Review on 📻 Enhanced Sony DSX-S300BTX Digital Media Receiver with iPod Direct Control using USB and Bluetooth (No Longer Manufactured) by Melissa Stout

I switched to this product from Sony MEX BT2500. Damn what a difference in sound quality (although it's also 4 stars and theoretically has the same 52 x 4 output). What's good: - Sound quality. Wow, what a dent from my old piece of junk. I should have made this transition 2 years ago. There is absolutely no reason why I stuck with my old system. - Internal USB, External USB: Very nice. Connect the USB stick from the outside, plug in the iPod - done. I gave up CDs when I switched to a MacBook Air and have never used CDs except for my car stereo. Not anymore - Bluetooth music in very high quality: Nuff said - Satisfactory sound quality of Bluetooth phone even without external microphone. Much better than the old one, noticeably. - Intuitive remote control. As confusing as the front panel is, the remote control makes life easier. Very nice remote control with many (intuitive) buttons. Simple and beautiful. CONCLUSION: Fantastic sound, it's worth it. Should have bought this sooner. If you're about to upgrade your (base) main unit - don't do it - just do it. There's no reason not to. This head unit makes even standard speakers sound great. What's OK: It can be good or bad, but the number of digital audio enhancement options is overwhelming. I think I found a good enough configuration. I'm still a bit confused between location based audio delay, dynamic volume, EQ settings etc. but I think I'm quite happy with my settings. The sheer amount of settings means I'll never be sure! But for audiophiles, you'll love it. If you're not comfortable with messing around with settings, you might get frustrated - at least initially. What sucks: - The joystick was made by the devil: My stereo was bought from Revain but installed in India where there are more of them. Potholes on the road than on the moon. This makes controlling this joystick absolutely impossible. This just doesn't work, you can't press the "in" button without accidentally moving it left or right. This might not be an issue on I-94 in Chicago, but you might consider it if you're putting it in an SUV. The font is too small: there must be a way to increase the font size, I suspect. Even if it is, it is too difficult to understand. Therefore, the font is too small for me - gloss. Oh shine. Makes it impossible to read the screen when driving in the sun. While this is true of most monochrome LCDs - the gloss on this one makes it worse - wallpaper is rubbish. They look so gaudy, but whatever, I just turned off the wallpaper. SUMMARY: The only thing to worry about is the joystick. The rest is up to personal preference and you may not have any problems with it. To be honest, since leaving the US I have not been able to reproduce the sound quality of my Acura TSX stereo at the time. I tried a few things here in India and then just gave up and "adapted" to the low sound quality because I didn't know there would be such a difference. My setup is still not as good and clear as my TSX, but it's much closer than ever. I am sure that it is now due to the correct "settings". I think I figured out the sound quality with this head unit. If you're looking for a mid-range sound system, this will do the job just fine. It doesn't look like the other junk that usually shows up in the XPLOD series.