Alpine iDA-X300 / iDA-X200 / iDA-X100 / iDA-X001

tritoch

Established Member
Joined
May 10, 2008
Messages
50
Reaction score
4
Points
14
Location
Somewhere in England...
Hi there :)

Brief Intro:

Bought myself a Nissan Almera '03 n16 Facelift model a few days ago. All is great, and now need to get the Hands-Free / iPod sorted in the car....
So, I have opted to get one of the models from the Alpine Digital Media Receiver range


So, I need your help to decide which one is best! :) That would be one half of the problem sorted. The other half was the Hands Free Kit for my Nokia 6300. That will be handled by the KCE-300BT. I am also looking for places to get the equipment from.

Here are the top companies I've found so far (With prices for the iDA-X100 and KCE-300BT):

Sextons Directs [ Total: £284.98 ]
and
Car Audio Security [ Total: £309.99 ]
and
In Car Express [ Total: £319.98 ]

My questions:
Which of the 4 DMR's should I opt for and why?
Does anyone have any experiences with the KCE-300BT?
Does anyone have any experiences with the DMR range?
Would you recommend anything instead of this kit?

NOTE: I have read existing topics already so please don't link me to them. I am looking for more information if possible ;)

If anyone knows of any cheaper companies, please list them and I'll append this post :)


Thanks,

Mo.
 
ok i have the x001 and the blootoh module fitted, the head unit is a fab piece of kit and you can have your artwork on the headunit and if you have alot on your ipod it scrolls through it very quick and much quicker than the older alpine units. There are a few things that annoy me though, the screen is quite small and only the song title scrolls in the display so the full album title wont show up. Now the bluetooth kit is quite fussy with what phnoes it works with. My old sony ericson k750i worked perfect with it with all my phonebook,missed call,received calls and dialed number data is sent to the phone, my samsung wouldnt send anything to it, the same with the nokia n95 and lg viewty, my current phone is the motorolla razor v8 and it only sends my phonebook to the unit, but thats no problem as it allows me to make and recieve call no problem. So you might have problems getting your phone to work properly, bit if you get a phone that does they are both fab pieces of kit.
 
Thanks for the Feedback :).

With regards to compatibility, according to Alpine's Official Compatibility Guide: Click Here , my phone is capable of Hands Free calling AND Phone Book Transfer.

As for the Music Streaming, that does not bother me as I will have my iPod :)

Regards,

Mo.
 
Right :)
I've practically made up my mind (although feel free to try and change it).

I think I need to go for:

Alpine iDA-X100
Alpine KCE-300BT
Alpine KCE-422i

What do you all think?

( The reason I've decided to go for the KCE-422i is Alpine UK Customer Services have assured me it will fix all delays with regards to indexing and library re-building :) )

Regards,

Mo.
 
Right :)
I've practically made up my mind (although feel free to try and change it).

I think I need to go for:

Alpine iDA-X100
Alpine KCE-300BT
Alpine KCE-422i

What do you all think?

( The reason I've decided to go for the KCE-422i is Alpine UK Customer Services have assured me it will fix all delays with regards to indexing and library re-building :) )

Regards,

Mo.


the only problem with the full speed cable is that its much slower in navigating through your music and i dont think it will allow your artwork to be displayed. The usb cable that comes with the unit works fine for me and i have not had much problems with it, i have had one or 2 lockups, but resseting the ipod does the trick. So if possible dont use the full speed cable and go with the usb cable if you have a newer ipod video,classic or touch.
 
Hmm... Alpine Customer Services guaranteed that it would be faster (Which I believe as they would not get away with marketting it as full speed when it is infact slower than USB).

Furthermore, I gather that the KCE-422i caters for Lossless playback more efficiently, which allows better quality sound output.

Alpine Official Website said:
Full Speed Connection for iPod lets you enjoy all your favorite iPod tracks on the road. View Playlist, artist, album, song, podcast, genre and composer search right on the screen of your head unit. There's no need for bulky interface boxes, just a KCE-422i cable (*optional) that connects your iPod directly to your Alpine. Forget FM transmitters and forget static, hollow sound. Full Speed Connection also supports Apple lossless playback. With Alpine, you can take your iPod on the road and sound good while you're doing it. You can even enjoy the music on your Apple iPhone (Read more on iPhone usage) using the Full Speed Connection. The IVA-W505 offers both Full Speed connection and USB connection options, so you can even connect to two iPods at the same time. The IVA-W505 is also compatible with the Apple iPhone via Full Speed (Read more on iPhone usage), allowing you to seamlessly control your iPod music (KCE-422i cable required).

The cable is also compatible with the newer gen of iPods as verified by: this gentleman

As for it being slower than USB, I cannot understand why they would market this accessory if this were the case.

Onto the artwork issue. After reading around, especially HERE, I have come to the conclusion that the original iPod Firmwares were non-compatible with the KCE-22i, but Alpine and Apple worked together and the problem has now been rectified.

As you can see from that link, there are some people who do not have it working, and others that do. It seems illogical that it would work with some and not with others. What are the possible differences? Car and iPod Firmware. I very much doubt that the car has anything to do with the artwork not being displayed :) So I am sure it is the iPod Firmware.

Hopefully my 80GB Classic will be ok.

Cheers,

Mo.
 
Hmm... Alpine Customer Services guaranteed that it would be faster (Which I believe as they would not get away with marketting it as full speed when it is infact slower than USB).

Furthermore, I gather that the KCE-422i caters for Lossless playback more efficiently, which allows better quality sound output.



The cable is also compatible with the newer gen of iPods as verified by: this gentleman

As for it being slower than USB, I cannot understand why they would market this accessory if this were the case.

Onto the artwork issue. After reading around, especially HERE, I have come to the conclusion that the original iPod Firmwares were non-compatible with the KCE-22i, but Alpine and Apple worked together and the problem has now been rectified.

As you can see from that link, there are some people who do not have it working, and others that do. It seems illogical that it would work with some and not with others. What are the possible differences? Car and iPod Firmware. I very much doubt that the car has anything to do with the artwork not being displayed :) So I am sure it is the iPod Firmware.

Hopefully my 80GB Classic will be ok.

Cheers,

Mo.

It could be unit dependant, all i know is my old alipne unit had the full speed cable and was very slow in moving through my ipod. My new x001 has the usb cable and is 4 or 5 times faster in moving through the ipod. The full speed cable is older technology and the new usb type cable supplied with the x001/x100 is the preffered cable to use thats why it shipped with the unit and not the full speed cable. I am still sure though if you want the artworj you need to use the usb cable as the full speed cable wont carry that data to the head unit. Looks as if you are buying the cable and it wont be too expensive so you can try both to see which you prefer.
 
Aha! Excellent. Good man. I was unaware that the KCE-422i is an older cable than the USB Supplied with the unit. That could explain the aforementioned problems. Thank you.

You may have convinced me now :) I won't buy the full speed cable if it is unnecessary. Will scout the web and report back here.

Regards,

Mo.
 
:) I am happy now. Want to know why? I've finally managed to uncover the truth behind the KCE-422i *manic evil laughter*.

Humour aside, take a look at THIS.

According to that Alpine Authorized On-Line Dealer (2008), The KCE-422i is used for Full Speed Connection with the Older generation of iPods. (Phew....) So I don't actually need to get one for the iPod Classic.

However, a good friend has the older generation of iPod (I think 3rd Gen), so I will get it anyway, as you can have both connected at the same time.

Regards,

Mo.
 
Today, had a long chat with Gaffer74 and came to the conclusion that it would be a month-long novelty to have the X100... so have now decided to opt for an iDA-X300 instead.

Thinking about going for THIS package.
 
Today, had a long chat with Gaffer74 and came to the conclusion that it would be a month-long novelty to have the X100... so have now decided to opt for an iDA-X300 instead.

Hi,

What put you off the X100, curious as it appears to be the better model and I'm thinking of getting it myself!

Cheers,

Sahajesh
 
Ive got the x100 and its a nice piece of kit, only down side is the bit that goes into the bottom of the ipod has fallen apart, initially the outer cowling came off and then because nothing was stopping the wires moving about they came off of the board thingy, which now means my ipod wont sync up with the x100, a quick call to alpine and they reckon it will be with me in a week or two and its £20ish.

All the best

the bear
 
Cheers for that Phatbear. Will take extra care of the cable.

Hi,

What put you off the X100, curious as it appears to be the better model and I'm thinking of getting it myself!

Cheers,

Sahajesh

Hiya Sahajesh.

After a long hard think, we came to the conclusion the colour screen and artwork option wasn't worth the extra money. The only advantage is the Alpine PXA-H100 IMPRINT Sound Processor. If you are willing to pay the extra money for that too, then go for the X100 (so I'm told)

Regards,

Mo.
 
Just to let you all know, i opted for the iDA-X300/KCE-300BT/KCE-422i from audio66.com.

Their shop is about 10 mins from my house so that's a huge success. Plus, it was only £179.99. They were out of stock on the KCE-BT300 so that has been ordered. Gaffer74 and I will fit that at a later date. Gaffer74 fitted the ICE system with me today. God, there were times we wanted to smash the dashboard, shout F*** OFF at the Halfords Assistants, and shout YOU F****** T**** at Alpine for not including the Aerial Lead Size Adapter, but we finally got there, and to top it off, Gaffer gave me his Rockford Active Subwoofer which is the Dogs ****** (intentional misspelling) :) .

Just need to Velcro it down to stop it exploring the depths of the boot.

I'm so tired right now, so I'm off to have another cold shower and then hit the sack.

Night night.

Mo.
 
Well. Been a couple of days now. Absolutely enjoying the new system :D The comfort of my iPod, at my fingertips *muahahaha*.

A few things Alpine could have done to make life easier would have been to mimic Apple's path; Fast scroll = browse by letter & Normal scroll = browse by individual entry.

Alpine didn't include an Aerial Adapter to change from DIN to ISO, which the chap at Halfords said, is now normal. Back in the day, Gaffer74 received an aerial adapter with his TOTR unit. "What is this world coming to?".

I've now bought the adapter (from Halfords) and will fit it in when we receive the KCE-300BT. (Now to phone audio66 [ aka Road Radio ] and bug them every day until I get my BT unit :D ).

Bah, have work to do..
Signing off for now,

Mo.
 
I recently bought a Parrot RK8200 instead of an Alpine X100/300BT. The Parrot is a great unit, but missing a few things which I would find quite useful. Could anyone confirm if the X100/300BT combination does the following?

1. Clock display - Can you have the clock display on when the unit is playing? (I have no clock in my car)

2. Bluetooth - Does the 300BT recognise and connect automatically when you get into the car with a previously paired phone?

3. Ipod playback - Does the X100 allow you to skip through the contect of your iPod by letter? The Parrot does not do this, and it might get quite annoying with 100Gb of music!

4. Noise - I have heard somewhere that the 300BT unit can induce a 'whining noise from the iPod output of the X100. Has anyone experienced this?

Any help appreciated!
 
I recently bought a Parrot RK8200 instead of an Alpine X100/300BT. The Parrot is a great unit, but missing a few things which I would find quite useful. Could anyone confirm if the X100/300BT combination does the following?

1. Clock display - Can you have the clock display on when the unit is playing? (I have no clock in my car)

2. Bluetooth - Does the 300BT recognise and connect automatically when you get into the car with a previously paired phone?

3. Ipod playback - Does the X100 allow you to skip through the contect of your iPod by letter? The Parrot does not do this, and it might get quite annoying with 100Gb of music!

4. Noise - I have heard somewhere that the 300BT unit can induce a 'whining noise from the iPod output of the X100. Has anyone experienced this?

Any help appreciated!


1) yes it has the option to display a clock
2)yes it does pair automatically as long as your bluetooth is on, althogh on the odd occasion i have had to do it manualy as the bluetooth kit can crash once or twice.
3) you can search your artist by letter, it very quick to move through you music on the head unit and you can set it up to search by song,artist,album,playlist,podcasts etc.
4) no whinning noise with mine.
 
1) yes it has the option to display a clock
2)yes it does pair automatically as long as your bluetooth is on, althogh on the odd occasion i have had to do it manualy as the bluetooth kit can crash once or twice.
3) you can search your artist by letter, it very quick to move through you music on the head unit and you can set it up to search by song,artist,album,playlist,podcasts etc.
4) no whinning noise with mine.

Thanks for the confirmation. Looks like I might have gone for the wrong unit. The Parrot is great apart from the things listed above. I think it is the manual pairing that will annoy me the most.
 
Hi,
I bought an alpine iDA-x200 and I'm having a problem with my ipod classic. When I turn off the HU, my ipod doesn't turn off, it stays in pause until I turn on the HU or remove it...does anybody have the same problem as I or have any solutions for this? Thanks

Edgar Galvão
 
I've just been given £50 of Halfrauds vouchers and thinking of getting this.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...9867_crumb_31265-31371_parentcategoryrn_79867

My wife bought me an Ipod Nano so as far as I can see I don't need to take my CDs into my car anymore.

Only thing I can see that might be an issue is that it only has 1 pre-out. I was hoping to add an amp to power some bigger better speakers.

Its going in a cheap Jeep so budget is the order of the day :)
 
Have you got your BT300 yet? If not I would say cancel it and hold off as the new 350 is due out very soon as is a much improved product over the 300 which has had a large number of issues
 
Have you got your BT300 yet? If not I would say cancel it and hold off as the new 350 is due out very soon as is a much improved product over the 300 which has had a large number of issues

Have you seen any details on the 350? What are the major improvements over the 300?
 
The major improvements are that it works much better i.e. clearer calls etc.

The failure rate on the 300 has been staggeringly high.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom