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Alpine to Release iPod Interface in Autumn 2004 231

Posted by simoniker from the over-the-hills-and-far-away dept.
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."
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Alpine to Release iPod Interface in Autumn 2004 More

Alpine to Release iPod Interface in Autumn 2004

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  • Really, folks. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:30PM (#9596969)
    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.

  • Alpine (Score:4, Funny)

    by ndavidg ( 680217 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:31PM (#9596980)
    Will they come standard in the Countach anytime soon?

    • Re:Alpine (Score:3, Funny)

      by ePhil_One ( 634771 )
      Will they come standard in the Countach anytime soon?

      Every new Countach will come with one. Better yet, every new Tucker will come with one as well!

  • "restores lost detail"? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by zalas ( 682627 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:32PM (#9596981) Homepage
    Alpine says that the "MediaXpander" technology featured on its system "restores lost detail" to compressed digital media, as well. Alpine's receivers also sport the company's "Bass Engine" technology, which it says will tune the system for the best sound quality in the vehicle.
    Does anyone know how this would actually work? Is this kind of like postprocessing for video files but applied to audio? Or is this just more marketing hype for an equalizer/dynamics expander?

    • Re:"restores lost detail"? (Score:5, Informative)

      by SparklingClearWit ( 792141 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:42PM (#9597031)
      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.

      • Re:"restores lost detail"? (Score:4, Funny)

        by irokitt ( 663593 ) <archimandrites-iaur.yahoo@com> on Friday July 02, 2004 @08:23PM (#9597200)
        So what your saying is that the WSAFGDE will pre-process the TRDYS and polish the XZWQR heads while upping the foozer and lyger levels. Sweet.

    • Re:"restores lost detail"? (Score:5, Informative)

      by ethan_clark ( 204137 ) <(eclark) (at) (monkeyvoodoo.net)> on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:44PM (#9597040) Homepage
      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.
    • Rumor has it Alpine violated GPL with their so-called "Bass Engine" technology.
      Apparently, little more than obfuscated code from this open source project [shorl.com].
    • the mx system is great for improving sound at low volumes. it really does help, if you want some decent sound w/o having to blare your ears out. Unfortunately, once you do really turn it up, it really only causes your music to distort. I love alpine, and pretty much won't buy anything but. great radios. my 9811 is a machine.

  • Saw this in Vegas... (Score:4, Informative)

    by SparklingClearWit ( 792141 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:34PM (#9596994)
    Supposedly, this will work with any Alpine Ai-Net compatible head unit (CDA-####) models. No word yet on if will be the only allowed Ai-Net piece in the chain, or if will have the standard bus-in/bus-out connections like other Ai-Net pieces.

  • Three words: Toyota Prius interface (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Samir Gupta ( 623651 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:34PM (#9596996) Homepage
    It would be the ultimate geek tech marriage: the ultimate geek music player with the ultimate geek car.

    Apparently, these guys [coastaletech.com] have modded the Prius audio/touch screen system to control a XM receiver, complete with onscreen title display, so I imagine it can't be that hard to support an iPod as well, right, especially if Apple were to help?

  • If anyone else found this confusing... (Score:5, Informative)

    by itistoday ( 602304 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:36PM (#9597005) Homepage
    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.

  • iTrip sort of works... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by unclejeb ( 669260 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:36PM (#9597006)
    Seriously, I wouldn't mind a decent car stereo interface considering my iTrip tends to get interference forcing me to constantly move things around all the time. I have tried the tape cassette thingy too but things get pretty hairy when my feet get tangled up in the cable. Makes it hard to concentrate while digging about the passenger seat area for my sunglasses (or cell phone).

  • BMW and Alpine (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:36PM (#9597007)
    For those that don't know, Alpine are also a major supplier of audio equipment to BMW. The pre-fitted CD players are Alpine units, at least in MINIs. I seem to recall that the MD and tape players are as well, but I could be wrong about that last one.

  • Stereo v Logo? Maybe you'd rather have a kia. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:40PM (#9597024)
    Dude, if you think all you get with a BMW is a logo, maybe you'd better turn that stereo up until your eardrums burst - because your brain is already hemorrhaging. If I'm in a car it's to drive, and drive I will. Music is nice, but there's no sound like a proper exhaust note at 140mph.

    • Re:Stereo v Logo? Maybe you'd rather have a kia. (Score:5, Funny)

      by node 3 ( 115640 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @08:45PM (#9597284)
      If I'm in a car it's to drive, and drive I will. Music is nice, but there's no sound like a proper exhaust note at 140mph.

      You wasted your money on the Beamer. You can get the same note out of an old Nova at half that speed.

      (we're talking about the "exhaust note" which periodically gets higher and lower, and includings flashing red and blue lights, right?)
    • "If I'm in a car it's to drive, and drive I will. Music is nice, but there's no sound like a proper exhaust note at 140mph."

      And, exactly how often do you get to drive at 140mph? Unless you live outside the US (which, from your use of miles, seems unlikely), you sure aren't going 140 on any public roads.
    • "Music is nice, but there's no sound like a proper exhaust note at 140mph."

      Hmm... well okay. I put an MP3 of that up on Kazaa, enjoy!
    • True, you get more than a logo. You get a car underneath it, as well. What the poster was pointing out is that you can usually get a superior car without the BMW logo for several thousand dollars less.

      Take the BMW M3 for instance, practically an icon among BMW fanboys. The Volvo S60R beats it by miles in pretty much every department (ok, it might me .1 seconds slower going to 100kph) at more than $10k less. And the service costs much less... Having a BMW automatically means replacing something simple lik
  • ...for those of us who want to spend cash on the sound system, rather than the logo.

    Heyyyy, that sounds a bit like an insult towards my favourite boutique car maker.

    Mmmmmm, BMW E39 M5 [fantasycars.com]. Even better if kitted out by Dinan [dinancars.com].

    (completely off-topic, but a man must be allowed to dream...)

  • Please, no more iPod news! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:46PM (#9597047)
    Can't we have a moratorium on it? It's not that I hate them or anything, it's just you can't swing a dead geek in here without hitting half a dozen iPod stories.

    To prevent the legions of iPod fans from hunting me down and playing techno music in my ear, I must remain an anonymous coward.
    • To prevent the legions of iPod fans from hunting me down and playing techno music in my ear, I must remain an anonymous coward.

      No problem, we logged your IP address.

      Techno music in you hear, you say? Yes, you'll scream out for that very thing before the end.
    • 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.
      • One thing I find funny is that there are so many geeks that complain that the iPod is overpriced or expensive, but when a new $500 graphics card comes to town, the complaints about its pricing is relatively muted.

        Ah well. I don't own a portable file player but if I decided one would fit my needs, I'd strongly consider an iPod, but not ignore the competition outright. It's just that the competition doesn't seem so relevant or as balanced in comparison at the moment either.

        If we could take that to heart
      • 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 [...] But the iPod...

        Are you seriously telling me that news about the ipod are more important than the pervasive attacks on our freedom? Stuff that matters indeed. The world is bigger than our ipods

  • Took em long enough (Score:4, Informative)

    by DaHat ( 247651 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:48PM (#9597061)
    If I recall [vwvortex.com] they announced this product at CES... in February... shame it took em so long to speak of it again.

    • Re:Took em long enough (Score:3, Insightful)

      by aka-ed ( 459608 )
      The guy who filed the story admits this is old news -- dating all the way back to January. The current news item is an "update," though I don't know or care what's been updated. I think it's the price announcement ($100).

  • WGARA (Score:4, Insightful)

    by boristdog ( 133725 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @07:57PM (#9597091)
    iPod this, iPod that. They didn't invent the goddamn MP3 player. Why not just put a "line in" jack on any car stereo so we can use any MP3 player on any car stereo? Or any other audio device for that matter.

    Had an MP3 player long before the iPod existed.

    • Re:WGARA (Score:3, Insightful)

      by pauljlucas ( 529435 )
      Why not just put a "line in" jack on any car stereo so we can use any MP3 player on any car stereo?
      Because then you lose (1) the head-unit control of the iPod, and (2) the song/artist information on the head-unit display.

      • Re:WGARA (Score:3, Interesting)

        by boristdog ( 133725 )
        Because then you lose (1) the head-unit control of the iPod, and (2) the song/artist information on the head-unit display.

        Uh, shouldn't you just be putting your MP3 player on "shuffle" before you drive and then concentrate on driving?
        (1)If a song comes on you don't like...why the hell is it on your MP3 player?!
        (2)Shouldn't you know what the hell is on your own MP3 player? If you don't and finding out the song/artist is so freaking important, you should pull over to find out. Otherwise, keep your dam

        • If a song comes on you don't like...why the hell is it on your MP3 player?!

          I never said anything about a song I don't like. However, I will say now that sometimes I feel like listening to a bit of this, and other times a bit of that. It's nice to be able to navigate by the name of the playlist rather than having to remember that Jazz is playlist #7.

          Shouldn't you know what the hell is on your own MP3 player?

          Of course I do. I never said I didn't.

          If you don't and finding out the song/artist is so f

      • I have both of those on the iPod already. And to be honest, I'd rather lift the ipod into my field of view while driving than look down at the head unit all the time.

        Plus a lot of Alpine gear is kind of...well...chintzy. I'll stick with my factory dash, thanks (plus i went through a lot of trouble to hack the CD changer controls).
        • And to be honest, I'd rather lift the ipod into my field of view while driving than look down at the head unit all the time.
          Nobody is putting a gun to your head to buy an Alpine head unit and adapter. Don't use it. Fine. We don't care. But allow those of us who do want to use it to do so. To each, his own.

  • Still too rich for my blood. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 02, 2004 @08:12PM (#9597153)
    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. [densionusa.com] 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.
    • Alpine stereos -- NICE ones -- start at under $160 and I guarantee you they have more power than your Toyota stock unit.

      Sounds like you paid more for less. I wouldn't complain, though...I spent about two days hacking my own changer controls to work with the iPod last year, didn't have the luxury of buying either of these devices.
      • There are people who are fine with the stock stereos in their cars. Later model cars, in general, unless they are pieces of shit, will have relatively good stereos. It's not the more power I'm looking for when I buy a stereo (40 watts a channel is more than enough to kill things acoustically in many cars) it's the features. While I probably wouldn't buy this because I am morally against paying $500 for a portable music player, I may buy another head unit with a similar design that's a little more universal
        • If you have good speakers, they won't use anywhere near the full 40 watts per channel most stereos nowadays have (if not more than 40...).

          I'm not aware of a head unit that can put out a true 40W/ch (unless you believe the marketing materials). The stock stereo in the original poster's Toyota likely manages about 5W/ch, and is probably beginning to clip at that level. The Alpine units with V-Drive claim something like 55W/ch max, but are probably more like 30W RMS.

          You're also confusing "good" with "effici

  • logophilia (Score:3, Funny)

    by Doc Ruby ( 173196 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @08:15PM (#9597167) Homepage Journal
    If you're getting an Alpine stereo to play your iPod, you're paying a lot for the logos, even if you're bitchin' stereo is lashed to a Yugo.
  • Alpine announced last year that some of their 2004 headunits would have the ability to control/charge iPods....this isn't new, and they aren't new to the party.

  • Bluetooth... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JakiChan ( 141719 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @08:34PM (#9597247)
    That's nice, I suppose, but when will a company like Alpine get it's ass in gear and offer a Bluetooth phone option so that we can get similar functionality to what Acura currently offers in the TL? The car didn't impress me, but the way the Bluetooth car kit did, especially when tied in to the Nav system. I really want that in my next car. (Along with MB Quart Q-series speakers and a couple of 12" JBL Subs, of course.)

  • Aux Jack on your current car stereo + Dumb Wire (Score:4, Interesting)

    by billstewart ( 78916 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @08:45PM (#9597287) Journal
    Most car stereos I've seen or owned had an Auxiliary Input Jack that you could use to plug in a cable from another device. They're not always installed correctly in the dashboard, but they're usually there somewhere. That's especially useful for something like an iPod that you want to take with you rather than permanently mounting in the car, and if do you want to hide it in your glove compartment, that's a good match for the aux jack that was left behind the dashboard because the stereo installers didn't feel like mounting it in the dashboard.

    Another relatively simple approach, if your car stereo has a cassette player, is those adapters that look like a cassette tape with a wire out the back. Not sure how good they sound, though.

    • [The aux jack is] especially useful for something like an iPod that you want to take with you rather than permanently mounting in the car...
      The Alpine solution does not permanently mount your iPod in your car.
    • Many Pioneer head units include an input for a minidisc player. They don't often mention it and you need to dig out the manual (they have PDF's online) to activate the input. But once you do, pressing the "source" button will give you another option.

      The actual input is a line-level (i.e. RCA jacks) accessible on the back of the unit. You can leave the "tail" tucked away inside the glove compartment or anyplace where the IPOD might be.

      I'm not a big fan of people taking their eyes off the road long enough t

  • No VW system yet (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Buran ( 150348 ) on Friday July 02, 2004 @08:55PM (#9597312)
    Apple and VW teamed up to offer iPods when you bought a New Beetle. I have a Golf so I was hoping they'd come up with a system that'd tap into the CD changer port. Yet they make a kit for BMWs instead? I can't use that. So I'm probably going to write to Apple and suggest it. Unfortunately, whatever they come up with probably would be for the Golf 5 and wouldn't fit my car anyway. I just can't win.

    • Re:No VW system yet (Score:2, Insightful)

      by bergerjs ( 700492 )
      Apple doesn't make the adapter, so writing to them isn't going to get you far. And as far as I remember, the VW didn't come with anything fancy, just a mounting bracket and either a cassette or an FM adapter.
  • I *did* spend my hard-earned cash on the sound system, rather than on the logo. *that's* why I got a NEUROS and not an IPOD! duh!

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