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Alpine to Release iPod Interface in Autumn 2004
jeblucas writes "Not to be outdone by the recent iPod your BMW news, Alpine updated the details on their iPod interface for those of us who want to spend cash on the sound system, rather than the logo. Apparently announced in January (?), this should be available this fall. Sweet! You can ask for more info by emailing Alpine directly."
After being posted on slashdot, will that email address ever work again ? I highly doubt they'll be able to filter your request for more information out of all the spam and "does it run linux?" mail.
What this means is that the car audio maker known as Alpine that installed the iPod connectors into the BMW's will soon be making this interface for other cars, and mere mortals such as ourselves will be able to afford it.
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Maybe you should concentrate on driving while you're in your car?
Apparently, there is a TI DSP that sits right in front of the D/A converter in the MX head units. What it does (according to my Alpine rep) is 'watch' the waveform... any out-of-character notches or irregularities are 'smoothed out' by the MX processor.
MX does work; it adds midbass and depth to FM & 128k MP3 sources pretty well. On CD, MX setting #1 (there are 3 available on the units) is kinda like loudness.
The car is an inherently noisy/lossy environment; this helps overcome roadnoise and loss due to panel vibration.
Watch for real-time DSP time-alignment and EQ coming soon - it's on the very high end Alpine F#1 Status in-car DVD-Audio player.
I have an Alpine head unit with the MediaXpander stuff and I have to say that it does a decent job at making compressed music sound better. It's especially noticeable for radio broadcasts and low-quality MP3s. Highs sound crisper and lows hit harder. It even tends to get rid of that annoying tinny sound up in the higher frequencies of compressed audio (cymbals, etc)...
However, don't plan on using it with a well-mixed CD or high-quality MP3. For these applications, it tends to make the sound worse.
That is what the cops keep telling me.
"Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right." - Isaac Asimov
I think the advantage of actually having track names displayed on the screen vs just the number of the track in the required specially generated "BMWLIST#1-5" is quite a distinction.
The Alpine unit also allows you to " browse the iPod's entire music library right from the Alpine head unit ".
In short, the Alpine unit is actually a good interface, whereas the BMW unit just acts like a lame CD changer.
I've never used iTunes (or an iPod), and even I know that:
1) If you're talking about music purchased from the iTunes store, no, you can burn them onto CD essentially as many times as you want.
2) That utterly defeats the purpose of the iPod. I don't want to carry around a stack of CD-Rs when I have an iPod that can store hundreds of CDs worth of music.
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"I'll say it again for the logic-impaired." -- Larry Wall.
Don't want a BMW, don't want to shell out for some fancy rig just because it says "Alpine" on the front-- I just want the iPod to play through my stock stereo. FM transmitters stink in Philadelphia because the radio dial is very crowded, and cassette adapters don't have great sound-- plus if I park anywhere I've got to stash everything out of sight before I get out, or risk returning to find my window broken and my iPod gone.
This Monday, I ordered a Dension ICELink 1.1. It plugs into the unused CD-changer port on the back of the stock stereo in my Toyota, keeps the iPod charged, and provides line-level input from the iPod as well as letting me use the next/prev track buttons (possibly others, but I'm not sure) on the stereo to minimally control it while it stays out of sight in the glove compartment.
This is not as fancy as being able to fully control the iPod like the BMW solution, but it's good enough for my purposes and cost less than $250. It just shipped yesterday, and I can't wait to get it.
He rolled the window down to flip them off back, but the added drag of having the windows down slowed down the car more, and the Caddi was gone before he could extend his finger. True story.
Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
This is because the iPod is at the juncture of geek/tech life and what everybody else does. It is rare that something that enraptures us will also interest impress others, like (oh say) a girl or something.
Personally, I'd like to see a lot fewer article about Linux's acceptance or nonacceptance on the desktop, the pervasive attacks on our freedom by DMCA/RFID/PATRIOT/DRM/GWB/Internet Explorer, the sense or nonsense of outsourcing or anything relating to SCO. I mean, come on -- "Darl McBride's toilet overflows, says stolen memcopy algorithm to blame." This is supposed to be "stuff that matters," when indeed it's usually the same shit served up cold with the same for insights modded up (and, you know, anything *I* post).
But the iPod...well, the iPod was something out of left field, and it's something that confounds our community because so many of us still don't understand how it can be so popular when it's so expensive. It's right -- or as right as right can get with software. So what if it's lacking features -- this just goes to show that little features done sloppy aren't worth one feature done well and marketted without prejudice. If we could take that to heart -- make an Open system that had a single high quality choice for every function you could like, instead of one based on thousands of discordant choices -- well, there'd be no stopping us.
Hey freaks: now you're ju