Pioneer DEH-P5900IB Car CD / MP3 Player
Out of stock |
Similar in In Dash Receivers
- MP3 / WMA Playback: MP3 Playback WMA Playback
- Additional Features: Animated Display
- Anti-Theft Protection: Detachable Face Panel
- Player Type: CD
- Controlled Devices: CD Changer DVD Changer TV Tuner Sirius Ready XM Ready iPod / iPhone
- iPod/iPhone Compatible: Yes
- Overview
-
Reviews
-
Compare Prices
User ReviewRead All Reviews »
Good looking. Excellent sound, but complicated to use
Pros
Excellent sound quality, makes factory speakers sound decent
Cons
Controls take time to learn, can be difficult for novices
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Nice, simple layout with an interesting display. Plenty of extra features, need to buy expensive accessories to take advantage of. Great sound. STUDY THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL!!!
First off, I'm not a car audio enthusiast. Just an ordinary consumer that likes to listen to music when traveling to and from work, and long distance travel. So most likely, this unit is a little overkill for my needs.
I bought this head unit to replace a Jensen car stereo that had terrible sound quality. This unit is for my 1999 Dodge Caravan, so I have no need for an amp or subwoofer, and may or may not upgrade the factory speakers. After researching car stereos on the net, my choice came down to this unit and the Sony Xplode CDX-GT710. Decided on the Pioneer unit because of recommendations by friends, and reportedly better bass output from the Pioneer units.
After reading the specifications of the various Pioneer models, it's obvious that they are all very similar except in price. One of the reasons I chose this unit was because of the animated Organic Electro-Luminescent (OEL) display, although at this price level, it is mono chromatic (blue only). If you want a color OEL display, you'll have to go with the $500 model. Other brands have color displays at this price level (+/- $200).
This model is a head unit, capable of controlling a CD changer, TV Tuner, DVD display, iPod, and Bluetooth. It is also XM ready. HOWEVER, you must buy the iPod chord, XM radio tuner, and Bluetooth adaptor to take advantage of these capabilities. The iPOD direct control cable runs $30, the Bluetooth Wireless adaptor $180, USB adaptor $120, XM Radio Receiver $100, and Sirius Radio receiver $100. So although it's touted to be iPOD ready, USB ready, Bluetooth ready, XM/Sirius ready, you'll have to fork out some serious cash to take advantage of these capabilities. None of these capabilities are actually built into the unit itself. In fact, the player with actual built-in Bluetooth capability is in the $400 price range. It's somewhat deceptive advertising. It's like an auto manufacturer touting their cars are "air conditioning ready". Then when you buy the car, you find out you'll actually have to buy the air conditioner unit and install it.
Installation. This is a size 1 DIN model, meaning it should fit into most vehicles, unlike the larger 1.5-2 DIN models. I bought a Chrysler harness kit from my local Wal Mart and was easily able to match up the wiring to the unit.
Auxillary Input. I'm not part of the iPOD craze, so I needed a unit with a 2.5 mm stereo input jack. Since this is a flap face type unit, the auxillary input is in the back of the unit, not the front. The lower end units do have an input jack front of the unit, but the higher end units have it in the back. This may or may not inconvenience other people who might want to hook up something other than an iPOD to the unit. I have a portable DVD player that I wanted to hook up, so I bought a cheap stereo chord and ran it through the back.
Ease of use. This is certainly one of the more complicated stereos I've seen. One must study the instruction manual very well in order to be able to even use some of the basic functions. Most of the functions are conducted using the large volume button. It pivots just like a joystick, as well as controls the volume. You can easily get confused with the different functions until you get used to the operation of the joystick/volume button. There is no mute button, which can be irritating when taking a phone call (using hands free devices of course). I'm absolutely sure my wife would have no idea how to operate this unit (it's that complicated).
Just about all the audio functions of this unit are customizable. Everything from the multiple displays (eye catching), to the good variety of 7 band equalizers, with two custom settings. There's three loudness settings, and a customizable bass setting. This unit puts out VERY GOOD bass, which I was particularly happy about. The sound quality is excellent, and even makes stock factory speakers sound decent. I imagine it would sound even better with an amp, subwoofer, and premium speakers.
Again, like I said, you must study the instruction manual in order to access/customize the audio/display settings.
Audio formats. This unit plays a wide variety of audio formats, everything from WAVs, MP3s, WMAs, to the AAC music file format. Like most modern CD players, it will play regular audio CDs, to burned CDs and re-writable CDs (CDRWs).
In conclusion, this is a very nice head unit. Nice, simple layout with an interesting display. Plenty of extra features, many that you will have to buy expensive accessories to take advantage of. Great sound. But for most of the operations, you'll have to STUDY the instruction manual. If all you need is a basic CD player, this is probably not the unit for you. It's probably more suited to the car audio enthusiasts, but I'll keep mine anyway.
I bought this head unit to replace a Jensen car stereo that had terrible sound quality. This unit is for my 1999 Dodge Caravan, so I have no need for an amp or subwoofer, and may or may not upgrade the factory speakers. After researching car stereos on the net, my choice came down to this unit and the Sony Xplode CDX-GT710. Decided on the Pioneer unit because of recommendations by friends, and reportedly better bass output from the Pioneer units.
After reading the specifications of the various Pioneer models, it's obvious that they are all very similar except in price. One of the reasons I chose this unit was because of the animated Organic Electro-Luminescent (OEL) display, although at this price level, it is mono chromatic (blue only). If you want a color OEL display, you'll have to go with the $500 model. Other brands have color displays at this price level (+/- $200).
This model is a head unit, capable of controlling a CD changer, TV Tuner, DVD display, iPod, and Bluetooth. It is also XM ready. HOWEVER, you must buy the iPod chord, XM radio tuner, and Bluetooth adaptor to take advantage of these capabilities. The iPOD direct control cable runs $30, the Bluetooth Wireless adaptor $180, USB adaptor $120, XM Radio Receiver $100, and Sirius Radio receiver $100. So although it's touted to be iPOD ready, USB ready, Bluetooth ready, XM/Sirius ready, you'll have to fork out some serious cash to take advantage of these capabilities. None of these capabilities are actually built into the unit itself. In fact, the player with actual built-in Bluetooth capability is in the $400 price range. It's somewhat deceptive advertising. It's like an auto manufacturer touting their cars are "air conditioning ready". Then when you buy the car, you find out you'll actually have to buy the air conditioner unit and install it.
Installation. This is a size 1 DIN model, meaning it should fit into most vehicles, unlike the larger 1.5-2 DIN models. I bought a Chrysler harness kit from my local Wal Mart and was easily able to match up the wiring to the unit.
Auxillary Input. I'm not part of the iPOD craze, so I needed a unit with a 2.5 mm stereo input jack. Since this is a flap face type unit, the auxillary input is in the back of the unit, not the front. The lower end units do have an input jack front of the unit, but the higher end units have it in the back. This may or may not inconvenience other people who might want to hook up something other than an iPOD to the unit. I have a portable DVD player that I wanted to hook up, so I bought a cheap stereo chord and ran it through the back.
Ease of use. This is certainly one of the more complicated stereos I've seen. One must study the instruction manual very well in order to be able to even use some of the basic functions. Most of the functions are conducted using the large volume button. It pivots just like a joystick, as well as controls the volume. You can easily get confused with the different functions until you get used to the operation of the joystick/volume button. There is no mute button, which can be irritating when taking a phone call (using hands free devices of course). I'm absolutely sure my wife would have no idea how to operate this unit (it's that complicated).
Just about all the audio functions of this unit are customizable. Everything from the multiple displays (eye catching), to the good variety of 7 band equalizers, with two custom settings. There's three loudness settings, and a customizable bass setting. This unit puts out VERY GOOD bass, which I was particularly happy about. The sound quality is excellent, and even makes stock factory speakers sound decent. I imagine it would sound even better with an amp, subwoofer, and premium speakers.
Again, like I said, you must study the instruction manual in order to access/customize the audio/display settings.
Audio formats. This unit plays a wide variety of audio formats, everything from WAVs, MP3s, WMAs, to the AAC music file format. Like most modern CD players, it will play regular audio CDs, to burned CDs and re-writable CDs (CDRWs).
In conclusion, this is a very nice head unit. Nice, simple layout with an interesting display. Plenty of extra features, many that you will have to buy expensive accessories to take advantage of. Great sound. But for most of the operations, you'll have to STUDY the instruction manual. If all you need is a basic CD player, this is probably not the unit for you. It's probably more suited to the car audio enthusiasts, but I'll keep mine anyway.
