So far it has been a roller coaster of emotion about this interface. First excitement because it is such a great product than disappointment when I heard it wasn't all it was suppose to be. Then back up again once I got it hooked up.

First impression was the ease of installation. Just plug one cable from the ai-net port on the back of the headunit to the interface box. Then another from the interface box to the ipod.

Sounds as good as cd.
No need to fumble with a huge case of cd's.

One thing I heard about it was that the pause between one song from another was kind of long but I didn't find that to be the case. Maybe it depends on the model of headunit but im not sure.

The only thing that could be better is searching for artist. It takes a while cause the rotary **** doesn't work near as fast as the click wheel on the ipod. Also there is no way to search by genre which would have made it quicker to search for artist.

In the end Im very happy in my purchase and recommend it to anyone.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mires &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sounds as good as cd. </TD></TR></TABLE>

This has been argued many many times on here but MP3's dont sound as good as a CD.

 

what head unit are you using. i was wondering if it would work with my 7897

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EBP_SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

This has been argued many many times on here but MP3's dont sound as good as a CD.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds just as good to me. Well, all I can say is Alpine must have done something to make them sound better. Also the way you download them to i-tunes effects the sound also.

Ive got it hooked up to a cda-9831.

 

Where did you get it and what's the model? Sounds worth looking into.

 

If you don’t have an Alpine deck take a look at these guys http://www.mp3yourcar.com – I bought one of these adapters and hooked it to stock deck. The unit is very similar to the one that BMW is selling now. The sound quality is really good and the install was cake.

 

Actually I got it off of Ebay brand new in the box. It was $106 shipped.

 

I really wish someone would make a universal unit for mp3 players.

 

This is how you handle business....

Import your whole cd collection into iTunes, if you're that **** about sound quality then don't import them as .mp3 use .aiff (or .wav if you're a windows person) granted this file will be 10x larger. But if you really care that much then go for it. Personally have 1200 songs on mine and 33gig's left to go.

 

call me old fashioned but i still like the old school style of a cd wallet. i can import that into my car in the time it takes me to walk there and theres no parts or installation work requied. the SQ is as good as original too

 

But then there's scratches- that sucks. Especially if it's a CD I paid for (rare- make that REALLY rare) but a scratched CD sucks. I like to embrace new technology that makes my life more convenient and the iPod kicks *** no matter what. I want that **** in my car lol

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gimme_h22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But then there's scratches- that sucks. Especially if it's a CD I paid for (rare- make that REALLY rare) but a scratched CD sucks. I like to embrace new technology that makes my life more convenient and the iPod kicks *** no matter what. I want that **** in my car lol</TD></TR></TABLE>

i've paid for all of my cd's and all of them are virtually scratch free. i support new technology but i dont really see how scrolling through 10000 songs on your ipod to find the one you want is more convenient. i know you can carry all your songs on one little handheld device but thats about it. you're limiting the SQ too which for me is a big factor.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EBP_SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

This has been argued many many times on here but MP3's dont sound as good as a CD.

</TD></TR></TABLE>


I'm sorry, but i REALLY beg to differ with you on that one. MP3's at 320 KBps are pretty damn good. That's as good as you can get with mp3's. Plus, does anyone on here EVER listen to music in their car like audiophiles listen to dvd-a's in their house?? no, so what the heck would it matter if mp3's didnt sound as good as a cd, it's not like your head unit's are made to give you the warm sound and best extraction of music as a pioneer elite or some other high end players.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Doubledeala &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


I'm sorry, but i REALLY beg to differ with you on that one. MP3's at 320 KBps are pretty damn good. That's as good as you can get with mp3's. Plus, does anyone on here EVER listen to music in their car like audiophiles listen to dvd-a's in their house?? no, so what the heck would it matter if mp3's didnt sound as good as a cd, it's not like your head unit's are made to give you the warm sound and best extraction of music as a pioneer elite or some other high end players.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Heres something to chew on....take it as you will.

MP3's might even help out in car audio where most poeple will likely be using low quality drivers that have excessive breakup on the top end. The lower bitrate MP3 (128kbps) that most poeple download actually cuts out alot of the higher end of the frequency spectrum....so it could actually be less fatigueing.

See who said technology doesn't help


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EBP_SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

This has been argued many many times on here but MP3's dont sound as good as a CD.

</TD></TR></TABLE>


Since I've always heard this said before (and for the most part I'm part of this camp), I think this week I might do some A/B testing (blind of course) and see if I can't hear a difference. I have Pyro 2004 which supports various rippers. I might try FLAC too. I've been archiving my CD's in 320kbps LAME.

I have a phillips soundcard with a S/PDIF coax output I'm feeding into a Monarchy Audio DAC, feeding a Monarchy Audio SM70 Class A, feeding Magenpan MMG's. I'm gonna get down to the bottom of this once and forall and see if I can hear the difference.


Stay tuned, cause I know your interested

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Westrock2000 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Since I've always heard this said before (and for the most part I'm part of this camp), I think this week I might do some A/B testing (blind of course) and see if I can't hear a difference. I have Pyro 2004 which supports various rippers. I might try FLAC too. I've been archiving my CD's in 320kbps LAME.

I have a phillips soundcard with a S/PDIF coax output I'm feeding into a Monarchy Audio DAC, feeding a Monarchy Audio SM70 Class A, feeding Magenpan MMG's. I'm gonna get down to the bottom of this once and forall and see if I can hear the difference.


Stay tuned, cause I know your interested </TD></TR></TABLE>

maggies eh ?? my sworn enemy (i'm sure you know of the constant bickering between maggie owners and martin logan owners)

isn't S/PDIF optical?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm sorry, but i REALLY beg to differ with you on that one. MP3's at 320 KBps are pretty damn good. That's as good as you can get with mp3's. Plus, does anyone on here EVER listen to music in their car like audiophiles listen to dvd-a's in their house?? no, so what the heck would it matter if mp3's didnt sound as good as a cd, it's not like your head unit's are made to give you the warm sound and best extraction of music as a pioneer elite or some other high end players.</TD></TR></TABLE>

while an MP3 at 320k sounds pretty good its still not what cd quality is. as far as listening to cd's in the car like audiophiles, i want the best sound possible in the car too. you can get head units that are amazing for SQ and about pioneer elite, they're not one of the best players out there. they're good but they're still in the average maintstream range. i just dont see any reasons to degrading the SQ just because you're in a car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EBP_SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

maggies eh ?? my sworn enemy (i'm sure you know of the constant bickering between maggie owners and martin logan owners)

isn't S/PDIF optical?

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have Maggies mosty because of price tags. $500 was much easier to get my foot in the door. The MG1.6's will probably be the most I'll ever upgrade to and there still only $1500 (unless I can find some used 3 series or something in that price range). Martin Logans are certianly cooler than Maggies (can't really see through Maggies ), and used would be my only &lt;justifiable&gt; option. On Audiogon several months ago I found a guy in Austin selling some Requests for $1000....but he never responded back

Just because were both at the top doesn't mean we can't be friends


Sony/Phillips Digital Interface can be either Coax or Optical (hell could probably be wireless if you wanted)....the only ones that is specific is the Toslink (Toshiba Link)....which is optical.

 

tell me, do you seriously listen to say...pink floyd...and wait to hear him take a deep breath in between verses?? do you focus on the quality of your music at all?

I'm saying you shouldn't have the worst quality sound in your car...but it's a car, you use it to drive to school or work or just for fun. You don't sit in the car listening to music as if you were relaxing on your lazyboy recliner and appreciating every single frequency your speaker produces.

 

Yeah, mp3's are so close to cd, **** even at 160bps it's still straight.

Like I said before if you're a ***** about about your stupid bass mix cd and you have important tracks that you want top quality import them as lossless (.aiff=mac, .wav=windows)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Doubledeala &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">tell me, do you seriously listen to say...pink floyd...and wait to hear him take a deep breath in between verses?? do you focus on the quality of your music at all? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes...if i can get that then why not it. do i focus on the quality of my music at all?? look at the sig

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I'm saying you shouldn't have the worst quality sound in your car...but it's a car, you use it to drive to school or work or just for fun. You don't sit in the car listening to music as if you were relaxing on your lazyboy recliner and appreciating every single frequency your speaker produces. </TD></TR></TABLE>

everyone does different things with their cars. if you're happy with MP3 then so be it. but the quality difference is still there.

 

Alright guys, after a week or so using this Interface every day I can honestly say Im still happy with my purchase but still have my gripes about it.

The main thing I have a problem with is scrolling through artist. It takes forever to scroll through all the artist I have listed because of my broad taste of music. In order to scroll through the artist you have to use the dial on the headunit causing me to reach down to reach it which gets uncomfortable after a few minutes, for me anyway. I would really rather use my remote.

My second gripe, which I really cant gripe about until I try to remedy the problem, is the sound quality on SOME of my music. Some of it seems pretty flat. I really need to work on the EQ on my headunit since Ive only had if for a little while and haven't had chance to really play with it yet. Maybe I can fix the sound a little with the EQ.

Probably the best thing I like about it is being able to transfer cd's which are scratched and skip to my i-pod. I can finally listen to all those old cd's I haven't been able to listen to for awhile since they were pretty much unplayable. These I can overlook the sound quality issue a little more for the simple fact that Im happy I can even listen to them again.

So that's about it for now. Ive heard the new '05 headunits will be a little more compatible with this new interface which should remedy most of the problems/gripes that people have with the '04's.

 

I want to thank you for making this thread good stuff dood

My pioneer Head Unit busted on my I needed a new cd player I wanted something a lot easier to use than the previous pioneer. I chose the alpine CDA-9851, it was 250 plus 100 for the Ipod Adapter. I really like it. I dont have any complaints so far I have not had much time to play with it yet. I had my Ipod hooked up through audio inputs on my pioneer. I would try to go through song list while I drove, It was annoying. I usually only set it to a play list and will listen to that fo most of the drive so I find it really convenient.