# DEH-80PRS initial impressions



## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

I received my DEH-80PRS from Crutchfield on Tuesday, and immediately yanked my trusty Eclipse CD5030 to shove the new Pioneer unit into the Jetta's face hole. I'll skip the pics for now, it's been pretty well covered, although I would definitely agree that the unit looks much better in person. 

I performed the auto eq/ta with the supplied mic, and dove into the controls to have a little fun. First impressions: sound quality is a noticeable step up over the Eclipse, I didn't compare them both with flat eq, but the Pioneer's auto eq made a huge difference to my ears. For example, I'm a pretty huge metalhead. One thing that stands out to me is accurate reproduction of a cranked guitar amp. The Eclipse didn't do a bad job at all in this regard, it just didn't do as well. The upper midrange is crucial to making a guitar tone sound accurate and the Pioneer gives me the crisp, strong midrange that I didn't realize was missing from the Eclipse and every other head unit I've run to date. Highs are clean and accurate, slightly better than the Eclipse. Bass reproduction is a huge step up. Kick drums are tighter and more well defined, and bass guitar felt more solid in the mix. 

I'm very surprised how much of an improvement in sound quality between the two units I perceived, it makes me ready to finally step up to an external processor with more capability. 

Navigating the USB and SD card inputs is fairly easy and more straightforward then on the Eclipse. Bluetooth paired much more easily and a couple of test calls revealed that call quality was much better for the other party, with one person having no idea he was on bluetooth speakerphone. Well done. 

The unit feels solid, nothing like the golden era of beefy head units from the late eighties and early nineties but still very good. 

The display could be better, I find that at least in my car, the display can be hard to read depending on the color selected. I feel this will be overcome when I have the patience to set up a custom color better suited for daytime use.

The downsides are few, but possibly a dealbreaker for some. Navigating the audio menus is a pain to say the least. Why Pioneer chooses to have two or three separate sub menus each for time alignment, eq, crossovers when Alpine and Eclipse seem to be able to work these all into the same sub menu is beyond me. Other than a little tweaking you won't have to access these very much, but when you do it's annoying. 

In short, it's a no brainer. Best head unit I have ever used. The CD5030 has been replaced. I'm sure it falls short in most ways to the DEX-99RS, but at this price I can't imagine anything else coming close.


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## thegreatestpenn (Feb 16, 2011)

i haven't used the auto eq function yet, excited to try it out.


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## flomofo (Apr 30, 2008)

Is auto EQ available on front/rear dsp?

Tells me to activate it and wont let me use it so reading through manual again, but the other menus seem to provide everything I need when I go to try and do an unorthodox three way system soon with no sub to start.

Ill report back if the auto EQ does any magic for me.

Thanks for the review, I did not crack open my box until I read yours.


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## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

thegreatestpenn said:


> i haven't used the auto eq function yet, excited to try it out.


Try it, I think you'll like it!


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## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

flomofo said:


> Is auto EQ available on front/rear dsp?
> 
> Tells me to activate it and wont let me use it so reading through manual again, but the other menus seem to provide everything I need when I go to try and do an unorthodox three way system soon with no sub to start.
> 
> ...


You're welcome! 

Auto eq/ta is activated from the "hidden" menu. I'm not sure if the manual points it out, as I really didn't read it but here's how you access it. With the mic plugged in and the unit powered off by holding the SRC button, press and hold the EQ button. Once the next screen pops up press the MC and it will start the countdown.


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## morning_wood (Nov 13, 2010)

Thanks for the review! Looking to get my hands on one of these in the near future to replace my alpine 9887.


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## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

morning_wood said:


> Thanks for the review! Looking to get my hands on one of these in the near future to replace my alpine 9887.


You're welcome! Let me know if you have any questions, I'm getting more and more familiar with it over time. With a little further tweaking I love it even more!


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## Q-Authority (Mar 31, 2008)

Good review. I have been considering one of these myself. One of the better looking HU's out there these days.


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## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

Q-Authority said:


> Good review. I have been considering one of these myself. One of the better looking HU's out there these days.


It does look much better in person than the official pics online. There's no denying that it doesn't feel "built like a tank", but it sounds great and doesn't look all blinged out and the display is very nice compared to everything else in it's price range. Weirdly enough, the quality of this unit makes me want a 99rs. One of these days...


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## Grease Monkey (May 9, 2010)

How's the display? Any issue with glare? (I own a Kenwood X995  )
It is on my short list for an affordable new(er) unit.


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## abduljakul (Feb 4, 2012)

Can i ask something about the setup?i'm using 2way components with passive crossover, which setup will I use? is it the standard mode or the 3way network mode? sorry, noob here . : )


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## trumpet (Nov 14, 2010)

abduljakul said:


> Can i ask something about the setup?i'm using 2way components with passive crossover, which setup will I use? is it the standard mode or the 3way network mode? sorry, noob here . : )


You would use standard mode because you're using passive crossovers.


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## abduljakul (Feb 4, 2012)

thanks dude, i guess i need to learn more doing active before going that path.
so this means i can do active with this headunit by directly connecting my tweeter and midrange/woofer to the amp? as well as the sub?


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## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

Grease Monkey said:


> How's the display? Any issue with glare? (I own a Kenwood X995  )
> It is on my short list for an affordable new(er) unit.


Honestly, it's not perfect. It does get a little washed out, but to be fair the mounting location in my Jetta is on the low side, so at a different angle it probably would be fine. Any color other than white is nearly unreadable in daylight in my car.


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## todd217 (Apr 5, 2009)

i cant wait to get mine installed and play with it.


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## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

todd217 said:


> i cant wait to get mine installed and play with it.


Get cracking on it and tell us what you think!


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## todd217 (Apr 5, 2009)

jbowers said:


> Get cracking on it and tell us what you think!


 i cant decide how i want the rest of the car and i cant run the stock speakers of it because of the factory amps.


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## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

todd217 said:


> i cant decide how i want the rest of the car and i cant run the stock speakers of it because of the factory amps.


Before I got around to rewiring for new amps and speakers I just integrated my old CD5030 into the factory amplifier. What car are you working with?


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## todd217 (Apr 5, 2009)

jbowers said:


> Before I got around to rewiring for new amps and speakers I just integrated my old CD5030 into the factory amplifier. What car are you working with?


 06 mustang


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## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

todd217 said:


> 06 mustang


Here's some info. Replacing Shaker 500 head unit | Mustang Forums at StangNet

Looks pretty easy, just a wiring harness and a voltage regulator to keep your sub amp from popping when turning the deck on/off.


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## Jurek (Aug 29, 2012)

Has anyone tried the ASL (Auto Sound Levelizer) function? It suppose to compensate for road noise and increase internal volume the faster you go. I guess the simplest test to see how it works would be to drive at constant speed with closed windows and then open the window to increase the noise level and see if the unit would also increase the volume to maintain the same loudness. 

Also does the unit use the internally build microphone for this feature or do you have to attach either calibration or phone mike for it to work?


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## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

Jurek said:


> Has anyone tried the ASL (Auto Sound Levelizer) function? It suppose to compensate for road noise and increase internal volume the faster you go. I guess the simplest test to see how it works would be to drive at constant speed with closed windows and then open the window to increase the noise level and see if the unit would also increase the volume to maintain the same loudness.


I've tried it, it produces a pretty jarringly noticeable jump in volume that doesn't seem proportionate to the level of road noise. I leave it off and grab the volume knob instead. 



Jurek said:


> Also does the unit use the internally build microphone for this feature or do you have to attach either calibration or phone mike for it to work?




I'm not positive, but I'm assuming they use the hands-free mic for this feature.


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## StockA4 (Aug 26, 2011)

I've been through 5 head units in 4 months. Three of which were Eclipse 8051, 8053, 8062, and the last one was a Sony Mobile ES. I actually liked the Sony, but the processor that mated up to it went out on me, and the deck by itself doesn't have enough features for me to want to keep messing with it. But the Eclipse units sounded mechanical and I didn't like the tuner in either of them. So I finally decided to pull the trigger on something new this morning and got this Pioneer.

I'm wondering if there's any way to bypass the internal amp on these? I'm not a competitor, I just really like the idea of dead heads. Or would the gains be negligible?

Thanks.


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## beef316 (Dec 12, 2006)

The internal amp can be bypassed. I think it is in the system menu. With deck off hold down volume and navigate through menu. Should be straight forward.

Tapatalk owns my productivity.


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## jriggs (Jun 14, 2011)

Yep. You can turn off the internal amp.


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## StockA4 (Aug 26, 2011)

Sweet! Thanks so much. I've made quite a few purchases within the last year. But I think I'm most excited about this one!


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## akbungle (Sep 13, 2012)

Sorry for the silly question but does anyone know if you can set up the display to always have track details (or RDS info for radio) as well as the clock? This is a big deal for me as my wife always wants to see a clock and I always want to see what's currently playing. It's so bad that the Kenwood KDC-X696 I just put in a few months back may need to come back out along with the possibility for better SQ, SD card slot, and two USB on the back brings me to look at this unit.


Also is it safe to assume that this Pioneer will sound much better than the Kenwood above taking in account fairy good component front speakers, Alpine digital amp, and a "space saving" subwoofer ( read: fairly weak but better than nothing)? 

The really stupid thing about this is I was looking to put this model Pioneer in my car but was talked out of it by the installers.


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## travanx (Jan 18, 2007)

akbungle said:


> Sorry for the silly question but does anyone know if you can set up the display to always have track details (or RDS info for radio) as well as the clock? This is a big deal for me as my wife always wants to see a clock and I always want to see what's currently playing. It's so bad that the Kenwood KDC-X696 I just put in a few months back may need to come back out along with the possibility for better SQ, SD card slot, and two USB on the back brings me to look at this unit.
> 
> 
> Also is it safe to assume that this Pioneer will sound much better than the Kenwood above taking in account fairy good component front speakers, Alpine digital amp, and a "space saving" subwoofer ( read: fairly weak but better than nothing)?
> ...


Similar idea without the clock thing. But I have an s2000 and want to put my Alpine 9886 in my GF's SUV and upgrade my car in the process. Hope you get some useful feedback.


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## dylan199 (Apr 17, 2012)

akbungle said:


> Sorry for the silly question but does anyone know if you can set up the display to always have track details (or RDS info for radio) as well as the clock? This is a big deal for me as my wife always wants to see a clock and I always want to see what's currently playing. It's so bad that the Kenwood KDC-X696 I just put in a few months back may need to come back out along with the possibility for better SQ, SD card slot, and two USB on the back brings me to look at this unit.
> 
> 
> Also is it safe to assume that this Pioneer will sound much better than the Kenwood above taking in account fairy good component front speakers, Alpine digital amp, and a "space saving" subwoofer ( read: fairly weak but better than nothing)?
> ...





travanx said:


> Similar idea without the clock thing. But I have an s2000 and want to put my Alpine 9886 in my GF's SUV and upgrade my car in the process. Hope you get some useful feedback.


Yes you can program it to show the clock and track at the same time. I never had a Kenwood or Alpine to compare.


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## audiophile9 (Sep 22, 2012)

Just hooked mine up and it sounds cloudy and conjested. Really disapointed with the lack of sq


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## zikzak (Jul 29, 2012)

audiophile9 said:


> Just hooked mine up and it sounds cloudy and conjested. Really disapointed with the lack of sq


Maybe it has a cold?


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## NHgranite (Sep 24, 2011)

I understand that SiriusXM doesn't provide very good SQ, but can it be connected to this deck?

Thanks.


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