Customer Reviews

Alpine CDA-9883 CD/MP3/WMA/AAC Receiver

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I initially was going to buy the similarly-priced SONY competitor unit. But then I started looking closely at the iPod navigation procedure on the SONY, compared to the Alpine, and quickly realized that there was absolutely no contest. The Alpine system is INFINITELY superior, in terms of ease of iPod navigation, than anything else I've seen (SONY, Pioneer, and others). Between the intelligent Menu/Submenu hierarchy system (very intuitive, very similar in nature to the navigation on the iPod itself), and the "percentage search" feature utilizing the #1-6 radio preset buttons for fast-forwarding along your song list, you can find an individual song in VERY little time, with a minimum of button-pushing or button-holding. Other manufacturers, who think that consumers will actually want to push a button hundreds of times (or hold it for hundreds of seconds), to find a desired song, are absolutely living on another planet. Buy the Alpine -- it looks cool, it sounds great, and most importantly, it makes iPod integration and navigation an absolute joy.

This is my 3rd Alpine, and I don't think I'd ever buy another brand. The looks, ease of installation and sound quality are all first rate. The iPod interface to me is exceptional, even considering the connector cable isn't cheap. I strongly suggest if you're going the iPod route, to buy the cable with the head unit, since the cable attaches to the rear of the unit and requires it to be out of your dashboard to attach the cable. Also, setting up the 'equalizer' takes a bit of trial and error to get the sound just right, (took me a week) but once you've got it, you're done.

My complaint is the difficulty of changing CDs while driving. The tiny button that allows the faceplate to open and reveal the CD slot is VERY difficult to find and is NOT lit, making it near impossible at night. I've finally come to the conclusion that it's just too dangerous, and I don't change discs while driving anymore. And the removeable faceplate (anti-theft) is a joke. It comes off ok, but is a pain it the *** to re-install. Re-inserting the hinge pins into the unit is very difficult.

I'm sure part of the Alpine design team was convinced that CD's are becoming something of a dinosaur (and I agree), but I still have a couple hundred of them, and I do like to play 'em sometimes.

If you don't play many CD's anymore, go with this unit, but if they are your major source of music in your car, you will be much happier with something else.

I wanted to buy a CD reciever (head unit) for a long time and since being a student, I was on a limited budget. I actually zeroed on three units - two of being pioneer ($180 and $160) and the other being the Alpine CDA -9883. This is radio has 3 RCA outputs (for amplifier, subwoofer(s)), is HD radio ready, SAT radio ready and of course plays mp3's and AAC's. The best thing I like about this product is its integration with the IPOD. You just plug your IPOD in, and everything on your IPOD can now be controlled with the head unit. It displays everything (artists, playlists, geners, songs, podcasts..etc). Your IPOD simply sits in the glove compartment or where ever. All in all a great product....will always reccommend.

As always, alpine delivers with great overall sound quality, and awesome fit, finish, and fitment. The full speed Ipod controls work well, and are intuitive after a minute or so. The percentage search function works well for scrolling through large libraries (this is helpful for me considering i have over 1700 songs). My only quarrel is that the bluetooth module costs an additional 165 dollars on amazon. Other than that, highly recommended and a great value.

I suppose the reviewer before me has had bad experiences with other head units, and while I sympathize, I can't exactly say that this thing is easy to control. Yeah, the heiarchy system does its best to emulate the style of iPod control, but it takes a bit of getting used to. And I think that the rotary dial is relied on heavily, so much that it reduces the practicality of what a scrollwheel was intended for in the first place.

What gets me is that rather than being an "enter" button, pushing the rotary dial only adjusts your equilization settings. You actually have to push the Play/Pause button to the left in order to advance through file hiearchy trees.

I would rather have seen a different method of navigation, for example, a combination of the right hand navigation buttons and the rotory dial, where you first hit search, select the artist with the rotory dial, and then used the top arrow buttons to find the album you want, hit the center dial twice and you start the music. That sounds a little complicated, but when you're on the road, keeping your eyes on the road is a bit more important than searching through your music for an album or song you want.

Sound-wise, the unit is about what I expected from Alpine. It's rock solid on the lows, and the mids are nice and forceful, without feeling overly powerful, but the highs just aren't what I'd hoped. They sound good, very good, even. However, I switched from a Blaupunkt CD-51, and the highs on that were beautiful. Clean, unfettered, just a joy to listen to (though the Blaupunkt lacked the mids to make it really good).

The Alpine also needed a lot of adjusting to get the lows to even stand out, and the overall sound needed some heavy tuning from the cheap little EQ that I have to make it rich enough to be listenable. Once I did get it adjusted, though, it's been a pleasant system to listen to.

Yeah, it lacks some of the niceities that I would've liked to have had (an IR remote comes to mind), and I may believe that the Rotory dial should come on Alpine's budget line, since the functionality of the rotory wheel wouldn't have added all that much, and I believe that I may have paid too much, just for the possibility of adding Bluetooth later.. but I'm not UNhappy with my purchase. Just not.. you know, happy with it either. Oh well, live and learn.

I bought this unit for the iPod integration, and haven't been disappointed. It is very easy to plug in, and sounds great. BUT the user interface is horrible. I have had it installed for six weeks, and still have to pull over (or wait for a traffic light) to switch CDs or iPod playlists. I have a MyFi unit for my XM satellite radio that operates on an unused FM frequency, and getting an unused FM frequency is near impossible on this Alpine. I have finally managed to learn to switch between iPod, CD, and radio while driving, so for short trips I'm OK, but I cannot yet remove the manual from my glove box, because doing anything else is so counter-intuitive.

The item is so good, I love it. Shipping was fast, and after installed stereo, it is fantastic. Thank you.