I decided to take the plunge and try to get dab radio fitted.

During what should have been a simple task, things got complicated and there was very little info on Google about this so thought I would document my progress.

I have an alpine ida 305s head unit so I went for an alpine ezi dab unit.

The ezi dab unit came with a windscreen antenna.

In short, I connected up everything and connected the line out of the dab controller to one of the rca outputs (stack of 3) on the rear of the unit.

Powering everything up and things were operational but the sound output of the Dab unit couldn't be volume controlled or aligned with the head unit's bass and treble settings.

Having done some swatting up, it appears that I needed an alpine control unit KCA 410C to be able to connect it properly and that connecting the dab unit rca inputs was incorrect. Sadly they don't sell these anymore.

All isn't lost though. Turns out that I might alternatively be able to use a cable (KCA 121B) to use as a way of inputting the output of the dab unit with the volume and other settings working correctly. Going to order this cable this week and test it. Will update this thread of I have any success.

If it fails then I will look at buying a new head unit with dab built in. Will have probably been a lot cheaper!.....

**EDIT UPDATE**

So as I've been trying to get this to work, I thought I'd start a price list of how much its cost me of ADDING on DAB to my EXISTING head unit, vs the price of a new DAB head unit.

Alpine DAB Head unit (Alpine CDE-136BT): £202.99

VERSUS how much its cost me so far to bloody add on dab to my head unit:

Alpine EZI DAB: £180 (includes windscreen antenna)
Alpine KCA 121B: £5
Panavise Dash Mount for controller: £18
TOTAL SO FAR: £203

Yes....I know it would've been cheaper to get a dab head unit

 

Ha ha yeah.

I fitted a DAB thing to my M3 as the audio is all integrated with IDrive. It was much nicer just putting a DAB head unit in the S

And about the same price

 

Ditto.

I did likewise with the NSX & S2000.

CBA with DAB for the other cars, quite frankly. Not until they make the signal less shit and more channel choices, anyway.

I think internet's probably the way forward.

 

The windscreen aerial is pretty good and picks up all stations very clearly. If only I could get the bastarding thing to work with the head unit properly.

 

The S2000's antenna is already powered so it is quite easy to swap it for a DAB one.

I thought about upgrading my existing headunit with Alpine's DAB add on but it was a hell of a price so opted to swap it for an Alpine CDE-136BT

 

That's actually the one I'm going to buy if this miracle cable doesn't work

 

Oh quick question - if any of you have bought a dab add on thingy, where have you placed your controllers.

I already have a brodit phone holder for my i-thing.

The ezi dab unit comes with a bracket which uses adhesive double sided tape but I have no idea where I'm going to mount the bloody thing!

 

Yeah, I just added a generic box & aerial converted (In-Car DAB I think) to the NSX so it's stealth. Less than a onner, all-in. IIRC...

 

As I already have a modifry dash mount for my iphone brodit clip, I've just browsed the modifry site and it seems there is a panavise bracket which fits nicely onto the side of the stereo surround area. I've ordered one to see if it will work well.

 

Will it fit an RHD car? Might be worth checking?