# Which iPod-ready car deck?



## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

I'm toying around changing the stereo in my car and am thinking about getting something that my 4G iPod can plug into. I know NOTHING about car audio but I know in the past some car stereos with iPod interfaces have limitations (ie. truncated song/artist names, etc).

Are these problems fixed in the latest car stereos?

Which one is best for $500 or less?

BTW, I've already got an iTrip but have a tough time finding an empty place on the FM band in the GTA. It works for the most part, but static is the norm.


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## Jeepdude (Mar 3, 2005)

I have (last year's) Alpine deck--I think it's a 5380 or something like that.

Sound is great, connectivity works well--but the interface wasn't the greatest. Uses something called a "glide bar" which is kinda like a trackpad on a laptop. you use it to slide back and forth through playlists, song lists, etc. Hit a bump in the road while you do this, and that's what you're listening to.

From what I understand, this year they've removed the glide bar, and you control everything with the volume knob--HUGE improvement. Also, they've integrated the iPod module into the head unit, so there's no additional purchase/install required anymore for the iPod to work. 

Overall, despite the glidebar thing, I'm satisfied. love the sound. With the improvements, this year's decks are wicked.


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## scootsandludes (Nov 28, 2003)

If you have a stock head unit, you can get the monster cables that plug right into your head unit.

A basic deck that has an iPod connection will run in the $300 range. Keep an eye out on the flyers, they usually have a free install if you buy something over $200.

I'd go for the Monster cables for 2 reasons. It looks stock, the lights match your interior lights. The other reason is thieves. If you have an after-market deck, you're giving them a reason to break into your car, I've had my stereo stolen 3 times, and just about all my friends have had an after-market deck stolen from them. They ignore the factory stuff.

vince


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## hhk (May 31, 2006)

There are a lot of badly executed iPod interfaces. Alpine's is the worst. The best I've seen is Dension iceLink. But, the Dension systems are expensive. They are vehicle-specific and easy to install. For my BMW, the iceLink plugs into the CD changer port in the trunk. No need to pull apart the dash. They also offer units for aftermarket stereos. 

There are other interface systems that require you to pull the head unit out of the dash and plug into the back of it. I have one of these in my Toyota but I can't remember the name of it right now. It was a lot cheaper than my iceLink.

The big sell on the iceLink is the ability to fully control your iPod from your head unit. I thought this was a big plus but when I actually tried it, I found it very difficult to navigate between playlists, albums, etc. The beauty of the iPod is it's interface and no car deck is going to challenge it. So, I ended up disabling the head unit control and I just use the iPod click wheel instead. Basically, I'm doing the same thing you can do by just plugging an AUX cable into the headphone port of the iPod. The only advantage I have over that scenario is the ability to charge the iPod from the car.

So, the bottom line is, if you like the iPod interface (who doesn't), save yourself some money and installation hassle and just get a head unit with an AUX port. Then plug into the headphone port of your iPod. This, of course, won't charge your iPod but you could also get a charging cable. That doubles up the connecting wires so you may or may not want that.

If you want full control from the head unit, go with the iceLink that is specific to your vehicle or head unit. Just get ready for some sticker shock when you price it out.

One other option now that I think of it. JVC offers a head unit with a USB port. You can plug your iPod into that. Won't charge your iPod though.


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## jdurston (Jan 28, 2005)

The Pioneer system seems to be decent.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

Lots of info here, some of it conflicting  Thanks guys. I'll have to do some research of my own. I am able to get a substantial discount on Pioneer products, so that's where I'm leaning right now. The top model with the Bluetooth support for cell phone integration looks interesting.

Ultimately, I'd like to keep the stock head unit, however it's not worth a damn and I do want the additional features that an iPod-ready head unit will offer.


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## hhk (May 31, 2006)

Mike:

You'll be amazed what a decent amp and speakers will do for factory head units. 

Whatever you decide, make sure you try out the iPod interface before purchasing. That's what turned me off the Alpine. If you can't test drive, read the reviews on Amazon. 

Most of the time, when aftermarket iPod interface designers try to map iPod control to head unit hardware, they do a very poor job.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

hhk said:


> You'll be amazed what a decent amp and speakers will do for factory head units.


I'm not ready for an amp yet, and the speakers will come (probably much) later. For the time being, I just want to be able to listen to my iPod in my truck and have it sound as close to CD quality as possible.



> Whatever you decide, make sure you try out the iPod interface before purchasing. That's what turned me off the Alpine. If you can't test drive, read the reviews on Amazon.


Good advice. I'll see if one of the vendors has the deck available for testing with my personal iPod.



> Most of the time, when aftermarket iPod interface designers try to map iPod control to head unit hardware, they do a very poor job.


I had heard/read about this before, but couldn't figure out why it was so mangled. A friend of mine has an older Alpine MP3 deck and CDs are easily navigated on it. Never built a playlist (if it's even possible on the deck itself), but for changing folders, shuffle, etc., it's sufficient. I don't need much more than that for the iPod.


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## jdurston (Jan 28, 2005)

I just checked out some Alpine decks. The CDA-9857 is the best iPod deck I've seen. The adaptor is cheap too, the deck is about $400 though.

The screen is high res. and the preset buttons let you jump to various percentages thru track lists. It makes navigating easy. It is pretty quick as well.


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## maximusbibicus (Feb 25, 2002)

Controlling 60GB through ANY deck is a nightmare. I have a 2 year old Alpine (9831) that has an AUX port in the rear. Alpine sells an adapter that plugs into the AUX port and splits into female RCA's. I bought a cable that goes from male RCA's to a minijack plug.

I get to control all my music through Apple's fantastic interface, plus my sound is awesome as the iPod is hardwired to the deck. No tape adapter or iTrip crappy sound. 

Don't waste money on an iPod ready deck. Even though my deck is iPod ready, I bought my deck based upon features I wanted and i knew I could use the AUX to get the connectivity I needed. Also keep in mine that the adapters to actually plug your iPod into your deck can be pricey.


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## iMan (Feb 22, 2005)

http://www.harmankardon.com/drive-1/default.aspx
These are very good and are easy to control the ipod with.


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## jdurston (Jan 28, 2005)

maximusbibicus said:


> Controlling 60GB through ANY deck is a nightmare. I have a 2 year old Alpine (9831) that has an AUX port in the rear. Alpine sells an adapter that plugs into the AUX port and splits into female RCA's. I bought a cable that goes from male RCA's to a minijack plug.
> 
> I get to control all my music through Apple's fantastic interface, plus my sound is awesome as the iPod is hardwired to the deck. No tape adapter or iTrip crappy sound.
> 
> Don't waste money on an iPod ready deck. Even though my deck is iPod ready, I bought my deck based upon features I wanted and i knew I could use the AUX to get the connectivity I needed. Also keep in mine that the adapters to actually plug your iPod into your deck can be pricey.


Alpine has a new iPod adaptor that is actually priced quite competively, it just came out this year. It only costs $35 at my local stereo shop. It's just a cable with a dock connector.

I fooled with it on the the 9857, navigation was pretty good directly from the deck. The high res screen seems like a must have if your shifting through 1000s of songs or dozens of playlists. From what I saw, it'll be my next car expense, when I can justify it.

If you don't care about the high res screen then they are a bunch of cheaper models with basically the same features in Alpine's lineup.

Pioneer offers pretty good value but there iPod adaptor is $129 and it's a box that's a more of a pain to install. Some Pioneer decks now offer AAC support built in so burning AAC/MP3 mixture CD's is a possibility.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

jdurston said:


> I just checked out some Alpine decks. The CDA-9857 is the best iPod deck I've seen. The adaptor is cheap too, the deck is about $400 though.
> 
> The screen is high res. and the preset buttons let you jump to various percentages thru track lists. It makes navigating easy. It is pretty quick as well.


This is the deck I'm leaning towards, but I can't ignore the Pioneer discount I'm able to get so I'll be checking those out as well.

Funny this thread surfaces again when I was just looking at decks online last night


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

iMan said:


> http://www.harmankardon.com/drive-1/default.aspx
> These are very good and are easy to control the ipod with.


Any idea what these are worth? It looks expensive, especially if it has to be professionally installed. H-K's dealer locator doesn't recognize Canadian postal codes...


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## modsuperstar (Nov 23, 2004)

Here's the cheapest option you can get. The Sony CDX-GT200 model(along with a couple others in that line), have a front AUX input. They're the lowest cost head unit that features a front input. Pickup a male-male headphone cable and a charger cable from eBay and you're all set. All told it set me back about $150. The deck itself gets good radio reception and plays mp3 CDs as well. The sound out of it is decent, though my car isn't really pimped out for audio at all. The only drawback to the setup is that you can't control the iPod through the deck, but for the sake of saying I've never found that a terribly big issue.


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## hhk (May 31, 2006)

modsuperstar said:


> Here's the cheapest option you can get. The Sony CDX-GT200 model(along with a couple others in that line), have a front AUX input. Pickup a male-male headphone cable and a charger cable from eBay and you're all set. The only drawback to the setup is that you can't control the iPod through the deck, but for the sake of saying I've never found that a terribly big issue.


Ya, in my two cars, I have completely given up on controlling the iPod through the head unit. It just doesn't work well.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

modsuperstar said:


> Here's the cheapest option you can get.


Not really looking for the cheapest... I'll take the improvement in sound quality and features as well.


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## jdurston (Jan 28, 2005)

mikef said:


> This is the deck I'm leaning towards, but I can't ignore the Pioneer discount I'm able to get so I'll be checking those out as well.
> 
> Funny this thread surfaces again when I was just looking at decks online last night


Remember that the Pioneer iPod adaptor is about 4 times the price of the Alpine one. 

A lot of people seem to be frustrated by the slow speed of the Pioneer interface and low resolution screens on any brand. A high res screen is a must for satisfactory browsing of music.

Other than iPod interface I love Pioneer. My last 4 decks have been Pioneer, as I've always found them to offer excellent value/features for the money.

The $160 Pioneer 3800 offers sub-control, HPF (to keep your front speakers from getting overloaded with bass), and a really customizable eq. I think it's the best of the cheap decks.


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## maximusbibicus (Feb 25, 2002)

hhk said:


> Ya, in my two cars, I have completely given up on controlling the iPod through the head unit. It just doesn't work well.


:clap: 

Agreed.


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## iMan (Feb 22, 2005)

mikef said:


> Any idea what these are worth? It looks expensive, especially if it has to be professionally installed. H-K's dealer locator doesn't recognize Canadian postal codes...


apple.ca has it for $249.95. That is without installation of course. Installation probably wouldn't be that difficult.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

jdurston said:


> Remember that the Pioneer iPod adaptor is about 4 times the price of the Alpine one.


Actually, they're both less than $50. Pioneer's is $50 at Future Shop and the Alpine one has a list price of $50 CAD (so probably less on the street)


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## jdurston (Jan 28, 2005)

I decided to buy a Pioneer Premier 860. It is sweet. I blew all my cash on the deck so the iPod adaptor is going to have to wait.


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