Alpine CDA-9885 Car CD / MP3 Player

I had this CDA-9885 head unit installed in my car about a month ago and I've loved it since. The unit produces fantastic sound and has a display that can be read in any lighting level, including direct sunlight. The unit is extremely expandable as well, making it ideal for the technological enthusiast.

The display is probably the first thing most will notice about this unit. The Biolite display produces real typeface lettering while also providing the most vivid display I've seen in a unit that wasn't designed for showing movies or GPS information. It's big and bright and easy to read. Also the unit can be wired to the dimmer wire from the electrical harness such that when you turn on the headlights, the intensity of the display diminishes (though not by much and not in a variable manner with the dash lights like most factory units which is typical of all after-market units). The six blue buttons have internal lights, and the lights' color can be switched between blue and red. You can't tell a difference during the day, but at night the red blends in much better with the other buttons, whose colors are not selectable (always red). But the whole thing even has a blackout mode which will turn off all illumination 5 seconds after the last button is pushed.

The sound is truly amazing. You have to play with the controls to tailor the sound to what you want, and initially this is not very easy. It's not as simple as selecting more bass and/or more treble. This unit has frequency selection for each, as well as a range selection for the bass (the latter being what has the most impact to the sound) so that I can select more bass from not just 100 Hz, but also with a bandwidth of narrow or wide for the frequencies in the low end that I want amplified. Although I believe the resulting sound is fantastic, many will find the difficulty in tuning the sound irritating.

The built in CD player was exactly what I was looking for. It will play standard CDs (including displaying CD Text), WMA files on CD, MP3 files on CD, and AAC files on CD. And the sound coming out of it is amazing. I've tried CDs, MP3s, and WMAs and they all sound great (provided of course the encoding was of sufficient quality). And if you really want to take a high volume of music on the road with you, the available 6-disc changer will also play MP3s (though not WMAs or AACs).

This unit (and other similar Alpines implementing the same technology) is expandable in a way I've not seen matched. Alpine's AI-Net technology allows me to connect a seemingly endless number of components to this stereo. Right now I've got my iPod, an XM tuner (a Sirius tuner is also available), and a Bluetooth Cell Phone module integrated to my stereo, and I can still connect a CD Changer and an HD Radio Tuner. Plus, with an expansion module available, I can connect an additional two devices, plus have two sets of RCA inputs for connecting another device such as an MP3 player or DVD unit. A word of caution about the Bluetooth adapter, I initially wanted to go with Sirius, but the Sirius unit would not work with the Bluetooth adapter. I'm told that a new Bluetooth module coming out next year will correct this. This Bluetooth adapter can also be used to listen to other audio streaming devices, according to Alpine's web site; I haven't tried this for myself.

Because the satellite radio can be integrated into the head unit, there is no need for a separate display or control. All the satellite radio controls are performed directly from the head unit, and the artist/song title/channel are also displayed on the head unit just like the radio station might be. The same control is also there for the iPod interface, so your iPod can sit in the glove box and you can listen to it and control it from the unit's face or remote. Also, the XM control function has 3 "XM" bands for the purpose of storing presets (also 2 for FM).

The controls and interface take a little getting used to. The best thing about mine is that I had the shop wire up my steering wheel controls to control the stereo, just like my old factory unit. Most of the functions are still the same, too, with the only change being the AM/FM button (which previously only cycled between radio bands) now cycles the unit through all modes of operation (including ones that aren't hooked up like HD Radio and CD Changer) and the PLAY button (formerly used to switch to CDs) turns the unit on and off. However the fine-tuning controls such as display scroll type, Bluetooth setup, audio setup, etc, are not as intuitive as the basic controls. I have to push different buttons at the right time and it's never the button I would have expected to push to get to the next setting, but it is learnable.

The outputs are what one would expect for a high-end unit such as this one, four-channel high-powered output, 3 pre-amp outputs (high-powered outputs can be disabled if pre-amps are used), and an internal amplifier producing 45 watts by 4 channels (as rated by Alpine). The high-powered outputs will certainly drive your basic speakers, but if you're going to get this unit, I do suggest splurging for an amplifier (and new speakers if you can afford it) to get the best possible sound out of the unit.

Also comes with a simple remote that can be used to control the basic functions. A bigger, more functional remote is available, though I felt I had no use for it as I tend to stick with the steering wheel controls.