which deck is better. quality wise and for tuning my SQ system. please give some input for those of u who have experience working with these 2 decks. one thing about pioneer is they aren't that reliable. is that true????
Here the thing man I have the 9835 its probably the best deck out there for tuning ...But it takes forever to learn to tune it. Its confusing as hell when you first get it but then its easy. And the thing with the alpine they use a 24 hour clock so its like 13:00 instead of 1:00 that gets really annoying and it does not display the clock when its turned off. Other than that its an amazing deck.
Higher end pioneer decks are some of the best IMO but Alpine HUs are regarded as among the best, if not the best on the market. As far as features, I can't speak on that but I've had my Pioneer HU for about three years and I beat the hell out of it (take the face on and off and just toss it in my pocket) and I have yet to have a problem so reliability isn't an issue for me.
The Alpine 9835 is not bad, it beats most if not all newer pioneer head units as far as over-all sound SQ. (sound quality) is concerned. It's iPod interface is a piece of junk, its actually easier to use the iPod through the AUX input. The interface returns to the default; (PLAYLIST) rather than remain where it was set by the user- (ARTIST, ALBUM )etc. The equalizer, changes actual output only minimally. The SUB out required help from an old Pioneer DEQ9200. It boosted the incredibly low bass output of the Alpine unit by, possibly a factor of 200% or more. The user interface for the head unit itself is nothing to write home about either; it requires for most functions, that you actively remain involved in making your adjustments (while driving) or lose the adjustments you've already made- unless you'd rather save the incomplete adjustments and go through the annoying proccess of holding down buttons and diverting your vision to return to, and see your adjustments . . . since one can usually hear only a minute, resulting difference. Mid to High frequences are a bit harsh- not unlike the new Pioneer units. My suggestion to Alpine: install an "instant cancel/return button and have the menus remain until actively closed. Oh . . . a spectrum display would be nice.
On a side note, Alpine's don't use just military time, most have standard time as the default. Not sure why firas jundi's deck is set that way, but my 9833 tells normal time.
Both are excellent head units and are reliable, and offer great sound quality. Whatever you heard about Pioneer decks isn't true unless you're talking low end Walmart crap. Neither are really superior to the other in the respect of SQ, choose on what you like better and what feels good to you. On paper the Pioneer would actually look better via the tuning capabilities and the 24 bit DACs, but in reality both are great and if you were to hear both on a flat EQ beside each other, you couldn't really tell a difference. A head unit is useless if you can't use it or don't like the layout. Don't look past Eclipse and Clarion Pro-Audio units either.