Aiwa CDC-X304 Car CD Player
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- Anti-Theft Protection: Detachable Face Panel
- Player Type: CD
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Decent Low Price Unit
Pros
Features For The Price. Good Frequency Range & Control.
Cons
Occassional Skipping CD. Distortion At High Volume (may be caused by my setup).
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Recommended
Background:
I purchased this unit as a replacement for a no longer functioning Bose CD/Tape/Tuner on a 96 Maxima. I was not looking for an upgrade, just to get a working radio and CD player without spending too much $. My goal was to get a functioning system without spending the $1000 the experts at Best Buy "insisted" I had to spend to replace the entire Bose system.
Installation:
The unit installed fine without a hitch. I used the $39 adapter from Crutchfield to handle the impedence difference between the Bose speakers and this new unit and had no issues hooking it up. All the wires off the back of the unit were color coded and labelled appropriately.
Note: There is no "dimmer" lead on the unit, which means if your car has a dimmer wire to dim the display when the lights are turned on, that feature will not work with this unit. Note that there is a manual dimmer adjustment accessible on the unit via the menus, which can be accessed in a few clicks.
Sound:
At first listen, I was impressed with the quality and crispness of the sound. At low and medium volumes, the unit actually sounds better than the factory Bose unit it replaced. The H-Bass button really adds depth to the sound, and the 3 band EQ provided more control over the frequency range than I had with the 2 band EQ on my factory Bose. The preset EQ settings (Rock, Hip-Hop, Pop, Jazz, Club, Custom, Off) are effective, and you can adjust and save the settings on each. Effectively, they are all just named EQ settings which you can store and recall at your leisure (like storing radio stations). You can also reset them to the factory settings easily if you mess them up and want the original settings back. ;)
However, as I begin to increase the volume to ~3/4 or higher, I am getting noticeable distortion and the sound quality deteriorates rapidly. I do not know if this is caused by the unit, or whether it is a side effect of the fact I'm running it into factory Bose speakers. My guess is, the latter, however, I could turn my original Bose deck to full volume (which was quite loud actually) without any distortion, so I do not believe the speakers themselves are the problem.
Regardless, it's still "loud enough" for my purposes, which is the occasional rock & alternative CD, and talk radio during commutes.
Navigation/Menus:
Contrary to the opinion of others, I find the menu design to be relatively intuitive (relative to other "menu based" units). All settings are accessed by pushing the volume button once, which puts it in menu mode. You then cycle through the various menu options using the FWD/REV seek buttons which are directly next to the volume button you just pressed. Once you have selected the option you wish to change (i.e. low eq, med eq, high eq, sub on/off, etc), you adjust the setting by rotating the same volume button which pulled up the menu. After a few seconds of inactivity (i.e., you stop pushing things), it exits menu mode and returns to being a volume control, or you can press the button again to exit menu mode immediately.
After only 1 day of using it, I am able to adjust my EQ settings with one hand while driving without much distraction.
Quality/Reliability:
I have used the unit 1 day and have had it skip twice while playing CD's. I will need to keep an eye on it for the next few days before I decide whether or not this is an indication of things to come.
All buttons press crisply with good feedback. The volume dial is easy to find, and provides good feedback while turning.
The front face detaches with the push of a button, which is intuitively located at the bottom left of the unit. It would be difficult to mistake the release button for anything other than the release button. The face attaches with a reassuring "click" when seated properly.
The plastic along the top of the CD opening on the face plate is a bit thin and flimsy. Caution should be exercised when the face plate is detached such that the plastic is not mishandled (squeezed too hard) and broken.
Summary:
I bought the unit as a low priced replacement for a broken Bose unit to simply get a functioning radio and CD player. The unit offers better sound quality at low/medium volumes than the Bose, and has quite a few nice features for the price range, however, I have run into a few cons such as skipping CD's and distortion at higher volumes.
All in all though, I am satisfied with the purchase and would recommend the unit for budget conscious buyers.
I purchased this unit as a replacement for a no longer functioning Bose CD/Tape/Tuner on a 96 Maxima. I was not looking for an upgrade, just to get a working radio and CD player without spending too much $. My goal was to get a functioning system without spending the $1000 the experts at Best Buy "insisted" I had to spend to replace the entire Bose system.
Installation:
The unit installed fine without a hitch. I used the $39 adapter from Crutchfield to handle the impedence difference between the Bose speakers and this new unit and had no issues hooking it up. All the wires off the back of the unit were color coded and labelled appropriately.
Note: There is no "dimmer" lead on the unit, which means if your car has a dimmer wire to dim the display when the lights are turned on, that feature will not work with this unit. Note that there is a manual dimmer adjustment accessible on the unit via the menus, which can be accessed in a few clicks.
Sound:
At first listen, I was impressed with the quality and crispness of the sound. At low and medium volumes, the unit actually sounds better than the factory Bose unit it replaced. The H-Bass button really adds depth to the sound, and the 3 band EQ provided more control over the frequency range than I had with the 2 band EQ on my factory Bose. The preset EQ settings (Rock, Hip-Hop, Pop, Jazz, Club, Custom, Off) are effective, and you can adjust and save the settings on each. Effectively, they are all just named EQ settings which you can store and recall at your leisure (like storing radio stations). You can also reset them to the factory settings easily if you mess them up and want the original settings back. ;)
However, as I begin to increase the volume to ~3/4 or higher, I am getting noticeable distortion and the sound quality deteriorates rapidly. I do not know if this is caused by the unit, or whether it is a side effect of the fact I'm running it into factory Bose speakers. My guess is, the latter, however, I could turn my original Bose deck to full volume (which was quite loud actually) without any distortion, so I do not believe the speakers themselves are the problem.
Regardless, it's still "loud enough" for my purposes, which is the occasional rock & alternative CD, and talk radio during commutes.
Navigation/Menus:
Contrary to the opinion of others, I find the menu design to be relatively intuitive (relative to other "menu based" units). All settings are accessed by pushing the volume button once, which puts it in menu mode. You then cycle through the various menu options using the FWD/REV seek buttons which are directly next to the volume button you just pressed. Once you have selected the option you wish to change (i.e. low eq, med eq, high eq, sub on/off, etc), you adjust the setting by rotating the same volume button which pulled up the menu. After a few seconds of inactivity (i.e., you stop pushing things), it exits menu mode and returns to being a volume control, or you can press the button again to exit menu mode immediately.
After only 1 day of using it, I am able to adjust my EQ settings with one hand while driving without much distraction.
Quality/Reliability:
I have used the unit 1 day and have had it skip twice while playing CD's. I will need to keep an eye on it for the next few days before I decide whether or not this is an indication of things to come.
All buttons press crisply with good feedback. The volume dial is easy to find, and provides good feedback while turning.
The front face detaches with the push of a button, which is intuitively located at the bottom left of the unit. It would be difficult to mistake the release button for anything other than the release button. The face attaches with a reassuring "click" when seated properly.
The plastic along the top of the CD opening on the face plate is a bit thin and flimsy. Caution should be exercised when the face plate is detached such that the plastic is not mishandled (squeezed too hard) and broken.
Summary:
I bought the unit as a low priced replacement for a broken Bose unit to simply get a functioning radio and CD player. The unit offers better sound quality at low/medium volumes than the Bose, and has quite a few nice features for the price range, however, I have run into a few cons such as skipping CD's and distortion at higher volumes.
All in all though, I am satisfied with the purchase and would recommend the unit for budget conscious buyers.
