Car Stereo Review - Alpine iDA-X305

Hey everyone, I've decided to start reviewing car audio equipment and today's product is a well known head unit - the Alpine iDA-X305.  There's a couple things you'll notice about this unit, the most apparent of which is that it has no CD player. Secondly, it's based off a successful previous model, the iDA-X100 receiver, with added iPhone support and a few extra watts.

The good: The Alpine iDA-X305's two-way encoder wheel control scheme makes it really easy to go through all your music quickly. You can also program the search feature to make it more efficient for you.


The bad: The lack of a CD player may be tough for some people

My conclusion: You can't go wrong with Alpine. They make quality products, many of which I've owned. If you don't listen to CD's anymore, you might actually find it refreshing that it's a USB-input only piece of equipment. The design meshes really well with most vehicle's dashes so the unit doesn't look too out of place (like many head units do). In addition, there are no moving parts so there's less that can break.

Expect to see this in stores for around $300. Anyone who knows car audio equipment knows that Alpine is definitely worth the money, and this is a great mid-range unit.