Phatnoise
- Thread starter paul20v
- Start date
yes i have 1 (and 2 spares) and they are good and reliable
the lead you show is the vw cd changer lead - the audi one has a 13-pin din round socket on the end,
however, most phatboxes come with a vw lead instead of audi so a vw changer lead as you showed might be the easiest/best thing once you have sourced a phatbox.
the phatbox itself usually comes with a 20gig cartdridge and you can use larger ide laptop drives upto about 160gig for £45 or so (or 250gig but that one has some problems) but for a non-factory drive you have to patch the phatbox first and download some 3rd party software to get this to work.
the lead you show is the vw cd changer lead - the audi one has a 13-pin din round socket on the end,
however, most phatboxes come with a vw lead instead of audi so a vw changer lead as you showed might be the easiest/best thing once you have sourced a phatbox.
the phatbox itself usually comes with a 20gig cartdridge and you can use larger ide laptop drives upto about 160gig for £45 or so (or 250gig but that one has some problems) but for a non-factory drive you have to patch the phatbox first and download some 3rd party software to get this to work.
Excellent i have been thinking about this for a while and just wanted some real person feedback it seems just the job ,
i was going to get a mp3 readable HU but this would save messing about with CDs alltogether
now to find one
cheers
Paul
i was going to get a mp3 readable HU but this would save messing about with CDs alltogether
now to find one
cheers
Paul
When you say you have spares, do you have a spare phatnoise cable you want to sell?
I originally purchased my phatnoise a few years back for my S3, which came with the round din connector that connected to the boot CD changer lead.
On my A4, the CD changer is in the glovebox, and uses the vw connector (square one shown above in the picture). Basically i'm looking for a vw phatnoise cable to hook up with the square CD changer lead in my A4.
Let me know if you have one that you want to sell?
Cheers
Rich.
I have a phatnoise too, which I have upgraded to 80GB, very good system.
The cable you show is the correct one for certain headunits (the Concert III for example and other newer ones). Think a few turn up on ebay too.
If you need the square quadlock cables, you can also speak to VW for them
The cables you need are:
£28.09 Cable 1J0051592A
£8.99 Adaptor 1J0051445D
If you are buying from the USA, you will need a new power supply unit, you need to check the amperage on it though. I got a really cheap one from Argos and my phatnoise craddle did not work as it was only 300mA. The one you get in the pack is 7.5V I think, but my replacement is 9v,a nd runs fine, the Amperage is important though.
"The AC to DC adapter specifications are as follows:
The cable you show is the correct one for certain headunits (the Concert III for example and other newer ones). Think a few turn up on ebay too.
If you need the square quadlock cables, you can also speak to VW for them
The cables you need are:
£28.09 Cable 1J0051592A
£8.99 Adaptor 1J0051445D
If you are buying from the USA, you will need a new power supply unit, you need to check the amperage on it though. I got a really cheap one from Argos and my phatnoise craddle did not work as it was only 300mA. The one you get in the pack is 7.5V I think, but my replacement is 9v,a nd runs fine, the Amperage is important though.
"The AC to DC adapter specifications are as follows:
- Find a "regulated" power supply; this means its voltage is always the same regardless of the load current. Transformers do not fall into this category.
- Output (7.5 - 12V DC), 1000mA
- 2.1 mm inner diameter, 5.0 mm outer diameter, 9mm sleeve, center positive"
Thanks for the feedback
fantastic bit of kit
only one real gripe and its not a big one but is there any way i can change the voice from the usa one as she prounonces a lot of the words wrong
im sure im missing something
Help!!
thanks again
Paul
fantastic bit of kit
only one real gripe and its not a big one but is there any way i can change the voice from the usa one as she prounonces a lot of the words wrong
im sure im missing something
Help!!
thanks again
Paul
Yeh, there are a few text to voice systems out there, such as AT&T natural voices.
There are also some microsoft voices Mike andMary (again american), or Neospeech.
You have to pay for most, or obtain them illegally (which we do not condone).
There are also some microsoft voices Mike andMary (again american), or Neospeech.
You have to pay for most, or obtain them illegally (which we do not condone).
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Ive sourced a voice but it doesnt work the software on the phatbox keeps telling me 1 or more parimeters are incorrect has anyone had this problem before.
sorted it now i reloaded the phatbox software with the new voice installed on the computer all worked fine.
sorted it now i reloaded the phatbox software with the new voice installed on the computer all worked fine.
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sorry to hijack this but will a phatbox work with my audi concert HU (tape player) I have multi changer in the boot it's an S3 2001
thought id stick my nose in
i have one in my new s3 im very pleased with it, it plays nearly all audio file flac,wma,wmv,mp3 bla bla
i can definately recommend one
only trouble is if i upgrade the head unit i would really miss it
does any one still use one after fitting an alpine or kenwood head unit
i have one in my new s3 im very pleased with it, it plays nearly all audio file flac,wma,wmv,mp3 bla bla
i can definately recommend one
only trouble is if i upgrade the head unit i would really miss it
does any one still use one after fitting an alpine or kenwood head unit
Should be able to work with the Kenwood unit (used to be sold as the Kenwood music keg).
For further questions, best to check out:
http://phatnoise.us/PhatNoise/news.php
or
http://www.phathack.com/
both have thriving forums
For further questions, best to check out:
http://phatnoise.us/PhatNoise/news.php
or
http://www.phathack.com/
both have thriving forums
I converted mine to run with a Kenwood head unit.
To do this you need a new cable and to re-flash the Phatnoise to run Kenwood firmware.
Also Kenwood head units made 2008 onwards require an additional Kenwood switch box (KCA-S220A) to be used, pre 2008 Kenwood head units do not require the switch box.
To do this you need a new cable and to re-flash the Phatnoise to run Kenwood firmware.
Also Kenwood head units made 2008 onwards require an additional Kenwood switch box (KCA-S220A) to be used, pre 2008 Kenwood head units do not require the switch box.
the bose system does sound really good sat on the drive without the engine running........
i dont think bose ever drove along and tried to listen...
thanks for the kenwood info i will buy a kenwood head unit in that case
and start on the upgrade path
i dont think bose ever drove along and tried to listen...
thanks for the kenwood info i will buy a kenwood head unit in that case
and start on the upgrade path
voice - there are some uk voices (torrent is your friend) i think they are mike and jane? but they are 16bit and they sound pants with the phatnoise so i went back to the (irritating) american unless you want to jump through hoops recreating the voices separately every time you sync the phatnoise cartridge. do a search for phatvoice, a freeware 3rd party voice creation prog, but i only get silence when i use it.
the problem with the a3 sound is that the car is noisy and has lots of bass rumble when driving - its difficult to get a good sound setup that works at rest and on the move. - the noise/rumble masks most of the bass, so if you turn up the bass the bose quality is rubbish/thumpy and then when you stop its too much bass.
the only good thing about the bose autopilot is that it changes the equalization as well as volume for noise and speed so compensates a little for the road noise.
the problem with the a3 sound is that the car is noisy and has lots of bass rumble when driving - its difficult to get a good sound setup that works at rest and on the move. - the noise/rumble masks most of the bass, so if you turn up the bass the bose quality is rubbish/thumpy and then when you stop its too much bass.
the only good thing about the bose autopilot is that it changes the equalization as well as volume for noise and speed so compensates a little for the road noise.
Phatvoice is a great program for altering pronunciation with a bit of time spent customising the Regexp you can get it to pronounce anything correctly.
You have to use media manager / music manager to create the tags in the first place then use Phatvoice to alter them.
The voice I am using is ATT DTNV 1.2Mike which is the standard American phatnoise voice and the format is 8KHz 16bit mono.
Phatnoise only supports 8KHz 11KHz 22KHz ( all in 16 bit mono).
Its worth using as you can get rid of punctuation and mispronounced words.
You have to use media manager / music manager to create the tags in the first place then use Phatvoice to alter them.
The voice I am using is ATT DTNV 1.2Mike which is the standard American phatnoise voice and the format is 8KHz 16bit mono.
Phatnoise only supports 8KHz 11KHz 22KHz ( all in 16 bit mono).
Its worth using as you can get rid of punctuation and mispronounced words.
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