Dual XR4110 Mechless Digital Media Receiver
Wasn't sure what to expect after reading the variety of impressions in previous reviews, but figured it was worth $40 to take a chance.
PROS:
- Better than expected AM/FM tuner with 18 FM and 12 AM presets. Range is better than the premium stereo in our Chrysler Town & County. No memory loss with this unit.
- All 3 digital inputs worked on first attempt and volume level was even with the radio tuner. That's good as there is no way to adjust it.
- I input internet radio from my Moto Droid thru the Aux input. It works great! If you are a Pandora user this is the way to go!
- Sound is decent. If you need booming bass, you already have an external amp and sub, right? Hook it up!
- My car has a separate clock, so I don't miss that.
CONS:
- My only real complaint is that the display doesn't dim with the lights. Anybody got a left-over scrap of light grey window tint?
I'm a retired USN ET & CATV Engineer who started as a teenage hillbilly car stereo installer. A good 8-track in those days put out a whopping 14 watts!
My experience tells me that even a simple unit like this can sound fantastic with good speakers. Maybe replacing old, worn-out speakers with quality new ones of the proper wattage would satisfy those who aren't impressed with the sound.
If you're an audiofile who lives in the vehicle, what are you looking at something like this for anyway? Dual XR4110 AM/FM USB/SD/3.5-mm Mechless Receiver (Gray)
Simple little device that is very flexible. The radio reception AM and FM is good both in the city and on the highway. Music from the SD card is the easiest way to use the "mech less" device. Be aware that the unit is limited to 16gb, not a real limitation with the SD card but I have an older generation ipod that is 20gb and it will not play through the USB port. However, I can use the auxiliary port with the ipod just fine. The built-in amplifier is not terribly powerful but does put out some good sound in my 1988 VW Vanagon which has a big interior space. I need to turn up the volume control almost all the way if I want it to play loudly. But there are jacks on the unit to connect an external amplifier. Hey, what can you expect for $40. All in all, I am quite satisfied and think that you get a lot of basic features for a cheap price. We shall see how it's long term durability is in a few years but I assume since it's all electronic (hence the term mech less)that there's not much that can go wrong from a wear standpoint. I would highly recommend this unit as a strong value and candidate to replace/upgrade any stock unit in your car.
This is the second xr4110 I have tried (after awaiting a three week return/delivery). The unit sometimes loses the memory during starting of the vehicle. I have read this is a problem for this unit and wish someone had warned me. It is obviously something Dual wants to sweep under the rug, because they do not act suprised when you call with this complaint. They just say to return it, no questions about wiring or anything.
It is a cheap unit, so I guess you get what you pay for.:(
I bought 2 of these radios in the past couple of months and I am really impressed with the quality considering the price. I had never purchased any other products by Dual in the past so I read a lot of reviews before purchasing. Because of the low price and overall favorable reviews I took a chance. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality.
I would like to address some of the issues I have read in other reviews and add my two cents. First of all, many have complained about the low output of this unit. It is a 60 Watt output which means 15 watts per channel. Not a lot but not exactly weak either. I think some may have interpreted this as 60 Watts per channel so that would account for the disappointment. I never had a problem with the output from my OEM Radio and I was just looking for something with more input options, so in my case the 60 Watts was more than enough. If you want this thing to crank out power you WILL need an amp, but for a good sounding radio playing at a modest volume this unit is great.
I had also heard some issues about a clicking sound when using this radio. The sound from my 2 units are crystal clear and the only time I get any clicking or distortion is when I use the Aux or USB input while my portable device is charging from the cigarette lighter. This creates a ground loop problem and Is perfectly normal because cars have a chassis ground (tires prevent the car from being truly grounded). IF you want to prevent this problem you can get a filter to prevent it. Personally, I do this so infrequently that the filter is not worth the investment for me but it is fixable.
I have seen many reviews saying that this unit does not have a shuffle option so it plays all the songs in the order they are saved in your portable device or media. I am not sure where the problem is here. My unit has a Random setting (the actual button is labeled RDM and is the same as the #2 preset button) and it shuffles up the songs just fine on my install.
I think the biggest complaint I share with others that have reviewed this product is the lack of a clock and the bright LCD display. I don't really care about the clock because I usually use the clock on my GPS as it is very accurate so for me not having a clock is actually an advantage because It's one less clock to reset for daylight savings time, but for others who need the clock I can certainly understand the inconvenience. Not having a Dimmer control is annoying because while driving at night, the blue display can be distracting in your peripheral vision. Particularly in my wife's Pontiac Vibe where the radio is mounted high in the dash close to the windshield. The blue is also kind of annoying because many radios allow you to change the LCD color to match the rest of the lights in the car. It looks kind of weird in my Pontiac Grand Prix because all the lights in the car are red and then the radio is blue. I won't gripe too much about this because of the low cost of this radio. It's to be expected that some of your higher end features will not be available. A clock is not a high end feature though and when I found out there was no clock I could only ask "what were they thinking"?
I think the most valuable asset of this radio is its compact size. It is about 2 inches shorter in depth than the average radio. This was a big advantage for me because my vehicle is equipped with OnStar. OnStar Vehicles run the OnStar audio for phone and voice commands along with other safety features like the door chime through the OEM Radio. If you install an aftermarket radio in an OnStar vehicle you need to also install a wire harness with an OnStar control module to replace the one you throw away when you discard your OEM radio. This module takes up a bit of space during install so every inch of space helps. This unit leaves plenty of space for the additional cable harness and OnStar module so if you have OnStar this may be a valuable advantage to you.
Another advantage is that this unit actually does a decent job of playing my Sony Walkman from the USB port. I have never really cared for iPods but I have owned one for years simply because accessories for iPods are everywhere. I have recently parted with the iPod in favor of a Sony Walkman. I purchased this Dual radio primarily for the Aux port but when I tested the USB port with the Walkman I found that it works very well and gives me better audio then the Aux port. It lists the library by assigning numbers to the folders so you don't get song titles or artist or anything like that but if you are just looking to be able to play songs random with the ability to skip or change folders from the radio dial, it's great. If you want all the song information or more advanced browsing, you can still use the Aux port and control playback from your portable device.
My biggest complaint about the unit is a relatively minor one. The AM/FM input is very loud compared to the other inputs. This unit has four inputs Antenna, SD, USB, and AUX and they all are slightly different in volume. The problem is not that I can't get my music loud enough. Even using the Aux input which tends to be the lowest volume input of the 4, I can get the radio plenty loud. The Problem is when listening to The Aux input, for example, and then switching to FM...You are likely to find yourself quickly grabbing at the volume knob to lower the volume. I have gotten used to this now and always turn the volume down before switching inputs then adjust it back up as necessary. A minor inconvenience but with the other problems I mentioned it is enough to keep this from being rated 5Stars in my opinion.
Pros:
*It will play my walkman through the USB port (better sound than using the Aux port)
*Price vs. performance is fantastic
*Since there is no CD drive radio is very small making install a snap.
*I can charge other devices from the USB port while listening to one of the other inputs.
Cons:
*No dimmer control for LCD display
*No Clock
*Big difference in volume between Aux, SD/USB, and AM/FM sources. - Mp3 - Sd - Usb Car Stereo - Ipod Ready'
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