Pioneer DEH-P5500MP Car CD / MP3 Player
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Similar in In Dash Receivers
- MP3 / WMA Playback: MP3 Playback
- Anti-Theft Protection: Detachable Face Panel
- Player Type: CD
- Controlled Devices: XM Ready
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MP3 is nice, audio control is awesome!!!
Pros
MP3 playback (obviously), High/Low-pass Crossovers, Outstanding tonal control
Cons
Display is too stinking bright!
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Great set of features at this price. Best value yet!
My reasons for buying this unit where twofold: My old unit bought the farm and I wanted MP3 palyback.
What I found in the DEH-P5500MP was a very capable MP3 unit, for not a lot of money.
I will only say these three things about the MP3 feature, because I believe this is already covered in an exhaustive fashion in the other reviews:
It is incredibly handy, and almost unheard of at this pricerange.
Sound quality is good if the bitrate is at least 156bps, although I have noticed a slight noise in the background with some files.
Playback takes a while to begin with MP3. It seems like forever, but realistically it is about 6-8 seconds.
It is loaded with features. Let me tell you about some of the lesser-mentioned features that I have really found important (either in a good or a bad way):
Subwoofer Output:
I use this feature to feed an amplifier in my trunk that powers a Kicker Solobaric sub, which fills in the lows very nicely in our VW Jetta. It is important to note that you have to CHOOSE between rear pre-amp outputs and subwoofer. You cannot have both.
Built-in Crossovers:
Subwoofer crossover is awesome!!! You can change the lowpass crossover between 50, 80, 125hz from the display. You can also adjust the gain, and control the phase (although I have yet to figure out why phase-control would ever come into play after the install)
The other outstanding feature is the high-pass crossover. This will block the bass frequencies from going to the rest of your speakers. This is also selectable from 50, 80, and 125hz. My only complaint here is that the high-pass and lowpass crossovers do not change with each other. In other words, if you change your lowpass from 125 to 80hz, then you must manually set your highpass to the same value. Anyway, this is a great feature. I can now squeeze about 8-9db more out of my component speakers before distortion, now that they are not inundated with too many lows.
Now for the tone control:
There are a number of pre-programmed EQ settings, which I expected to be pretty lame. But, to my surprise, they where actually very well done. I recommend using "vocal" when driving down the highway. It is the perfect antidote to road noise. There is also a custom EQ program that allows you control over Lows, Mids, and Highs. Very basic, but I have been surprised at the flexibility. There is also a button that can be pushed to synthetically lift the sound-stage, for those of you who have your speakers mounted low on the front doors. This feature is hard for me to judge, since I have components in the front. Activating this feature simply makes the tweeters way too bright in the front.
Now, for my biggest complaint: The display is too stinking bright. It is like watching a solar eclipe through a pair of binoculars!!! Also, the display is way too busy. It is very distracting while driving. The best feature about the display is that it turns off if you flip the face down.
What I found in the DEH-P5500MP was a very capable MP3 unit, for not a lot of money.
I will only say these three things about the MP3 feature, because I believe this is already covered in an exhaustive fashion in the other reviews:
It is incredibly handy, and almost unheard of at this pricerange.
Sound quality is good if the bitrate is at least 156bps, although I have noticed a slight noise in the background with some files.
Playback takes a while to begin with MP3. It seems like forever, but realistically it is about 6-8 seconds.
It is loaded with features. Let me tell you about some of the lesser-mentioned features that I have really found important (either in a good or a bad way):
Subwoofer Output:
I use this feature to feed an amplifier in my trunk that powers a Kicker Solobaric sub, which fills in the lows very nicely in our VW Jetta. It is important to note that you have to CHOOSE between rear pre-amp outputs and subwoofer. You cannot have both.
Built-in Crossovers:
Subwoofer crossover is awesome!!! You can change the lowpass crossover between 50, 80, 125hz from the display. You can also adjust the gain, and control the phase (although I have yet to figure out why phase-control would ever come into play after the install)
The other outstanding feature is the high-pass crossover. This will block the bass frequencies from going to the rest of your speakers. This is also selectable from 50, 80, and 125hz. My only complaint here is that the high-pass and lowpass crossovers do not change with each other. In other words, if you change your lowpass from 125 to 80hz, then you must manually set your highpass to the same value. Anyway, this is a great feature. I can now squeeze about 8-9db more out of my component speakers before distortion, now that they are not inundated with too many lows.
Now for the tone control:
There are a number of pre-programmed EQ settings, which I expected to be pretty lame. But, to my surprise, they where actually very well done. I recommend using "vocal" when driving down the highway. It is the perfect antidote to road noise. There is also a custom EQ program that allows you control over Lows, Mids, and Highs. Very basic, but I have been surprised at the flexibility. There is also a button that can be pushed to synthetically lift the sound-stage, for those of you who have your speakers mounted low on the front doors. This feature is hard for me to judge, since I have components in the front. Activating this feature simply makes the tweeters way too bright in the front.
Now, for my biggest complaint: The display is too stinking bright. It is like watching a solar eclipe through a pair of binoculars!!! Also, the display is way too busy. It is very distracting while driving. The best feature about the display is that it turns off if you flip the face down.
