Home > Consumer Reviews > Pioneer DEHP4100UB SCD Receiver with USB control and OEL

The feature-set of this head unit is quite impressive for the price. It has good quality amplifiers with a flexible setup to allow use with a variety of configurations. The integrated USB input allows an iPod or flash storage to be connected as a music source. Expensive CD-changers are no longer relevant, and affordable flash drives can hold entire music collections in a tiny package. This receiver boasts a capability to improve the sound of compressed audio files, but while discernible, the difference is subtle.

The radio tuner works very well to provide clear, drift-free reception, although the unit provides no buttons to tune the presets. Instead, the single multi-controller must be moved up or down to navigate sequentially through the saved channels. Additionally, setting the stations is cumbersome as it requires several buttons to be pressed to tune and specify the new preset location. Once programmed, they are fairly easy to select.

The only gripes I have thus far concern the interface: the receiver is not intuitive for the untrained user. The buttons are not labeled well, and they all appear the same. It takes careful scrutiny to find which one controls which function without reading the manual. In fact, it is nearly impossible to program without doing do. Even the setting the clock is tricky, given that the unit must be "off" before one can access the mode to change the time.

When playing music from a USB storage device, the unit does remember the current track between sessions. In other words, it plays from where it was when you start up the car next time. However, when navigating the music storage it always displays the top folder first. This makes it difficult to find the "next" artist or album without already knowing the structure of the drive. In fact, the display is restricted to showing only one attribute at a time, though it can be any one of the title, album, artist, etc. However, when changing tracks while playing, the display switches to a "folder number" that has been assigned by the receiver. It can sometimes be confusing to know which album or folder you are selecting when this occurs. Needless to say, it is not advisable to attempt this action while driving.

That said, the unit installed easily into my vehicles DIN-sized opening. The wiring block detaches from the rear of the receiver, making it convenient to solder the wires to a harness designed to match the car (obtained from Crutchfield). Several optional expansions make this receiver ready for the future. A bluetooth adapter (Pioneer CD-BTB200 Bluetooth Wireless Adapter) can integrate a cell-phone into the system. Also, there will be an HD-radio receiver available (GEX-P20HD), to tune digital HD signal, but it doesn't use the existing model (GEX-P10HD).

Overall, I am impressed with the sound quality and feature-set. It may seem like I am overly critical above, but I wanted to identify issues that are often not addressed. Once you learn the functions, it is fairly easy to use, but be prepared for confusion from occasional drivers or the car or passengers.

I purchased this unit to install in a ski boat and am very pleased with the decision. I struggled back and forth with the front USB port versus the cable on the back like this unit has but have no issues not having the port on the front so far. My son and his friends bring their IPods and of course take over the music selection when we go to the lake. The Sound Retriever System really works and makes the compressed files sound MUCH better. Frankly I'm surprised how well they sound.

We ski on a remote lake in the mountains and the tuner does a very good job pulling in stations also. Again this was better than I expected based on experience with other units on that lake for the past 20+ years.

Since the unit is mounted in a recessed marine enclosure, it's a little difficult to access the buttons and knobs easily but the very functional remote solves that problem. In fact that's what we use almost exclusively.

All in all I'm thrilled with this unit in combination with the Infinity Kappa 692.9i speakers (see my separate review) that I bought to go with it. My wife thought I'd gone bonkers the first night that I got the system installed (very simple BTW) since my son and I sat in the garage playing music for a few hours trying out different songs.

I upgraded from an older Pioneer Premier deck and was immidiately impressed. I did the install myself. It was easier than I thought as long as you've done some electrical work before. There was an immediate improvement in sound even with my stock speakers. I drive a 97 nissan and it was a great fit for my car. I've used the usb port for most of my music and with the direct POWERED USB port it charged my ipod and I've even used a regular thumb drive to play music.
It takes a little bit of time adjusting to how to find and use features but once learned things run smoothly.
I highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a decent priced and high quality deck. Pioneer has lived up to the high standards I hold it too.

This little guy packs a lot in a small box. It is loaded with features, and can be upgraded with many more such as sattelite radio, HD radio, wired remotes, CD changers, the list goes on and on. Some of the things that sold me on it were the Ipod control ability, front Aux in, USB connection, and the 3 pair of 4V pre-amp outputs.

I am not using the internal amp, only the preamp outputs, so I cannot attest to how that works. I can however tell you that the sound that i get from it through my amp is phenomenal. The ipod control is fairly good, and it is always charging is using the dock connector though I thought I could control it from the ipod while it was connected. Beware, if you have a 5th generation Ipod you cannot do this. You can only control it from the head unit if you are using the ipod dock connector. You can always use the headphone connection through the Aux in if you would like but that is not as clean a connection, your Ipod is not being charged, and not what I thought i was getting.

As some have already stated, the setup process can be quite confusing. The manual is as thick as the Bible, and as hard to understand, LoL. Never fret though. Once you do get it all set you should never have to tough it again so it shouldn't be that big a deal. Also the color is a bit misleading. It is actually more of a pewter and black than a silver and black.

That covers most of it. I am very happy with my purchase so far and will post any thoughts after using it more later.

The P4100UB had everything I was looking for: 3 pre-outs, easy to read display, rotary volume knob, no flip-face, full ipod compatibility without extra accessories needed, clean look, and many more. It is also fully compatible with the ipod nano 4th generation, which it does not say in the manual.

I would have liked a 5 or 7 band equalizer instead of a 3 band, and although I do like the blue - a selectable color display would have made color matching the rest of the lights easier. Those are very minor things though. Everything else about it has been excellent, overall I am completely happy with this purchase.