Alpine CDA-9857 - Radio / CD / MP3 player - Full-DIN - in-dash - 50 Watts x 4

Amazon Customer Reviews

(4 out of 5)

The best out there... But...

I purchased this unit specifically for its Ipod compatablity. It is by far the best availiable interface availiable displaying more information than other comparable units. The scroll speed is not as quick as the ipod but very acceptable. Sound quality is excellent.

My main gripe is the confusing and inconsistant logic to operation of the ipod with the receiver. For example, selecting a song to play from the artist, album or playlist menu,you press the play/pause button. If you select a song from the song list you press the mode button. The station selection buttons in song mode rapidly advance thru your song library. In another mode, it puts the unit into repeat mode. An annoyance, hard to correct at 65MPH on the road. I think the company forgot you are usually driving while operating this unit. I can't get the manual to read or study the display while crusing down the highway.

(4 out of 5)

IPod to Go!

I originally bought the CDA-9856 and exchanged it for this CDA-9857 model. Why? I have a 30 Gig IPod and it's difficult to dial through all of my 100's of albums/artists/playlists, let alone songs, with the slow rotary dial while I'm driving. The 9857's "Percentage Search" skip ahead feature makes selecting/playing music from the IPod a real pleasure. The 9856 doesn't have this feature. Also when searching albums, the 9857 displays 3 albums at a time, whereas the 9856 only displays 1. Both head units, however, only display 13 characters of the album/song title. This makes it very difficult to select the correct album if you have several with the same name for the first 13 characters, or perhaps multiple discs of the same album, but easier with the 9857 because it shows 3 albums at once. The 9857 is also a digital display, rather than analog as with the 9856, and the digital interface really speeds up the menu item selection and seems to make the IPod interface more "stable" (I had a problem with the MIX feature alternately refusing to turn on and then randomly turning on by itself with the 9856). Is it worth the extra $100? Well, I plan on keeping this car and this head unit for 5-8 years, so the ease of use that the 9857 offers makes listening to my IPod a pleasure that I'll enjoy for years to come, and to me that's worth the extra money. This is a darn good unit.

(4 out of 5)

Nothing better for me right now - but not 'perfect'

I use this with an iPod interface cable and an XM-direct receiver, both do just about exactly what you would want them to. They should implement the iPod fast scroll interface rather than using the station buttons to move through the lists 1/6th at a time. But that's a small gripe, it is still reasonably easy to find any artist or album out of my 8,000 or so tracks split over more than 400 albums and 200 artists. One thing most people won't care about, the RCA pre-out pigtails have been replaced with sockets on the unit, for my VW installation this considerably reduced the amount of wiring I had to find somewhere to conceal. The display is very clear but they removed the motorized tilt that was often useful for improving visibility on the older model.

I seldom use the FM or AM radio though when I do it seems to work about as well as any outdated technology, sensitivity is probably better than the older unit, either thar or they improved the local FM transmitters.

The XM controls are also well integrated, you can search by group or channel and the control usage is similar to that for the iPod.

I had an Alpine 9815 before this, it was very hard to scroll through the albums, I seldom listened to the tracks in the middle of the album or artist list. They have reduced some functionality though, but it's nothing I miss. I trade the vastly improved iPod interface and display for the esoteric sound controls that I never used.

(5 out of 5)

The Best Deck Ever

I bought this deck about 6 months ago. It has performed flawless in every aspect. As soon as I turned it on I could notice a big difference in the sound quality from my old poineer deck. I have taken all of my cd's out of my truck because there is no need for the cd player if you take advantage of the ipod interface. The ipod function is flawless and easy to use. Just plug in your ipod and search by artist, album, song title or playlist. This can get a little tricky while driving ecpecially if you have a large library so I would suggest using playlists. The output of sound quality from an ipod is amazing. Also there is a very useful bass engine that is very useful if you have subs, this function allows for flawless bass output and easy ajustment. This deck is the best overall I have ever listened to.

(5 out of 5)

A miracle in every way

After looking for months for a head unit that would handle satellite radio (XM or Sirius) as well as AM/FM, CDs, and iPod, I finally located this remarkable little device. The iPod link is everything you could expect short of a clickwheel (or multi-touch, as on the iPhone announced a few days ago): you can search by artist, album, song, and playlist, as well as do second-order searches (songs within albums, etc.). Or you can use the Direct Search function, in which each of the six preset buttons takes you through 1/6 of your music library -- push 1 and you go 17% of the way through, 2 = 34%, etc. Very convenient. The display software is sensible and flexible, so you can customize the readout for all functions. Hint: if you want whole titles of songs instead of a limited-character readout, redefault the song-title display to scrolling right to left. The sound, even with factory speakers, is just great, again for all functions including the iPod. You can't do half as well with anything else.