Steve Jobs is famous for insisting on insanely great products. It must be that Apple has finally gone crazy because it has hit the mother lode with the iPod. And indeed, it is great. In part two of our iPod integration series we look at two different types of solutions: a simple yet very smart product from Kenwood and an OEM-compatible interface from Monster Cable.
KCA-iP500
The KCA-iP500 is not insane but terrifically effective. This new iPod interface allows you to control and listen to your portable player through any Kenwood receiver that has CD-changer controls, which means just about any Kenwood and eXcelon receiver (for a full list of head units that are compatible, visit the website listed later).
Rick Noetzli, a product manager at Kenwood, gave us the product rundown at Audio Designs of Anaheim Hills, where installer Rene Gutierrez hooked up the iP500 in no time at all. Our test vehicle had an aftermarket stereo system, so that was removed and replaced by an eXcelon KDC-X889. The Kenwood iPod control interface hooked up right through the changer control bus' output. As simple as that. Once connected, the smallish module is out of sight and out of the way. By connecting the iPod directly to the receiver through the interface, it allowed us to maintain excellent sound quality (since the bit rate for the song files on our iPod is 256 kbps, we're going to insist on getting all of that in the transfer to the car's system) while at the same time, charging the battery on the iPod. Once the installation was done, we connected the cable to the iPod and selected Ext. Media on the KDC-X889 and we were ready to go.
The biggest issue we've seen with in-car iPod controllers is that you lose some of the functionality that you have on the music player itself. That's not the case with the KDC-X889, which allowed us to control everything through the receiver. Everything includes the personal playlists, artists, albums and genre folders. The top line on the display lists whatever music folder you're in while the second line shows you which song is playing. The head unit does have scrolling text so you can view the entire titles of songs. For selecting various categories of music simply push the control stick on the right side of the KDC-X889 up or down. To select songs within that playlist, you push the stick left or right. To fast forward or review just push and hold.
The best part of Kenwood's system is that you are not limited in terms of access to playlists by the number of discs your head unit controls on a changer. If you have 99 playlists, you can play them all. Noetzli indicated that you can access more playlists than most people are likely to have on their iPods. The time and technology invested in the MusicKeg certainly paid off here. As for disconnecting: You can disconnect your iPod at any time; this is not like connecting your player to your computer. All in all, the ease of installation (basically, plug-n-play), the small physical size of the unit and the ability to fully access your playlists on the iPod make Kenwood's new iP500 a very smart buy. It is backward-compatible, so owners of Kenwood head units from as far back as a few years ago should be able to utilize this product. And with an MSRP of $99, it's not a huge investment to get more out of your car's system.For a list of compatible head units go to:
www.kenwood.com/i/kca-ip500/
Key points
•Backward-compatible with older Kenwood head units
•Access all your playlists
•Ease of install
•Low MSRP
iCruze
Monster Cable's iCruze is a different type of beast. Made more for drivers with OEM setups, its centerpiece (and certainly the word is appropriate considering its cosmetic appeal) is a very handsome module with a shroud that gives it the look of a mini amplifier. That does however add to the overall dimensions. We're guessing that Monster Cable traded off minimizing size for a better look.
We utilized an older generation Alpine receiver for this review, as iCruze works via the M-bus protocol. The first thing we noticed was that the M-Bus-to-Molex cable is about only a foot long. We consulted Chris Gibbins, a product manager with Monster. He explained that they had wanted to minimize the amount of excess cable. Furthermore he pointed out that in "almost all circumstances you would be connecting this cable to an interface module and then to an interface cable that connects to the head unit, or simply adding an interface cable to the iCruze cable." With a BMW, a Honda, or what have you, you're not going to be able to do a direct connect. In our case we were able to do just that because of the Alpine. The direct connect would also apply to Jaguars.
Our thought was that some consumers may want to put the module on display, perhaps flush-mounted somewhere near the dash or elsewhere, thus utilizing the aesthetics to add to the overall look with the interior's other components. For our review we had to stash the module behind the dash and HVAC controls, under the receiver. It was a tight fit in our F150. On the plus side, the installation time was a measly 30 minutes.
We connected our digital display (it provides only the title of a song and not the playlist title; moreover it does not scroll text), an optional component to complement iCruze. Without it, we would not have had any visual information for what was being played, so we would recommend that consumers purchase this along with the interface. (Note: Gibbins told us that a playlist display would likely be incorporated into future versions of this product.) With everything in place we turned up the volume.
The Alpine head unit controls only up to six discs. Therefore we were limited to accessing just six playlists. In our iPod we have more than a dozen unfortunately. Most OEM systems won't be able to control more than six to 10 discs and, as indicated earlier, Monster Cable is targeting that segment of consumers with stock sound. For readers who are curious, the compatibility of iCruze with Alpine was a by-product of Monster's decision to build their product on the M-Bus protocol.
The issue of playlist accessibility may or may not bother consumers. The bigger issue in this instance may be easy OEM compatibility (especially as more car audio enthusiasts purchase new vehicles, maintain the factory source and upgrade around it). Nonetheless, Monster will be announcing other aftermarket head unit interfaces later this year.
None of the above may be as crucial to persuade consumers as the price of the iCruze. The main unit is $249.99. The LCD Display is $99.99. Pricing for other components is listed above. Now if you're weighing costs between these two products from Kenwood and Monster, bear in mind that the KDC-X889 we used in the review has an MSRP of about $450. Of course, with the backward-compatibility of the iP500, if you already own a Kenwood receiver you've already absorbed that expenditure.
For more information, go to:
www.monstercable.com/icruze/support.asp v
Key points
•Made for OEM systems
•Separate LCD display
•Ease of install
•Six to 10 playlists accessible
iCruze
Customers will need to purchase one or all of these items:
•Interface Cable $29.99•Interface Module $99.99•M-Bus Extension Cable $29.99(only needed for vehicles requiring trunk-mounted connections)