onefastsi
10+ year member
Older, faster and wiser!
Ok...this is an initial review on my NEW X001. If you didn't know, I've toyed with a new head unit for weeks, wanting a 9255, but for the money and easy of use decided on this unit.
I didn't have time to really play with it, so will get into a more detailed review later on, this is just an initial impression and some photos for your perusal.
The pics **** as I have a crappy dial up and had to compress them, so will get some better ones I can upload from work when I get a chance.
Initial impression: opening the box!
It’s the little things that impress me. That’s why I buy what I buy. Also the little things that annoy me…I liked what I saw just opening the box. The way the X001 was packaged was nice. Don’t ask, it’s just a little attention to detail I noticed. I’ve never owned an Alpine, so didn’t know what to expect, even from a package stand point.
I pulled out the unit, only seeing it in photos til this time. Man, this thing is SEXY! All shiny in the right places, which you can’t really tell in the pics. The center dial is glossy, very nice. The big screen on the right, the layout of the buttons, very nice and intuitive.
What’s weird? No CD slot! that’ll take some getting used to! But boy, the unit is VERY light because of it. I noticed that right off the bat.
I turn the dial not realizing what it’ll do. It doesn’t “turn” per say, it’s spring loaded, so you turn the dial and it sets itself back into the original location. Turn the dial more and it turns up volume or does search functions faster. It will take a little getting used to, but isn’t bad. I’d rather have a standard dial.
Speaking of impressions? I was miffed a bit. The big, shiny center dial says “Alpine” on it and below has small text “Search”. It’s off center just enough to annoy me! Darn! ****THIS HAS SINCE BEEN FIXED!!!
Fit and finish is great, dials and buttons feel good to the touch. Removable 2/3 face, (the screen portion of the face stays in place), fits very well and is nice to take off and put back on. I was looking forward to messing with the menu’s I so read about online!
Install: The nuts and bolts
This was pretty event free. All the connects are on the back for the USB/iPod cable, which by the way is cool as it screws into the back of the unit after plug in to be sure it doesn’t, unplug. Similar to a computer connection screw terminal. Nice touch. Wires are clearly marked and hooked up the my adapter easily.
The RCA plugs are also on the unit, not pigtailed like on some units. I like plugging directly into the unit personally.
I wired it and test ran to be sure everything turned on…no issues! I mounted the radio to the gauge panel as with any DIN unit. Then dropped it into the car. I was itching to listen!
The ULITMATE Test: Just a quick listen please!
I didn’t have time…as usual. I was off today, but every day off is filled with “stuff” to do. I spent a few hours with the ‘uninstall’ and subsequent ‘install’, on and off between kids and running around. I really just ‘laid’ the radio in place, not worrying about accessory plugs and replaced shifter.
I ran inside and grabbed the iPod. I had a few songs on it, I was mostly using it for pictures of stuff to show the guys at work…kids, car stuff, new dog, etc. I had Ozzie’s new CD, Black Rain on the Pod, so thought I’d start there.
Let me say first, the replaced source unit, an OLD (11 years) Rockford Fosgate RFX8140, 9 volts out!, was my baby. It started dying on me, losing another set of RCA outs every so often. I was down to one left….she was skipping and just, well, time to go. It looked like new which is too bad. But, 1 bit DA is kinda archaic these days…but 9 volts!
The unit was the best I’ve heard in my cars over the years. Tight, hard hitting bass, great front stage, but, after plugging in the X001, I found it lacked a few things…
I ‘searched’ for Ozzie’s new one, Black Rain. The search features, the menu’s…pretty much everything about the interface is great. I had to turn it up a bit more than usual as the voltage was lower, by a lot, vs. what I am used to. But cranked I noticed some interesting things:
1. Very nice, tight, crisp front stage, just like the Rockford, just more…ummm…something, edge?
2. The bass was extreme! However, this needs tweaking as I’m not sure if it’s good. Image it like this: The Rockford was like a fresh, new piece of MDF…nice sharp edges, clean, powerful…the Alpine is like taking a piece of sandpaper to that edge and smoothing it out. Almost MORE powerful, but in a different way. Super low end, VERY smooth! However, I like the HARD hit, so will have to listen to a few benchmark songs to see the real difference. Like I said, I was in a hurry so didn’t mess much.
I started messing with the built in EQ…Bejesus! On the “Rock” setting I about popped an ear drum the bass was so extreme!! I scrolled through the settings, more on those later, and set it back at flat, controlling the bass and treble manually, but set those at “0” as well.
I then dropped in my Rebecca Pidgeon “Spanish Harlem” on the Chesky Records SQ disc. The upper range is fantastic, similar in sound to the 8140, but better. The midbass really popped! I noticed right off hand that the CDT HD6’s in the doors were really moving now. I just listened to this song the other day while messing with a 3 way upgrade in the car, noticing then that the CDT’s in the doors had a much stronger midbass presence. Well, I’ve had a midbass hole in one way or another for sometime, but learned to live with it…no longer.
So…as for listening…so far so good, I’ll need to tweak things and mess with amp settings and such. But I like what I hear!
Pro’s of the unit:
1. No CD. Nothing moving, hopefully less to break!
2. Ease of use.
3. 10,000 songs on tap!
4. Nice audio sound. Great mids and uppers. Smooth bass and incredible output.
5. Nice features and adds.
6. Great Price point.
7. Tons of adds to make things better down the line!
Con’s of the unit:
1. No CD.
2. Some of the controls are hard to find in menu’s, i.e. mute, lighting, etc.
3. 10,000 songs on tap! SO much to choose from, so little time
4. Bass out put is great, just a matter of the type of bass I need to mess with.
5. No remote
6. a lot of adds. Yes, this is good, but bad for a budget!
7. Crappy manual!
8. Screen get’s a bit ‘washed out’ on one side in the light. Can’t wait to see it at night though. This is just a little annoyance that it doesn’t look the same from side to side.
Well, here are the pics, hope you enjoy and I’ll be in touch with a full blown report soon!
The old unit:
Ahhhh....
Mmmmmm....
How cool is this!!
And the inputs...
I didn't have time to really play with it, so will get into a more detailed review later on, this is just an initial impression and some photos for your perusal.
The pics **** as I have a crappy dial up and had to compress them, so will get some better ones I can upload from work when I get a chance.
Initial impression: opening the box!
It’s the little things that impress me. That’s why I buy what I buy. Also the little things that annoy me…I liked what I saw just opening the box. The way the X001 was packaged was nice. Don’t ask, it’s just a little attention to detail I noticed. I’ve never owned an Alpine, so didn’t know what to expect, even from a package stand point.
I pulled out the unit, only seeing it in photos til this time. Man, this thing is SEXY! All shiny in the right places, which you can’t really tell in the pics. The center dial is glossy, very nice. The big screen on the right, the layout of the buttons, very nice and intuitive.
What’s weird? No CD slot! that’ll take some getting used to! But boy, the unit is VERY light because of it. I noticed that right off the bat.
I turn the dial not realizing what it’ll do. It doesn’t “turn” per say, it’s spring loaded, so you turn the dial and it sets itself back into the original location. Turn the dial more and it turns up volume or does search functions faster. It will take a little getting used to, but isn’t bad. I’d rather have a standard dial.
Speaking of impressions? I was miffed a bit. The big, shiny center dial says “Alpine” on it and below has small text “Search”. It’s off center just enough to annoy me! Darn! ****THIS HAS SINCE BEEN FIXED!!!
Fit and finish is great, dials and buttons feel good to the touch. Removable 2/3 face, (the screen portion of the face stays in place), fits very well and is nice to take off and put back on. I was looking forward to messing with the menu’s I so read about online!
Install: The nuts and bolts
This was pretty event free. All the connects are on the back for the USB/iPod cable, which by the way is cool as it screws into the back of the unit after plug in to be sure it doesn’t, unplug. Similar to a computer connection screw terminal. Nice touch. Wires are clearly marked and hooked up the my adapter easily.
The RCA plugs are also on the unit, not pigtailed like on some units. I like plugging directly into the unit personally.
I wired it and test ran to be sure everything turned on…no issues! I mounted the radio to the gauge panel as with any DIN unit. Then dropped it into the car. I was itching to listen!
The ULITMATE Test: Just a quick listen please!
I didn’t have time…as usual. I was off today, but every day off is filled with “stuff” to do. I spent a few hours with the ‘uninstall’ and subsequent ‘install’, on and off between kids and running around. I really just ‘laid’ the radio in place, not worrying about accessory plugs and replaced shifter.
I ran inside and grabbed the iPod. I had a few songs on it, I was mostly using it for pictures of stuff to show the guys at work…kids, car stuff, new dog, etc. I had Ozzie’s new CD, Black Rain on the Pod, so thought I’d start there.
Let me say first, the replaced source unit, an OLD (11 years) Rockford Fosgate RFX8140, 9 volts out!, was my baby. It started dying on me, losing another set of RCA outs every so often. I was down to one left….she was skipping and just, well, time to go. It looked like new which is too bad. But, 1 bit DA is kinda archaic these days…but 9 volts!
The unit was the best I’ve heard in my cars over the years. Tight, hard hitting bass, great front stage, but, after plugging in the X001, I found it lacked a few things…
I ‘searched’ for Ozzie’s new one, Black Rain. The search features, the menu’s…pretty much everything about the interface is great. I had to turn it up a bit more than usual as the voltage was lower, by a lot, vs. what I am used to. But cranked I noticed some interesting things:
1. Very nice, tight, crisp front stage, just like the Rockford, just more…ummm…something, edge?
2. The bass was extreme! However, this needs tweaking as I’m not sure if it’s good. Image it like this: The Rockford was like a fresh, new piece of MDF…nice sharp edges, clean, powerful…the Alpine is like taking a piece of sandpaper to that edge and smoothing it out. Almost MORE powerful, but in a different way. Super low end, VERY smooth! However, I like the HARD hit, so will have to listen to a few benchmark songs to see the real difference. Like I said, I was in a hurry so didn’t mess much.
I started messing with the built in EQ…Bejesus! On the “Rock” setting I about popped an ear drum the bass was so extreme!! I scrolled through the settings, more on those later, and set it back at flat, controlling the bass and treble manually, but set those at “0” as well.
I then dropped in my Rebecca Pidgeon “Spanish Harlem” on the Chesky Records SQ disc. The upper range is fantastic, similar in sound to the 8140, but better. The midbass really popped! I noticed right off hand that the CDT HD6’s in the doors were really moving now. I just listened to this song the other day while messing with a 3 way upgrade in the car, noticing then that the CDT’s in the doors had a much stronger midbass presence. Well, I’ve had a midbass hole in one way or another for sometime, but learned to live with it…no longer.
So…as for listening…so far so good, I’ll need to tweak things and mess with amp settings and such. But I like what I hear!
Pro’s of the unit:
1. No CD. Nothing moving, hopefully less to break!
2. Ease of use.
3. 10,000 songs on tap!
4. Nice audio sound. Great mids and uppers. Smooth bass and incredible output.
5. Nice features and adds.
6. Great Price point.
7. Tons of adds to make things better down the line!
Con’s of the unit:
1. No CD.
2. Some of the controls are hard to find in menu’s, i.e. mute, lighting, etc.
3. 10,000 songs on tap! SO much to choose from, so little time
4. Bass out put is great, just a matter of the type of bass I need to mess with.
5. No remote
6. a lot of adds. Yes, this is good, but bad for a budget!
7. Crappy manual!
8. Screen get’s a bit ‘washed out’ on one side in the light. Can’t wait to see it at night though. This is just a little annoyance that it doesn’t look the same from side to side.
Well, here are the pics, hope you enjoy and I’ll be in touch with a full blown report soon!
The old unit:
Ahhhh....
Mmmmmm....
How cool is this!!
And the inputs...
