Pioneer DEH-p8600MP or Alpine CDA-9855?

[Youhearthat? 10+ year member]

Soun quality wise the 860 is better than te 9855?

 

[DiamondFanatic 10+ year member]

I say yes...

 

[Trancer 10+ year member]

I messed with the glidetouched Alpine. My buddy was deciding between that and the same deck I have, Pioneer Premier 960. I didnt like the glidetouch, too much of a distraction. When I messed with it, I "overglided" I guess you could say. Good idea in the thinking stage, bad idea to actualy follow through with it. However I guess the new idea got some decks sold.

As for the noise problem, well.... I have the problem and so does my friend. Its an easy fix. Warantee covers it and everything. Alot of them come out with it, however it can be fixed for free with a warantee.

I say the Pioneer.

 

[KngOfThePkngLot 5,000+ posts]

I messed with the glidetouched Alpine. My buddy was deciding between that and the same deck I have, Pioneer Premier 960. I didnt like the glidetouch, too much of a distraction. When I messed with it, I "overglided" I guess you could say. Good idea in the thinking stage, bad idea to actualy follow through with it. However I guess the new idea got some decks sold.
As for the noise problem, well.... I have the problem and so does my friend. Its an easy fix. Warantee covers it and everything. Alot of them come out with it, however it can be fixed for free with a warantee.

I say the Pioneer.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/word.gif.64b12e39f936af3b4fff38a1c0bd0244.gif glide touch is gay.....and it always sucks "overgliding":hilariou:

 

[JLCivic 10+ year member]

From a post on Elitecaraudio. It is an interesting thread. I am cut/pasting it because you have to be a member to see the posts I believe.

http://forum.elitecaraudio.com/showthread.php?threadid=119616

My first post, so bring on the "newb" replies. Anyway, I'm building a new SQ system and I seriously regret my CDA-9855 purchase. So much so that I wrote Alpine this letter and sent it to Cusomter Service.

To Whom it May Concern,

As a dealer and customer of Alpine products, I felt the need to give

some constructive criticism and vent my frustration with Alpine's

current offerings. I have owned 3 alpine head units within the last 8 years...and I have

sold hundreds more through my employment at one of the biggest companies in car audio.

I recently sent my CVA-1005 in for repairs for the 3rd time, and

instead of holding a grudge against Alpine for all the headache it's

caused me...I decided to continue to support Alpine by purchasing the

CVA-9855 as a temporary replacement until the 1005 gets repaired.

I must say that I never believed anything I read in the many car

audio forums I'm a member of when they said that 2005 marked the death

of Alpine and that it was the beginning of a downward spiral in quality

and design.

The reason I always recommended and purchased Alpine products

is for Alpine's sound quality. But the CDA-9855 is extremely lacking in

this department. I was so shocked at the terrible sound quality coming from the 9855 I decided to conduct some tests. I bench tested a Pioneer DEH-P8600MP, Clarion DXZ755MC, and the CDA-9855 all using pre-outs connected to a JL 300/2 amplifier. I also made sure all gain and volume levels were equal. All these units are around the same price point, and the Clarion can be found about $100 lower than the rest.

I conducted all my tests with Defeats set to ON and all sound processors and EQ's set

to off. First off, why is it the Clarion and Pioneer offer 24-bit DAC's at the same price price point as the Alpine CDA-9855 and the Alpine does not (1-bit)? Interesting. I conducted several tests on all 3 units using the same CD. Sure enough, the Alpine was the worst of the bunch, which distinguished itself with a hollow, bright, undetailed sound. The Clarion was ironically the cheapest of the bunch, but had the best sounds quality. Smooth, detailed, and great midrange with amazing authority. On the Alpine, it was as if the musical instruments in the room had taken 4 steps back and were covered with a thin blanket. Frankly, I expect better from Alpine.

Furthermore, the Glidetouch represents the decline in Alpine

functionality that defies the common rule in this application...that

form follows function. I would expect such a wretched purely cosmetic interface on a

Kenwood, but never on an Alpine. The Glidetouch is the most cumbersome

menu I have ever used...and quite frankly it is a road hazard as I

find myself losing control and almost getting into car accidents while

attempting to navigate with it. It has no business being on an audio product, much less a car audio product!

Secondly, why is it one cannot lower the volume while engaged in a

menu?? If the volume is accidentally raised to an unbearable level,

and the menu is engaged, the user cannot simply turn it down! The user

is FORCED to first press (AND HOLD) the menu button for 3 whole seconds,

which feels like a lifetime when your ears drum are about to burst.

Returning to the front end menu should ALWAYS be as simple as the push

of a button. 3 seconds to engage the menu system is one thing..but it

should never take that long to exit the menu, much less lower the volume.

Third, this simple fact that Alpine wasn't kind enough to have a simple

Bass and Treble adjustments that are easily accessed without the

cumbersome Glidetouch speaks volumes about the nature of the product.

I've found it a grueling task to have to access the EQ (when I can find

it buried in the menu system) while trying to adjust individual bands

and THEN attempting to save it. Try doing this while driving. I'm

surprised insurance companies haven't raised the rates of all CDA-9855

owners.

Having said all that, I am very disappointed in the direction Alpine

has taken. I paid $500 for an Alpine deck 10 years ago that sounds 10 times better than the $500 CDA-9855 which I bought as a temporary solution to getting my CVA-1005 fixed. Needless to say, I can no longer recommend Alpine to my customers since I feel competing products, most notably Clarion, offer the most value and performance. It's not an easy thing to do considering I remember Alpine products with such a sense of fondness and nostalgia. But it is the right thing to do for my customers. Please forward this to your engineering dept or whoever may be responsible for the design of future offerings. There is still hope for Alpine. 2005 will either be remembered as the death of Alpine, or possibly just an "off year." I hope 2006 will mark Alpine's return to form. Until then, we will be waiting.

Sincerely,

Alex Guevara

 

[bikejunkie223 10+ year member]

A very well spoken and reasoned comment on the alpine:word: I have the DEH 860Mp and like it a lot, though it is not without it's cumbersome features as well. The more features that are piled into these decks, the more interface issues there will be. And IMO most of the features are bullshit and worthless.

 

[Alpineinstaller 10+ year member]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/hide.gif.2d479cfd917eedfe201353b91522ceab.gif I like my HU.

 

[fatryan 5,000+ posts]

yeah i agree with that post about the 3 comparisons. The reason i bought my 9855 was cause ive always like my friends alpine decks in the past. but those were older models. i really didnt realize how much the SQ has declined. im going to have to switch back to pioneer or maybe try eclipse.

 

[plopy 10+ year member]

I would say the 8600mp, i was deciding between both, and it came down to the glidetouch, didnt seem like something id want

 

[JAZN 5,000+ posts]

A very well spoken and reasoned comment on the alpine:word: I have the DEH 860Mp and like it a lot, though it is not without it's cumbersome features as well. The more features that are piled into these decks, the more interface issues there will be. And IMO most of the features are bullshit and worthless.

which features would those be?

anyways, I like my 860 a lot, 3 way network mode w/ independent adjustable xovers and slopes, 13 band eq, 6.5v preouts, easy mp3 browsing, etc. controls are cake, although I couldn't care less about the screensavers and entertainment shit since I'm never looking at my HU (I use the remote to do everything). I don't have the grounding problem, haven't really heard much about it except on this forum.

 

[Slaugh 10+ year member]

im one of the guys who keeps *****ing here about how Alpine has declined... it is in fact true thou, and i would walk away from 05 line...

04 line had the same SQ of the 03 line AFAIK but Alpine gave it that cheap plastic feeling on the faceplate... biolite didnt compensate for it's cheap built quality...

i guess alpine is gone... a vast majority here would say Eclipse will kick alpine's *** any day of the week, expecially on SQ... now go back 4 years when Eclipse was well known as E-skips and Alpine had the flagship 7878 which had the fastest mp3 load and one fantastic SQ... and remember all the classic and SQ Alpine reference hu's are all in the past (7909, 7949, 7969, etc...)... barely no other HU would stand a chance against it's SQ, but now it became a sell-out brand it's quality isn't the same

too bad //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif