to this unit (from one without EQ, or time-correction features) and not experience DRASTIC improvements. For 360 bucks, or even RETAIL PRICE for that matter, this thing is a steal and WORTH EVERY PENNY- I have never EVER said this in all my epinions reviews, but for the first time ever- if I could give this six stars, I would easily!
Bravo Alpine!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 360
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Epinions.com ID:
nick1326
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Location: Long Island, NY
Reviews written: 232
Trusted by: 93 members
About Me:
Music, Motorcycles, Drumming, Surfing, the finest cigars and living life to its fullest...
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