nramsey
05-01-2010, 10:14 AM
Hi all,
Many of you probably know of this product already, but it was relatively new news to me when I was recently searching for a new iPod adapter to replace the terrible OEM iPod glovebox dock that came in my car. I was drawn to it's ability to display text in the DIS dash display, which none of the other iPod adapters I'm aware of do. I'm not affiliated with Enfig or Dension, just wanted to report on this great product.
Rundown on the OEM iPod adapter, and why I hated it:
First, the thing doesn't sound very good. I got a background "hiss" that was apparent between tracks and at quiet parts of tracks. Second, the control was terrible. You basically have spots for 5 playlists, which are controlled by the CD7-CD11 buttons on the HU, and all you can do then is go up and down tracks. Finding a specific artist or album is pretty much impossible. Third, since it's a dock, there is no way to control the iPod from the iPod itself.
Rundown on the Dension iPod adapter, and why it kicks ass:
First, it displays text in the DIS, which is awesome. Second, the sound quality is also way better, and sounds as good as CDs to my ears. Third, you're also able to choose different browsing modes, from album, artist, playlist, or individual tracks. So you can scroll through all your artists, and it displays their name on the DIS while you're doing so. Fourth, it has a mode which allows you to control the iPod from the iPod itself, which could be great if your library is super huge or you have lots of albums for the same artist and want to just play one. Fifth, install was a breeze, probably less than 20 minutes including removing the OEM iPod adapter.
Things I still wish would be better with the Dension:
First, I can't find a way to select albums from within the artist browse mode, so if I've got an artist with 4 albums, it basically lists all the tracks in order. This isn't usually an issue, but sometimes I want to just listen to a specific album, so I'd need to switch to album mode and scroll through all the albums. Having the mode switch to album mode once you select an artist would be really handy. [UPDATE: Thanks to Mike from Enfig for letting me know that CD6 is able to let you drill into artist, album, track etc. Great!!!] Second, I wish it also displayed text on the HU, which it doesn't, it just says something like "TRACK32" or something.
Overall, this thing is awesome and has greatly increased the functionality of my stock Symphony II+ in my '08 Avant. I didn't have Sat radio, but I think Enfig sells an adapter that lets you keep it if you want.
Check out http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/DENSION_GW16AC1.html for full details and some great info videos.
Many of you probably know of this product already, but it was relatively new news to me when I was recently searching for a new iPod adapter to replace the terrible OEM iPod glovebox dock that came in my car. I was drawn to it's ability to display text in the DIS dash display, which none of the other iPod adapters I'm aware of do. I'm not affiliated with Enfig or Dension, just wanted to report on this great product.
Rundown on the OEM iPod adapter, and why I hated it:
First, the thing doesn't sound very good. I got a background "hiss" that was apparent between tracks and at quiet parts of tracks. Second, the control was terrible. You basically have spots for 5 playlists, which are controlled by the CD7-CD11 buttons on the HU, and all you can do then is go up and down tracks. Finding a specific artist or album is pretty much impossible. Third, since it's a dock, there is no way to control the iPod from the iPod itself.
Rundown on the Dension iPod adapter, and why it kicks ass:
First, it displays text in the DIS, which is awesome. Second, the sound quality is also way better, and sounds as good as CDs to my ears. Third, you're also able to choose different browsing modes, from album, artist, playlist, or individual tracks. So you can scroll through all your artists, and it displays their name on the DIS while you're doing so. Fourth, it has a mode which allows you to control the iPod from the iPod itself, which could be great if your library is super huge or you have lots of albums for the same artist and want to just play one. Fifth, install was a breeze, probably less than 20 minutes including removing the OEM iPod adapter.
Things I still wish would be better with the Dension:
First, I can't find a way to select albums from within the artist browse mode, so if I've got an artist with 4 albums, it basically lists all the tracks in order. This isn't usually an issue, but sometimes I want to just listen to a specific album, so I'd need to switch to album mode and scroll through all the albums. Having the mode switch to album mode once you select an artist would be really handy. [UPDATE: Thanks to Mike from Enfig for letting me know that CD6 is able to let you drill into artist, album, track etc. Great!!!] Second, I wish it also displayed text on the HU, which it doesn't, it just says something like "TRACK32" or something.
Overall, this thing is awesome and has greatly increased the functionality of my stock Symphony II+ in my '08 Avant. I didn't have Sat radio, but I think Enfig sells an adapter that lets you keep it if you want.
Check out http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/DENSION_GW16AC1.html for full details and some great info videos.