Does anyone have this headunit installed yet? First impressions? I was wondering what the sound quality was like with the ipod cable and the unit in general?

Bought mine yesterday. Getting it installed today. Will post my impressions after I mess with it for a while.

Does sound check work on it?

I'm getting mine tommorow, I'll post a review
What is sound check ?

Well, I am pretty impressed with the unit !

I have a 4G, 20GB color.

The unit is pretty fast, although "full speed" might be an exaggeration. Don't get me wrong, it is plenty fast, but going from Artist > Album > Song does take an extra second.

It does have all the features that the Ipod has, icluding searching through playlist and it has the shuffle feature(they call it MIX)
The sound is awsome through my stock speakers(Caravan), and it also has 2 more inputs available(I have a DVD player through 1 of them and the other one is called Digital AUX-? Sat radio)

Overall I am totally content with this system and would reccomend it.
Also on the Crutchfield site, it states that the higher models have an even faster integration(well, why would they call this one "full speed" then ?)

As I understand it, the only "faster integration" in the higher-end models is the percentage search function, which uses the six preset buttons as evenly spaced bookmarks into the list (playlist/artist/album/track) you're currently searching.

Quote: Originally posted by TheBum
As I understand it, the only "faster integration" in the higher-end models is the percentage search function, which uses the six preset buttons as evenly spaced bookmarks into the list (playlist/artist/album/track) you're currently searching.

That actually would be very helpful. It does take quite a while to search through a list using the knob. I have about 300 artists and to get to the letter V takes some time, as opposed to the clickwheel, which is lightening fast.
"Full Speed" is definitely quite a misnomer

Quote: It does take quite a while to search through a list using the knob.

One of the problems with trying to relate subjective speeds to someone is if they've never seen the old way, they have no idea how much faster the new way is.

That's why, in another thread, I asked about the scrolling speed in number of items per second. So, I'll ask you: About how many items per second can you scroll with the rotary selector? My CDA-9851/KCA-420i combination can only manage between 2 and 3 items per second. Also, does spinning the selector faster cause the list to skip ahead?

I haven't timed it(I will try and post later), but I am estimating 5-6 items per second. Turning the knob faster does not make it go faster. It actually slows things down since you can only see one item at a time on the display and you can't read it when going too fast, you have to stop ocaisionally.
I understand the point of relative speed being subjective, but when they advertise something as Full Speed, it should at least be pretty close to it

I got my 9856 + Full speed cable installed today.
First Impressions
not having any other head unit iPod devices to compare to, the scroll wheel is ok, but not as fast as the scroll wheel on the iPod itself. Make sure you have Scrolling Text set to "Auto" if you want to display Artist Name + Album Name + Song Name, otherwise it only displays one of them. There is no Genre Search that I can find, but all the others are there, album, artist, song, playlist. It looks like Smart Playlist will be getting alot of action on my iPod now. Wil post more as I use the new setup more. Over all I really like it...I have my Sirius Radio connected via the AINet adapter and the iPod via the Speed Cable

Quote: Originally posted by jerome g
I am estimating 5-6 items per second.

If that's a correct estimate, it would be about a 2x increase vs. previous generations. Not bad but not great. Regardless of what Alpine says, it'll never be the full speed of the built-in scrollwheel: the speed of the control bus on the iPod would be the limiting factor. However, "full speed" could simply mean that they're managing to get the maximum speed attainable over the control bus.

How about the sound quality?? Do Apple Lossless files on iPod equal the sound of the CD player? Is the head unit sound quality an improvement over a typical OEM factory head unit?

I have always heard good things about Alpine sound quality, but I am skeptical at this price point. I had a Kenwood that sounded much worse than my OEM factory head unit. I ended up returning it and reinstalling the OEM unit.

Quote: Originally posted by eberrong
How about the sound quality?? Do Apple Lossless files on iPod equal the sound of the CD player? Is the head unit sound quality an improvement over a typical OEM factory head unit?

I have always heard good things about Alpine sound quality, but I am skeptical at this price point. I had a Kenwood that sounded much worse than my OEM factory head unit. I ended up returning it and reinstalling the OEM unit.

The sound is very good to me and most of the files I have are only @128. I don't have any lossless files. The headunit is definitely better than the factory one by far. I am by no means an audiophile, but I would say the sound is comparable to my Grado SR60 headphones and I have the bass and treble set at zero.
Also, I am coming from listening through a tape adapter out of the headphone jack.

Ok - finally got my unit installed last night. I have only been able to play around with it a little, so just some initial imperssions.

Install - a piece of cake once I got the dash apart. I highly recommend ordering through Crutchfield - the instuctions are dead on and they also have phone support. I ended up running the iPod cable to my Glovebox for now.

Looks, features, etc - nice looking unit, everything is pretty easy to locate and operate. The controls are a little confusing when you need to hit function or mode, etc but I think I will get used to it.

Sound - I am switching from my stock unit and the sound from the Alpine was noticably better right off the bat. Lot's of easy set up features to dial it in.

iPod Use - first off, I am really bummed that the unit takes over the controls of the iPod. I thought I read that you could use either the HU or the iPod, but that is not the case. I guess that was the Blitzsafe I was looking at. I am hoping once I get used to the controls though it won't be that big of a deal.

Searching seems pretty fast actually - I don't have an old unit to compare to but overall I would not call it slow. Not as fast as the ipod itself but close. The problem I am having right now is figuring out the sequence of buttons to use to get to a specific Artists, Album song, etc. One pain is that if you are in shuffle mode (Mix on stereo) you have to turn the mix off, then hit the search button then scroll through Artist, Album, song then search for what you are looking for. I also haven't figured out yet how to search to another song within that album without just hitting >>

So - overall with limited use so far, I would give it an A-. I really like the unit and the optiojns are nice. I wish they would give you the option of BOTH head unit controls AND iPod controls. That wa you could just fast forward, etc from the head unit and if you are looking to search more you can use the iPod controls.

Hope that helps.

I just noticed from Crutchfield's web site that the KCE-422i cable is only 6.5 feet long. That would pose a problem for me due to the unique -- and almost ideal -- mounting location of my iPod in my SUV (in the center armrest compartment). That might be a deal-breaker for me unless I can find an extension cable.