Pioneer Build Off Headunit Defined – DEH-P710BT
The premier 710 is a masterpiece - combining outstanding cosmetics along with funtionality.
Pioneer chose the DEH-P710BT as the centerpiece of the 2009 Build-off system as it incorporates three of the features most commonly asked for by consumers shopping for a new car stereo today:
* Control, charging, and music playback from iPod via USB
* Built-in Bluetooth for hands-free communication and wireless audio streaming
* HD Radio compatibility, with iTunes tagging and Multicast capability when used with the optional Pioneer GEX-P20HD tuner
Although this headunit features the latest mainstream consumer features, it’s also packed with performance car audio goodies:
* 3 Hi-Volt preouts capable of 4 volts of signal output at 100 ohms amplifier input impedance
* Adjustable/defeatable High-Pass Filter (Crossover) for front / rear preouts and speaker outputs
* Adjustable/defeatable Low-Pass Filter (Crossover) and independent level control for the subwoofer preout
* 7 band graphic equalizer (GEQ)
Ted Cardenas, Director of Marketing – Pioneer Mobile Business Group, told 12VoltNews.com “The feature I’m personally most excited about is how the DEH-P710BT interprets music stored on an Apple iPod and what it does with it once it’s got it.”
Cardenas continues “For years, the iPod has been a challenging device for many of us in the car stereo industry. While we loved the convenience and freedom that the iPod provided (no more CDs scattered on the passenger seats of cars!), the sound of compressed music limited how much we enjoyed our music and our hobby. Although the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and pre-amp sections built into the iPod were not audiophile quality, that wasn’t the biggest problem, it was how we were choosing to compress the 16-bit / 44.1 kHz music from our CDs onto our iPods. MP3, WMA, AAC… regardless of bit-rate or codec, any lossy compression is a loss of data that results in a loss of our MUSIC.”
This image of the 710 rear panel highlights the units flexibility as the heart of the build off system.
In 2009 however, things have changed. First, media storage continues to grow in capacity while shrinking in physical size. Second, because high capacity storage is so accessible, it’s no longer necessary for most consumers to use lossy compression to store and transport their music – even on an iPod. The Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) for example reduces the size of CD audio approximately 50%, but results in no loss of data which means we get the full musical experience again! “I personally have over 300 CDs ripped in ALAC that I easily carry around on a 120GB iPod Classic” Cardenas continued.
“So here’s the really cool part. When plugged into the DEH-P710BT via USB, the iPod Classic first decodes the ALAC file and then transfers my music to the headunit as a 16-bit / 44.1 kHz digital bitstream, the same as CD audio. This has two HUGE benefits: One – it bypasses the iPod DAC, preamp, EQ, etc. ENTIRELY and ; Two – the DEH-P710BT treats the incoming digital data exactly as it would CD audio, meaning it uses our high quality, 8fs 1-bit DAC to turn the digital data back into my music! Because of the combination of my music encoded using ALAC, the high capacity of today’s iPods, and the Pioneer USB control of iPod I no longer have to sacrifice sound quality for convenience. It’s really like having my cake and eating it too!” Cardenas concluded.
More good news, this particular iPod functionality is the same for ALL 2009 USB equipped Pioneer CD receivers, DVD receivers, and soon to be introduced GPS navigation units – from $150 up!
This graph showing frequency response measurements taken at the preout of the DEH-P710BT.
Check out the graph to the right showing frequency response measurements taken at the preout of the DEH-P710BT. Techs took Identical test signals (a Linear 20Hz-20kHz sweep) and encoded it in the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) and MP3 96 VBR using an Apple iMac. The green line is the original CD. The red line is the ALAC version and the blue line is the MP3 file. Both the ALAC and MP3 files were stored on an iPod Nano 8GB and connected to the DEH-P710BT via USB. The results are pretty dramatic, showing nearly identical frequency response for CD Audio and ALAC. The MP3 file on the other hand begins a gradual drop around 5kHz and by 10kHz has begun to roll of at approximately 10-15 dB per octave.
More about the DEH-P710BT as the 3rd Annual Build Off build up continues.
