Average Customer Review: ( 10 customer reviews )
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7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 The Best !!! Sep 09, 2007
By Doombious
This unit is excellent. Hey I'm a girl and had no problems installing and setting this up. Very easy. Far exceeds the 8600 model I just took out. The 5v is just what my system was lacking and sounds better than ever. Love it. Just hope it doesn't have opening or ejecting problems like the 8600. If so I'll be sure to repost. I say it's definitely worth the money. With all the features and settings how can your system not sound great.
Update: It has been 8 months since my above review and I'd like to add that it is still...The Best!!!
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Great sound, clunky interface Jun 20, 2008
By D. Crone
I installed this unit in my vehicle over 6 months ago (2008 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab). Now that I've had some time with it, I thought a review would be appropriate. Let me preface my comments by saying I am in my 40's and I am an audio snob. I want my music to sound like it did in the studio when it was being mastered to CD. From purely a sound quality perspective, this unit delivers.
The sound quality is great. One of the motivating factors in purchasing this unit is its auto-equalizer function with 16 bands. That feature alone makes it worth the investment.
Unfortunately, the user interface is very clunky. It'd probably be fine if I didn't have to drive at the same time. And as long as I get things setup before I start out on a trip, it's fine. But, don't try to do much more than change the source and adjust volume while you're driving. I don't understand why someone can't make an after-market car stereo with the great audio features of this unit while still keeping the controls as simple as most pre-installed units.
The ability to put your own custom pictures on the display is kind of cool and I've used that to change my default background. The built-in backgrounds are interesting, but I find the moving pictures to be very distracting. My kids like to play with them, though, so maybe this is just an age thing. The kids also like to play with the remote control that came with the unit. I don't really see the point of that.
The Bluetooth connection to my cell phone is a nice feature. Now that I've had that, I don't think I could ever have a car without it.
Summary: Overall great marks on sound quality (5 stars) and the adjustment capabilities it provides, which is what I care about most. User interface is overly complicated (dropping it to 4 stars overall).
8 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Very Good, Excelent Mar 19, 2007
By Jorge Diaz
This is the best cd player that i ever bought, excelent audio, no problems with bluetooth, the fact that i can change the animations, everything is amazing! Worth The Money!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
It's all in there... Sep 29, 2008
By Paul Mark Provencher
"ppro"
I've owned several Pioneer products. I am fortunate to say that I never had a problem with one of them, which says a lot considering this represents over 30 years of products.
My last car stereo upgrade was a different Pioneer unit but interestingly this unit shares an number of features. This was a factor in choosing this unit.
When I purchased my Chrysler Crossfire, I quickly found that the factory stereo, while a competent unit (a Becker unit also found in a number of German cars), it did not provide for the addition of auxiliary inputs - such as that from an iPod or satellite radio.
So I tried using a Roady XT with FM modulation (for XM radio) ( Delphi Sa10276-11P1 Roady Xt Receiver ) and a harman/kardon Drive + Play with wired FM modulation (for iPod) ( Harman Kardon DP 1US Drive and Play In-Vehicle Interface and Controller ). This proved unacceptable since FM modulation has a number of major drawbacks for those like me who want the best sound quality. Interference from nearby radio stations or any other RF frequencies meant that many times the music sounded quite poor.
That meant I had to dispose of the factory stereo and install something that could take auxiliary inputs directly without resorting to FM modulation. Through Pioneer's "IP-Bus" system, I had been able to add the necessary auxiliary inputs to my other Pioneer car stereo, so I looked at what was available and found the Pioneer DEH-P980BT unit.
After a little reading in the electronic version of the owners manual that I found online, I learned that I could take input from a XM radio and iPod, offers a CD player that plays commercially produced CD's, CD-R's, MP3, WMA, and AAC formats, AM/FM stereo (the legendary "Super-Tuner" series), drives a sub-woofers, and provides for automatic tuning to the car environment with a microphone.
I had already decided I didn't want a unit that had a giant LCD screen that emerges from inside the unit, didn't want or need a unit that played DVD's or had built-in navigation, and wasn't interested in modifying my car to make it fit.
I purchased the unit along with a Schosche VW-01B plug that provides the necessary capability to connect this to the existing wiring in the car.
I purchased the iPod adapter ( Pioneer CD IB100 - IPod in-vehicle interface adapter ) to enable the capability to run my iPod using all the DEH-980BT controls and display, and providing charging and sound connections. I purchased the Pioneer GEX-P920XM XM Satellite Digital Tuner ( Pioneer GEX-P920XM XM Satellite Tuner ) to enable the capability to receive XM broadcasts and control them through the DEH-980BT controls and display. Later I purchased the Pioneer GEX-P10HD Digital HD Radio component ( Pioneer GEX-P10HD HD Radio Tuner for Pioneer HD Radio-Ready Head Units ) so I can received HD Radio!
All that's left is to describe the reality. It's great! I installed the unit myself with no difficulty. I do have a fair amount of experience so do not recommend this to the inexperienced or timid, but as car stereo installs go, it's a breeze. All the components are small enough to hide out of sight as intended, though provision is made should you need to mount them under the dash for some reason.
Control of the iPod is intuitive - the main control knob of the DEH-980BT works the same way as the iPod control, and all displays are on the DEH-980BT. The music sounds superior to any FM modulation system, which is not surprising given how much signal is lost on the FM signal. Hands down this is the way to do for playing iPod music through a car stereo.
XM Radio through the DEH-980BT becomes as easy as traditional AM & FM, with the added bonus of all the data displays that XM radio customers have become accustomed. And like the iPod interface, the sound is terrific. XM becomes just another of the various input sources available on the DEH-980BT. I called my XM radio subscription and decommissioned my old Roady XT and activated my Pioneer GEX-P920 XM Satellite Digital Tuner and in minutes was using it.
The CD player is a joy to use, with no surprises, other than the fact that it can be used in conjunction with a program that is available from Pioneer, enabling you to design and upload to the unit your own custom displays! I created some interesting animations that I can choose when the display I have selected gets boring. I chose to display the logo and badge of my car. I have a few animations that show different parts of the car and some shots of the factory prototype.
The display has other features that are deemed "entertainment" that include various animations, a real set of gauges that show battery voltage, engine RPM and ostensibly G-force... All in 256 colors on a display whose brightness can be adjusted to be very bright even in daylight, or set to automatically dim and brighten according to either brightness of the moment or when you turn on your headlights.
I own a blue-tooth-enabled phone so I was very happy to incorporate my phone into the considerable features offered by the Pioneer DEH-980BT. I have blue-tooth in my other cars so this just extends my ability to drive my car without touching my phone. A microphone is provided that may be placed just about anywhere in the car. Sound for the phone comes through the stereo speakers. The call info is displayed on the DEH-980BT screen. Incoming or outgoing calls can be set to either mute or attenuate any music that may be playing, so you don't have to do it manually, and so you know you have an incoming call.
There are also the usual features - removable faceplate, a variety of audio eq settings, scores of settings to control and adjust the units features to suit your needs and your car's layout. It's very comprehensive. This is definitely a thinking persons unit...
Finally I added an externally powered sub-woofer (the Infinity Bass Link). This was accomplished by simply plugging in the leads and turning on and tuning the sub-woofer output, running the leads along with the remote activation lead from the DEH-980BT to the sub-woofer. When I turn on the stereo, the subwoofer amp turns on automatically, and there is music with a beat.
There are a few other components that can be purchased that will work with this unit but I was happy with the set up I built.
There are speaker level and pre-amp level outputs so this unit provides several ways to incorporate it into a full system.
The music is great! I listen to just about all kinds of music and have not found anything yet that doesn't sound good.
I just don't have anything bad to say about this system. If you want the ability to add XM (or Sirius) radio, control your iPod and play music through your main unit, configure speakers in any number of ways, and then have the stereo automatically set the equalizer and speaker timing for you with the provided microphone, you will not be disappointed with the Pioneer DEH-980BT!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Great Radio Apr 20, 2010
By Wickedspawn24
Best brand head units anywhere in my opinion and would never buy any other type
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