With the breeze and with music: TOP-5 car radio 1DIN

An affordable car radio without unnecessary "bells and whistles" will appeal to undemanding users who prefer to listen to the radio or music from a USB stick while driving. In addition, due to the absence of a CD drive, the model has a short chassis (41% shorter than usual in length), which simplifies the installation procedure.

There is only one line output on the back of the head unit, through which you can connect to an amplifier or subwoofer. The "body" of the radio has its own built-in MOSFET amplifier with an output power of 4x50 W. The front panel is removable, and a fabric cover is included in the package for its storage. The backlight of the buttons and the screen can be either red or green (UBG index). The required solution should be selected based on the nature of the illumination of the dashboard of the car, since the possibility of choosing the colour of the backlight of the radio is not provided.

The Pioneer MVH-190UB fully Russified menu interface provides two custom audio presets and 7 fixed audio modes. You can also fine-tune the equalizer or adjust the basic parameters of the radio in the Pioneer ARC Android smartphone application (mobile gadgets are connected to the head unit via a "cord"). Unfortunately, it is not friendly with Apple devices — a slightly more expensive modification of the car radio in the person of Pioneer MVH-190UI .

A useful innovation in the design of the front panel of the device was the appearance of the long-awaited "Mute" button, which was so lacking in the predecessor of the model (Pioneer MVH-180UB ). And crowning the overall positive picture is the affordable cost of the car radio, thanks to which it deservedly occupies the position of one of the most popular devices in the low-cost segment.

While head-mounted devices with a mechanism for playing CDs are slowly becoming a thing of the past, Kenwood is in no hurry to abandon this useful device. Therefore, the car radio comes from the 2016 model range. The CD drive is present in its usual place.

In addition to reading audio tracks from optical discs, the model has support for audio playback from USB media, and also has an AUX output on the front panel for wired connection of external signal sources. The tape recorder is completely undemanding to the file format — it manages to read MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC and WAV tracks equally well. And this is more than enough in the vast majority of cases.

In the arsenal of the Kenwood KDC-300UV, there are three pairs of line outputs labeled Front, Rear and SW for each bundle of RCA connectors. In 2WAY mode, the outputs correspond to the front, rear acoustics and a subwoofer, and in 3WAY, designed for systems with a channel-by-channel 2-band front and a subwoofer, FRONT is reoriented to tweeters, REAR — to the midbases of the front and only SW remains as it was. The sound adjustments are very rich and provide all the possibilities for adjusting the sound to the ear of a particular user.

A balanced set of characteristics exposes the model in the light of the preferred option for acquisition, which provides detailed adjustment of sound parameters and is, in fact, omnivorous in relation to the most common audio file formats. And if you consider that the whole thing is enclosed in a modern "wrapper" with a screen backlight that can be adjusted in any colour, then there are practically no car radios equal in their price category.

The BT symbols at the end of the name of the car radio from the renowned Pioneer audio equipment manufacturer are found for a reason — they make it clear about the Bluetooth module adopted, with which mobile gadgets running Android or iOS are connected to the head unit.

"Dancing with a tambourine" is not required to set up a wireless connection. The owner of the car radio only needs to install the Pioneer ARC functional application on his device and do not forget to activate the Bluetooth module. In addition, the model supports playback of tracks from USB flash drives and connecting a smartphone via AUX output. In terms of readability of the Pioneer MVH-X580BT formats, too, does not graze the rear ones — all the most common file types (MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV, FLAC) are recognized by the car radio "with a bang". There is no model in the equipment except for a CD-drive.

The device belongs to the category of processor head units with all their inherent advantages: the expanded arsenal of sound settings allows you to masterfully control the sound stage, shifting it in any direction relative to the listener's position. This is achieved by setting time delays for each of the channels separately. Audio adjustments can be made in two modes: "Standard" (support for independent tuning of the high frequency for the front and rear, as well as the low frequency for the subwoofer) and "Network" (more extensive possibilities in channel-by-channel sound tuning).

Special attention should be paid to the proprietary MIXTRAX function — a kind of virtual DJ that will appeal to avid audiophiles. It provides the ability to add sound effects to transitions between tracks and fine-tune the colour music (for example, so that it changes depending on the overall volume or only when practicing the bass part). The sound that the Pioneer MVH-X580BT produces is rated by the owners of the device at a solid "five". And with good acoustics, the sound of the radio goes to a new qualitative level, fully satisfying even the most demanding listeners.

Mystery MMTD-9108S is not just a car radio, but a real multimedia centre. The thing is that the device is equipped with a 7-inch slide-out display with touch input support, which can be used not only to switch music tracks, but also to watch movies.

Sources of audio and video content can be USB drives (USB flash drive or external HDD), a microSD memory card, as well as classic CDs and DVDs for the family of car radios. Don't be surprised, just despite the size of the 1DIN panel, even a CD-drive managed to be stuffed into it. Only a small number of audio formats supported by the radio let her down a little — she can only read and play MP3 and WMA tracks. But a TV tuner is built right into the device, allowing you to watch your favorite TV shows on the way.

The display does not respond very cheerfully to finger taps, and the menu interface is characterized by slowness when switching between playback modes (from radio to music or movies and vice versa). But against the background of a much lower cost than that of branded competitors (for example, Pioneer AVH-X7800BT ), models are excusable. Moreover, the radio screen supports another very useful function for many motorists — connecting a rear-view camera.

With proper equalizer settings, the sound quality will satisfy the vast majority of users. But "out of the box" the sound of the car radio does not shine with detail. However, touch input greatly simplifies the adjustment of playback parameters, so individual sound tuning is quite easy and relaxed. In extreme cases, you can always use the available equalizer presets, which are easier to choose than dragging the sliders for each band manually.

Behind the poor decoration of the Alpine CDE-195BT car radio, remarkable abilities are hidden: the model supports flexible adjustment of sound settings, pairing with mobile gadgets via Bluetooth and even duplicating notifications from the Facebook social network. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The head unit carries an active crossover on its board, limiting the frequencies of the output signals (setting the high frequency and low frequency, adjusting the steepness of the rise and fall of the signal). The settings memory is stored independently for each sound source, whether it is an FM tuner, CD, USB drive or a device connected to the radio via the AUX output. At the discretion of the public, 10 factory presets are offered, as well as their personal settings of the three-band parametric.

The Bluetooth wireless module opens the doors of remote access to the car radio through the Alpine Tunelt application. With it, you can not only play music tracks, but also flexibly change the sound parameters. Doing this from the smartphone screen is much more convenient than trying to "tweak" the equalizer settings directly from the radio panel. Moreover, the graphics got to the display as if inherited from consoles originally from the 90s, which is why its readability leaves much to be desired.

A number of useful functions of the car radio are complemented by support for hands-free communication and customizable backlight of the front panel (more than 150K colour options). Potential owners of the model may not be pleased except that its cost. But the purity and depth of sound that the Alpine CDE-195BT gives out levels the high price tag, elevating the device to the pedestal of the best 1DIN car radios.