First Impressions
The first thing I did upon finishing the installation of the AVIC-N1 (I'll save the installation details for later) was to pop in a CD and test the sound before I got on the road.

I chose Sufjan Stevens's mind-numbingly brilliant (and criminally under-recognized) Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State. Every track on the album features deliciously lush and complex instrumentation, and swirling, hypnotic vocals to go along with it. While the album isn't bass-heavy, it does demand a lot from a deck and speakers, requiring them to sort through and blend the multiple layers of instruments to make it sound like an organic whole.

The AVIC-N1 passed the test with flying colors. It's powerful enough (rated at 22 watts RMS by four channels) to send a strong signal to the front and rear speakers, while its processor brings out distinct, true musical tones.

Touch-screen controls let you adjust Pioneer's 3-band parametric EQ, which is impressively effective in getting your sound just right for your vehicle.

During this audio test, I made sure to play with the audio settings, which are easily accessed by the touch-screen controls. The receiver is loaded with Pioneer's standard EQ controls, including Easy EQ, a three-band parametric EQ, and EQ-EX. The parametric EQ lets you adjust the center frequency, level, and bandwidth for three different sets of frequencies (low, mid, and high). EQ-EX adds fullness to the overall sound, and gives you access to simple bass and treble level controls. The Easy EQ's preset sound curves are accessed on the front control panel by pressing a big blue button marked, intuitively, "EQ". They're pretty handy for making quick, on-the-fly adjustments, and actually do sound pretty good.

Next, I strolled through the AVIC-N1's Supertuner IIID AM/FM tuner. As usual, it provided great radio reception. I quickly loaded my presets (again, using the touch-screen controls), and I was ready to go, radio-wise.

Sound settings established, radio stations programmed in, I knew it was time to test the AVIC-N1's navigation capabilities.