I've been looking for a way to expand the capabilities of my opel CD 70navi with an iPod connection for a long time, and when I heard about the Parrot from a friend, I bought it blindly. Was surprised that it had been on the market for >2 years!
While waiting for the installation, I just started reading some reviews on the internet, some of which are worrying: Criticism of poor sound quality, unstable system that crashes often or just never works.
However, the man who came to install it assured me that these were teething problems that have largely been resolved in the current (software) versions.
Sound quality:
Bought it primarily for the audio capabilities: this unit adds full iPod connectivity and remote control, as well as line-in, USB connection and SD card reader (the latter two can only read mp3 and wma unfortunately). , no AAC and no lossless formats: missed opportunity!!!) .
You should be aware that with this system the amplifier of your built-in car radio is bypassed and the sound is amplified by the digital amplifier of the Parrot itself. When no music is playing on the Parrot, however, you can still use your car radio amplifier. When playing from your iPod or others, you will hear the sound amplified by the Parrot amplifier.
I would call the sound quality of this amplifier reasonable: it is digital, so low-noise. That is good. Provided the correct settings (with the DSP) there is also quite a bit of bass. But it remains an amplifier with relatively little head room (20 watts). The sound quality is less than the built-in radio of my Opel (CD 70 navi). Admittedly, the CD70 is definitely above average in terms of sound quality, so I was a bit spoiled in that regard. I can imagine that when you buy the Parrot to replace a cheap standard car radio, you will experience a significant improvement. In my case it was also the case that I have an extra center speaker on the dashboard, which cannot be connected to the Parrot, which also detracts somewhat from the fullness of the sound when you compare the Parrot with the CD70.
Only tested it with my iPod touch, not yet via USB or SD card:
Classical music such as Beethoven's piano sonatas or even more acoustically challenging things like his symphonies or the piano concertos by Rachmaninov and Prokofiev are reproduced very correctly and pleasantly. Much better than, for example, with an FM transmitter, if you had any doubts about that! There is more than enough bass and the highs continue to sparkle.
Pop music and jazz also sound good to very good. However, if you like the harder stuff (hard rock and metal), and preferably at high volume, like me, the weak amp starts to reach its limits. The sound has a lot of compression and therefore little dynamics, and not only at high volume do the highs start to drown in the bass. That's why I still left a few MP3 CDs in my car with the most important metal and audiophile albums in order to be able to play at full volume on the CD70. Good compromise, right?
So if you have an Audi with Bose installation, stay away from this thing. If you have a Fiesta with Ford's stock radio, this is a huge improvement.
I'm happy with the whole thing, and the connectivity definitely outweighs the slightly lesser sound quality for me.
Reliability:
A few minuses here too: I sometimes have to plug in and out of my iPod a few times before sound can be heard from the speakers (it does play, but you hear nothing?).
Also, the device has already crashed 1-2 times (have it +/- 1 week now): without much problem, because it just restarts by itself and then works again.
With the connection with my phone (cheap Nokia thing) I have no problems: it goes smoothly, and I am very intelligible to the person on the other end of the line (but according to those people not more intelligible than with my Parrot CK3100 that was in it first).
Overall a good score: taking into account the modest price and the design of the device, you should have realistic expectations.
The installation by "de bouwspecialist.nl" was top notch: within a week after contact it was installed on the day I requested. Also nicely finished, no cables visible etcetera: 10/10!
