unOfficial 2008 alpine iDA-X--- series HU thread

[89supra 10+ year member]

According to the tracking info there is a brand new iDA-X305 waiting for me at home. Can't wait to get off work tonight!!!! Got it for $299 at Crutchfield with free install kit for my Mini Cooper.

I will post a review later tonight.

 

[89supra 10+ year member]

My first impression from iDA-X305 is disappointment. Here are the major weak points:

External design got much worse compared to iDA-X100. The low quality chrome looks very cheap and out of place.

There are essentially no changes in firmware compared to X100. The font is still ridiculously large and essentially all tags have to scroll. Speaking of which, the scrolling is very very slow and cannot be even completely disabled.

I does not look like the firmware is user upgradeable - so you are stuck with what you buy.

I decided to use a flash drive instead of an iPod - I prefer to see as much text as possible given the font limitation. BTW, even if you have embedded album art in ID3v2 tags it would not show up when playing from a flash drive.

When playing from a flash drive it is quite a hassle to switch to a random mode - you have to go to a menu, then select "MIX" then select All/Folder/None. The "All" random mode essentually does not work - it keeps picking tracks from the top 3 main folders only (I use one folder per artist).

I still believe this unit has the best non-motorized/single-DIN user interface on the market today - so it is such a dissapointment to see how limited it is. Alpine had more than a year from the release of iDA-X100 and could have listened for the user feedback and respond but decided to do nothing instead.

Save yourself the money and buy X100 (unless you plan on using the new Bluetooth option - the only change in X305).

BTW, someone mentioned that the X305 screen should be better than X100 - I did not see the difference (but I had to compare to X100 from memory after seeing it in a store).

 

[muzicman73]

I have the X001 and I'm using a WD 250GB portable HD and I've noticed that some mp3s play and some don't. It seems to me that the size of the album artwork is the mitigating factor. Does anyone know if it has a size limit or a dimension limit (ie. 200x200 and under or under 100k in size) per image?

I use mp3tag to tag my files and I use the hard drive on both my Alpine and my ps3, so I'd like to keep my album artwork. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I've tried googling this several ways, but haven't had any luck finding any info.

Thank you

 

[TookayS2K 10+ year member]

Are you guy's clocks on the x100 actually animated to "flip" numbers?
I just realized when the time changes, it doesn't really "flip". Instead, it just looks like its switching numbers instantly.... Is this normal?

Btw, is there a way to switch font colors? The background im using is mostly white and I can't seem to find out how to change font colors. I love my background but I can freaking see the text!

anybody?

 

[89supra 10+ year member]

Are you guy's clocks on the x100 actually animated to "flip" numbers?
I just realized when the time changes, it doesn't really "flip". Instead, it just looks like its switching numbers instantly.... Is this normal?

Mine just switches - no animation. It would be nice to have an option to disable the clock whatsoever - most cars have separate clocks anyway - just more hassle to maintain two clocks.

Btw, is there a way to switch font colors? The background im using is mostly white and I can't seem to find out how to change font colors. I love my background but I can freaking see the text!

I have not seen this option anywhere in the menu - somehow I am not surprized.

 

[JrVtecAccord 10+ year member]

...Save yourself the money and buy X100 (unless you plan on using the new Bluetooth option - the only change in X305).

I couldn't find a compatibility list of HU's the new KCE-400BT will work with, were did you read it won't work with X100, I did read that it will work with the w505 which is an older model as well.

BTW, the 400BT looks impressive, they teamed up with "Parrot" well know for bluetooth devices.

 

[89supra 10+ year member]

I couldn't find a compatibility list of HU's the new KCE-400BT will work with, were did you read it won't work with X100, I did read that it will work with the w505 which is an older model as well.
BTW, the 400BT looks impressive, they teamed up with "Parrot" well know for bluetooth devices.

Here is what I found on Alpine's web site:

Future Bluetooth firmware updates (for phone compatibility) will be available for the KCE-400BT. With the following Alpine products the Bluetooth Module KCE-400BT can be updated: iDA-X305, iDA-X303, iDA-X301, iDA-X301RR, CDE-W203Ri, CDA-105Ri, CDE-102Ri and CDE-101R/RM. For products not listed above, please contact your local official Alpine dealer or Alpine support for your country.

So maybe it would work with X100 but just won't do upgrades? By the way, the above statement gives me some optimism about possibility of future firmware upgrades for the X305 head unit as well.

 

[GrandCherokee 10+ year member]

read my sig //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[TookayS2K 10+ year member]

Mine just switches - no animation. It would be nice to have an option to disable the clock whatsoever - most cars have separate clocks anyway - just more hassle to maintain two clocks.


I have not seen this option anywhere in the menu - somehow I am not surprized.

Unfortunately, my car doesn't have a clock. So this feature is very important to me.

Thanks for confirming with me that there's no animation. I just find it amusing that it has a "flip style" clock that doesn't really "flip".

Yeah, I don't think theres a option to change font color as well.. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/verymad.gif.3f39c5c2fd57527b671fad3efdfac756.gif

It seems to me that alpine did its best to restrict personalization on this HU. I've had mine for about 2 months and I'm thinking about getting rid of it before the value goes down even more.

Also, I'm using a flash drive as well so there are even more annoying factors I have to deal with..

 

[89supra 10+ year member]

ida-X305 does not provide enough current to drive my 40GB 2.5" HDD. The drive runs fine from my desktop USB port. However, I had mixed successes with other people computers. I guess the drive draws a little more than the USB spec (500mA) and Alpine did not design the unit to exceed the spec.

 

[mattldm 10+ year member]

Can anyone confirm that the X305 or X100 actually extract a digital signal from the ipod (completely bypassing the ipods DAC)

Alpine hints at it in the features of this unit. Has anyone spoken to someone to confirm?

Just curious

 

[89supra 10+ year member]

Can anyone confirm that the X305 or X100 actually extract a digital signal from the ipod (completely bypassing the ipods DAC)
Alpine hints at it in the features of this unit. Has anyone spoken to someone to confirm?

Just curious

It connects to the head unit via a usb connector - no analog signal there - so it must be digital.

 

[flamedstang3024]

Can anyone tell me how to get my custom wallpaper to work? I downloaded it off of priderock site so it's already in apn format. Im not having trouble with seeing the file off my usb stick on my hu, im having trouble setting it. When i select it under download or whatever, and then go up to where you can select user bgv, I go out and the background is completely black. I already put just the background file on my usb stick and its not in any sub folders and its also the only file on the usb stick. I have a feeling it is something small that im overlooking, thanks for any help.

 

[Gouki]

I am disappointed with my ida-x100. The interface is great, the font does ****.

But what is most disappointing to me is the lack of sound eq. You have basic bass, treble, subwoofer, and a high pass crossover, but that's it. No equalizer of any kind and no low pass crossover.

I reinstalled my CDA-9855.

 

[Lawnie]

Anyone know of a fix for the issue with having only one album for an artist and the tracks playing in the wrong order? For some reason, the HU will only play songs in alphabetical order for an album if that album is the only one you have for an artist. Really ****ed annoying, and from what I can gather, it only happens on the iPod touch and the iPhone.