MOSFET
September 16th 07, 07:11 PM
I have a 9853 but because of a smokin' deal I got, I am upgrading to the
9855. I consider the 9855 the BEST HU Alpine has made in this century b/c
ALL subsequent decks after the '05 series dropped Bass Engine Pro and Plus
(even the HIGHEST end decks) which means no time-correction, no 6 band
parametric EQ (with 33 bands and adjustable Q to choose from) and no X-over
with 33 bands to choose from and adjustable slopes from 6 dB to 24 dB.
Again, I have found these functions absolutely necessary, especially the
time-correction. When I A/B it (TC in and TC out) the differnence is TRULY
startling. The center image is fuzy and difused without TC, with TC the
center imige snaps right into place and all instruments suddenly become
clearly etched in space in front of me, IT'S WONDERFUL and a feature I could
never live without now (I will never buy a new Alpine HU again unless they
bring back this feature despite the fact I have used nothing but Alpine for
more than a 13 years).
Why did they drop these, what I consider, indespensible SQ functions? My
guess is that MOST users found these decks too complicated and Alpine began
to focus on iPod, BlueTooth, HD Radio, and other compatability funtions with
new technology. Sound shaping functions seems to have gone by the way-side.
Blame the demise of IASCA or the rise of MP3 and the sound quality flaws
inherrent in that format as the cause. And, to be honest, these decks ARE
hard to use right out of the box (you HAVE to read the manual). My
suspicion is that user feedback said that people wanted simplicity so ALL
Alpine decks now have been VERY dumbed down (SOME have just plain vanilla
Bass Engine).
So I'm excited about my new 9855 but I'm curious about the switch from MX to
BBE (the 9853 had MX Sound Expander and the 9855 has BBE). Is one better
than the other? I had a 7863 before the 9853 and it had BBE and I used it
ALL the time (the BBE was on all the time). When I got my 9853 I was NOT
that happy with MX Sound Expander and I DO NOT use it. Is that a common
concensus? Or have some people found MX better than BBE in some ways? I'd
LOVE to hear what people think about these sound enhancing features.
Any opinions or thoughts on this?
Thanks guys,
Nick
9855. I consider the 9855 the BEST HU Alpine has made in this century b/c
ALL subsequent decks after the '05 series dropped Bass Engine Pro and Plus
(even the HIGHEST end decks) which means no time-correction, no 6 band
parametric EQ (with 33 bands and adjustable Q to choose from) and no X-over
with 33 bands to choose from and adjustable slopes from 6 dB to 24 dB.
Again, I have found these functions absolutely necessary, especially the
time-correction. When I A/B it (TC in and TC out) the differnence is TRULY
startling. The center image is fuzy and difused without TC, with TC the
center imige snaps right into place and all instruments suddenly become
clearly etched in space in front of me, IT'S WONDERFUL and a feature I could
never live without now (I will never buy a new Alpine HU again unless they
bring back this feature despite the fact I have used nothing but Alpine for
more than a 13 years).
Why did they drop these, what I consider, indespensible SQ functions? My
guess is that MOST users found these decks too complicated and Alpine began
to focus on iPod, BlueTooth, HD Radio, and other compatability funtions with
new technology. Sound shaping functions seems to have gone by the way-side.
Blame the demise of IASCA or the rise of MP3 and the sound quality flaws
inherrent in that format as the cause. And, to be honest, these decks ARE
hard to use right out of the box (you HAVE to read the manual). My
suspicion is that user feedback said that people wanted simplicity so ALL
Alpine decks now have been VERY dumbed down (SOME have just plain vanilla
Bass Engine).
So I'm excited about my new 9855 but I'm curious about the switch from MX to
BBE (the 9853 had MX Sound Expander and the 9855 has BBE). Is one better
than the other? I had a 7863 before the 9853 and it had BBE and I used it
ALL the time (the BBE was on all the time). When I got my 9853 I was NOT
that happy with MX Sound Expander and I DO NOT use it. Is that a common
concensus? Or have some people found MX better than BBE in some ways? I'd
LOVE to hear what people think about these sound enhancing features.
Any opinions or thoughts on this?
Thanks guys,
Nick