Pioneer CD-MC20 Auto-EQ Microphone for Car DVD Receivers, Original Version

Sometimes it pays to read the reviews and follow their advice...this isn't one of those times! After reading the reviews, I almost decided to not buy this Mic. Heck, even car stereo installers I'm friends with, told me it was a waste of money. Well, at least one has eaten crow! Like almost everything dealing with electronics, you have to follow a set procedure to obtain the best results. Pioneer Auto-eq is no exception to this rule. There is a demonstrative improvement in sound quality with auto-eq on....it cannot be denied. There are a couple "tweeks" that I would suggest; first, get out of the car. Once the countdown starts, get out close the door. I found that the results were much better without my presence mucking up the sonic landscape. Also, the placement of the Mic is paramount and should not be taken lightly. Follow the directions! Oh and the system turns off the hpf on the front speakers, I turned it back on and left the setting where the computer placed it. In fact, the only thing I changed was,I moved the subs lpf a bit up to cover a small gap I felt was in the mid bass range... of course, that was caused by my turning the front speaker hpf back on so.... At the end of the day, I believe this to be an awesome product, especially for those that aren't well versed in the setting of an eleven band eq.

This microphone does exactly what it's supposed to do. With a compatible Pioneer receiver, it calibrates the equalization and what most reviews fail to mention and maybe even more importantly, time alignment! A car interior has notoriously bad acoustics and on top of that you don't sit in the middle, so proper time alignment and balanced EQ is very important for getting balanced sound and the most enjoyment out of your system. For the negative reviewers that claim that there's no bass after calibration, that's not the mic's fault but only shows how so many people's ears have been conditioned to prefer boomy, exaggerated bass and consider that normal. Even if you are a "Bass Head", please give the calibrated sound a chance! Let your ears readjust over time and appreciate all the other beautiful sounds in the music previously obscured by the boom! You won't regret it! For only around $20, it's not perfect but gets results pretty close to much more expensive professional equipment can do but it takes only fraction of the time and hassle! if you still think the bass is lacking, you should at least use it as a starting point and moderately adjust to taste. Happy Listening!

Worked very well for me using a Pioneer 4300 DVD head unit. The only issue is that you have to disable the bypass if you have one installed, in order to access the auto equalizer option - to do this, supply 12v to the blue wire coming out of the headunit (at least for a 4300DVD). The hardest part was finding a quiet spot to run the auto EQ function, since I don't have a garage. I definitely noticed the difference in sound quality, this is perfect for those of us that aren't audiophiles and can't be bothered to fine tune every little setting. Well worth the ~$20!

I purchased a Pioneer stereo as an open box and it didn't come with this microphone tuner. I was fairly pleased with it but this was a decent price so I decided to buy it and see if it made a difference in the sound quality of my stereo. I plugged it in and let the auto tune work. All I heard was a little white noise coming from each speaker. It ran through the whole setup and shut itself off. When I turned on a movie to test it the sound quality difference was astounding. I'm not an audiophile so someone more familiar with receivers may be able to achieve similar or better results by ear. I know that I am extremely pleased with the results and found the product worth every penny I paid for it.

The CD-MC20 is probably the best kept secret in the AVIC lineup. If you're not too sure how to equalize your system manually or the preset equalizations' just aren't cutting it for you, then this is your answer. It comes packaged with no instructions so you'll have to revert back to your actual head units manual for specific setup instructions. Once you find your specific instructions, set up couldn't be any easier. The whole process takes about 6-8 minutes ad must be done in a quiet environment. When finished, the result is undeniable. You'll be able to toggle the auto equalization setting on and off in real time to hear the difference between your old settings and the new auto ones. It's absolutely incredible the difference you'll hear and the clarity is amazing. Now if you're an audiophile who knows how to tune your stereo, this probably isn't for you and you may not get much out of it. But for those of you who have no clue, definitely spend the $20. You will not regret it!

product is perfect

fonctionne parfaitement pour les autoradio Pioneer qui dispose du systeme pour regler l'équaliseur

This mic allows your stereo to auto equalise so the sound is perfect for you to enjoy. It makes a vast improvement to what you think is the right settings. Excellent

Easy to use, after the auto tuning, the sound is much better a lot

Excelente, el producto nuevo, original, en tiempo y forma. es increíble la función que hace de ecualizar.