To anyone who has had any aftermarket kit fitted - how do you find the Alpine wireless headphones?

Prestige finally got around to fitting my DVD player and screens last week, and right now I cannot recommend either Prestige OR their recommended product.

Screen quality itself is absolutely superb - pictures look really good - but the wireless headphones utterly ruin the experience. They hiss and crackle so badly, the whole system becomes virtually unusable. I've tried sitting behind both driver and passenger seats, with both sets of headphones, tried messing with volume controls, changing position, but nothing works.

In an ideal world, I'd be able to use wired headphones anyway, as I have a couple of pairs of REALLY good quality noise-cancelling headphones, which are great on a plane, as they reduce ambient noise, meaning the driver and passenger can still play music in the background - but with the wireless headphones being an integral part of the kit, there isn't anywhere to plug in other headphones, so I'm stuck.

On top of this, Prestige 'forgot' to install some rear Aux sockets, so I can't plug an iPod video in, made a mess of pulling through a hard wired phone charger, managed to lose the screw cover from the LR iPod cradle (its pushed into the cradle and rattles around) and gave me back a car full of conifer clippings in the driver's footwell.

For a forum sponsor, I'm really unimpressed. They haven't even bothered to contact me since Wednesday.

Any experiences with the Alpine aftermarket stuff - I'd be very interested to hear.

Cheers!

jampo - I don't have the system installed but nothing less than perfect sound should be acceptable.

Do let us know how you get on. How much was the system? 2022 P440e AB

PauloAmore wrote:

jampo - I don't have the system installed but nothing less than perfect sound should be acceptable.

Do let us know how you get on. How much was the system?

jampoTT wrote:

PauloAmore wrote:

jampo - I don't have the system installed but nothing less than perfect sound should be acceptable.

Do let us know how you get on. How much was the system?

Agree - I shouldn't be settling for 2nd best.

The system is cheaper than the factory fit option, but on reading a couple of threads on here, is generally considered to be 'superior'. £1600 should have got me a DVD player mounted in the front glovebox, twin 7" headrest screens, 2 pairs of wireless dual-source headphones, and installation of everything.

Checking the wiring for the black box that powers the screens on Alpine's site, it has 2 headphone sockets built in, so it should be an easy job to wire these up to a more accessible 3.5mm plug located perhaps in the plastic trim which sits between the door-side edge of the rear seat and the door itself, which would be the perfect place for cables. Or the headrest (bit messier for trailing headphone cables) or the rear of the front fridge/armrest (again, but messier for trailing cables).

Additional Aux sockets for the connection of an iPod video to act as a seperate source (so 1 person can watch iPod, the other DVD, or both watch either) was going to be an extra hour or 2's labour on top, and would have been fitted to the rear of the front fridge/armrest. Wasn't done, but it WILL be...

I've asked Prestige to quote me for wiring in 2 headphone sockets anyway... as its something I'd like doing, and they'll need the car back to do the Aux sockets and fix my phone cable. If they can get the wireless headphones working properly, I'll happily pay for the wired sockets. If they can't, I'll want them done for free, and a rebate of the cost of 2 sets of wireless headphones. That sounds fair enough to me... puts the onus on them to get it all to work.

Presumably good quality, well fitted wireless headphones are 'better' than wired, inasmuch as there are no wires to trail around.

However, wireless headphones are bulky and not as comfortable - I'd rather use a pair of £70 Sennheisers with a powered noise cancelling filter, or even my Shure E4Cs (which are passive noise cancelling) as they are far better headphones. Siting the socket to get around the issue of trailing cables is they key thing, I think.

I'd settle for working sound right now - wired or wireless!

I have an Alpine Roof monitor and wireless headphones in my D2, no problems at all that can't be traced to temp blocking of the IR receiver ports in the headphones (make sure the kids put them on the right way around!), but anything obscuring the IR transmitters would have the same effect - what model screens are they? is the IR xmitter integral or a seperate xmitter head and if seperate does it have good line of sight to the rear headrests?? Cheers

Simon

2007 2.7HSE 20" Wheels
2005 TDV6 D3 S Auto - Zambezi Silver - JE Tune - RRS 19" - Sidesteps - Roof Rails
Body Side Strips - Xenons - Bright Pack - Cold Pack - Premium Stereo
Alpine Roof - Towpack - Alpine Touchscreen Satnav - Veba Rear DVD changer
Alpine Roof Monitor - Webasto FBH Timer - Brembo Frt & S/C Rr Brakes

The screens are the compatible M780 and M780EM - each of which has an integral IR sender.

Do your headphones sound bright and clear, with no noise at all?

Yes they sound fine - one thing that occurs is that I only have a single IR source and single source headphones, you should have each headphone switchable between the monitors, each monitor should be set to its own IR set - I don't know whether its configurable but worth checking that both monitors aren't outputting on the same IR channel and inteferring with each other. Other than that make sure no trim is obscuring the monitor front where the IR xmitter is. Final advice would be to see if it is confined to one or both monitors, one or both aux inputs to the black box etc, does it occur all the time or only when the engine and/or something else is powered up???? Cheers

Simon

2007 2.7HSE 20" Wheels
2005 TDV6 D3 S Auto - Zambezi Silver - JE Tune - RRS 19" - Sidesteps - Roof Rails
Body Side Strips - Xenons - Bright Pack - Cold Pack - Premium Stereo
Alpine Roof - Towpack - Alpine Touchscreen Satnav - Veba Rear DVD changer
Alpine Roof Monitor - Webasto FBH Timer - Brembo Frt & S/C Rr Brakes

simonsi wrote:

Yes they sound fine - one thing that occurs is that I only have a single IR source and single source headphones, you should have each headphone switchable between the monitors, each monitor should be set to its own IR set - I don't know whether its configurable but worth checking that both monitors aren't outputting on the same IR channel and inteferring with each other. Other than that make sure no trim is obscuring the monitor front where the IR xmitter is. Final advice would be to see if it is confined to one or both monitors, one or both aux inputs to the black box etc, does it occur all the time or only when the engine and/or something else is powered up????

Mine is the PKG-1000P, it has a built-in IR xmitter but volume is only controlled by the wheels on the headphones and no they don't need turning fully up by any means - I think your assessment is correct in that the headphones are needing to over amplify a signal that is too weak. What is the source and does the source have any setting affecting the sound output volume into the monitor black box? One option would be to take your single source's output and put that into the other aux-in on the monitor box to see if it is at all related to that aux input only. The other possibility is that the source has different outputs depending on what is is plugged into and you may be running off a pre-amp output that would then be too low.

I would assume the volume controls on the monitors would only affect the wired headphone output to enable volume control where there are none on the headphones. Cheers

Simon

2007 2.7HSE 20" Wheels
2005 TDV6 D3 S Auto - Zambezi Silver - JE Tune - RRS 19" - Sidesteps - Roof Rails
Body Side Strips - Xenons - Bright Pack - Cold Pack - Premium Stereo
Alpine Roof - Towpack - Alpine Touchscreen Satnav - Veba Rear DVD changer
Alpine Roof Monitor - Webasto FBH Timer - Brembo Frt & S/C Rr Brakes

simonsi wrote:

Mine is the PKG-1000P, it has a built-in IR xmitter but volume is only controlled by the wheels on the headphones and no they don't need turning fully up by any means - I think your assessment is correct in that the headphones are needing to over amplify a signal that is too weak. What is the source and does the source have any setting affecting the sound output volume into the monitor black box? One option would be to take your single source's output and put that into the other aux-in on the monitor box to see if it is at all related to that aux input only. The other possibility is that the source has different outputs depending on what is is plugged into and you may be running off a pre-amp output that would then be too low.

I would assume the volume controls on the monitors would only affect the wired headphone output to enable volume control where there are none on the headphones.

Certainly sounds like the problem, if I work from the assumption that the headphones SHOULD sound OK, with no background noises or hissing!

The source is an Alpine DVD player (can't recall the model number) but I couldn't find anything specific regarding input volume into the 'black box' - and to be honest, I don't know where they put the black box itself, so I'd probably need to hunt around for it... better leave it to the installers to play with - but it is all useful information in providing them with a diagnosis.

To be honest, it is a shame they didn't test it themselves before giving it to me. I can't believe the sound quality is 'normal' judging from your experiences, and if it isn't, they should have spotted it and adjusted it before handing me back the keys.

Oh well, it'll get sorted out in the end. They're coming on Wed to my place of work to fit the missing Aux inputs, so I can play different things on the 2 different screens, and as the 'black box' does have connections for wired headphone outputs, I've asked them to wire those to the same place. Surely the cost to do so would be no more than the cost of a couple of lengths of cable, and a pair of 3.5mm flush mount sockets, as they've got to route other cables to that part of the car anyway... nothing ventured, nothing gained, and will give total flexibility, and the choice of using the IR or wired headphones, which would be the best result.

Jampo

I have the same system and have got no problems whatsoever, I reckon you have a duff set up mate If you dont live on the EDGE, you are taking up too much space!!!!!!!!!!!!!

06 RRS HSE ( in Wellington Dockyard, still waiting for release!!)
05 Jeep Cherokee LTD Edition

NZHereIcum wrote:

Jampo

I have the same system and have got no problems whatsoever, I reckon you have a duff set up mate

Prestige collected it earlier this morning to take it back to the workshop. Whether they can hear the hiss or not, I don't know yet... I'm hoping they can (and can fix it) and isn't just me being fussy...

In fairness, Chris @ Prestige is now keen to sort this, and does agree my car probably wasn't checked over properly before being returned to me.

Providing it comes back working to my satisfaction, I'll happily recommend them, as their customer service since I reported the issues (after an initial delay) has been very good, and has restored my confidence...

Good news - please keep us posted  

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Ahhhhhhhhh

Problem's solved. Chris from Prestige picked up yesterday, and left his own car (no keys unfortunately) to take mine back to their workshop.

He bought it back after 7pm last night (!) but everything is fixed!

The problem with the headphones WAS a real one, and not my imagination. A problem he'd not come across before - for some reason, the IR senders in the 2 screens weren't sending a strong enough signal, so in a 'normal' sitting position, the headphones were only getting weak IR. He doesn't know why (!) but has wired in a stronger IR sender to the roof (on to the cream plastic trim in the centre which is already there) and trimmed it in cream to match. Now you can sit anywhere on the back seat and get 100% perfect reception.

I have wired in Aux sockets (but didn't have an iPod lead to test with) and my phone cable is now routed perfectly.

The iPod cradle is fixed, and the conifer clippings have been removed.

I can only assume that, for whatever reason, they gave me the car back the first time without properly testing it, as they would have spotted the problem had they done so. I am relieved that there WAS a problem, and that the poor quality wasn't to be expected so I'm back to being pleased again.

I sat and watched a bit of Jimmy Carr last night, and its a superb picture and very good sound. My passengers will be pleased!