# Pioneer P99 vs Alpine F#1 Status



## Jarsha (Jan 2, 2010)

Good morning all,

im now currently deciding which pure deck i should get for my new active setup.

Though both are pure decks, the P99 i find is more aesthetically pleasing although the Alpine does give me an 'old skool' look.

In terms of sound quality, which HU would be better? im more into vocals and instruments.

Thanks in advance
J


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Jarsha said:


> Good morning all,
> 
> im now currently deciding which pure deck i should get for my new active setup.
> 
> ...


_These types_ of head units are at an analog output quality level that FAR exceeds what a CD formats can produce. IOW the weakest link is going to be by far the CD format's resolution. Any degradation by these units to that format will be minuscule and based on math and the physics of acoustics, inaudible.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Hmmmm two totally different decks. P99 4-way active with all tuning function built in. F#1 head is a transport. Very hard to compare the two. Add the f#1 processor then we can talk.


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## Jarsha (Jan 2, 2010)

Yeah im looking at either the p99 or F1 with h990 processor.


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

A ~$8k system vs ~$2k... That's a good comparison.


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## rc10mike (Mar 27, 2008)

Get the P99RS, spend the $$$ you saved on install.


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

X2, get a P99, get decent amps, speakers will sound better.


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## psycle_1 (Aug 4, 2005)

Had the DVI-9990 and H990, sold them and got the P01 (japanese P99)... Haven't looked back since. To my ears, the P01 sounds more precise. The F#1 setup sounded warmer. This may or may not work in your setup, depends on the drivers used in your system. Also gained some depth after swapping to the P01, using the exact same tuning.

Also, keep in mind that Alpine barely has any technical support for the F#1 anymore. If it needs to be worked on, I'd say they'd have to send it to Japan, which can cost a pretty penny.

Save your money, go with the P99.


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

the cda-7990 can be a little fussy with certain cd's. i'd vote for the p99 too. 
although i still have a soft spot for the 7990.


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

US the support I'm not that sure, but Singapore there's wtill support for F#1 units. Both also using the same series of TI's Aureus DSP. So I will consider P99 as F#1 - PCM1704.


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## Jarsha (Jan 2, 2010)

Currently i'm on p99 but have the option to try out the f1 and see how it will sound. However , based on the feedback, it seems that the p99 is a better choice. Once I try out the f1 I'll update again.


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## mmiller (Mar 7, 2008)

psycle_1 said:


> Had the DVI-9990 and H990, sold them and got the P01 (japanese P99)... Haven't looked back since. To my ears, the P01 sounds more precise. The F#1 setup sounded warmer. This may or may not work in your setup, depends on the drivers used in your system. Also gained some depth after swapping to the P01, using the exact same tuning.
> 
> Also, keep in mind that Alpine barely has any technical support for the F#1 anymore. If it needs to be worked on, I'd say they'd have to send it to Japan, which can cost a pretty penny.
> 
> Save your money, go with the P99.


were you been hing mang??


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## pika_ (Feb 18, 2007)

i would get the p99 and save the rest for installation / speakers.
The only advantage that i see on pxi 990 is that you have separated boxes, transport in the front with external DC adapter, fiber optical to the trunk (no noise) and the processor near the amps with short rca cables. Another advantage is that you can plug a pc to pxi to tune the car. it works ok,it's a little buggy software but it's really a nice feature and easy to work with.

P99 is a one box solution. Have all the features that F1 have plus USB and Ipod support. Also it doesn't use Ipod DAC, it will just get the data from ipod and use the internal dac of p99 which for me is a great feature. I'll give you an example, in my setup (w202 + pxa) i've compared the same song in ipod and in a cd. ipod sounded like trash.. 

Also P99 is easy to tune in the radio itself if compared with F1 (which for me is a completely nightmare).

Cheers


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## psycle_1 (Aug 4, 2005)

mmiller said:


> were you been hing mang??


Whatup mang! I don't post much around these parts, I'm more of a lurker. :laugh:


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