Alpine CDA-9835 review
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Evolving Member
Joined: Feb 2004
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From: Bay Area, CA
Alpine CDA-9835 review
Background
This is my first aftermarket head unit. I bought it for about $400 from an online vendor. I've used a bunch of others briefly in other people's cars, but I haven't used any of them extensively. It's also my first car modification of any sort, outside of swapping out my ugly stock louvers with a mesh grill
Thanks to these forums I didn't have any (unsolvable) problems installing it 
I have the "sun and sound" package in my Ralliart, which includes 6+ speakers and an 8" sub in the trunk. There's an amp under the drivers seat which powers all of it. The amp connects to the stock head unit using a special cable with many wires in it. I connected it to my new deck using SoundGate's adapter, which splits that cable into standard RCA-style front and rear pairs, and an amp turn-on lead. Note that it doesn't have a seperate sub preout.
The CDA-9835's manual states that its V-Drive internal amp must have a direct fused connection to the battery using 10 gauge wire, and from everything I've read that's correct, and that people who complain about problems with V-Drive head units never have them installed properly. In my case, because I'm not using the internal amp, I just connected it normally to the power wire from the wiring harness, and disabled the internal amp. I've had no problems with that setup.
Lancer Fitment
If you mount it exactly how the stock one comes mounted it doesn't fit quite properly. Like probably any ISO-DIN-sized unit, it's slightly to small for the opening, and leaves a little gap. It also doesn't quite stick out enough to use the trim ring. As suggested here on the board (I forgot who in particular to thank), I bought some washers and longer screws for it, and mounted it slightly further out so the trim ring snaps on. I don't like the look of head units the stick out out of the dash even just a little, but it's a hell of a lot better than having a gap, and easier than trying to come up with a custom professional-looking custom trim ring that'd be usable with the head unit mounted flush.
Sound Quality
I'm no expert here, so I'll just say it like, well, like I hear it
When I first installed the CDA-9835 it actually sounded worse than the stock head unit, because there was very little bass. The problem was the default subwoofer setting is all the way down, and turning that up did the trick.
Even with the bass back, it still didn't sound any better than the stock deck. Even given that the same amp is being used, I thought I'd notice some sort of SQ increase. I had forgotten about Alpine's MX "Media Expander," though. It might just be a couple fancy preset EQ settings, but IMO it really does sound good. I think mode 3 sounds the best with the sun and sound system I have.
On the other hand, I do notice the "brightness" that people say Alpine's have. It's also a little more noticable with the MX on (but I still think the MX modes sound good).
Display
Some people may scoff at me for saying this, but I think the display is a really important part of an MP3-playing head unit (and the only reason I replaced the stock head unit was to play MP3 CDs). Displays are very much a matter of personal taste, though. Some people prefer really flashy ones with lots of that play little videos or the like, while others prefer ones with a bit less going on. Personally I wanted a display that's sharp, can display lots of info at once, and is easily readable during the day. I specifically did not want one that plays videos or is otherwise really flashy like that.
IMO the CDA-9835's "Biolite" display is almost perfect! It perfectly matches all of my requirements above, and then some. The only issue I have with it isn't really an issue with the display, but how the CDA-9835 uses the display. When you dim the display by turning on your lights around dusk or in the rain, it dims too much to be easily readable. It's fine when it's actually night (dark) out, but not if you need to turn your lights on while it's still somewhat light. In addition to that, while you can turn off the auto-dimming, turning it off just sets it to be dim all the time! For some stupid reason there's no "keep it bright" option. I don't mind it being a little bright at night, so I just unplugged the dimmer wire, and it's great now.
There's a couple display modes available, each with different title views. The different modes vary the size of the text, the number of lines of info, and what's shown.
Looks (other than the display)
Looks are also very much personal taste, but I'll review them for what it's worth. I think the CDA-9835 is a pretty good looking head unit. Of course if you don't like the general look of Alpines you probably won't like how the CDA-9835 looks. It has a few too many buttons when it comes to looks IMO, but that's a minor complaint, and the usefulness of the buttons is more important.
For starters, it's dark (black and dark gray). Most cars have dark dashes, and Lancers are no exceptions. Light-colored head units, especial silver ones, stick out like a sore thumb on dark dashes. I know there's a lot of fans of silver head units, but I think they look horrible in anything but a silver dash.
The dark silvery-looking thing surrounding the four big buttons and rotary knob actually looks like brushed aluminum up close, and looks really sharp. The rotary knob itself also has a nice silvery look to it. All of the small buttons (all except the big four) can be illuminated either green or amber. I use amber, and I think it looks pretty good in the Lancer and goes well with the red dash.
The four big buttons can be illuminated amber, red, blue, green, or any of 512 inbetween. At night it looks great, and I think the red that I use looks great with the above mentioned colors. You may have noticed I said "at night," which brings me to their only problem. The big buttons are tinted somewhat blue, and during the day that blue shows up and actually dominates the lights. At night the blue doesn't show up at all, but during the day the blue mixes with the red lights and it ends up looking a little pink. That might seem cute to a few of the ladies here, but I'm not a big fan of it. So far I've just been setting their illumination to blue during the day, and red at night. Maybe someday I'll see if I can get some red buttons for/from a red-illuminated Alpine and stick them on.
Controls
What constitues good controls is also somewhat personal taste, but not as much as looks/displays. The CDA-9835 has the same control layout as most other MP3-playing Alpines, and I think it's great. Along with the display the controls are a big reason I bought it. My thoughts on good head unit controls:
For starters, they absolutely need a rotary control for volume and other similar adjustments (or sliders, but I've yet to see those on any aftermarket head unit). That doesn't have to be a knob, in fact I really like the mostly flat ones you rotate with a finger, but it has to be rotary or otherwise quickly and easily adjustable without button mashing. MP3s need to be selectable using a rotary control of some sort too, because a CD holds enough of them that you'd often end up button mashing otherwise. Button controls for track/MP3 selection are a must too of course, because they're better for small adjustments. Lastly, having all the main controls on the driver's side is a bonus, though not neccessary since standard DIN units aren't very wide in relation to most people's reach.
Side note: I noticed that the Scion tC's MP3 deck is actually advertised as having no knobs or sliders of any sort, just buttons. I love how the tC comes with an MP3-playing deck, but I can't stand how they ****ed it up by specifically not giving it any knobs.
As mentioned above, I think Alpine controls are great. They just have one rotary knob, but that knob can be and is used to adjust almost anything, from the volume to MP3 files to directories to menus to the 512 colors for the main buttons to...etc. It also functions as a button. You can also scroll through tracks/MP3 files using the standard next/previous buttons (the button two big buttons), and through directories using the up/down buttons to the right of the knob. To use the knob to scroll through files, hit the middle button to the right of it once. To use the knob to scroll through directories, hit that button twice. While you scroll through files or directories the current track keeps playing, you pick the next track and tell it to play by pressing the knob - I love that! At first I was a little worried about not having a second knob for scrolling through files/directories, but I think Alpine's control setup is just as good. Oh, and all the main controls are by the driver
I only have two issues with the controls, and they're both pretty minor. The first is that I'd like the knob to stick out slightly more. It's fine how it is, it'd just be even better if it stuck out more. If they made it stuck out much more they'd have to redesign their fold-down mechanism though, because with the current one a deep knob would block the CD bay. My other complaint is that you can't "double-click" that search by file/directory button so to speak. If you press it twice very rapidly it just ignores the second press, you have to wait a second to hit it again when you want to search by directory.
Equalizer
I haven't played with its equalizer yet.
MP3 Playback
The CDA-9835 deals with MP3s well. I'm not audiophile, but I don't notice any particular sound quality problems with them. It fast forwards and rewinds them well, it switches MP3 tracks quickly, and scrolling through them is painless.
Overall
Overall this has been a long and windy review. Err, wait, I'm supposed to be reviewing the deck, not my review. Overall I think it's a great deck, worth the money I spent, and I'm very happy with it. The End
This is my first aftermarket head unit. I bought it for about $400 from an online vendor. I've used a bunch of others briefly in other people's cars, but I haven't used any of them extensively. It's also my first car modification of any sort, outside of swapping out my ugly stock louvers with a mesh grill
Thanks to these forums I didn't have any (unsolvable) problems installing it I have the "sun and sound" package in my Ralliart, which includes 6+ speakers and an 8" sub in the trunk. There's an amp under the drivers seat which powers all of it. The amp connects to the stock head unit using a special cable with many wires in it. I connected it to my new deck using SoundGate's adapter, which splits that cable into standard RCA-style front and rear pairs, and an amp turn-on lead. Note that it doesn't have a seperate sub preout.
The CDA-9835's manual states that its V-Drive internal amp must have a direct fused connection to the battery using 10 gauge wire, and from everything I've read that's correct, and that people who complain about problems with V-Drive head units never have them installed properly. In my case, because I'm not using the internal amp, I just connected it normally to the power wire from the wiring harness, and disabled the internal amp. I've had no problems with that setup.
Lancer Fitment
If you mount it exactly how the stock one comes mounted it doesn't fit quite properly. Like probably any ISO-DIN-sized unit, it's slightly to small for the opening, and leaves a little gap. It also doesn't quite stick out enough to use the trim ring. As suggested here on the board (I forgot who in particular to thank), I bought some washers and longer screws for it, and mounted it slightly further out so the trim ring snaps on. I don't like the look of head units the stick out out of the dash even just a little, but it's a hell of a lot better than having a gap, and easier than trying to come up with a custom professional-looking custom trim ring that'd be usable with the head unit mounted flush.
Sound Quality
I'm no expert here, so I'll just say it like, well, like I hear it
When I first installed the CDA-9835 it actually sounded worse than the stock head unit, because there was very little bass. The problem was the default subwoofer setting is all the way down, and turning that up did the trick.Even with the bass back, it still didn't sound any better than the stock deck. Even given that the same amp is being used, I thought I'd notice some sort of SQ increase. I had forgotten about Alpine's MX "Media Expander," though. It might just be a couple fancy preset EQ settings, but IMO it really does sound good. I think mode 3 sounds the best with the sun and sound system I have.
On the other hand, I do notice the "brightness" that people say Alpine's have. It's also a little more noticable with the MX on (but I still think the MX modes sound good).
Display
Some people may scoff at me for saying this, but I think the display is a really important part of an MP3-playing head unit (and the only reason I replaced the stock head unit was to play MP3 CDs). Displays are very much a matter of personal taste, though. Some people prefer really flashy ones with lots of that play little videos or the like, while others prefer ones with a bit less going on. Personally I wanted a display that's sharp, can display lots of info at once, and is easily readable during the day. I specifically did not want one that plays videos or is otherwise really flashy like that.
IMO the CDA-9835's "Biolite" display is almost perfect! It perfectly matches all of my requirements above, and then some. The only issue I have with it isn't really an issue with the display, but how the CDA-9835 uses the display. When you dim the display by turning on your lights around dusk or in the rain, it dims too much to be easily readable. It's fine when it's actually night (dark) out, but not if you need to turn your lights on while it's still somewhat light. In addition to that, while you can turn off the auto-dimming, turning it off just sets it to be dim all the time! For some stupid reason there's no "keep it bright" option. I don't mind it being a little bright at night, so I just unplugged the dimmer wire, and it's great now.
There's a couple display modes available, each with different title views. The different modes vary the size of the text, the number of lines of info, and what's shown.
Looks (other than the display)
Looks are also very much personal taste, but I'll review them for what it's worth. I think the CDA-9835 is a pretty good looking head unit. Of course if you don't like the general look of Alpines you probably won't like how the CDA-9835 looks. It has a few too many buttons when it comes to looks IMO, but that's a minor complaint, and the usefulness of the buttons is more important.
For starters, it's dark (black and dark gray). Most cars have dark dashes, and Lancers are no exceptions. Light-colored head units, especial silver ones, stick out like a sore thumb on dark dashes. I know there's a lot of fans of silver head units, but I think they look horrible in anything but a silver dash.
The dark silvery-looking thing surrounding the four big buttons and rotary knob actually looks like brushed aluminum up close, and looks really sharp. The rotary knob itself also has a nice silvery look to it. All of the small buttons (all except the big four) can be illuminated either green or amber. I use amber, and I think it looks pretty good in the Lancer and goes well with the red dash.
The four big buttons can be illuminated amber, red, blue, green, or any of 512 inbetween. At night it looks great, and I think the red that I use looks great with the above mentioned colors. You may have noticed I said "at night," which brings me to their only problem. The big buttons are tinted somewhat blue, and during the day that blue shows up and actually dominates the lights. At night the blue doesn't show up at all, but during the day the blue mixes with the red lights and it ends up looking a little pink. That might seem cute to a few of the ladies here, but I'm not a big fan of it. So far I've just been setting their illumination to blue during the day, and red at night. Maybe someday I'll see if I can get some red buttons for/from a red-illuminated Alpine and stick them on.
Controls
What constitues good controls is also somewhat personal taste, but not as much as looks/displays. The CDA-9835 has the same control layout as most other MP3-playing Alpines, and I think it's great. Along with the display the controls are a big reason I bought it. My thoughts on good head unit controls:
For starters, they absolutely need a rotary control for volume and other similar adjustments (or sliders, but I've yet to see those on any aftermarket head unit). That doesn't have to be a knob, in fact I really like the mostly flat ones you rotate with a finger, but it has to be rotary or otherwise quickly and easily adjustable without button mashing. MP3s need to be selectable using a rotary control of some sort too, because a CD holds enough of them that you'd often end up button mashing otherwise. Button controls for track/MP3 selection are a must too of course, because they're better for small adjustments. Lastly, having all the main controls on the driver's side is a bonus, though not neccessary since standard DIN units aren't very wide in relation to most people's reach.
Side note: I noticed that the Scion tC's MP3 deck is actually advertised as having no knobs or sliders of any sort, just buttons. I love how the tC comes with an MP3-playing deck, but I can't stand how they ****ed it up by specifically not giving it any knobs.
As mentioned above, I think Alpine controls are great. They just have one rotary knob, but that knob can be and is used to adjust almost anything, from the volume to MP3 files to directories to menus to the 512 colors for the main buttons to...etc. It also functions as a button. You can also scroll through tracks/MP3 files using the standard next/previous buttons (the button two big buttons), and through directories using the up/down buttons to the right of the knob. To use the knob to scroll through files, hit the middle button to the right of it once. To use the knob to scroll through directories, hit that button twice. While you scroll through files or directories the current track keeps playing, you pick the next track and tell it to play by pressing the knob - I love that! At first I was a little worried about not having a second knob for scrolling through files/directories, but I think Alpine's control setup is just as good. Oh, and all the main controls are by the driver
I only have two issues with the controls, and they're both pretty minor. The first is that I'd like the knob to stick out slightly more. It's fine how it is, it'd just be even better if it stuck out more. If they made it stuck out much more they'd have to redesign their fold-down mechanism though, because with the current one a deep knob would block the CD bay. My other complaint is that you can't "double-click" that search by file/directory button so to speak. If you press it twice very rapidly it just ignores the second press, you have to wait a second to hit it again when you want to search by directory.
Equalizer
I haven't played with its equalizer yet.
MP3 Playback
The CDA-9835 deals with MP3s well. I'm not audiophile, but I don't notice any particular sound quality problems with them. It fast forwards and rewinds them well, it switches MP3 tracks quickly, and scrolling through them is painless.
Overall
Overall this has been a long and windy review. Err, wait, I'm supposed to be reviewing the deck, not my review. Overall I think it's a great deck, worth the money I spent, and I'm very happy with it. The End
Last edited by no1v2; Sep 29, 2004 at 10:20 PM.
Evolving Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 342
Likes: 0
From: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Great review - I've got a few notes, though:
-Alpine's Media eXpander is simply a further processed "loud" or "bass boost" feature and you must be careful with it or you can start distorting stuff very quickly.
-I think you would greatly benefit from bypassing the S&S amplifier for the speakers - you would have to run new wires, but the Alpine's amplifier would be a hell of a lot better than the stock one. Keep the stock one there for your sub.
-As far as MP3 controls so, I havent found a better set up deck for it than my Pioneer DEH-P8600MP - it's got a big display (which is more than just good looks) and 2 rotary controls - one on each side. The left one is volume, the other sorts through directory listings on your deck - it's AMAZINGly simple to navigate all the folders/files on the deck. Note - This deck retails for a hell of a lot more than the CDA-9835.
Anyways...again, great review..I should do a few of those soon.... but, time has it's odd interventions ...
-Alpine's Media eXpander is simply a further processed "loud" or "bass boost" feature and you must be careful with it or you can start distorting stuff very quickly.
-I think you would greatly benefit from bypassing the S&S amplifier for the speakers - you would have to run new wires, but the Alpine's amplifier would be a hell of a lot better than the stock one. Keep the stock one there for your sub.
-As far as MP3 controls so, I havent found a better set up deck for it than my Pioneer DEH-P8600MP - it's got a big display (which is more than just good looks) and 2 rotary controls - one on each side. The left one is volume, the other sorts through directory listings on your deck - it's AMAZINGly simple to navigate all the folders/files on the deck. Note - This deck retails for a hell of a lot more than the CDA-9835.
Anyways...again, great review..I should do a few of those soon.... but, time has it's odd interventions ...
Thread Starter
Evolving Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 211
Likes: 0
From: Bay Area, CA
I like Pioneer's decks too. The DEH-P8600MP was one of my top picks too, along with one of the new higher-end Panasonics (don't laugh just because of the name, they look really sharp, and the few things I've read about them have all been positive).
I actually didn't realize there's a dark version of the DEH-P8600MP until after buying my Alpine! The one I used in person was light silver and all the pictures I'd seen were too, which really put me off. My only other issue with it is AFAICT there's no way to disable the animations/videos on it, and even the text font looks a little flashy/cheesy. On the other hand, I like pretty much everything else about the deck. Two knobs, the quick MP3 navigation, the display is great, the deck has a nice clean and symmetrical look to it, etc. If I'd gotten one, especially a dark one, I probably would've been just as happy with it as I am with my Alpine. No regrets either way
I haven't actually used one of the Panasonics or seen one in person, so I can't comment on them as much.
SK Lancer, I'll keep in mind what you said about running the speakers off of the deck. I'm not sure that I'm up for the rewiring yet, nor for hooking up the Alpine directly to the battery like I'd need to to use its amp properly. Someday I might brave it though
I actually didn't realize there's a dark version of the DEH-P8600MP until after buying my Alpine! The one I used in person was light silver and all the pictures I'd seen were too, which really put me off. My only other issue with it is AFAICT there's no way to disable the animations/videos on it, and even the text font looks a little flashy/cheesy. On the other hand, I like pretty much everything else about the deck. Two knobs, the quick MP3 navigation, the display is great, the deck has a nice clean and symmetrical look to it, etc. If I'd gotten one, especially a dark one, I probably would've been just as happy with it as I am with my Alpine. No regrets either way
I haven't actually used one of the Panasonics or seen one in person, so I can't comment on them as much.
SK Lancer, I'll keep in mind what you said about running the speakers off of the deck. I'm not sure that I'm up for the rewiring yet, nor for hooking up the Alpine directly to the battery like I'd need to to use its amp properly. Someday I might brave it though
Thread Starter
Evolving Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 211
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From: Bay Area, CA
Odd, mine doesn't stick out that far even with the washers pushing it out (it didn't stick out at all w/o the washers). I'll take some pics today (sorry for slacking on that folks!). You should try adding the trim ring on to get rid of the gap, it'll work wonders
I actually ordered a CDA-9815 right after I bought my car, and then canceled the order when I saw the CDA-9835 was coming. I'm often a sucker for the "latest and greatest."
<OT>Btw, definately get the mesh grill or DIY! It does wonders for the front of the car. I'll take a pic or two mine while I'm at it. You'll even get to see the wonders a little bird **** does to the front of the car too I washed my car for the second time two weeks ago cause of some purple bird ****, but the damn birds here never relent. Maybe I'll hose this **** off today...</OT>
Edit: Damn cursing filter!
Edit #2: Odd, it doesn't filter damn...
I actually ordered a CDA-9815 right after I bought my car, and then canceled the order when I saw the CDA-9835 was coming. I'm often a sucker for the "latest and greatest."
<OT>Btw, definately get the mesh grill or DIY! It does wonders for the front of the car. I'll take a pic or two mine while I'm at it. You'll even get to see the wonders a little bird **** does to the front of the car too
I washed my car for the second time two weeks ago cause of some purple bird ****, but the damn birds here never relent. Maybe I'll hose this **** off today...</OT>Edit: Damn cursing filter!
Edit #2: Odd, it doesn't filter damn...
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Thread Starter
Evolving Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 211
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From: Bay Area, CA
I took some pics but they came out terrible. I think the mix of shade and sunlight may have confused the new-fangled digital camera and all its automatic adjustments. Not to mention I'm not exactly much of a photographer...maybe someday I'll get my own camera and really try to get the hang of them.
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Joined: Mar 2004
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From: inna deh shadows
Originally Posted by no1v2
Odd, mine doesn't stick out that far even with the washers pushing it out (it didn't stick out at all w/o the washers). I'll take some pics today (sorry for slacking on that folks!). You should try adding the trim ring on to get rid of the gap, it'll work wonders
I actually ordered a CDA-9815 right after I bought my car, and then canceled the order when I saw the CDA-9835 was coming. I'm often a sucker for the "latest and greatest."
<OT>Btw, definately get the mesh grill or DIY! It does wonders for the front of the car. I'll take a pic or two mine while I'm at it. You'll even get to see the wonders a little bird **** does to the front of the car too I washed my car for the second time two weeks ago cause of some purple bird ****, but the damn birds here never relent. Maybe I'll hose this **** off today...</OT>
Edit: Damn cursing filter!
Edit #2: Odd, it doesn't filter damn...
I actually ordered a CDA-9815 right after I bought my car, and then canceled the order when I saw the CDA-9835 was coming. I'm often a sucker for the "latest and greatest."
<OT>Btw, definately get the mesh grill or DIY! It does wonders for the front of the car. I'll take a pic or two mine while I'm at it. You'll even get to see the wonders a little bird **** does to the front of the car too
I washed my car for the second time two weeks ago cause of some purple bird ****, but the damn birds here never relent. Maybe I'll hose this **** off today...</OT>Edit: Damn cursing filter!
Edit #2: Odd, it doesn't filter damn...
Evolved Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,498
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From: OR, USA
very in depth review. I'm glad you like the deck. I agree with SK deffinately should get an aftermarket amp to run the speakers it will run a lot cleaner than the stock deck. I am curious which other decks did you compare this one with before you bought it? This was one of the ones I was looking at a few weeks ago when I got mine.
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