I don't know if you folks have seen it, but the PhatNoise is plug-in-play MP3 jukebox designed to work with various audio head units.




They only support a few head units right now. The C5 isn't one. They do most of their development based on user demand. So! If you are interested in having this unit available, go fill out the form at http://www.phatnoise.com/products/signup.php so they know there is a demand out there.

The company seems very cool. They seem willing to work with people pretty well.. case in point: my new VW GTI has a different kind of head unit than they have tested with, but they think it'll work. They'll give me the MP3 jukebox to test out and allow me to return it no troubles if it doesn't work.

 

PhatNoise looks interesting. Here's what I use:
http://www.archos.com/us/products/product_500205.html

It's a small 20GB hard disk MP3 player for $350 (Best Buy). USB interface with no cradle, four hour battery life (uses four 1500mA NiMH AAs), recharge while playing, available car adapter and remote control. I build playlists with WinAmp, or just surf the drive at random with the controls.

It's small enough that I just set it on the center console behind the shifter and in front of the lid. It also fits in the cupholder, or under the console lid.

And of course when I get where I'm going I take it with me -- plug in headphones and party on.

Yes, I use a (gasp!) cassette adapter, but how hard is it to tap into a head unit's AUX input?

.Jinx

 

The head unit doesn't use a standard AUX input like most head unit... it has an intimate software relationship designed for the Bose CD changer only (grr).

 

I remember hearing somewhere that you could "trick" the Delco electronics to pump an external audio signal in. Of course, the trick only worked with an external CD changer.

Splice your external source cable onto the audio input L/R/shield of the harness going to the changer.

Burn a "blank" CD, and set the track or disc to repeat continuously.

With the HU switched to play your blank CD, begin playing your external source. Supposedly the sound comes right through with no audible interference from the blank disc playing.

DISCLAIMER: I've never tried this, and it's not my idea.

 

I will buy one when they have one for the C5. I am presently using an Archos 20 GB Jukebox. Chadwick thinks I have out of date ideas. Since I think PhatNoise would be great, he may want to change to something more up to date.

 

:p:

 

Dude I could Kiss you. I was inches away from buying the RIO indash MP3 player. :crazy: I'm going to have to do a little research now and see about getting one of those Phatnoise players.

 

what if you have an indash cd already? stock? i cant use tapes. but these systems look cool. i wonder how i could use them

 

One shortcoming is an easy connection to a home system. With my ARCHOS 20 GB Jukebox I connect the ARCHOS "line out" jack to my "phono in" jacks on my amplifier. MP3's sound great on my home system. With the PHAT it looks like I would put the cartridge in the USB reader and connect it to a PC. I would then have to connect the PC to the amplifier.

Another thought is the USB should be at least USB2.

 

I am working on a microprocessor based module to fool the HU into switching to the AUX audio inputs. Slowing me down is the lack of a CD changer. I have tried unsuccessfully to get a used CD changer off ebay. I keep losing the bidding war. I can even use a bad changer. There are also other Delco products that talk on the E&C buss. These would also be very useful.

I need the CD changer to "spy" on the messages sent between the HU and the changer using the E&C bus. This bus uses a proprietary hardware interface and protocol. It requires a microprocessor running custom software to listen to the HU and then respond with the correct message.

I am trying to map out what the protocol is and develop a basic specification. My task would be SOOO much easier if I could get a document spelling out the protocol and message structure. What really bugs me is that I am sure that Delco has test messages they use during production testing. These messages may be very useful. I will never discover these test messages peeking at the CD changer E&C traffic.

If anyone wants to contribute to the cause please email me.


[Modified by 99HT, 12:44 PM 1/17/2002]

 

FWIW, the new Archos 20GB recorder has USB2; the player-only does not. However, I find the USB1 interface of the player to be fast enough. Copying and encoding from CD with acceptable quality (to me, VBR0 stereo) takes a long time even on a GHz PIII with a fast hard disk; the 2 minutes or less it takes to copy a VBR0-encoded album to the Archos player is nothing by comparison.

.Jinx

 

I signed up for the PhatNoise request list to help out the cause.

Also, on the Archos MP3 player, what about something that creates a FM signal like some CD changers do. You know, play the MP3 and tune the radio to 89.3. Is something like that available and would it sound decent? I've got tons of MP3's and would love a cool way to play them without changing out the whole system in the car.

 

I am aware that the recorder has USB2 capability. I was just thinking that when Phat makes udates they ought to go with USB2. I find that a faster USB connection would be desirable when I connect my laptop and get my Music Library from the ARCHOS. It takes a while to read the 15 GB that I have on the ARCHOS.

 

gtragitt,

Yeah, a USB 2.0 interface would be nicer on that device. It'll make those updates go a lot faster, for sure. ;)

The lack of easy integration into the home player isn't really an issue for me, and maybe not for most hard-core MP3 users. I'd use the PhatNoise box as a mirror of my main MP3 archive. The stereo player is more of a dedicated box (probably not even the PC) that can read the archive, etc.

I agree it would be cooler though if it just had RCA outputs so you could plug it in anywhere.

These devices will get more and more generic over time, this is really just the 2nd generation.

I like the PhatNoise because it's really the only one, that I know of, that has tried to use the head unit's CD changer controls. That's a great integration step. If I could deal with a separate control, then something like the Neo from sis would be sufficient.

99HT, that would be cool if you could build a device. I'm sure people would buy it. :)

:cheers:

 

Sign-up to get them moving. :cheers:

 

For the C5 I think the PhatNoise MP3 is the absolute best. I notice the cartridge fits a USB adapter. If they make some sort of receptacle that has a player that would connect to a home system it would be totally functional. With using the ARCHOS Jukebox in the car there are more wires to contend with suck as the dc plug and the connection to the HU. With eht Phatnoise the installation is very clean.

 

As I recently upgraded my whole system with an HU that does both MP3 and WMA I am waiting to see if SSIAmerica revs the Neo Jukebox which does not have the HU integration but I think it is serious wishful thinking for them to support the OEM HU in the C5 :(

The Phatbox does indeed seem to be a higher level of consumer quality but the Neo is about 1/2 the price and does have the fairly slick car/pc/stereo bay setup. If I can snag one off Ebay for a good deal (there is typically 1-2 for sale - I may go for it. I like the fact that I can just stuff any 5400 RPM drive into it and use in my PC as well. For now it may be the waiting game to see what is best :rolleyes:

For those wanting to connect in an AUX signal U can use any FM modulator to do the trick but your signal quality will be much better with a true AUX in (why I insisted on this for the new HU I put in).

 

I Kenwood also has a system out (it's called the music keg) that is similar to the Phatnoise that uses 10gb cartriges and is mountable in the rear of the car. I think that you could more easily use an FM modulator to run this system until we can get the system to run through the aux switch. Also, the Phatnoise lacks a display piece to tell you what track is playing and to help navigate through the 1000's of songs that will be on it.

99ht, if you could figure that issue out, I would pay for your work without a doubt. Good luck :cheers:


[Modified by BQuicksilver, 4:20 PM 4/17/2002]