Customer Reviews

Harman Kardon DP 1US Drive and Play In-Vehicle Interface and Controller

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Don't know what the person below is talking about --- this unit is meant to be wired directly into your factory or aftermarket head unit via RCA plugs --- NOT FM modulation! That being said, the unit can also be wired via the CD changer port located on the back of most head units, or via FM modulation (wired or wireless). However, the best sound quality comes from either the RCA or CD changer interfaces. FM modulation (wired) will give reasonable sound quality if you live in suburbia or rural areas --- if you're an urban dweller, however, you may be subject to a little or lots of static. So, if you're willing to shell out the money for this unit, then be willing to fork over a bit more to ensure you have the BEST connection interface.

Aside from all that, installation of this is a breeze. Even if you've never installed anything in your car before -- or have no xp with car stereos, you WILL be able to handle this yourself. Of course, be prepared to spend a day investigating the nether regions of your car's dash/console if you want all the cords/wires to be hidden.

Overall, this is the best ipod integration solution on the market if you want to have full functionality. Those other solutions -- like icelink, iCruze, etc. limit how you can browse your songs, albums, artists, etc. Most even force you to make playlists for browsing. The only real alternatives to the Harmon Kardon, in my opinion, are some of the new CD decks w/ ipod adapters that offer nearly full functionality (Alpine, Pioneer make some good ones....though this route will cost you over $200)

One last thing, if you do opt to have this professionally installed, make sure whoever is doing it has some xp with ipod/car integration. Some "pros" at both Circuit City and Best Buy had absolutely no clue that this could use the CD changer port on my Scion tC factory head unit and tried to tell me that my only option was either a new CD deck that was compatible or to use FM modulation --- which really would have decreased the sound quality.

The short of it is that this unit is sweet! It works well, looks well and almost behaves as good as an iPod. Before this I had adapted an iPod docking station and a NaviPod remote such that I could see my iPod display and control it with the remote. But this is better and I've since done away with that setup. Some would contend that it's better to buy an interface cable and leave it at that. But that doesn't look professional. I like to keep the iPod hidden away where it can't be seen and instead have this elegant interface to control it with. The only reason it gets 4 stars is because the interface doesn't quite work exactly like the iPod. That's a bit of a bummer for us iPod junkies. But overall it still does a great job. Well worth the $200. I had tried the Alpine unit (I have an Alpine head unit) and returned it because of the pathetic interface. But this unit is nice. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I purchased this from a local "big box" vendor and they were pushing heavy on the professional installation service for $150-$300. They said the cost depended on how hard it was to get it wired into my car (in other words, they charge everyone $300). I do a lot of customizing work to my own car to I took a pass and went home to do it myself.

I'm a stickler for a clean looking install so it took me about three hours to get this completely finished but if you're less anal-retentive than me you can probably get it done in around an hour. The wiring is very simple, clearly labeled, and you're given several options for mounting the display and controller. I was lucky because the dash in my car is made of a nearly identical color as the Drive+Play so it looks like it was factory installed. To all you Honda Element owners out there, this is one slick looking gadget once you get it in place.

I would like to clarify a point made by a previous reviewer. This unit can be connected using either an FM Modulator or a direct line-level input if your stereo has one. You don't HAVE to use an FM Modulator unless your car doesn't have any kind of aux input. On a related note, if your car as a cassette player you can purchase a seperate casette adapter and get much better sound quality than with an FM Modulator. If at all possible, don't use the FM option or you're likely to be dissapointed.

PROS:
- Slick looking parts, very nice interface
- Easy to use, works just like the click wheel on your iPod
- Lots of installation options, high quality materials

CONS:
- FM Modulator option has less than acceptable sound quality
- If you can't or won't install it yourself, be prepared to pay dearly depending on who does the work

In the end, I would buy this unit over and over. I've recommended it to several of my friends and the members of the Honda Element Owners Club I belong to are all rushing to buy their own after seeing mine ;-)

The idea of the Drive+Play is great. Weeks of music from your iPod, a screen that lets you keep your eyes on the road, and a simple user interface. The reality falls short.

As an earlier reviewer correctly said, the FM transmitter is weak. The same reviewer incorrectly stated the FM was your only option. You can actually wire directly into the radio, if your radio has a direct input. Sound quality is fine. Unfortunately, HK neglected to provide any powerup muting, so you're greeted by a big thump when the thing comes up. This could have been easily rectified, if they had given a fig.

The display is a little weak in contrast. It requires a lot of backlight in daylight hours, and then it blinds you at night as soon as you start your car. I find this mighty distracting and a little dangerous on a dark road. A bigger weakness of the display is the fact that it doesn't display any characters with diacriticals, such as umlauts or accents grave. Instead, you're greeted with a blank space. If you like European or classical music, this will be increasingly irritating. And there are some character strings that it can't display. For example, if I play the NY Times Science Podcast, the bottom half of the title is cut off--it's as if someone bit through the letters. This is bizarre.

There are navigation issues as well. The Drive+Play doesn't know anything about audiobook chapter markers and treats an audiobook as a single long song. Podcasts don't show up in the top level at all, although you can find them by genre. There are other problems.

Now it may be that some of these issues have been resolved, but this raises what is another issue in my mind. The device is not upgradeable. An iPod is a substantial hard disk. It would seem to me that a flash upgrade could be downloaded to the iPod and then over to the Drive+Play. The iPod has grown in capability. The Drive+Play is a snapshot of the iPod of 3 years ago.

And did I mention that mine stopped working after about a year of operation? First it got flaky, then it stopped seeing my iPod. Tried another iPod--same thing. All in all, this seems to exemplify the fall of the once-mighty Harman Kardon. The product feels rushed, and I just don't think they give a damn. Two attempts to reach customer support via the web site were met with stony silence. I spent the better part of a day installing this thing. Haven't ripped it out yet, but I'm getting there.

It isn't perfect but I'm giving it a 5 star rating anyway because: 1) There is nowhere in the world where you can get such a safe-to-use interface for your music while driving. And 2) the price is unbelievable.

I was going to buy a zune, but when I saw this I bought an iPod instead ($40 for this plus $50 for an iPod from ebay for a dedicated car audio player). Note that the display is about 1000 TIMES EASIER TO READ THAN AN IPOD SCREEN, or any other MP3 screen for that matter (not to mention those tiny displays you have to navigate for built-in stereos - sheesh!). You can also put the display right in your line of sight (in my case, my wife's line of sight right in front of the windshield - I got it for her so she won't wreck while changing music), and then mount the control knob anywhere you want.

There are some pitfalls, but you can work around them (see below to avoid the headaches I experienced):
1) You can't, for example, select a genre and then shuffle among all albums in that genre. The work around is to create playlists for each way you might want to play music (in itunes, its easy enough to do). Then you shuffle the playlist.
2) The display is way too bright at night, and unless you do some fancy wiring it might forget your display-settings between drives. The work-around I used was a $9 flip-up pair of sunglasses from which I cut a darkening filter for the screen. Now I can change from day to night by flipping the filter - much faster than using the menu anyway.
3) The built-in FM modulator stinks EVEN WITH THE "Sold-seperately waste-O-cash" ANTENNAE ADAPTER, in fact DON'T WASTE MONEY ON THE ANTENNAE ADAPTER that plugs directly into the antennae because it hardly helps, and besides the plug probably won't fit your proprietary connectors and you'll end up splicing anyway like I did (not easy - ever spliced coax?). Fortunately you can use the iPod's headphone port instead and pipe that into your car stereo.
4) The built-in audio line-out is also of horrendous quality. Mine was mono! That's right, not even stereo! Not a problem though - like I said above, just use your ipod's headphone port for incredible ipod quality audio.

You'll need an AUX input to your receiver or a cassette player (get a casette adapter - I picked up one for $9). If you have neither upgrade your car stereo, buddy.

You can put all the extra cables and the control-box in the glove box. If you can handle drilling into plastic and pulling out your car stereo and putting it back together you can install everything yourself. If you use the included RC power adapter like I did be sure to rig it to the car's outlet so it doesn't come unplugged through road vibration.

Incidentally, even if my receiver could natively adapt to the iPod and control it I'd still use this device - at least for my wife. Like I said, it's the safest way to control and iPod while driving because of that big screen and line-of-sight viewing, and the controller is very intuitive if you know how to control an iPod.

I have read the mixed reviews here and must start off by saying I am very non-mechanical and lazy when it comes to installing accessories for car radios. However, I thought this would be a pretty easy install in my wife's 2001 4Runner - I was right, we were tuned in, hard wired into the head unit and running iPod tunes in under 30 minutes! Do not pay someone to install this for you, its easy, and your labor is free!

I purchased the D+P from Crutchfield. My wife's 4Runner does have an iPod enabled Pioneer head unit. I wired the D+P into the back of the head unit, did not use the wireless or FM Modulated installs, and this is an amazing transformation. The iPod takes on a whole new life as it plays through the car stereo faultlessly, clear as a bell and flawless functionality.

If you are considering any interface to use the iPod in your car, do not waste time or money on any other interface - buy this interface from Harman Kardon. It lives up to the reputation they have created and all the controls are natural to a seasoned iPod user.

For those of you that are considering the FM Modulated or Wireless installs, I would not consider this. Spend a little extra money or time and hard wire this adapter into your stereo system. The clarity will pay for itself over and over.

I love this adapter, and plan to purchase an additional one for my VW Bug very soon. Maybe my wife will read this review and get me one for my birthday!

The HK unit does connect via FM transmissions or via a link that hooks into the FM antenna. But it also has a line-out jack. I use a cassette adapter in one car and the sound is as good as you can get with a cassette adapter (which is far better than any FM connection). In my wife's car the head unit has a line-in jack, so the sound is even better.

My only complaint is that I wish the display would also show the album and not just artist and song -- and that it would scroll the artist. It has the additional line for the album (you see that when using the menu navigation), but it looks like the line wasn't used for the currently playing song.

I have a 30GB video IPOD. I bough the drive+play for my 2002 Sequoia and I love it. It is really easy to navigate. The installation was done by a local Car Toys. I strongly reccomend this product.

I got this for my iPod Classic to be able to play it through my 2002 Saab 9-3 radio. I paid $35 for it, and for that price it's a steal. I also got with it the wired FM Modulator. I used a similar setup for my XM radio, but as I decided to drop XM after they dropped my favorite stations, I got this as an alternative.

The sound quality is decent using the wired FM modulator, though sometimes the high ends can start blowing out. The best solution is still aux inputs if you have them.

One note on the wireless FM modulator: a lot of reviewers complain about the sound quality using this and give the unit a poor rating for it. What many don't realize is that wireless FM modulators are governed by FCC guidelines and as such cannot broadcast a strong enough signal to truly overtake existing broadcasts. This is something out of the manufacturer's hands and is no reflection on the product itself.

The display is great, a little bright at night but you can invert it. It's much easier to see what's playing when it's mounted in a line of sight position. The click wheel mimics the iPod navigation nicely.

The menu system is slightly different from the iPod, and I was initially alarmed when I could not find Podcasts as a menu item. I then found it under Genres and all was well.

It (usually) remembers track positions and such for audiobooks. Every now and then it forgets.

Given that I paid only $35 for the unit, I'm extremely happy with it. I'd probably drop a star if I paid $150-200 for it when it came out. HK has since come out with a more elaborate one for $400(!) with a color display, a wireless click wheel and the ability to add satellite radio, but at that price, get a new head unit that interfaces directly with the iPod.

I wanted ipod integration while keeping the stock factory deck. I wanted to keep the clean lines. I was also looking for a bargain way to add my ipod. I bought a tape deck adapter as a quick fix, but was rather annoyed at the constant clicking and hissing that came from the deck and speakers. While that solution was much better than the terrible fm transmitters for the ipod(itrip, and the like), the sound quality was terrible.

SO.

Got the HK system, installation was very easy. I am rather moderately radio install savvy, but if you can install an aftermarket head unit into your own car, you have enough skills to get it done.

I do not have an auxillary input, so I used the wired adapter to wire it into the cars antenna.

No interference yet, but I've only been using it for a day or two.

Sound quality is crystal clear FM radio, so its only going to get you the FM quality sound. Which is pretty good, but I do notice some crackling in certain higher frequencies, but nothing major. Worlds better than the itrip or tape adapter though. Slight hiss at louder volumes when listening to something very quiet.

The interface is easy to use, and the display is nice. I'm not sure if I just do not know how to use it fully quite yet, but have noticed that the settings do not save when you turn the car off, so if you have the FM transmitter on, you have to always go in and turn it back on every time you start it out. Again, this could be a user issue. Not sure yet.

All in all an excellent system for ipod integration. Word of advice. Get the system on ebay. I got mine on ebay directly from Harmon Kardon. It was refurbed, but came looking brand new. Also came with the wired adapter for free. Paid $48 shipped.

For what it's made to do, its a 5. Sound quality is a 4, but only because I'm using the FM modulator. I'm sure it'd be a 5 if I had an aux input.