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Learn: Home » Apple's iPod™ Hits the Road with Alpine
Controlling the iPod from an Alpine in-dash receiver
For someone who's only recently installed an Alpine head unit, controlling the iPod on your Alpine head unit may take a little getting used to. There is no true equivalent of the "click wheel" interface for the car stereo. But anyone who's played MP3 files on their Alpine head unit will quickly feel right at home, and even those new to Alpine receivers will come to appreciate the QuickSearch™ functionality, Alpine's unique solution to navigating digital music files from a car stereo.
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Because the KCA-420i adapter "tricks" the receiver into recognizing the iPod as a CD changer, you need to put the unit into "Changer" mode (the icon will light up) in order to start using the iPod. You navigate the iPod's playlists as if it were a single MP3 disc in a changer magazine — trying to select different "discs" has no effect on the iPod. Track up and down buttons allow you to skip songs or fast forward and rewind within a song, just as you would when playing a CD. You can pause or repeat tracks as well.
QuickSearch™ navigation
It's the handy QuickSearch keys, however, that make jumping from one playlist to another, or scanning through all the tracks in a particular list, intuitive and, well, quick. I've praised this feature several times in the past, and I'll say it again: the QuickSearch feature is the best system for navigating digital music files I've ever encountered on an in-dash receiver.
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The QuickSearch keys allow you to search through the iPod's songs and to preview tracks without changing the song that's playing. To use, you first select your search parameter — searching by playlist, artist, or album is possible. Then you press the search key and use the rotary knob to scroll to the specific list or track you want. A click of the rotary knob cues up the track almost instantly.
Alternatively, pressing in the QuickSearch button and holding it for at least 2 seconds activates the Quick Search mode. In this mode, you can immediately use the rotary knob to scroll through all the songs in the specific playlist/album that you're in and then select the track that you want.
Display limitations
Depending on the model, '04 Alpine receivers can display the tag info for a maximum of 512 playlists, albums, or artists (depending on what search mode you're in), and for up to 255 songs within a given folder. If you've got more than 255 songs in a single playlist, for example, tracks after the 255th will be identified by number only. This may be a big drawback for people who have hundreds of albums and artists on their iPod; and those who have dumped hundreds of songs into a single playlist may be frustrated by not being able to read off the song/artist/album information.
After you use the QuickSearch a couple of times, you can jump around from playlist to playlist in seconds with a few spins of the rotary knob. And thanks to the receiver's large, readable display, finding tracks this way is certainly safer than trying to decipher the iPod's 2-inch screen. You cannot, however, use the QuickSearch™ with the remote.
