It's because the unit is 3-way capable, "if" the front preouts were the one's outputing the audio from your phone, the tweeters connected to them wouldn't allow you to hear what is being said. The rear preouts are for the mids, when in Network mode.

If you are only going to use the HU in standard mode, you'll not get the most out of it.

Anyways, I guess it's just easier for Pioneer to have just the rear/mid preamps output the phone call audio than the front when in standard and the rear when in network.

Seriously, the audio you listen to in your car has no front/rear channel separation, only L/R, so just use the rear preamps if you only use one set. Easy fix.

Though it'd make more sense for the front to be the mid when in network and rear be the tweeter. Wait, isn't that how it actually works or am I wrong?

Edit
Checking manual now.

 

Nope, rear preamps are the mids when in network, so yeah, that's probably why

 

Forgot about the active thing. Makes sense in regards to that. Currently my vehicle is set up for passive and I wanted to switch to active later on. I guess for now I can use the rear pre-outs for my amped front speakers and possibly use the head unit power for my rear speakers (or even just unhook them).

Does the deh-80prs work the same way with the bluetooth outputting through the rear outputs when in standard mode?

 

While I have one sitting in my closet, I don't recall off hand. Think that there was talk about it though and that "it" had the front preamps be for mids with the rears being for the tweeters, but I was wrong once already.

So, once again, I'll check the manual.

However, enough people on here run them that surely someone could answer that question before I get back.

 

Manual for the 80PRS sucks, I didn't seem to find what I was looking for, however, I've seen talk about such on this forum, just not sure how long ago and in which thread. Sorry.

 

No problem. I appreciate the info you have given me. I think I will go with the x800bhs anyway. It's half the price of the 80prs here in canada. I'll probably never use half of the features anyway.

Thanks!

 

The real game changer that the 80PRS adds is independent L/R EQ. Still, if you ever were to add an external DSP, any of them can do all the 80PRS can and more.

 

Interesting, 2 USB ports, HD radio FLAC files playback, a few extras. Still missing the SD card and extra better DA converters

Did any of you watch the demo video?

Does it look like it an app offering tuning options like he Alpines besides some basic apps controls or just EQ bands controls?

 

Did any of you watch the demo video?

Does it look like it an app offering tuning options like he Alpines besides some basic apps controls or just EQ bands controls?

At the 55-60 sec mark it shows like an app where at least the equalizer can be adjusted on the app or phone integration control or mode

 

FLAC support and the front and rear usb is what sold me on the unit. Most new decks coming out now a days only have front usb which I don't like. I want to throw an SSD in my glove box and hide the cable.

The only thing left on this unit that I am concerned about is the build quality. I hope it's built OK and feels decent. I hate the cheap light plastic feel that lots of the new units have these days (looking at you kenwood/jvc).

 

Yeah, seems you can adjust the EQ, turn on/off the sub, and change subwoofer phase with the audio settings option of that app. Some people will really like such a feature.

If you look at 59 seconds, you can see there are other options, such as illumination, settings, and HD Radio Function, etc etc when using the Pioneer ARC App to control the HU. Should be easy enough to download the app and see what it can do.

 

Change of plans. I got some hands on with the deh-x8800bhs and I don't like it. It's full of features but the build quality is lacking. To me it "feels" cheap. The wiring harness is also quite thin; small gauge wires.

Going with the alpine cde-hd148bt. If I ever feel the urge to go active, I'll find a DSP of some sort.

 

I went from an alpine cde148 to an 80prs, I noticed the exact same thing, like the harness wire was 1/2 size, even the USB extension cord was way thinner, compared to the Alpine.

However it has not affected performance in anyway. I like the extra USB port, I like the section where you skip files or artists with one click up or down, this is not possible with the alpine. It it turns on 3 amplifiers with no issues, not sure if if was my wiring pigging power from the remote wire, when I had the Alpine, although it was checked a few times, and I only had 2 amps using the alpine. Also the Metra axxes S wheel controller works better, I had issues with the Alpine, ( volume not working erraticly) but my 80 Prs is dated February of 16, and it has the latest firmware sofware updates to work with older adapters. I had to re do everything maybe the newer connections or crimps were better, maybe not.

I like the many display options not demo but RTA, EQ, analog needles , the voltage display is 0.5 v off but it is useful substracting or adding the difference. A little hard to read the time and small writing but I'm getting used to it.

Only complaint is removing and reinstalling the faceplate but I hardly ever do it, and need to get used to it, the alpine gave me more confidence removing it.

And it includes a remote something the Alpine makes it a optional device.

 

So was it just the "cheap" feel of the faceplate and the smaller gauge wiring that turned you off of the Pioneer?

While the addition of a DSP later can get you 3-way active capabilities and make it more capable in terms of tuning, the Alpine lacks the ability to play WAV or FLAC files on USB, which is a bit of a bummer.

As for the remote, Alpine's remotes SUCK IMHO. Don't get me wrong, I loved my 9815 and 9833, but when I got the 117 and was able to use flash drives (don't get me starting on the drawbacks to usb on the 117) I found it really dumb on Alpine's part to continue using the same remote as they have for over a decade (minus the buttons for tilting motorized faceplates). Using a remote is (IMO) much easier and safer than leaning forward, reaching out, and fumbling with multi-function knobs and buttons on the HU while driving. The amount of time taken off the road to see what you're doing may not be all that long, but it's still longer than using a remote that can do the same thing. Besides, not everyone has a vehicle that rides perfectly smooth so they don't accidentally make a wrong selection.

Yeah, Pioneer's remote is VASTLY superior to that of Alpine's and it's included.

Still, it's your choice.

I'm about to go back to the 117, despite some of the features and lack of features I loathed about it.

 

Yeah the cheap feel was the only reason, however I haven't officially made a decision. I won't be purchasing until october.

I'm starting to think maybe I should go with the pioneer. It has more features and it's cheaper by quite a bit. Alpine is quite expensive here in Canada for some reason. $400 for the 148bt regular price.

I've wanted the deh-80prs since it was released in 2012. Used to be able to buy it locally for $399. Now it goes for $540. If I could find one on ebay for a decent price I may go that route. Does it play FLAC? I saw some posts where people say it may play certain types of FLAC.

 

Unless they released a firmware update for the unit, last I knew, it did NOT support FLAC playback, but it does support WAV, which is a bit larger lossless format.

 

The alpine cde 148, does play WMA files and AAC, but not FLAC.

The USB flash drive is what sometimes is limited with some Alpines for AAC files playback, using an external non Apple hard drive or player.
Most iTunes users burn files using AAC MP4, and many manufacturers are limiting the AAC playback through flash drives.
Pioneer supports it more than alpine on all models and more on the the lower end models.

Interesting
It would be nice if it is possible to simply upgrade the sofware or firmware for FLAC files playback, I thought some extra hardware was needed to do that.

 

I had read somewhere that the hardware would support up to 16bit FLAC IIRC. So in theory, a mere Firmware update could get FLAC support. But perhaps i'm not remembering what I read correctly, it was about a year ago or so after all.

I'm honestly a little surprised Alpine hasn't supported lossless formats on USB for some time now, I mean flash drives are fairly cheap, one can still get a fairly large audio library on a 128GB flash drive in lossless formats. I mean even if one were to use WAV and each song used 50MB, that's 2560 tracks on a 128GB flash drive. Granted it's nothing compared to most peoples audio collection, but that's still a lot of music. and if FLAC was supported and they were 8MB, that's 16,000 tracks, which could easily be most, if not all of many member's audio collection. That's right about the size of my collection at least.

 

Oh who am I kidding, with my hearing and the level of quality of my gear coupled with my vehicle, ther's no way in hell I'd hear the difference between high bit lossy and lossless. Thus why most of my collection is in 320kbps MP3. I've got about a third of my audio collection between the 32GB and 8GB flash drives in my HU right now. And I almost never switch to the 32GB flash drive.

 

I also use 320Kbp except AAC, there is a program out there you can use to format the flash drive to play lossless files and also use over 32gb flash drives since most HU's limit the size of the flash drive. The 80 prs also takes a mini SD card from what I read, no issues or special formatting or program, to be able to use a 64gb one.

I even make CD's with 320kbp AAC files and over 60-70, 4 minute songs can be burned on the CD's, it just has to be checked as media CD, and of course these will not play on most pre 2007-2009 head units or car factory units

 

My plan is to use a 2.5" ssd in an external usb enclcosure and put my music on it. I do have an iPod 5G but it's old and doesn't work too well in cold weather. From what I've been reading the alpine units don't do well with drives larger than 32GB. So that settles that. I'll go with pioneer.

After some thought I have decided I am going to go active. My tweeters are on the dash and mids in the doors. The tweeters are quite harsh so with going active I can tame them a bit.

Would it be smart to run the mids off of my 4 channel amp bridged (this is how I have it now running passively) and have the tweeters running off the deck power? I could run more wires/rcas if I have to but if the tweeters will work OK off deck power then I'll do that.

 

Well, I tried a 120GB external hard drive with my aged CDA-117 back when I was still using it. The BANKING system was RIDICULOUS and it took over 10 minutes to bank the drive and allow me to search. Guess what I'm saying is that at least back then, Alpine units would work with larger than 32GB drives. If it weren't for the SUPER ANNOYING BANKING system, I'd have probably stuck with it a bit longer.

I do plan to try it out again since I now have the Imprint Processor and tuning kit, but I've been procrastinating on putting it in. Main reason is that the trim bezel on my Cavalier is getting quite brittle and it already broke some back when I installed the DSX-S200X (3) years ago. And looking at local junk yards, they don't seem to have fared any better on the cars they have.

Running with the the passive crossovers is robbing power being sent to the components. Going active will free up more power to them, so "maybe" running them off the amp without it being bridged will be just fine, leaving you with a set of channels for the tweeters. I'd read claims that while running tweeters off HU power can work "alright", it's better to have more power on tap for them as well.

 

I've decided I don't like the small screen on the deh-x8800bhs. I think I'm going to go with the kenwood kdc-x898 and get a minidsp once I feel I need more tun-ability and/or active capability.

I'm also going to put a new battery in my ipod 5g and upgrade it to a msata ssd and use that instead of bothering with an external usb ssd.