Human and Machine as One

Try to imagine: The tactile input of the steering wheel on the curves of a windy road. The aural sensations of crystal clear sound from songs who feel like an old familiar friend. The enveloping feeling of transporting yourself to another dimension with an entertainment system so vivid it’s beyond your imagination. These experiences are unique and the possibilities are limitless. This extraordinary dimension of entertainment paradise in the car is made effortless with Clarion’s advanced Human-Machine Interface. Clarion bridges the gap between the simple pleasures of entertainment on the go with thoughtfully engineered technology. Good used to be good enough. Clarion created the best solutions for the invaluable moments of automotive entertainment that make you take the long way home time after time.

Experience all the purity of emotion in every note of sound reproduction. Clarion understands that entertainment in the car began with, and still revolves around the music. Any company can make products for sound in the car, but Clarion’s approach to musical reproduction is to create a mental picture of the subtle nuances produced by each instrument, voice and ambient influence in the original recording. Often the pursuit of technology means that you can do more with less and that is certainly the case of digital media storage. While many Clarion products fully support compressed media device compatibility (such as iPod, SD and USB devices) and file playback on virtually all recordable disc media, the product line also maintains the heritage of accuracy and purity in sound reproduction.

Integrating new technology into an in-car entertainment experience must, above all, make a difference you can see and hear. The uncompromising promise of Clarion’s product development strategy is to drive toward the future, yet to do so with a level of precision that leaves listeners with an experience characterized as unleashing pure emotion.

Clarion’s evolutionary commitment to sound reproduction is legendary. Today, our digital processing technology concentrates advanced sound quality innovations and an essential array of functions onto a single chip. With important attributes like digital time alignment, adjustable digital filters, parametric equalization, compressed media enhancement and spatial augmentation algorithms, Clarion has brought meaningful technology into a variety of new or reengineered products. Innovation and technology implementation to this degree is common only in expensive and complex home entertainment products. Clarion brings this digital technology to the car with an intuitive HMI that is user friendly, yet robust in control so that the unfriendly automotive environment can be massaged into conformity through the digital domain. Many processors make the sound seem different, but Clarion’s powerful processing makes sound come alive.

The Optimedia display on Clarion’s DXZ865MP responds to commands with almost effortless human touch displaying color images on the vivid 4.2-inch screen. Packed with useful features like MP3/WMA music file playback and CeNET connectivity, this unit has the foundation you need for a great system centerpiece.

If you imagined operating a sophisticated device with such an intuitive control layout that you could literally do it by blind-touch, you would be experiencing Clarion’s ground-breaking Smart Key approach. This combination of elegant design and sensible control is integrated into many of our source units. Smart Keys are arranged in an orbital pattern around the volume control so each is easily recognized by touch, which enhances driver focus. Electric blue illumination, tactile button feedback, and easy to read labels add further ease of control to the Smart Key approach. Of course the secondary convenience of a hand held wireless remote control is a standard feature on many of the source units in the 2006 Clarion lineup. All of these examples add up to a new approach that lets you focus on the fun of mobile entertainment.

When information and control features reach new plateaus, the MAX675VD multimedia station is the result. Imagine all of the popular source components such as AM/FM, CD/DVD, iPod, Satellite Radio, CD/DVD Changers and HDD navigation available (and controlled through) one single unit. This is the heart of the Clarion’s newest multimedia addition: the MAX675VD. An onboard AM/FM tuner and multiformat disc player allows playback of all traditional sources, including DVD-video and recordable disc media with encoded MP3 or WMA files. The unit shares the same iPod control and display capabilities (via touch screen) and 2-Zone Entertainment that is found in the single DIN VRX765VD, but this unit also adds connectivity and control of the latest Clarion Hard Disc Drive (HDD) navigation system. Both the MAX675VD and VRX765VD feature connectivity and control of any CeNET component which includes 5.1-channel surround processing, CD/DVD changers and Satellite Radio.

Clarion CD source units support CD-R and CD-RW encoded with MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) files for easy “rip and go” solutions between a computer and source unit. Clarion’s flagship multimedia units feature direct iPod integration for control, but many of the 2006 lineup have iPod control capabilities with the addition of the EA1251B iPod interface. Music enthusiasts with USB storage devices will appreciate Clarion’s thoughtful integration of a USB port on new model. Simply plug in the USB device and you can access the MP3 or WMA files directly through the familiar controls of the unit’s front panel. Whatever your digital media lifestyle includes, Clarion has a high technology, yet easy to use strategy for getting connected with your music. Digital media is about choices for where and when you experience your music. Clarion brings it into your car.