Category Archives: Car Stereos

I use a Sony head unit that has an iPod adapter. To be nice to play with my iPhone, I rely on a special adapter from the Scoche the trick. It gets the job done as long as you do not listen to find specific tracks or artists. The controls are clunky at best and barely functional at worst. Most of the time I pull on the iPhone, where the artist or song I was looking for, start a song, then plug it again, I was finally fed up and have started to look for a better solution. Apline was kind enough to me, by letting us test their iDA-X305 stereo endulge.

Design

Does not always the most important factor when choosing a device, but shows most people enjoy their stereo. The 2.2-inch color LCD display directly at any meeting in your car. This can be set to one of three modes, while music is playing. First you have your typical hybrid display. This shows a thumbnail of the CD cover and all relevant information for the title (name, artist, album). You also see a small clock and date on it. Second, it can see a larger picture of the cover with only the title printed name. Finally, you can describe a large clock with date.

There are not many buttons appear on the face. It is a big silver button that is used for most navigation functions can be controlled. The center is also used for searching and also serves as the “Enter” key. Their other primary keys surrounding the button, after a few other minor ones left. As with most stereo systems, the face is removable, but only in part. The left side come from, leaving only the LCD screen available.

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Features

The most remarkable characteristic that you will not find on the IDA-X305 is a CD player. This could be a turnoff for some people, as some people still burn a mix CD or purchase a new album from the shelf usual. Unfortunately, with the advent of MP3 players, the CD is dying. I am sometimes in a CD for those times when I am not in the car long enough to bother connecting my iPhone will live, but after it installed in my car for a few weeks, I was perfectly happy without this option.

Not everyone is on an iPhone or iPod with music that have filled the whole point is that this particular unit seems to defeat. It supports other MP3 players and even hard drives (and flash drives) via USB. I invited some of my music on a 2GB flash drive and tested this function. It makes you want anything with your files (such as display of art or sort them in artist/albums), but as long as your songs are organized, you should listen to enjoy the music in this way. You can still set individual folders to mix if you like, and navigating through them is as easy as on the iPhone.

Tools

The IDA-X305 offers added support for multiple tools, the Alpine. This would include an HD Radio tuner, satellite radio interface and a Bluetooth adapter. We did not have the opportunity to test one of these add-ons, but they are available if you are interested.

iPhone functionality

The IDA-X305 comes with a USB cable and a dedicated iPod port. That is long enough to run to your glove compartment, or simply want somewhere in the front of the car you. After plugging in the phone, you will be using the same load screen that greets you see supports all iPhone docks. On the stereo itself, you see a short message informing you that it is “scanning”. It takes a second, more than two starts, then the music.

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With the very basics of the way, my main concern was navigating in my pile of music. To do the last thing anyone wants is to spend five minutes looking for a song while they travel 70 mph down the interstate are. Sure, I listen to playlists with groups of music I enjoy, but the search for specific songs, albums, and artists should also be easy. The IDA-X305 does an excellent job of this.

With the press of a button you are with the selection of songs, artists, albums and playlists to do so. Once one of these you can then scroll with the big button and make your selection. Since there are hundreds of options could be carried, there is a secondary way to get through the list. When you press on the outer ring of the dial and turn, you can skip much faster through the selection. This can be programmed to skip ahead by 10% from the list, or to the next letter of the alphabet. With this you can find exactly what they need in a matter of seconds.

It should also be noted that all these controls to respond almost immediately. Most other control devices, which tend not specifically designed for the iPod/iPhone to a delay, the more your headache causes. This is represented in any way, making navigation a smooth process.

Verdict

The Alpine CDA-X305 has a few small annoyances, but these are the seamless integration of your iPhone/iPod overshadowed. It is clear that in future we will be away from CDs and rely more on MP3 players and Apple dominates this market. Alpine did a great job to make sure the device feels more like an extension of your iPhone/iPod, instead of doing a bulky accessories. The MSRP is expensive at 350 $, but of course you get the quality you expect from Alpine. (Not to mention smart shopper can find it for considerably less by comparison.)

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