Pioneer DEH-3400UB CD Receiver with LCD Display, Color Customization, and USB Direct Control for iPod/iPhone (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

This is the most functional stereo head unit I have seen. When I opened up the box from amazon I was simply impressed by the sturdiness of this unit and how sleek it appeared. The amazon photo does not do it justice.I bought this H.U. to replace the badly broken and abused radio/cd changer that came stock in my 2001 Toyota Prius. I had poured for days over wire diagrams and pin-outs of my car stereo to find some sort of replacement solution. One failed attempt included stripping the wire harness off of the CD Changer and futily connecting a cheap Boss H.U. from Fry's. Finally, I decided to buy a decent head unit to bypass the built-in (now vestigial) radio completely.Preparation: I used quick disconnects, electrical tape, a crimper, and a Toyota wire harness from Metra to prepare the H.U. for installation. I crimped the ends of the Metra and H.U. harnesses in order to quickly and securely fasten the two harnesses together. Once melded, the H.U. harness will easily plug into the cables run for the existing car radio (means you can do your car wiring in your kitchen XD).Installation: With the wire harness prepared, I disconnected the segments of the dashboard that exposed the gaping hole of my vacant CD Changer. Next, I unplugged the old stereo wire harness and individual Antenna Plug and ran them to where the new stereo would be. I used the mounting bracket from my CD changer for the new H.U. along with some of the small screws that where in the box to prepare the H.U. chassis for mounting. Finally, I connected the wire harness between the car and stereo, plugged in the antenna, shoved the stereo in my dash, tightened some screws, and slapped on the dash cover. (Perfection)Turning The Key: Life doesn't prepare you for things like this. When you don't have a clue these small tasks become mountains. Anyway, the glimmering word Pioneer greeted my once lifeless dash board in shifting color spectrum. The proceeding instructions were ignored and a CD promptly eaten and spooled within the machine(Took 30 minutes with the instruction manual to get the clock configured XD). My choice music poured from the speakers with a dynamic range and quality I never thought possible from my stock speakers (some I had thought were long dead).Versatility: The unit plays CD's fluidly as expected and the Radio is unbelievably clean and crisp but this is not what makes the unit great. I have used dozens of different iPod interfaces in cars from a Radio signal adapter to a cassete 3.5 mm jack and other direct USB connects all of which have some failing or obscurity which makes them clunky at best. Once you consult the manual, you find this unit allows you to seamlessly control an ipod (or Itouch in my case) through the unit, through the ipod, and via the H.U. remote simultaneously.Evaluation: The sound is simply awe inspiring and will satisfy anyone who isn't planning on hosting a concert from the back of their car although you could sponsor a house party. The color customization is insanely addicting with both mellow and vibrant arrays of colors. The various formats of playable audio are seamlessly switched, leveled, maintained and navigated. The remote is fun and functional perhaps even more so than the unit itself.Bottom Line: There are car stereos, digital media receivers, cd players, and other sleek head units that can do some if not all or more than this unit can do. However, useless or inadequate and clumsy controls cripple the vast majority of car stereo systems regardless of their cost and promising functionality. This stereo simply provides you access to all your forms of audio content while supplying such intricately beautiful and complex playback that you'll find yourself slowing down to extend your driving experience. (Refer to Title, this is 1/9th of my possible description)

I have had this system installed in my Ford '06 Fusion for about 2 months now. Here are my pro's and con's for this specific unit, all laid out for you.Pros:- The functionality of this thing is outstanding. There are a lot of different ways you can tweak your music, and if you want different acoustics for a song it's as easy as hitting one button two or three times. It really brings out the best in my music.- The fact that the face pops right off the unit was important for me. When the face is off, outsiders can't even notice that you have an after-market radio. Upon installation, if you take the few extra minutes to pop up the metal prongs,theives can't rip it out either.- You can plug your iphone/ipod/ipad directly to the unit, therefore you can listen to Pandora, Youtube, your videos/music, or anything else. Sometimes when I'm waiting in the car I listen to whatever game I'm playing.- It also CHARGES your iphone/ipod/ipad! Who doesn't want that? You could go for a road trip without having one cord to charge and another for music, leaving your poor phone to hang on by a thread in the middle of the console.- There are a ton of different colors you can choose from to display, and you can have two different colors at once. Or, they can scan across all colors, which is very pretty.Cons:- Trying to control the music from the headunit is a pain. You have to press too many buttons and scroll too long to find a specific song. Luckily, you can fix this by putting the unit into "app mode" and control the music from your device.- If your iphone is hooked up via USB, you can't hear calls through the speakers, you still have to hold the phone up to your ear. The music stops playing anyway, so I'd rather hear the call through speakers.- If you have audio controls on your steering wheel, it won't work with the unit. It's not that big of a deal but annoying when I've been used to it.- Turning the volume up and down is a problem 80% of the time because the scroll speed is set so low that you have to turn the darn thing 20 times for it to go down 10 decibles. And if you accidently push the button it can be irritating to get it back to the home screen to turn it down some more...this has caused some embarrassing moments at a drive-thru.- It's not very aesthetically pleasing if you're looking for something that has pictures in the background, designs, or does amazing things while the music is playing. It's just the regular alarm-clock feel, but the functionality makes up for it.I don't have experience using the radio because I didn't purchase an antennae yet, nor about the remote because I misplaced it a week after having the radio. But I still give this radio 5 stars because the Pro's outweight the Con's by a long shot, ESPECIALLY for the price. I underestimated this baby when I bought it but the reviews don't lie! And as a side note, DON'T throw out your instruction manual because it's hard to figure out how to do some things, like change the time!

I love the usb port on the front. I just load all of my music on a stubby little thumb drive and listen to hours of music. This has so much flexibility for running speakers directly or through amplifiers. It also has a built in subwoofer crossover and bass boost for the rear pre-amps if you select it. Otherwise, both sets of pre-amps are full range. You can change the illumination color to match your existing dash lighting, or you can contrast it with a color that stands out more. If you are really bored, you can even have it cycle through all of the colors automatically. Great head unit for a small price. I've found Pioneer to be about the best bang for the buck when it comes to car audio.