FINALLY

Post by **bdubs767** » Tue May 04, 2010 7:23 pm

FINALLY its alive
http://signature.crutchfield.com/s_109M ... html?tp=84

hands down if it can do what ti says it can, and all that it has been talked up about it will change the face of car audio and be the single most important thing you can buy to make your car sound good.

Post by **Eric D** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:35 pm

That looks cool, but I have never "believed" in products like that. Do they really work?

How can you un-distort distorted output from a factory unit? Or do you just never run the volume past half for example?

Post by **ttocs** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:54 pm

I suppose it will work as well as the bit one?

oldskoolmseriesfan · Post by **oldskoolmseriesfan** » Wed May 05, 2010 7:55 am

can it be used with an aftermarket deck?

Post by **smgreen20** » Wed May 05, 2010 8:42 am

oldskoolmseriesfan wrote:can it be used with an aftermarket deck?

That's one of the first things it states. "Keep your factory stereo and transform your sound" So..Yes. It has hi-level inputs for that reason.

It doesn't flatter me. I'm happy w/the HU I have that can do most of that and more.

Post by **Bfowler** » Wed May 05, 2010 9:40 am

im either a purist (or one of those dudes stuck in the past) but those just dont do anything for me. i would rather find a way around the head unit then an adapter for it

KUB3 · Post by **KUB3** » Wed May 05, 2010 9:53 am

It's a compromised half way point between rubbish OEM audio and real hifi. Nothing to get excited about.

Post by **ttocs** » Wed May 05, 2010 9:56 am

I didn't imagine anyone on here getting too excited for it. Maybe if I had a new car where the deck and climate controls are tied in together but...

Post by **Bfowler** » Wed May 05, 2010 11:05 am

i do have a newer car with the deck and climate control (and hazard lights) tied together on the same circuit board...

i still dont get the this oem integration hocus pokus

Post by **ttocs** » Wed May 05, 2010 12:05 pm

GOOD! I am not the only one. I can kinda understand with the way they are making them now but it always seems there is a way around it other then this.

oldskoolmseriesfan · Post by **oldskoolmseriesfan** » Wed May 05, 2010 12:42 pm

Im not one for keeping factory components. I would much rather replace everything with new gear

I just cant see why people would want to keep an inferior stock deck and such and integrate from there. It seems kind of ass backwards to me!

Post by **stipud** » Wed May 05, 2010 1:01 pm

I can't see why people would want to ruin the clean design, usability and flow of their stock dash, in order to install an inferior, ugly, mismatched aftermarket headunit with a tacky blind-you-at-night screen and horrible menu navigation that makes you take your eyes off the road.

If your OEM deck puts out anything at pre-amp level, and doesn't require you to use a high level converter, it will sound as good as 95% of the aftermarket stuff out there. Unless you're installing a deck with a copper chassis, 32 band eq and quad 24-bit burr-browns, it's probably not worth the difference.

My stock headunit was made by Pioneer. It has balanced pre-amp outputs. How many of your aftermarket headunits do that?

shawn k · Post by **shawn k** » Wed May 05, 2010 2:17 pm

Great points Stipud! You beat me to it! This is a cool piece, but it's first and formost designed for OEM integration, which is why most people here may not be so into it. Unless you are a full time installer, you may not know how very real and trying integration can be. Quite frankly there are a lot of consumers out there with new vehicles that want better sound from there system, but may not be hard core audio nuts like us

, and are not willing to lose their asthetically pleasing OEM radio in favor of the aforementioned bling bling aftermarket deck. I've done my fair share of these integrations, and I can honestly say that these systems can sound amazingly good. Better than a lot of so called "audiophile" systems I've heard over the years. Of coarse there's also a lot of high-end systems that will certainly trump the integrated ones, but my point is that if they are done correctly, they are far from garbage.
Lest's consider you have a new vehicle with a "funky" dash. Take a look at the pic below (this is just ONE example)... Now.. one could potentially remove the radio control piece and mold in a new head unit, but is it really logical??? For starters, it would cost a pretty penny in labor to pay a competent installer to mold in the new radio. Now, you have lost the factory Sat radio, Navigation, HD radio, and ipod integration, possibly even rear seat entertainment! DAMN!! In order to get these all back and pay for the new radio, and all of the labor, your looking at some serious loot!! The simplicity of integration pieces like this MS-8 makes life a whole lot easier for so many consumers

NewOldStock · Post by **NewOldStock** » Wed May 05, 2010 3:31 pm

OEM integration is something I have been struggling with for a while... being that I am going to install a system in a 2010 Camaro that has everything from climate controls and heated seats to engine management software all running through the stock head unit.

So, I can either spend 800.00 on this unit or I can spend 200.00 on a metra kit and 400 on a decent double-din head unit and spend the remaining 200.00 on a crazy nice dinner for my wife for letting me buy the metra/head unit combo.

I am sure (as the picture demonstrates) that there are times that aftermarket heads are just not practical... but for most OEM integration, I would rather use something like the ARC Audio SRI which is only 260.00 from ARC directly or the Alpine PXE H660 for 550.00 (my two personal choices if I were going to OEM integrate)

I guess I am a "believe it when I see it and hear it" kind of guy.

shawn k · Post by **shawn k** » Wed May 05, 2010 4:41 pm

I agree that the MS-8 is a little on the high side for oem integration, but then again.. that's just my opinion. It has created quite a hype, and I'm sure there will be a ton of these installed. There are a lot of nice integration pieces out there that will do the job. The Alpine piece is very nice, and I would probably choose that over the MS-8 as well. The RF three sixty is a nice piece as well for a little less, and the JL Clean sweep has a good price point.

I too am the type of guy who would do whatever it takes to get all of the best aftermarket gear in that I can afford, but I'm a nut, and for a lot of enthusiasts it's just not feasible. At the same time, it's very unlikely for me to purchase a vehicle like the Tribeca in the picture or something similar, so I guess I'm kinda lucky there

Post by **bdubs767** » Thu May 06, 2010 4:43 pm

No No

You guys are missing the point I could care less about the factory integration it is it's tuning options and self-calibration which make it amazing. Leaps and bounds beyond alpine imprint stuff or anything else on the market.

if you have the time it's all explained in here
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... essor.html

Post by **Bfowler** » Thu May 06, 2010 5:21 pm

i just read that...um...i still dont get it

dontlookatme · Post by **dontlookatme** » Fri May 07, 2010 12:08 am

Bfowler wrote:i just read that...um...i still dont get it

now that was epic

eulogious · Post by **eulogious** » Fri May 07, 2010 3:57 am

I have a buddy how is actually writing some of the code for the new 2011 Ford Sync stuff, and he has explained how EVERYTHING is integrated in that car. Every button you push is networked into the car. Turn signals, heated seats, windshield wipers, it knows when you sit down, hell it even knows when the interior maps lights are on. It will even e-mail you vital weekly statics reports, it will email you if something fails in the car, it will email you to remind you to change you oil, basically anything you want to konw about the car, it will email to you. You can connect your phone up to the cars network and use your phone as a modem and give internet access to your car, and every guest in your car as well that has wifi access. It will read your new texts to you, and also display them for you as well. If you get into an accident, it will call 911 and send your GPS stats to them and they will route you help, you don't even have to call.

Man, I can go on and on. I talked with him for over an hour on all the new stuff they put into it. It's incredible, and incredible more complex. Theres like 5 network access points in the car, several mics, and other crazy stuff that you wouldn't even think of it in. There is NO way I would mess with an after market unit in that car! It's completely controlled through the HU. You remove the HU, you lose almost every feature that the car has, including it's ability to start and actually function as a car. The network in these cars is called the "CAN" buss I believe, and it's part of the ODBII standard, and it intergrates EVERYTHING in the car. The manufactures seriously started exploiting the bus, and it's WAY more complex than it was even a few years ago. It's designed modularly so if one module is messing/bad, things won't work. So you would have to go one by one and fool all the different modules into thinking that they are connected to the CAN buss, and then hope that the car will still work right. PITA.

The security stuff is also intense on it, so I really don't know how you would fool all the sensors you would need to as well to just get the car to run, instead of thinking that it's stolen. I really don't know how you would even begin to replace it with aftermarket stuff with a car that has Ford's Sync in it.

But where there is a will there is a way, so I am sure that there is some sort of solution, but I really don't know if it would be worth it to completely rip the deck out for an after market one.

If this thing actually works, then I could see using it in a brand new car that has newer electronics in it, but for an older car, not so much.

NewOldStock · Post by **NewOldStock** » Fri May 07, 2010 12:00 pm

if someone wants to buy it, we can use my 2010 Camaro as the test bed until I get a new head unit and the metra kit... maybe hearing one in person would/could change opinions

Ahsmo · Post by **Ahsmo** » Fri May 07, 2010 3:26 pm

I like it. I think it looks like a great alternative to tearing out my dash.

My bose system sounds pretty good but the bass is weak and installing a big system is not something I want to experience in my daily driver again.

Post by **Bfowler** » Fri May 07, 2010 4:50 pm

you dropped the 350z? sad day. are you done a mma?

Ahsmo · Post by **Ahsmo** » Fri May 07, 2010 4:59 pm

Bfowler wrote:you dropped the 350z? sad day. are you done a mma?

yeah it wasn't fun to work on anymore so I parted it out and sold it.

ya I finished up last June.

Grim0013 · Post by **Grim0013** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:38 pm

Early word is that it does, if fact, do what it claims to do.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/mem ... s-8-a.html

Integration be damned, if it can do what it takes an experienced tuner 2 months to do in five minutes, I will be well pleased.