ICE question: Is this headunit any good?

gnuman · Post by **gnuman** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:44 pm

I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about this company and the quality of thier units? is the sound quality good? How well do they hold up? How is real-world function, as opossed to what is advertised?

http://www.pyleaudio.com/itemdetail.asp ... CDUSB78MP3

My CD head (OEM) is getting real flakey, so replacement is starting to look like it is in order, as repair is looking to be real hard to come by.

subawhatsubawho · Post by **subawhatsubawho** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:13 pm

I say go for it....but try to find it on ebay so you can save your self some greenbacks.

gnuman · Post by **gnuman** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 11:06 am

Oh, I would, believe me. They are like $100 cheaper that way. The manual shows a video jack on this thing (in the back) Could it be that this will play DVDs or should I go for the DVD unit instead? If I go with te DVD unit, I'd get a flip-down monitor (probably 6.5". anything larger would be silly) and mount it in place of the dome light.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 11:42 am

why not just get a monitor in the 2 din opening and leave your stock pocket?

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:36 pm

pyle is not the best name brand out there if you ask me but it depends on the rest of your system (if any). If you are just replacing the head unit and have just factory speakers and no amps then any will do I guess. Please list your whole system.

p.s. beware of any head unit that claims to have high wattage output on the speaker level. usually a sign of a piece of shit. the sign of a good cd player is: copper chassis, only pre-amp level outputs (NO high level outputs). I still believe by far that the best cd player I have ever heard was my c-910 sony mobile ES deck. second to that was my eclipse deck. Keep in mind that if you dont have extreamly high quality components you wont even hear the difference.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 6:44 pm

I really liked the Pioneer DEH-860MP that I had in my Legacy.

I don't know much about audio though, so I'm not sure if it was REALLY that good, but I really really liked it. I never had any complaints other than not scrolling XM Text, but that doesn't really bother me.

gnuman · Post by **gnuman** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 7:27 pm

magicmike wrote:pyle is not the best name brand out there if you ask me but it depends on the rest of your system (if any). If you are just replacing the head unit and have just factory speakers and no amps then any will do I guess. Please list your whole system.

The whole system as it stands? OEM everything. As I intend it? Either the unit listed above, or the USB unit that also does DVD, coupled with a flip down monitor (so rear passengers can watch movies while I drive). Speakers will live in the OEM locations, but I plan on getting fairly decent ones. My question was "Is this headunit of reasonable quality, and is the sound fairly decent?" What I'm looking for is decent reproduction, low to no skipping of the CD player, USB input, AUX input, enough wattage that I do not have to drive the (built in) amp hard to be able to hear clearly, pumping out to 6.5" speakers. The OEM unit I have rarely gets above half volume, and never above 65%. I'm not looking for loud, I'm looking for clear. I want the unit I put in to be an improvement over the OEM unit I have (which is pretty cool for it's age). DVD playback and a 6.5" monitor for the back would be icing on the cake.

gnuman · Post by **gnuman** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 7:29 pm

Mike, you are the first to actually answer my question. As an alternative unit, what do you think of AudioBahn? Thier A1200N unit also has the USB I want

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 8:54 pm

gnuman wrote:Mike, you are the first to actually answer my question. As an alternative unit, what do you think of AudioBahn? Thier A1200N unit also has the USB I want

Well I hate to break out a lame saying but it applies to this "A good stereo system is only as good as the weakest link in the chain". So, this being said you should look at how much you plan on spending. if its only in the budget to get average equiptment as a whole then it doesn't make any sence spening alot on one particular component. For example if you buy an awesome amp and dont have any money left for good speakers then it will sound like shit. If you buy awesome speakers and a shitty amp, you get the same result. If you buy awesome speakers and an awesome amp but a bad radio, not as shitty but still not good. So, I guess you see my point. Most importantly and the most neglected part of a system is the wiring. I probably had close to $300 in rca cables alone in my civic. Remember every link must be a strong link. I guess to sum this up, if you are buying all "average" equiptment any radio will do, just buy based on price and features that you want. Keep in mind that an "average" system (deck, amp, speakers, subs, box) can start at $1500 at leaste. Hope this helps.

gnuman · Post by **gnuman** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 1:52 am

magicmike wrote:
Well I hate to break out a lame saying but it applies to this "A good stereo system is only as good as the weakest link in the chain". So, this being said you should look at how much you plan on spending. if its only in the budget to get average equiptment as a whole then it doesn't make any sence spening alot on one particular component. For example if you buy an awesome amp and dont have any money left for good speakers then it will sound like shit. If you buy awesome speakers and a shitty amp, you get the same result. If you buy awesome speakers and an awesome amp but a bad radio, not as shitty but still not good. So, I guess you see my point. Most importantly and the most neglected part of a system is the wiring. I probably had close to $300 in rca cables alone in my civic. Remember every link must be a strong link. I guess to sum this up, if you are buying all "average" equiptment any radio will do, just buy based on price and features that you want. Keep in mind that an "average" system (deck, amp, speakers, subs, box) can start at $1500 at leaste. Hope this helps.

I'm not looking at spending the money or space on a big amp, or subs (and enclosure) or any of that high end stuff. What I'm looking for is clear sound, good definition of highs and lows, and the ability to use whatever input method I want (AM/FM/XM/CD/DVD/AUX/USB or as many of those as I can get and have good reproduction). If I add DVD, it will also be for the purpose of playing movies in the car, and the coolness factor of that. That is entirely optional, however, as I have other priorities at the moment (struts, battery, perhaps paint) that need attending to. The ICE question was "Is Pyle a good brand?" also "Is Audiobahn a good brand?" I'm looking at purchasing a unit from one of these vendors (or someone else that produces a USB enabled headunit) to upgrade my ICE system in Emily. In this case the wires will probably be the weak link, as I'm using the built in wiring harness until I decide that it does not make the grade (probably fairly soon). If dollar amount is the primary indicator of quality, then I will be getting a crappy system. I cannot afford better than that. I will not buy the Roadmaster (VR3's VRCD400-USB) as I have already found out this unit is crap (as can be expected from Roadmaster). Pyle I have heard a few good things about, but I'm not familliar enough with them to know how good to expect thier units to be. That is why I asked. If you know of a better headunit that reads from a USB drive, then please tell me who makes it and what model it is. I will look at that one as well. Folks, I do not have hundreds of dollars laying about to be used for this. I just want to make my car a bit more comfortable is all. That includes a good (perhaps nopt great) sound system. That is all I wanted help with.

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 1:57 am

gnuman wrote:The manual shows a video jack on this thing (in the back) Could it be that this will play DVDs

The aux-in for video is so you can hook up a DVD player's audio output into the head unit.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 3:40 am

ok well if you have your mind made up on one of these two models then that about wraps this up. Between pyle and audiobahn I'd say both arent great but they should do trick based on the options you want. I'd say just go for the cheaper one of the two. All I can say is that you should go for the one that has the best features and is the most cosmetically appealing to you. Dont look at wattages when making your decision. For the love of god dont buy a dvd for coolness factor or even to watch movies in your car. That shit is retarded, spend the money on making it sound better. put the extra cash into nicer speakers or even a small 4channel amp to help out.

gnuman · Post by **gnuman** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 5:37 pm

Yeah, the DVD function is not of the greatest importance to me. Sound is more important, and USB. I don't look at wattage much, as the form factor for the speakers does not provide many options in high wattage units. I do want the unit to sound good, d you have a recomendation for a brand that sounds better than most?

gnuman · Post by **gnuman** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:09 am

UPDATE: I changed out the battery and the CD head is not operating normally, so I will likely not be updating the radio in my car for a while. I happy with the original unit as long as it is working, so I'll stay with that. This is just a bit more of what can happen from a marginal battery.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:57 am

"is not" or is now?

subawhatsubawho · Post by **subawhatsubawho** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:40 am

I'm sooooo lost!!

gnuman · Post by **gnuman** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:39 pm

Sorry, I can't type. . . is now working.

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ICE question: Is this headunit any good?

ICE question: Is this headunit any good?