My Car Stereo, the ultimate in CD players.
Written: Jun 09 '02
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Pros: MP3 playback, retro faceplate, remote control and many more.
Cons: None that I can ever think of.
The Bottom Line: This is definitely one of the catches in mobile audio today, with the Pioneer CD/MP3 player.
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| lavoisier's Full Review: Pioneer DEH-P7400 Car CD/ MP3 Player |
Now that I drive a 1993 Volvo 960 that Iˇ¦ve bought from my uncle, since he recently bought a new Lexus GS430; I find that the factory installed tape deck doesn't really please my audio tastes. So, I decided to spend some time and money to spice up the audio deck to make my road trips more exciting and adventurous. But to begin with, I've visited many stores for an MP3 compatible CD player deck, but when I recently came across an electronics store flyer advertising this CD player, I was really amazed at the audio, with the free installation provided by the store, I'm more than happy to even buy it once I've tested the player. So, I've bought a selection of conventional music CDs along with a couple of CDs filled with MP3s to test the performance and how easy it was to use the player.
During the Purchase and using the stereo
While testing the audio player, I couldn't believe how well it stood up to my audio needs. It even surpassed the quality of the factory-installed player that I had in my new car, even under the FM radio reception (well of course the FM radio received very well with the old tape deck), but this is equally as good. But since my car still has very high quality speakers built into the structure, I really want to leave the speakers alone as is.
The control panel buttons maybe small, but they're decently lit even in the darkest nights. The display also provides folders to allow us to access whatever title I would like to listen to, by using the select switch to toggle around the menus. Plus, with the scan feature, it allows me to play just 10 seconds of the title, so if I like to play it, based on my tastes or flavors of the time. With the remote bundled with the system, I can easily use it to scroll through the menus, plus I can even toggle through the CD for my favorite song or the radio station that I would like to reach for, without ever leaning over to the other side of the control panel, where the toggle switch is. Plus, the 3-band equalizer allows me to adjust the proper balance of bass and treble for the appropriate title. With the volume knob that pops in and out, I can easily access the radio station presets or even access the clock and menu for the display.
Since the faceplate is detachable, I can really use this feature to prevent theft of the audio system, since I've spent quite a big deal on the product, not to mention that I've got this in time for the no charge installation at the retail store.
This player can accept discs that contain MP3s and pre-burned audio CDs as I've said earlier, as well as your previously burned audio CDs through CD-Rs or CD-RWs. Under CD mode, it even has the capability to store 48 CD titles, so that I know what title I'm listening to when I don't remember the title. With the anti-shock mechanism, the feature that is also featured in those portable CD players, especially the thin ones; it actually aids in the ability to play your CDs more smoothly, even though your suspension in your car is not smooth.
With MP3 mode, it allows you to play a wide variety of tracks at different frequencies and bitrates. By that I mean, it can even play any MP3 audio CDs that you've downloaded off the Internet, regardless of quality or frequency, you can play the CD in the player without any compromises.
With the mixed mode, I can play CDs that contain MP3 and conventional audio, but it will only play the conventional audio, as it wasn't designed to decode both audio formats at once. But multi-session recorded discs are allowed, by that I mean, the CD can be recorded in a few sessions, compared to those that have been recorded all in one burn.
With the MP3 resume feature, it allows you to go back to the moment that you've left off your MP3 playback at incidents like answering your cell phone or you've just finished with the radio feature. To access the MP3 files, the menu user-interface also allows me to really scroll through folders, tracks for file information, whenever I would like some details of the file.
With the player when playing MP3s, it allows me to fast forward or fast rewind without playing the audio track, play the files in random (it only does that if your CD doesn't contain any more than 512 songs, due to the buffer size), repeat and scan. So, this means, that despite being an MP3 CD player for your automobile, it still has the qualities that you're really expecting from high quality MP3 CD players, but you don't really need one of those car adapters.
Display Capability:
This unit can display the PlayTime Indicator, Bit Rate, or the first 16 letters only of Folder Name, File Name, Track Title, Artist Name and Album Title. When the recorded information is longer than 16 letters, you can scroll the text to the left so that the rest of the title can be seen. Press the DISPlay key to switch between display modes.
Text Data: The File Name and Folder Names (up to 32 bytes) can be displayed.
ID3 Tag Display: This unit supports ID3 v1.0 and v1.1 tags for MP3 files. It can display the Track Title, Artist Name or Album Title (up to 30 bytes). If specific ID3 tag information has not been recorded on a MP3 disc, "no xxxx" will be displayed (e.g., "no artist").
Conclusion
In conclusion, with the $330 wisely spent, I find that this player is worth every penny that I have made in the past with several of my jobs during the school terms as well as the summer terms. With a very high quality audio playback with conventional CDs and MP3 CDs, I would really recommend this to those that have a large collection of audio CDs as well as MP3 CDs to try it out. Of many of the players that I've tried or solutions that I've even tried, this is definitely one of the most economical and versatile solutions that I've ever invested in car audio systems.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 330
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Epinions.com ID:
lavoisier
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Member: Hugh Jazz
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Reviews written: 180
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