Does anyone know where I can get a decent soft carrying case that fits the Rio well? As complete pullout decks aren't really 'done' anymore, I'm finding it really difficult to track one down via the usual mainstream shops...

This one's a FAQ entry.

I'd add to that faq entry that the best soft case (IMVHO) is the pelican/game boy carrying case. It's the perfect size of the emepg, has a few other small pockets, and can be picked up wherever large quantitys of cheap electronics are sold.

Matthew

Do you have a link to where it's sold online?

Pelican lists it in their new products page. It's the PP1500.

Circuit city lists it as the "ALS Game Boy® Advance/Color Case". This case is Nintendo branded, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your point of view. I can't link because of the wonders of circuit city web design without any sort of static links.

Outpost has it with a static link here for the pelican branded case.

And after all this, I still just want an empeg branded case...

Matthew

And after all this, I still just want an empeg branded case...
Me too. I wish you luck. Please wish me the same

Does anyone have any pics of an official Empeg bag? A client of mine has a fabric shop, and also does custom logos with those crazy Husqavarna sewing machines - I could probably get some made up on the cheap for those who are interested..this client owes me favours anyway! Lots of possibilities....

OK but don't try to pass them off as official bags. Put your own logo on them or something of that nature.

Rob

Sure - I wasn't planning on going all "Bangkok night market" on Empeg! But if they don't make them anymore, then I don't see the harm in creating a logo that looks as close to the real logo as possible to slap on a bag rather than feeling like a clown with a tacky "Nintendo" label :-P
LOL!

I think "unofficial empeg bag" would be a neat logo!

Rob

hmmm.. I like it! Now if Tony or someone would be willing to let us use the actual "the unofficial" logo, plus an 'empeg' logo, we could have some pretty snazzy bags!

check out my wepage...

Nice! We have virtually identical head units - I opted for the 7893 as I figured I had enough mp3's with my 60 gig Rio, but it looks the same as yours.. love the Silver knob on the Rio, my buddy told me about yours some time back - I will be following in your footsteps for sure... :-)

Now if only you had a ford explorer w/ leather seats, I could pilfer your eq settings! <nods to Tony!>

Been a long day for me (just got off 12 hour night shift) - forgot to ask where I can get a Pelican case in Canada? On your site you mentioned $100 Can, that's quite good as the Pelican folks themselves want $93 US for one! :-0 I'm in Vancouver...

Nice pics too, btw - looks good...

Thanks, Matthew. Updated the FAQ.

Regarding custom-made empeg cases: One guy already tried this and had a web site and everything. It never went anywhere and I had to remove his site link from the FAQ after he failed to fill the first order placed via PayPal. If anyone else wants to start up one of these, great, just make sure you're ready to actually do real manufacturing of these things and you've actually got something to sell before asking me to link the site.

Now if only you had a ford explorer w/ leather seats, I could pilfer your eq settings!

I don't ever make use the empegs' eq settings at all. I've setup the empeg as a slave to the alpine so all my tweaking is done through it since its superior to the empegs' capability IMO. As an added bonus, the setup allows me to use the knob for other functions instead of volume.

As far as buying a pelican 1400 in Canada, I just emailed the Canadian distributor and they gave me a list of all the places I could buy one in my area. Then I just called them all and found the best price that wasn't too far.

I setup the empeg as a slave to the alpine so all my tweaking is done through it since its superior to the empegs' capability IMO.

Your Alpine has something more capable than a 20-band parametric equalizer?

My 7878 has a set of features that make it the best damn head unit (aside from the empeg) that I have ever used. I've had MANY. What it does not have is a 20 band eq i know but it does have a 7 band eq combined with a Digital Harmonics Enhancer that even this years models do not have. Alpine dropped DHE and the F1 CD tranport from this years 7998 flagship model to keep the cost of the 7998 lower and tossed in the new Media Xpander and fancy-shmancy face as a consolation prize. DHE has 5 modes - Bass Mode 1, 2, 3, Vocal Mode, and All Mode that can be comibined with custom or pre-defined eq settings. It does not sound like much to you but it is the 1st stereo system I HAVE EVER had that can make virtually ANY kind of music/song sound great - and all in just a few button presses. I can also have 6 presets with custom settings I can implement within seconds (ie. Bass mode 2 + Rock eq on preset button 1 or Vocal + Cusom eq on preset button 2). The only thing I'd want that the 7998 has is the new freeky Bio-Lite display with dual-illuminated buttons.

I'm going to keep on going and mention digital time correction, black-out display (tre-cool), Customized Sound Database, Built in crossover, Subwoofer level control, and I can go on forever. No one will ever convince me all I need is an empeg...my ears do the believing. It is also the ONLY CD/MP3 player that instantly skips to the next song with no 3-second delay that mp3 CD players are plagued by. It has a high-end CD transport only found in the 7878 and $6000.00 7990 F1 mega flagship unit that dosn't play mp3s.

Whew, got that off my chest sum good...

Most of those words don't actually mean anything. They appear to be Alpine trademarks.

Could you explain what it actually does?

Rob

I just bought a Case Logic DVC50 Digital Camcorder Bag. The middle is just the right size for the empeg, and there are logs of side pockets for cables, etc. I also like that the outside is leather and it has a long shoulder carry strap.

-Steve

DHE is a DSP. Each of the 5 modes do different things to the sound. Older rock recordings that really lack any bass really sound much better when I use Bass Mode 2 and it 'fills' in the sound. For most other recordings, I use Vocal Mode because it cleans up the sound really well and gives that bass a harder hitting and crisp punch. Midbass also becomes more defined. Audio books sound really good - I use those two modes the most. FM radio always sounds like it's missing something and so I find that All Mode works really well with sound through radio broadcast. Its hard to describe and needs to be heard to be fully understood. On top of these modes, the 7-band eq can be adjusted to tweak sound a little further. Bass Mode 3 is the only one that really sucks. Bass Mode 1 helps make jazzy sorta beats come to life too.

Digital time correction is a delay adjustment so each speakers' sound reaches you at the same time.

Black out display means the display window shuts off whenever your not pressing a button. It does not clash with the empegs' display at night. The alpine just looks like it's not on except for the illuminated buttons.

Customized sound database finds out if your car has cloth or leather seats, what size tweeters you're using, if your car is a hatchback, sedan, convertible, etc., and makes adjustments to optimize the sound output.

You know what a cross-over is.

Subwoofer level control is a quick way to lower or raise the thump from your subs. Some songs have more bass than others.

The CD transport (3 lasers AFAIK) things is unique to only 2 alpine models. It allows instant playback of mp3s. When a mp3 CD is inserted, it takes a whole 3 seconds to read the disc and after that switching songs/playback is instantaneous. Other HU's take a (long) while to read the disc after insertion and take forever to switch to the next song. Since I have an empeg, this isn't really a big deal anymore but when I didn't, it made a world of difference. Just the sound quality this unit produces is top notch. I'm convinced it'll be an alpine classic like the 7909 of way-back-when and I won't ever sell it.

Oh yeah, I can crank this sucker (as much as I can tolerate) loud and it does not clip or distort the sound. Anyone who listens to it really lets me know that they think my system sounds sweet. It's not IASCA material but I like it very much.