Alpine CDA
Content
Alpine CDA-7894 Review
Alpine CDA-7894 Alpine CDA-7894
.vg. %treet &rice+ 2066 %7& )7etail-+ 2366 Alpine Electronics of America /orporate offices 8nited %tates+ 9-394-30:-;444 .lpine Electronics of .merica, !nc. 969<= >ramercy &lace Torrance, /. 64=49 http+??www.alpine9.com
August, 26, 2002 | Submitted by: soundmike
There's nothing more pleasing than cruising around with the wind in your face, clear roads as far as the eyes can see and good music playing through your car's sound system. For some time now i've always dreamed of doing something like that, but with the less-thansparkling performance of OE radio's it's rather hard to find a compromise. ! initially changed my speakers to a set of !nfinity components up front and a set of coa"ials in the back doors, a slight change of sound #uality was obtained from it but it still lacked something. Eventually i added a sub to help support the low-end. !t was hard finding one that would still let me use my trunk as a fullyfunctional unit but in the end i found the perfect bo" to use - an !nfinity $asslink. !t'll never win any %&' wars, however, it sure beats anything else out there for what i had in mind. %o the entire musical range was accomplished. usic sounded better and there was more (completeness( in how tunes felt through the cabin. )*ote+ ,es, i do feel the music! thought i'd keep the stock look inside my car so i left everything as is. $ut as fate would have it, my factory headunit ). /larion OE - stopped working. . replacement was coming, but a 0 month backlog would have me going cra1y driving around without any tunes. %o i went on with my search for a replacement - with 2344 in my pocket and the goal of achieving the best %ound 5uality out of my already installed e#uipment. )cont'd-
All content © 1996-2002 nissanx.com. Unauthorized use prohibited. All rights reser ed
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.
Alpine CDA-7894 Review
Alpine CDA-7894
August, 26, 2002 | Submitted by: soundmike
Alpine CDA-7894
y e"perience with different brands have come and gone. @enwood, &ioneer, FuAitsu Ten, %ony, /larion, you name it i've probably had my share of time with it. *ormally i'd stick to which one i liked best out of the lot ). @enwood eBcelon B;9= - my unit on the last car- but i decided it was time for a change. . change for the better. ).nd i couldn't be anymore correct in this last statement.fter several months of looking, tinkering and reviewing different source units from different manufacturers i eventually came up to one brand - .lpine. .lasC There were too many to choose from, but it eventually came down to Aust one. The /D.-E;6<. ost audiophiles will tell you, the best way to audition any receiver is to set it at default. *o bass boost, no treble adAustments, no fancy dorky e# settings. %uch a techni#ue will show you e"actly how good the #uality of each component inside the unit is and how well they can reproduce sound the way it's supposed to be played - 8ntouched and uncolored. This is e"actly how i did my research and it's how i came to love the .lpine. ,our mileage may vary but for me i kept everything at default even up to now, after having the unit inside the car for a couple of weeks. Fust about the only setting i've adAusted is the signal that goes into the sub. Gowever, for those willing to adAust the way their music sounds and to contour the output according to their vehicle's interior dynamics - well, you're not going to be disappointed. .side from your normal $ass, Treble, Fader and $alance adAustments .lpine has included a few more controls of their own. %pecifically, a built-in /rossover, $ass focus, edia Bpander and my favorite - Time /orrection. )cont'd-
All content © 1996-2002 nissanx.com. Unauthorized use prohibited. All rights reser ed
!osting b" #$!ost.com % &esign b" me
.
Alpine CDA-7894 Review
Alpine CDA-7894 )con'tAugust, 26, 2002 | Submitted by: soundmike
Time Correction "#"
Je all know that the dynamics and environment inside a vehicle vary greatly not only from model to model but from the placement of your speakers as well. !n a perfect stereo set-up, your ears should have e#ual distance between left and right channels. $ut as you notice inside the car, you tend to be closer to the left channel than you are to the right. This is where Time /orrection comes in, it basically delays the audio signal coming from the speakers closest to you in relation to the speakers set farthest from your ear. )*ormally the right passenger side-. Jith Time /orrection set properly a perception of increased distance for these speakers can be heard making it sound like you're placed e#ualdistance from each and every speaker installed in your vehicle.
7ather than bore you with the more common functions i'll try to e"plain a couple of the more uni#ue features to the /D.-E;6<. Media Xpander (or MX), per .lpine's description, (makes vocals or instruments sound distinct regardless of the music source. The radio, /D and &3 will be able to reproduce the music clearly even in cars with a lot of road noise.( .nd my ears agree with them. .s some reviewers have noted, B isn't Aust a ('oud( button that makes everything sound like someone Aust pumped up the treble. On /D's and m&3's it does give life to music and effectively transfers?enchances some of the mid's and high's to the front soundstage without sounding harsh or tiny. Depending on the source of the music, B does different things )They're adAustable• • • • On F , med?hi fre#uencies are enhnanced slightly to give a balanced sound. Gowever, it Aust doesn't sound that way. On /D's and &3's however, the difference is nothing less than awe-inspiring. For /D's, B (&rocesses a large #uantity of data... which is used to reproduce the sound cleanly by making use of the data #uantity(. E"actly what that means, i'm not sure. $ut it worksC On &3's?B %atellite, B corrects information that was omitted at the time of compression which reproduces a sound close to the original. For DHD )Hideo /D-, dialog portions of the video is reproduced more clearly. Take note, the unit doesn't seem to play H/D's. !f anything this feature should be more effective if you have a DHD player hooked up to the E;6<.
Time Correction/Bass oc!s. These two seems to produce the same effect to a certain degree. !f i didn't know any better $ass Focus is a (paired( Time /orrection adAustment )e.g. '?7 is adAusted simultaneously-. The /D.-E;6< allows you to adAust the delay in 4.9ms increments. The actual calculation for getting time is 'I)Distance to farthest speaker- - )Distance to other speakers-, then dividing that number by the speed of sound )3<3 m?s at 04 degrees /-. *otice i mentioned distance, so yes you will have to measure the distances as accurately as you can. !f you don't like dealing with math, .lpine has a form on their website to do it for you. Jhen i played around with this feature i did it two ways, one was through the above procedure and the other was through (playing it by ear(. ! basically Aust sat there with my eyes closed and played around with the correction factors to see what sounded best for me. The results either way is ama1ingC !t doesn't replace proper placement of speakers during the installation process but it definitely helps the sound stage and channel separation. )cont'd-
Alpine CDA-7894 Review
Alpine CDA-7894 )con'tAugust, 26, 2002 | Submitted by: soundmike
Alpine CDA-7894
*ow, as far as user-friendliness, aesthetics and build-#uality goes. !t's top-notch e"cept for one thing. Due to the way the =th >en a"ima dash slopes, the .lpine ends up at an angle which makes day-time viewing of the screen almost impossible to do. The motori1ed upward angle adAustments for the face is practically useless in this case unless i put booster seats in my car. .nd at night, my gripe is how it looks like the entire face is lit up )even the '/D portions that are off seem lit up-. Take note, aside from the dimmer lead, there is no incremental dimmer brightness adAustment. %ort of a ($right or not-so-bright( feature so to speak. Gowever, at times like this i'm glad there's a black-out feature. *ot only does it keep the dash from glaring up at night it also helps keep the face cooler and according to .lpine also helps make the sound output better. The buttons on the face and the volume?adAustment knobs feel very solid and the fact that the knob has a rubber surround around it makes it feel that much better. The ability to change the lighting from green to amber and vice-versa is also good for those who wish to customi1e not only the sound output but the visual look of their headunit in relation to the entire dash. The included remote controller is also large enough to actually get a good grip on it. .side from the custom sound settings you can pretty much control eveverything else through this. ! especially like being able to fast-play /D's using the controller. !n other units you'd have to do this by pressing on the forward button on the headunit itself. .nd before i forget, &3 capability. The unit will read anything formatted in !%O6::4 'evel 9 or 0 spec. Jhich means you can name each folder and file and the unit can still read and display that information on the screen. ,ou can even put .udio /D and &3 files on the same disc and the unit will still play it. .s far as playback goes, there's an average of E-94 seconds delay from the first time you insert an &3 encoded cd but after that the gaps in between songs are practically non-evident. 9 or 0 seconds at most. !t's almost like playing regular /D's actually. There's definitely a lot to gain from using this unit, it may not come with swimming dolphins or customi1eable screensavers but the sound #uality and adAustments available to you deserves kudos and special mention. )cont'd-
All content © 1996-2002 nissanx.com. Unauthorized use prohibited. All rights reser ed
!osting b" #$!ost.com % &esign b" me
.
Alpine CDA-7894 Review
Alpine CDA-7894 )con'tAugust, 26, 2002 | Submitted by: soundmike
Alpine CDA-7894
.fter a couple of weeks playing around with the .lpine /D.-E;6< i can very well summari1e my e"perience with the unit as nothing else than remarkeable. . couple of things could benefit well from an improvement on future models but for the price )2066 on some auction sites- the unit is a solid performer. Jell done .lpine. eat!res$ • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • <H &re-outs on all channels including %ub-out Detacheable face panel 3-step display angle adAustment .udio mute function $ass center fre#uency control ):4?E4?;4?64?9;4?9=4?934?944G1$ass $andwidth )5-Factor- adAustment Treble center fre#uency control )94?90.=?9=?9E.=kG1$ass?Treble level control )-E to KE in increments of 9$uilt-in /rossover )G&F - Flat?;4?904?9:4L '&F - Flat?;4?904?9:4G1Time /orrection $ass Focus edia Bpander 5uick %earch ode $lackout ode /D?%tation Titling &3 capability )w? scroll feature on titles- - !D3 support?9:kG1-<<.9kG1?;-304kbps %upports /D?/D7J?/D7 %ub controls Faceplate lighting color )amber or green.bility to turn-off the internal amplifier 7andom play )/D? &3-, &rogram %canning )Tuner/hanger controls B /ontrol's?7eady Gigh temperature protective circuitry
7ight click - %ave .s
%ro$ Everything i've said so far e"cept con's L-Con$ The display could benefit from some improvement
All content © 1996-2002 nissanx.com. Unauthorized use prohibited. All rights reser ed
.
!osting b" #$!ost.com % &esign b" me
Alpine CDA-7894 Alpine CDA-7894
.vg. %treet &rice+ 2066 %7& )7etail-+ 2366 Alpine Electronics of America /orporate offices 8nited %tates+ 9-394-30:-;444 .lpine Electronics of .merica, !nc. 969<= >ramercy &lace Torrance, /. 64=49 http+??www.alpine9.com
August, 26, 2002 | Submitted by: soundmike
There's nothing more pleasing than cruising around with the wind in your face, clear roads as far as the eyes can see and good music playing through your car's sound system. For some time now i've always dreamed of doing something like that, but with the less-thansparkling performance of OE radio's it's rather hard to find a compromise. ! initially changed my speakers to a set of !nfinity components up front and a set of coa"ials in the back doors, a slight change of sound #uality was obtained from it but it still lacked something. Eventually i added a sub to help support the low-end. !t was hard finding one that would still let me use my trunk as a fullyfunctional unit but in the end i found the perfect bo" to use - an !nfinity $asslink. !t'll never win any %&' wars, however, it sure beats anything else out there for what i had in mind. %o the entire musical range was accomplished. usic sounded better and there was more (completeness( in how tunes felt through the cabin. )*ote+ ,es, i do feel the music! thought i'd keep the stock look inside my car so i left everything as is. $ut as fate would have it, my factory headunit ). /larion OE - stopped working. . replacement was coming, but a 0 month backlog would have me going cra1y driving around without any tunes. %o i went on with my search for a replacement - with 2344 in my pocket and the goal of achieving the best %ound 5uality out of my already installed e#uipment. )cont'd-
All content © 1996-2002 nissanx.com. Unauthorized use prohibited. All rights reser ed
!osting b" #$!ost.com % &esign b" me
.
Alpine CDA-7894 Review
Alpine CDA-7894
August, 26, 2002 | Submitted by: soundmike
Alpine CDA-7894
y e"perience with different brands have come and gone. @enwood, &ioneer, FuAitsu Ten, %ony, /larion, you name it i've probably had my share of time with it. *ormally i'd stick to which one i liked best out of the lot ). @enwood eBcelon B;9= - my unit on the last car- but i decided it was time for a change. . change for the better. ).nd i couldn't be anymore correct in this last statement.fter several months of looking, tinkering and reviewing different source units from different manufacturers i eventually came up to one brand - .lpine. .lasC There were too many to choose from, but it eventually came down to Aust one. The /D.-E;6<. ost audiophiles will tell you, the best way to audition any receiver is to set it at default. *o bass boost, no treble adAustments, no fancy dorky e# settings. %uch a techni#ue will show you e"actly how good the #uality of each component inside the unit is and how well they can reproduce sound the way it's supposed to be played - 8ntouched and uncolored. This is e"actly how i did my research and it's how i came to love the .lpine. ,our mileage may vary but for me i kept everything at default even up to now, after having the unit inside the car for a couple of weeks. Fust about the only setting i've adAusted is the signal that goes into the sub. Gowever, for those willing to adAust the way their music sounds and to contour the output according to their vehicle's interior dynamics - well, you're not going to be disappointed. .side from your normal $ass, Treble, Fader and $alance adAustments .lpine has included a few more controls of their own. %pecifically, a built-in /rossover, $ass focus, edia Bpander and my favorite - Time /orrection. )cont'd-
All content © 1996-2002 nissanx.com. Unauthorized use prohibited. All rights reser ed
!osting b" #$!ost.com % &esign b" me
.
Alpine CDA-7894 Review
Alpine CDA-7894 )con'tAugust, 26, 2002 | Submitted by: soundmike
Time Correction "#"
Je all know that the dynamics and environment inside a vehicle vary greatly not only from model to model but from the placement of your speakers as well. !n a perfect stereo set-up, your ears should have e#ual distance between left and right channels. $ut as you notice inside the car, you tend to be closer to the left channel than you are to the right. This is where Time /orrection comes in, it basically delays the audio signal coming from the speakers closest to you in relation to the speakers set farthest from your ear. )*ormally the right passenger side-. Jith Time /orrection set properly a perception of increased distance for these speakers can be heard making it sound like you're placed e#ualdistance from each and every speaker installed in your vehicle.
7ather than bore you with the more common functions i'll try to e"plain a couple of the more uni#ue features to the /D.-E;6<. Media Xpander (or MX), per .lpine's description, (makes vocals or instruments sound distinct regardless of the music source. The radio, /D and &3 will be able to reproduce the music clearly even in cars with a lot of road noise.( .nd my ears agree with them. .s some reviewers have noted, B isn't Aust a ('oud( button that makes everything sound like someone Aust pumped up the treble. On /D's and m&3's it does give life to music and effectively transfers?enchances some of the mid's and high's to the front soundstage without sounding harsh or tiny. Depending on the source of the music, B does different things )They're adAustable• • • • On F , med?hi fre#uencies are enhnanced slightly to give a balanced sound. Gowever, it Aust doesn't sound that way. On /D's and &3's however, the difference is nothing less than awe-inspiring. For /D's, B (&rocesses a large #uantity of data... which is used to reproduce the sound cleanly by making use of the data #uantity(. E"actly what that means, i'm not sure. $ut it worksC On &3's?B %atellite, B corrects information that was omitted at the time of compression which reproduces a sound close to the original. For DHD )Hideo /D-, dialog portions of the video is reproduced more clearly. Take note, the unit doesn't seem to play H/D's. !f anything this feature should be more effective if you have a DHD player hooked up to the E;6<.
Time Correction/Bass oc!s. These two seems to produce the same effect to a certain degree. !f i didn't know any better $ass Focus is a (paired( Time /orrection adAustment )e.g. '?7 is adAusted simultaneously-. The /D.-E;6< allows you to adAust the delay in 4.9ms increments. The actual calculation for getting time is 'I)Distance to farthest speaker- - )Distance to other speakers-, then dividing that number by the speed of sound )3<3 m?s at 04 degrees /-. *otice i mentioned distance, so yes you will have to measure the distances as accurately as you can. !f you don't like dealing with math, .lpine has a form on their website to do it for you. Jhen i played around with this feature i did it two ways, one was through the above procedure and the other was through (playing it by ear(. ! basically Aust sat there with my eyes closed and played around with the correction factors to see what sounded best for me. The results either way is ama1ingC !t doesn't replace proper placement of speakers during the installation process but it definitely helps the sound stage and channel separation. )cont'd-
Alpine CDA-7894 Review
Alpine CDA-7894 )con'tAugust, 26, 2002 | Submitted by: soundmike
Alpine CDA-7894
*ow, as far as user-friendliness, aesthetics and build-#uality goes. !t's top-notch e"cept for one thing. Due to the way the =th >en a"ima dash slopes, the .lpine ends up at an angle which makes day-time viewing of the screen almost impossible to do. The motori1ed upward angle adAustments for the face is practically useless in this case unless i put booster seats in my car. .nd at night, my gripe is how it looks like the entire face is lit up )even the '/D portions that are off seem lit up-. Take note, aside from the dimmer lead, there is no incremental dimmer brightness adAustment. %ort of a ($right or not-so-bright( feature so to speak. Gowever, at times like this i'm glad there's a black-out feature. *ot only does it keep the dash from glaring up at night it also helps keep the face cooler and according to .lpine also helps make the sound output better. The buttons on the face and the volume?adAustment knobs feel very solid and the fact that the knob has a rubber surround around it makes it feel that much better. The ability to change the lighting from green to amber and vice-versa is also good for those who wish to customi1e not only the sound output but the visual look of their headunit in relation to the entire dash. The included remote controller is also large enough to actually get a good grip on it. .side from the custom sound settings you can pretty much control eveverything else through this. ! especially like being able to fast-play /D's using the controller. !n other units you'd have to do this by pressing on the forward button on the headunit itself. .nd before i forget, &3 capability. The unit will read anything formatted in !%O6::4 'evel 9 or 0 spec. Jhich means you can name each folder and file and the unit can still read and display that information on the screen. ,ou can even put .udio /D and &3 files on the same disc and the unit will still play it. .s far as playback goes, there's an average of E-94 seconds delay from the first time you insert an &3 encoded cd but after that the gaps in between songs are practically non-evident. 9 or 0 seconds at most. !t's almost like playing regular /D's actually. There's definitely a lot to gain from using this unit, it may not come with swimming dolphins or customi1eable screensavers but the sound #uality and adAustments available to you deserves kudos and special mention. )cont'd-
All content © 1996-2002 nissanx.com. Unauthorized use prohibited. All rights reser ed
!osting b" #$!ost.com % &esign b" me
.
Alpine CDA-7894 Review
Alpine CDA-7894 )con'tAugust, 26, 2002 | Submitted by: soundmike
Alpine CDA-7894
.fter a couple of weeks playing around with the .lpine /D.-E;6< i can very well summari1e my e"perience with the unit as nothing else than remarkeable. . couple of things could benefit well from an improvement on future models but for the price )2066 on some auction sites- the unit is a solid performer. Jell done .lpine. eat!res$ • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • <H &re-outs on all channels including %ub-out Detacheable face panel 3-step display angle adAustment .udio mute function $ass center fre#uency control ):4?E4?;4?64?9;4?9=4?934?944G1$ass $andwidth )5-Factor- adAustment Treble center fre#uency control )94?90.=?9=?9E.=kG1$ass?Treble level control )-E to KE in increments of 9$uilt-in /rossover )G&F - Flat?;4?904?9:4L '&F - Flat?;4?904?9:4G1Time /orrection $ass Focus edia Bpander 5uick %earch ode $lackout ode /D?%tation Titling &3 capability )w? scroll feature on titles- - !D3 support?9:kG1-<<.9kG1?;-304kbps %upports /D?/D7J?/D7 %ub controls Faceplate lighting color )amber or green.bility to turn-off the internal amplifier 7andom play )/D? &3-, &rogram %canning )Tuner/hanger controls B /ontrol's?7eady Gigh temperature protective circuitry
7ight click - %ave .s
%ro$ Everything i've said so far e"cept con's L-Con$ The display could benefit from some improvement
All content © 1996-2002 nissanx.com. Unauthorized use prohibited. All rights reser ed
.
!osting b" #$!ost.com % &esign b" me
