bencole45 Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Which is better? I hear that the Audi can only access the first five playlists? Can Dension access ALL music on iPod? Or, even though it is less elegant should I just go the Phatbox route? All opinions welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 What is less elegant about the PhatBox? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mawd Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 I got the Audi IPOD adaptor and have struggled with the playlist thing... Find it quite hard to find your way around. The other thing is that you cannot trasfer control over to the IPOD which was a bummer. I have however found a solution. If you choose an album, playlist artist, track you want to play anywhere on the ipod just select and play before plugging into the Audi adaptor and it plays through the cars sound system (RNS-E in my case). You can then fast forwward an rewind from the head unit and stay within that album or artist etc on the IPOD. Good luck whatever you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencole45 Posted May 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 [ QUOTE ] What is less elegant about the PhatBox? [/ QUOTE ] You're kidding right? But what I really meant is the elegance of the installation. The ipod would just sit in the glovebox, the Phatbox would need much more effort running cables and mounting etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Are those piccys supposed to indicate something? The PhatBox mounts in place of the CD changer, totally hidden from sight. The data cartridge moves from car to house, and goes in the cradle to interface to the computer, with a comprehensive program to maintain your collection of music/playlists. As for installation - unplug and remove the CD changer (if fitted), install PhatBox in its place and connect the cable back up. Job done! Of course, if your car isn't pre-wired for a CD changer you do need to cable up from HU to changer, but that's hardly terribly difficult, and you still need to do that for any other solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencole45 Posted May 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Are those piccys supposed to indicate something? [/ QUOTE ] Well they are meant to illustrate how elegant the iPod is when compared with the Phatbox. I think you are in the minority if you DON'T think the iPod is one of the most elegantly designed pieces of consumer electronics. Anyway, that is "by the by" as I said I was really referring to installation and operation. My understanding is that the iPod connections just go into the HU and can sit in the glove box. Is the Phatbox small enough for that? How nicely does it work? How useful is the "voice identification" facility? The thing that puts me off the iPod route is that it seems you are essentially limited to 5 playlists. I know you could probably set up a playlist to include all music but I'd still like more flexibility with track access. Thanks for your responses Peter, I'm very interested in hearing any advice you have since I've not seen any of the systems in operation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mb Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Buy a phatbox - that way you won't crash when trying to change tracks or come back to find the car broken into... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveP Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 I was VERY cynical about the voice identification before getting a phatbox. It works pretty well most of the time. Things like Andrea Bocelli shows up it's oddities. But simple ones like eminem work well. If you don't want anything on show then I think the phatbox is the only way to go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 [ QUOTE ] My understanding is that the iPod connections just go into the HU and can sit in the glove box. Is the Phatbox small enough for that? [/ QUOTE ] For a glove box installation, the best bet is to remove the PhatBox electronics from the large aluminium case - it might look like a heatsink, but is purely decorative and designed to make the PhatBox the same width as the standard CD changer. Then, if your car is not prewired for the CD changer, all you have to do is route a cable through from behind the HU into the glove box. [ QUOTE ] How nicely does it work? How useful is the "voice identification" facility? [/ QUOTE ] It works perfectly well and the voice interface allows you to search by playlist/artist/title/genre without taking your eyes off the road. Any system which takes the standard 6 disc/99 track user interface provided by the HU and adapts it to coping with an unlimited number of tracks/discs/playlists is going to be a little odd, but the PhatBox interface does work well - even allowing you to select the initial letter before stepping, sequentially, through the names. [ QUOTE ] The thing that puts me off the iPod route is that it seems you are essentially limited to 5 playlists. I know you could probably set up a playlist to include all music but I'd still like more flexibility with track access. [/ QUOTE ] Indeed! That does seem to be a significant constraint - presumably something to do with the 6-disc limitation on the UI? [ QUOTE ] Thanks for your responses Peter, I'm very interested in hearing any advice you have since I've not seen any of the systems in operation. [/ QUOTE ] Do try to find someone local to you who is prepared to demo their PhatBox system - you'll probably find that you like it! I've had my PhatBox for three years now but, I suspect that if I'd had the RNS-E from the start, I wouldn't have bothered and would have relied on the RNS-E cability of playing MP3 from SD cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timps Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 [ QUOTE ] I was VERY cynical about the voice identification before getting a phatbox. It works pretty well most of the time. Things like Andrea Bocelli shows up it's oddities. But simple ones like eminem work well. [/ QUOTE ] Have you tried the Phatvoice program, using notepad text editor you enter in the name phonetically so every time the phatnosie pronounces that name it pronounces your phonetic version so it sounds correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveP Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 I have downloaded it but not tried it. Thanks for info. TBH it is good enough that I probably can't be arsed to fiddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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