Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio Alpine HU suggestions

I currently have a Alpine CDA-9807, and I love it. It has all the features I want plus more. Never had a single problem with it and very easy to control and tune. Only one thing has been bugging me for a while now. There is no illumination options. My entire interior illuminates in red except for the HU, and it bugs me.

Looking at Alpines current models, it doesn't look like any of them in my price range ($200-300) have illumination options. All are preset in either blue or green.

Features I want:

CD-R/CD-RW
MP3
WMA
Remote control
iPod connection (for the near future when I pick one up)
Satellite radio (again for the near future maybe)
3 amp output

Now I did find a CDA-9855 (2005 model) which looks awesome. I love the GlideTouch and BioLite features. The black and white display with different color button options looks ideal.

Anyone have recommendations? Maybe something a little cheaper than the CDA-9855. I'm a n00b when it comes to audio and researching different model and features.

Thanks!

i have the 9855 and it's a good deck overall. i don't suggest it if you're planning on using an ipod on it. well if you just want to play everything in random it's ok. the glidetouch is a bit of a hassle to search with, and that's with just a 4 gb nano. the larger ipods would probably be ridiculous to work with.

my friend got one of this year's models with the percentage search. definitely makes things easier. althought they stripped away a lot of features that the 9855 had. the biolite display isn't as nice either. it's your call, convenience vs features.

I have the 9835...basiaclly exact same HU (same features/specs) as the 9855 but it does not have the Bio-lite or glide touch. I really like it. The color changing buttons is a cool feature if you like to change your interior color. Right now I have them tuned to exactly match my indiglo HL, HVAC, and gauges. Looks awesome.

Originally posted by sriddle:

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i have the 9855 and it's a good deck overall. i don't suggest it if you're planning on using an ipod on it. well if you just want to play everything in random it's ok. the glidetouch is a bit of a hassle to search with, and that's with just a 4 gb nano. the larger ipods would probably be ridiculous to work with.

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Im curious as to why you say this? Is it b/c the glide touch makes it difficult? My model does not have the glide touch so would this make it better for the ipod? Im curious b/c I'm thinking about getting an ipod and the hookup for my car. Is the Alpine i=pod hookup still around $99? b/c damn thats expensive.

I'm amazed steeda hasn't chimed in yet and told you to buy Eclipse.
If you can get your hands on a 9835 GET IT!

I say go for the Alpine 9856 which has the new full speed ipod capability and it is only like 199 with 3 pre outs and such. If you want a nicer display with their biolite go with the 9857 but its 349.99 so you DO pay a price difference for that.

Hey thats just my two cents but get the 9856 i say

Originally posted by sriddle:

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i have the 9855 and it's a good deck overall. i don't suggest it if you're planning on using an ipod on it. well if you just want to play everything in random it's ok. the glidetouch is a bit of a hassle to search with, and that's with just a 4 gb nano. the larger ipods would probably be ridiculous to work with.

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Im curious as to why you say this? Is it b/c the glide touch makes it difficult? My model does not have the glide touch so would this make it better for the ipod? Im curious b/c I'm thinking about getting an ipod and the hookup for my car. Is the Alpine i=pod hookup still around $99?

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the glidetouch makes searching through your ipod a hassle. there are two ways to scroll. one is gliding your finger across the entire strip multiple times. if done just right it will skip ahead 15 songs. can be done, but takes a while to get used to. i found if i go the opposite direction first and then reverse directions quickly it'll produce this response. the other is holding your finger over either end of the strip and waiting till it autoscrolls. this is probably the easiest way until you come up with your own technique.

the problem with both of these is that you need to have the right amount pressure to activate the sensor without pressing the strip to choose the item that is currently highlighted. not too bad when parked, but while driving if you hit a bump and accidentally pressed the strip you have to start from the beginning. the manual mentions a quicksearch option but it was taken out when the unit was put into production. so you always start at the beginning of your ipod when searching.

another thing to note is that the deck does not remember the mix setting for the ipod if you turn the car off. so you'll have to tell it to go into mix mode again everytime you start the car. to perform searches you have to disable mix mode.

depending on how many songs you have on your ipod it can be faster to unplug it from the harness, play the song on the ipod, and plug it back into the harness. the deck continues play on whatever was being played last on the ipod.

with the new 9857 it's pointless to spin the wheel as fast as you can to search through your ipod. if you rotate the knob too fast it doesn't register all of the rotations. just an observation on my friend's deck. the percentage search helps avoid the tedious rotating of the knob everytime you search. just push one of the preset buttons and it'll jump ahead a certain distance depending on what button was pressed.