Dual XDMR7700 CD player with MP3/WMA playback

5 Comments

1. Joel A. Montgomery says:

   March 24, 2010 at 9:33 pm

   I bought this head from a retail store just yesterday and I’m impressed with the overall quality of this product.

   Installation:
   
   If you know what you’re doing with car stereo installation, I would imagine this is a breeze. This is the first time I’ve ever actually had to work with the wiring elements of a stereo unit, so it was a wonderful learning experience. If you’re not comfortable playing with wires (particularly splicing), I would highly recommend having this unit professionally installed. I personally had to use the wire harness that I had purchased to install my last car stereo with and splice the wires from it into the wires that connected to the head.

   I installed this in my ’97 Pontiac Sunfire with very few complications. The only big issue I ran into in my install is that the deck doesn’t fit completely into the dash area on my car – I’m not sure whether this is human error or not, though: A professional installation could probably fix many of the issues I had. For anyone who isn’t familiar with Sunfire structure, it’s very difficult to work with radio installation unless you first remove half the innards of your car, all while in an upside-down bat position. There is no “mounting strap” in my car (unless it was included in the packaging of the radio, in which I had no knowledge or method of actually getting the mounting strap up inside the rear radio area), so my stereo is currently just sitting very snugly inside the radio slot. I may take my car to a best-buy or somewhere to see if they can do something better with it.

   Features:
   
   I am thoroughly impressed with this unit! It’s definitely an eye-catcher, particularly since the bright blue light from the face panel makes it stand out a lot. Having the faceplate in the open position is very nice – the LCD screen is relatively simple, easy to understand and read. There’s no flashy animation every time you turn on the screen and there are no visualizations for your music or anything else, but you get the information you need without having to search too hard for it on the screen. If you want to keep any drinks in your cup holder, though, you will want to keep the panel in the closed position. The open position takes up some space in more compact vehicles.

   The radio is a pretty standard AM/FM radio. It has very clear reception, aided by the ability to switch between Distance and Local reception strengths. Recording Presets is very easily done in a few different ways – you can have the radio automatically store presets for you by holding in the AS/PS button, or you can individually store presets by simply pushing down on the number you want to store your preset in for a second or two. You can also have the radio scan through your presets, stopping at each one for about five seconds or so until you decide you want to listen to a particular station. I could go into more detail, but the user’s manual is pretty clear about the different functions (I’ve read a few reviews who felt the manual was rather cryptic, so perhaps there has been a reprinting), and besides, most AM/FM radios do basically the same things.

   I do not have XM radio, so I can’t really say anything one way or the other about this particular feature, but I think it’s pretty awesome that it’s XM ready with very little work involved to put an XM receiver in your vehicle.

   Sound:
   
   I’m still using stock speakers in my car – the sound coming out of this head unit is great! Crystal clear sound, great balance all across the spectrum of highs, lows, and mids. The loud function works very well to make your sound pop, and the EQ settings are good. I particularly like the “Beat” setting, as it seems to make things sound the best to my ears. But even when you keep all your sound flat coming out of this head, it sounds good.

   CONS:
   
   So far, I have only a few complaints. One is a major complaint, and the others are very minor.

   CD PLAYER: This may be because I do not have it fully and “properly” installed, but I am experiencing the same issue that another reviewer mentioned: There does not seem to be ANY anti-skip protection on my unit. I can lightly knock on the head unit and it causes CD’s to skip. This is the only reason that I gave this product three stars. I plan to try and contact Dual’s Customer Service reps about this and see if it’s a defect in the head unit. Personally, this is no major problem for me because I don’t really listen to CD’s anymore – I plug in my Mp3 player or listen to the radio 90% of the time, but I’d like to have a functional CD player, nonetheless.

   I-PLUG: This is VERY minor, but I would like to see a unit like this with an integrated AUX jack. Almost every other head unit that has AUX jacks has them easily integrated into the unit itself without having to use a separate input. It’s just more wires I have to snake around and figure out where to put the iPlug jack.

   Another review I read mentioned that a dimmer option for the lights would be nice, and I could see that being a valid addition to a unit like this. The lights don’t really bother me, but being able to tone them down a bit wouldn’t hurt if you feel it’s a distraction.

   My overall impression with this player is that it’s worth every dollar I spent on it. It was a great experience to learn how to work with all the wiring and install a stereo unit like this on my own, but I’m definitely thinking I’m going to go somewhere and get the installation finished professionally – that might help the skipping problem, as well.
2. J.Redshaw says:

   March 24, 2010 at 11:25 pm

   The player works excellent. I bought it from best buy off their demo wall as a season close-out and it worked great from teh day they put it in the car. 9 out of 10 scratched cd’s that wouldnt play on the stock player work just fine in this one. I personally don’t use the I pod plug, but I like the fact it came with one for free. Overall, the whole CD player was very easy to install. Just a couple of plugs and it slides right in.
3. Roger Roomes says:

   March 25, 2010 at 1:55 am

   I think Dual out did themselves this time. I bought mine last year and I was suppose to put it in my wifes car. It just so happens that we are selling the car now and her new car comes with a 6 disk changer, so guess who got the Dual, yup yours truly. I put it in last night and wow, every where I drive heads turn. I have a 10′ Fosgate Punch in the back (2 dr hatch back GT Starlet) I also have 2 6 x 9 Kewoods pushing 160 each and 2 3 x 3 in the dash, Profile 600 watt amp. There are 2 tweeters on the back dash and 2 up front on the pillar. It sounds mellow. I need to go back in the dash though because I am not getting anything from the IPlug. But other than that, I am good, the receiver is on -4 bass and it is strong, will turn down the bass on the amp some more and turn up the bass on the receiver and see how it sounds. My car is low and shock are bad (due to be changed for some Teins) so the car bounces A LOT, and guess what, no skipping. Guys and gals, for the price and what you get. This system rocks, I only have 2 thumbs, so Dual gets them both
4. Believe in the Mac - It sets your free. says:

   March 25, 2010 at 3:47 am

   I looked at many head units, and with more recognizable names. Dual is an old LP player name bought out by folks in China (and so goes our trade deficit).
   
   The features and soundof the 7700 have been great — I even used on old CD with multiple nicks to test it (given skipping concerns noted by another reviewer). — No problems.
   
   I wound up not using the iLink that is free with the unit (39′ but then you’d have a mini-mini wire to your iPod) — instead I put in a Monster Cable RCA to mini cable, and ran it under my center console into the armrest where my iPod lives — [I then hooked an AirClick (Griffin) to the iPod]
   
   To date, I have not purchased XM radio to attach to the unit.
   
   I am very happy with the Dual 7700.
   
   I would recommend this unit for any one who uses an ocassional CD, FM tunes and their iPod.
5. Mark Pavlovcik says:

   March 25, 2010 at 4:06 am

   this IS a nice head unit for the money but the one problem it has that is absoutley bearable is that it does not have an anti-skip device and is soooooo sensitive even the smallest bumps make a cd skip. the unit is built well and looks great but it’s just too much to hear a song skip ever 3 seconds…..