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- Review count1
- Helpfulness votes98
- First reviewDecember 3, 2014
- Last reviewDecember 3, 2014
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating5
- Review comment count1
- Helpfulness votes1
- First review commentSeptember 20, 2013
- Last review commentSeptember 20, 2013
- Featured review comments0
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- Answer count6
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- First answerDecember 3, 2014
- Last answerDecember 3, 2014
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AudioholicDude's Reviews
This Pioneer SPH-DA120 in-dash receiver features built-in Bluetooth technology for simple music streaming from Bluetooth-enabled devices and making phone calls using the integrated microphone. The double DIN mounting style makes installation easy.
Customer Rating
5
Solid audio performance solid iPhone connectivity
on December 3, 2014
Posted by: AudioholicDude
Disclaimer: this is an iPhone users review and its long. The audio portion is universal, but everything else afterwords is moslty iPhone specific. Im using an iPhone 6.
This is the BEST Appradio to date!
Finding a NAV unit that has a intuitive and beautiful user interface and solid sonic performance is a needle in a hay stack. I was so glad to see Pioneer decided to up the game by showing some love for the audiophiles while giving us a Apple designed with 1 wire supported nav connectivity.
Lets break down what this Pioneer system offers:
FLAC support. Thats all I have to say. Audiophiles know what it means. If it supports FLAC than your know sound quailty from this unit has to be great.
13 band EQ. THIRTEEN BANDS. We can now have more control over our audio adjustments. More bands to precisely EQUALIZE our music the way the artist and engineers mastered it. We can overcome the obstacles in the automotive environment that tends to mute and boost unwanted frequency plagued from listening in the car. More is not necessarily better for those who are unfamiliar. You can make or break the way your music can sound by improperly adjusting y
our EQ curve. I am one to appreciate the 13 bands tho.
Time alignment! This is a gem! For those who dont know what this is, its a god send. The car is one of the worst environments for music. It takes so much works for a car to sound as close to perfection. (Yes people, it takes more than replacing speakers and adding amps to get a car to sound perfect.) In a car, the sound doesn't come from the right locations. Optimal listening would require you to wear headphones or sit directly in front of your listening stage. Does that sound like a car? No. Time alignment helps by delaying the sound in milliseconds from each channels/location so when they meet, they are concentrated right a certain focal point. In a car, sound should come DIRECTLY in front of you above your steering wheel by your windshield, literally in front of you, not the center of your dash, but in front of you. Not behind you. Not by your left feet. Not by your right floor front floor board. Get it? Your car doesnt have optimal locations for where a speaker should be placed. Time alignment can fix that.
our EQ curve. I am one to appreciate the 13 bands tho.
Time alignment! This is a gem! For those who dont know what this is, its a god send. The car is one of the worst environments for music. It takes so much works for a car to sound as close to perfection. (Yes people, it takes more than replacing speakers and adding amps to get a car to sound perfect.) In a car, the sound doesn't come from the right locations. Optimal listening would require you to wear headphones or sit directly in front of your listening stage. Does that sound like a car? No. Time alignment helps by delaying the sound in milliseconds from each channels/location so when they meet, they are concentrated right a certain focal point. In a car, sound should come DIRECTLY in front of you above your steering wheel by your windshield, literally in front of you, not the center of your dash, but in front of you. Not behind you. Not by your left feet. Not by your right floor front floor board. Get it? Your car doesnt have optimal locations for where a speaker should be placed. Time alignment can fix that.
Independent speaker volume adjustments. Even more control!
The ability to turn off rear speakers. Why is this good? Music is only recorded in 2 channel stereo. Just left and right. Nowhere in that track is dedicated information for for two channels behind the listener. Does a full fledged band surround you when they set the stage? Nope. They are directly in front of you and thats how the music is recorded. Only in movies would you get dedicated rear channels. Music is not surround sound. Paired with a subwoofer, a really great pair of front channel components speakers, plenty of power, properly adjusted EQ curve, and precisely matched time alignment, I can guarantee you wont miss your rear speakers. Put twice the $ into your front speakers since your savings $ by not touching the rear.
High pass and low pass filters have adjustable slopes from 6,12, or 24 db slopes. This is unheard of in a deck of this class. Actually, most of the audio adjustments on this unit can only be found on extreme high end equipment. Meaning a 1 DIN CD player with no screen or NAV for $1k has these feature (and a lot more audio adjustments for a hard core audiophile), and if not an expensive deck, a standalone sound processor with these audio features cost just as much as this unit! A sound processor! It only processes sound. They dont play music or have a screen. So what you get out of this unit is phenomenal from a shear audioholics standpoint.
The screen is beautiful. The resolution is sharp. Colors are bright and vivid. The glass screen has a premium feel to it. Down side, its a fingerprint magnet, and can reflect glare from direct sunlight. It feel better than touching a plastic screen like on some other units. And there is a little bit of backlight bleeding around the edges when its dark out. Other than that, the screen is wonderful. Its also capacitive touch so pinch and zooming works on maps. Basically it feels like modern smart phone screen. The units front fascia looks sexy. Sitting in the dash looks sexy (for most cars, not all cars are created equal). The capacitive soft keys on the left just looks classy. Any the whole illumination and display is customizable so it can perfectly match the factory color illumination of your car.
CarPlay nav works well. Did I mention is one wire connectivity? Just use your the original lightning sync cable on USB 1. The nav map is simple and clutter free. Tell Siri to find your directions instead of tapping away on the screen. Or you can still tap away on the screen. Destinations are cumulative. So if you discussed addresses or places in emails, texts, or browsing history, its listed already. And since the Nav is thru the native GPS app on the iPhone, its ALWAYS up to date in real time.
Texts are not listed as a message. Just who its from. Apple doesnt want you to read while driving. So anything text related is heard and spoken, not seen. I can respect the safety portion of that.
The apps are limited within CarPlay, it is still in its infancy. Spotify does work and so does the native iPhone music player. I dont care for the CarPlay interface on the screen in regards to music playback. Its too boring and plain for my taste. The good thing is, the native Pioneer music player works simultaneously. So if I'm using the CarPlay nav, I dont have to be stuck on the boring CarPlay music screens, I just switch to the Pio music screen whether its Spotify or any other music app and will be visually pleased.
CarPlay hands free is fine. For some reason tho ( if CarPlay is turned on in the Pio unit) the hand free calls dont sounds as crisp as the Pioneers native hand free calling. If car play is off, bluetooth calls do sound different than if carplay is on and carplay does the phone calls. In my case, I only have CarPlay on when I'm using NAV. When nav is not in use, CarPlay is turned off and I just use the native Pioneer functions for everything.
Connectivity is great. Yeah there is no optical drive fron DVD/CD, but do we really find ourselves using them as much these days? Majority of music is downloaded to USB drive/music players or streamed from a smartphone. There a Bluetooth audio streaming, dual USB inputs, still as a rear AUX in. It also has an HDMI input. USB 1 plan for ipod connectivity, the USB 2 have for anything. Load a flash drive with video files or music files, and yes, FLAC files!. But then there are those about video.... Remember all those blu rays you bought that have digital copies? Load them onto a flash drive, the Pioneer unit can play them! Remember that HDMI input? Its a video and audio connection. IPhone iPod with a lightning or 30 pin connector? Use the Apple's HDMI adapter for lighting or 30 pin. BAM! HDMI for all you movies off your iPhone or iPod. Want to keep that connection clean when using the bulky Apple digital adapter? Check out cable jive website for Apple dock extenders cables. And there is no support for SiriusXM hardware, but there is an app for that. lol
I may sound like a Best Buy fanboy, but hear me out. Anything with a hefty price tag is an investment. Just like anything, what you get is only as good as how you treat it. With automotive electronics, the install will make or break the system. Make sure who ever is doing the work knows EVERYTHING. Pay for the service if you have to. You pay car insurance for that what if scenario right? Whats 10-20% of the cost of the unit for install services? I mean that a small price that will guarantee the work and piece of mind. Hooking up color coded wires IS NOT installing. It may sound easy cause its color coded, but true installer know what the colors mean and how it works, knows how the MIC or GPS antenna placement effect functionality, etc etc. "Thinking" you know what your doing can cause more harm than good. Poor installation can easily hurt your car, your infotainment system, and your wallet.
Im tired of typing. I recommend you going to a store and play with a functional unit. Ask all the questions. Make sure you speak with someone familiar with a unit. Make sure the salesman is actually knowledgeable or speak with a tech that actually touches and sets up these units on a daily basis.
So far I've loved my system for about 2 months. It works and sounds superb so far!
Please excuse any grammar errors :)
My Best Buy number: 2928744370
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+90points
98of 106voted this as helpful.
AudioholicDude's Review Comments
Enjoy enhanced music with these Sony XSGT1638F vehicle speakers that feature 6-1/2" woofer cones that deliver smooth midrange frequencies and 1-7/16" tweeters and 1/4" supertweeters that deliver clear high-range frequencies for well-balanced sound.
Overall
4 out of 5
4 out of 5Good and reliable product.
By kennymaj
from Baltimore Maryland
I am enjoying the speaker but would have opted for something with higher walts to better enjoy my music.
AudioholicDude
September 20, 2013
Speakers dont produce the power (watts). The rating of power (watts) is a measurment of how much power it can handle safely. Anything speaker wise with a power rating is just a measurement of power handling.
Your amplifier makes the watts or anything with a built in amplifier.
Simply put, higher wattage speakers, or any speaker, will not play any louder because they have some higher power rating number.
Unfortunately this kind of mis information saturates our general population way too much
+1point
1of 1voted this comment as helpful.
AudioholicDude's Questions
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AudioholicDude's Answers
looking for receiver for 98 chev tahoe?
what equipment is available?
any SINGLE DIN radio
9 years, 4 months ago
by
AudioholicDude
Car deck with usb input
cant find what decks here have usb connections
most radio above the $80-100 price point will have USB inputs
9 years, 4 months ago
by
AudioholicDude
installment of a radio
i have a 1994 lexus ls400 that has been customized for a double dine could you install a new one and is the a price
If its been customized, take it to a tech at a store for them to inspect it. This is one of those instances where we need to see exactly whats going on or we will both be surprised.
9 years, 4 months ago
by
AudioholicDude
Do you sell stereo receivers for a 1992 Mercedes 300SL?
If so, which models might you recommend? And would your Geek Squad be able to install it? Thanks
Plenty of receivers will work. Recommendations will be based off your needs. I can recommend them all but doesn't necessarily mean you will benefit from them all. Geek squad can definitely install it. Browse online but shop in the store. This is one of those things were you want to get your hands on a display unit to get a better feel for what you want and need.
9 years, 4 months ago
by
AudioholicDude
This Pioneer SPH-DA120 in-dash receiver features built-in Bluetooth technology for simple music streaming from Bluetooth-enabled devices and making phone calls using the integrated microphone. The double DIN mounting style makes installation easy.
does the unit have built in gps or do you need a phone to use gps
what is the gps antenna used for?
GPS is NOT built in. It relies off of a compatible smartphone. The unit does have a built in GPS antenna to better provided GPS accuracy in conjunction with a smartphone
9 years, 4 months ago
by
AudioholicDude
This Pioneer SPH-DA120 in-dash receiver features built-in Bluetooth technology for simple music streaming from Bluetooth-enabled devices and making phone calls using the integrated microphone. The double DIN mounting style makes installation easy.
How much will it cost to have it installed by Geek Squad
Hi I'm wondering how much will it cost to have it installed by geek squad? will the 99.99 install kit be enough? Do I also need to buy extra wirings and stuff in order for this to work?
99.99 is the basic labor charge. Most vehicles should be covered under that. Some cars might cost more due to extensive modifications or audio integrations or eliminations or any personal customization. It all really depends on the car. Call your local store for exact details. Be sure you speak with the AUTOTECH. Vehicle specific parts ARE NOT included.
9 years, 4 months ago
by
AudioholicDude