Alpine + iPod?

[Joe Sixpack 10+ year member]

The 9855 seems to be a cool HU, I was thinking of getting one + the interface box and an iPod to store all my music.

Will this work well?

I've heard that there is a limitation of 510 songs and 255 albums or something, in the iPod interface? Is this true?

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[9512ds 5,000+ posts]

i am getting that same setup on my doorstep in about a week. the ipod interface can only read 255 names to every playlist i believe. if someone could straighten this out fo rme. but it will play every song on the ipod and is controlled through the headunit

 

[63novawagon 10+ year member]

Here what i would do. Ditch the alpine adapter and get your self a Giffin Airclick. It's a wireless remote that allows you to change songs on your ipod. You also need some icable from monster, (RCA cables) and just hook that up from your AUX and ur set. Play your pod sons through AUX and change the songs using a wireless remote, saves u alot of money

 

[Joe Sixpack 10+ year member]

Thanx for the tip, but I want to control and access everything from the HU and have the ID3 tags shown on its display.

I would have bought a MP3 capable CD changer, but 6 CDs simply aren't enough...

The iPod seemed to be a perfect alternative, but the question is how bad the limitations of the interface are, and what this means in practice. Anyone?

 

[boister77 10+ year member]

i've fiddled with an alpine ipod setup. i find it a bit hard to use because your browsing capabilities are limited. i prefer navigating from the ipod directly and having the line out signal sent to the aux input of my hu.

 

[THX 10+ year member]

I use it. It's a hassle to get to an artist passed F or T, but I usually set it to random. Playlists handle my favorites.

If you must listen to a certain song you can always disconnect the ipod, navigate to the song, and plug it back in. The Alpine will always play where your ipod left off.

I hope next year they get this bs sorted out. >:[

edit- forgot to mention the 9855 will be AWESOME at displaying tag info. The Panasonics have a 8-character text limit. I don't think the Alpines have any limit at all.

 

[Joe Sixpack 10+ year member]

Yeah I figured it would be awsome at displaying tag info... But I downloaded the manual and read it, and it seems the unit can display Artist/Album or Album/Song, but not Artist/Song? WTF? That doesn't make sense, it will annoy the hell out of me if it is correct?

 

[THX 10+ year member]

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-pdJMuuaJlOi/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=62700&id=morephotos&i=500CDA9855

edit- hmm check out this thread. Doesn't make any sense.

 

[63novawagon 10+ year member]

Is that true that they don't have Aux outputs. i was playing with the 9853 at the store today and i didnt see a source for AUX. Could i connect the Aux from the HU to my ipod? let me know i really dont want to buy the ipod adapter

 

[Joe Sixpack 10+ year member]

THX: Yes, I've seen that picture before, but if you take a closer look it is playing a CD. In the manual, Artist/Song is listed for CD playback, but it is not listed for iPod. From reading the thread you linked to, it seems like the manual is correct. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

It just doesn't make any sense, with thousands of songs Artist/Song is the one mode you would need the most... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[63novawagon 10+ year member]

To get things straight, in order for me to have outputs (AUX) such as a ipod i need to buy the Ipod Adapter?. Is there any AUX that the new HU allows me to hook through me ipod without the ADAPTER? Man thats really cleaver of Alpine to market that

 

[electronicsgeek 10+ year member]

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-pdJMuuaJlOi/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=62700&id=morephotos&i=500CDA9855

edit- hmm check out this thread. Doesn't make any sense.

that thing is sweet....

 

[teombe]

I just installed a similar setup in my Pathfinder last week. I have the 9853 and the iPod interface. I can't say enough good things about it. SQ is definitely 10x better than using an AUX input, because the HU does the MP3 decode, and applies MX settings in the digital domain.

I am in the process of re-encoding my CD collection using EAC and the LAME MP3 encoder, as the old tool I was using made the bass frequencies distort. I didn't notice this until after listening to a few albums I encoded vs. some MP3s from a friend's Ipod in the car.

My gripes are few, but include:

-Not being able to show artist/title. Of course, this isn't necessary because you usually know the music in your collection.

-Searching by artist or album is tedious at best with the GlideTouch. It's a great interface (IMHO), but I would have liked a "fast scroll" button or something to go along with it. Basically, if you run your finger across the bar quickly, it skips something like 20 artists or albums at a time. This is easy enough while you're sitting still, but will prolly cause an accident if you are driving. Of course, the PF's radio is a good arm's length away from the driver's seat position.

 

[THX 10+ year member]

teombe that's some awesome info, thanks! Didn't know the Glidetouch could skip artists to get at what you want faster.

The only problem I have with EAC > LAME > iPod is tagging is a b!tch. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif You can't tag WAVs correct?

 

[Joe Sixpack 10+ year member]

To get things straight, in order for me to have outputs (AUX) such as a ipod i need to buy the Ipod Adapter?. Is there any AUX that the new HU allows me to hook through me ipod without the ADAPTER? Man thats really cleaver of Alpine to market that

You don't need the iPod adapter, you can connect it to the AUX inputs. However, by doing this you won't be able to control the iPod from the HU.

Also, I think you'll need another adapter (cheap) to get the AUX inputs on the 9855. I might be wrong about this.