General PHAT Box comments

flyingmikey

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Good morning everyone

I am thinking of purchasing the PHAT box for my 99 Beetle ... but before i dish out the $250cdn for it, i was wondering if anyone has anything good/bad to say about it. Comments greatly appreciated

Cheers ... Mike
 

peteman

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I've never used the Phat but I love my ipod. It's more versatile as I can take it in the house, on a run, to a friends. As long as you have your headphone jack to audio rca's you're set.
 

flyingmikey

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thanks ... i'll have to see if the stock radio system in the car has an RCA connector .. i doubt it tho, because there is nothing on the front of the radio to indicate i can select an alternate music source (I only have AM - FM - TAPE - CD)
 

fitzski

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Oct 13, 2004
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Ottawa
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Uh... hmm... Well, none...
Shop around before you buy... You should be able to find it for far less than $250 to your door. Keep an eye on the classifieds here, at VW Vortex, Passat World, and eBay too.

https://www.1stvwparts.com/ currently has them for US$150 - not sure that works out to by the time it's in Kemptville

Besides... that's probably still less than you would pay for an iPod and the adapter to plug it into the stereo. Obviously it depends on which iPod you get... 2GB Nano, up to 60GB Video...? There are a few options for iPod-VW stereo adapters, most are in the US$100-US$150 range. These will let you plug in and charge the iPod while driving, and offer most controls through the factory radio. You could save a lot of money with a cassette adapter or FM transmitter, but audio quality suffers, and the free-reign cables can be a pain.

Phatbox is largely plug and play - fits in the CD changer cubby and connects to a cable that is already there. It is a great unit, although it has been known to be a bit flaky and there isn't a whole lot of support (compared to the iPod communities).

I went with Phatbox because it was easy, affordable (compared to a nice iPod setup), upgradeable (you can put in a larger laptop harddrive to increase capacity), and because I don't care about the ancillary benefits of having an iPod... I don't want personal MP3 player. I can't remember the last time I stuck ear bud headphones in my ears... probably riding the bus going to public school!
 

tango_28

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I love my Phatbox, I also have a Ipod. The reason I went with the Phatnoise system it was cheaper to setup than the ipod in the car. The setup for Ipod was $175 (just wires) and the Phatnoise system only cost $120.00
 

05TDIPDHappy

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Just make sure that you have Win 2000 or greater on your PC. Thouse of us still in the dark ages with Win 98 are $krew-d as the s/w will not work properly in on that OS.

Other than that I love the thing. But as others have said if you already have a media player (what ever type), there may be a better/cheaper alternative for you.

Cheers
 

fitzski

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Uh... hmm... Well, none...
The Phatbox works with MP3, and many other audio formats. Yes, the Phatnoise Media Manager software comes with the unit (you can also download a demo) to load content onto the DMS cartridge (when it is in the USB cradle connected to the PC).

IMO, the PMM software is the weakest link... it does what it needs to do, but there are far better management tools available, with more robust features for editing ID3 tags, renaming files, and creating playlists.
 

scooperhsd

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I like the PMM - I actually paid for it.

What I'm using is a Omnifi DMP1 with a connector to play it through the CD inputs. The software for THAT is a POS, but it allows wireless updates (802.11b) from your PC. There is a user community on Yahoo for the Omnifi.
 

Cincy_Mike

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I love my phatbox but my gripes are:

It likes to occasionally give me a 'No CD' message which means I have to pull-out and re-insert the cartridge in the trunk a few times. I still haven't learned the silly combination of steps required. This is pretty rare so don't let it scare you off.

I find the music manager pretty counter-intuitive. I should probably read the manual, though. I'm a computer guy, this shouldn't be that hard to use.

I leave it on Mix all the time but it seems to play songs too often to be truly random. However, this is a function of the head unit and not a fault of phatbox.

I despise corporate radio and (still) love the phatbox. Btw, you will need channel locks to get the connector seated (a little absurd in my opinion)
 
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MOGolf

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My Phatbox refuses to function in cold temperatures. Works fine once it warms up. It beats listening to the same 6 CDs over and over and over... ;)
 

gern_blanston

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Don't want to jinx myself, but I've had good luck with my Phatbox. The software is nothing spectacular, but it works great. (Knocks on wood)
I love mine.
 

Benjamin

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I have had my phatbox for about 3 months, have gone from Calgary to Toronto and back, and use it 4-6 hours a day almost as I do pizza delivery almost every night right now. Don't have to hide it, unplug it, or get special adapters to make it run. With my stock radio all I have to do is hit the cd button and music is playing, its pretty simple.
The software took about 10 mins to figure out how to make it work, and I had to raise a connection point in the craddle to get the thing to work intially.
Got the unit new in box from a guy on this forum, paid $150 US for everything including shipping.
The only downside to the whole thing is that if you want to trade up your deck for something a little better you can't migrate the phatbox over with it. The phatbox is an oem solution only, unless you can get the right connectors and stuff to get it working on a kenwood deck.
I have had the thing running when it was -30`C a week ago, so maybe I am lucky, maybe it will give me issues in the morning. Its a hard drive, so if I am stuck to XM or regular radio for a bit while the car heats up, thats life I guess. Do ipods work when they have been sitting at -30`C for the night?

Benjamin
 

peteman

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For hardwiring an ipod you need some cables which can cost anywhere from $35.00 (using the rear cd changer jack) to $200.00 (using the back of the factory radio).

BTW yes my ipod works after sitting at -30 in my car.

Is Phatbox Mac compatible?
 

Meags

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Aug 6, 2004
Location
Merrickville, ONT
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2004 Silver Golf TDI
Phatbox

I love my phatbox and with the number of hours I am in the car on a daily basis it makes for much easier listening, instead of changing cds all the time. I did have a problem with it not working in the -0 temperatures, but I think it was a cable problem as I haven't had the problem since I played with the actual cable...

has onyone installed it in a GOLF by cutting the hole in the side flap? I just have it sitting in my trunk right now...
 

RHN

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Meags said:
has onyone installed it in a GOLF by cutting the hole in the side flap? I just have it sitting in my trunk right now...
I am thinking on getting a Phatbox in the near future. Cutting a hole in the side flap per the install instructions does not get me to excited, also the exposed DMS looks too vunerable to damage.
I saw this thread the other day:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=130574&highlight=phatnoise
showing a de-winged and a uncovered Phatbox. I will most likely de-wing mine once I get one so that it will fit behind the side flap.

Rick,
 

mgrusin

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I mounted mine in my Golf by hanging it underneath the package tray. Works great.

My ONLY gripe about Phatnoise is that they shut down their forums a while back, just as people were figuring out very cool ways to customize the onboard software. As far as I could tell nobody was doing anything that would hurt the business. But now that they've driven such experimentation underground, who knows what's happening there...

-MG.
 

Phoenix42

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Cincy_Mike said:
I leave it on Mix all the time but it seems to play songs too often to be truly random. However, this is a function of the head unit and not a fault of phatbox.
:p
Mike, I'm not laughing at you, but at random not been random. I've had an empeg (same size as a car radio but can hold up to 240gb of MP3/WAV/WMA/OGG/FLAC (enough music to wear out two timing belts :eek: ), I've only got a 20gb) for about four years now. But it has been debated on how random random is. Basicly the problem is who is judging the random, ie us humans, and we always look for patterns. While the software is just picking numbers out of a hat. It is possible for the software to pick 1, 2, and 3 in order, but it does not see that as a pattern, we do. Think of the stars in the sky, truely something random, but we humans have created constellations (patterns) out of them. Of course a human could write the software to check for patterns after it randomised the music.



Unfortunetly flyingmikey an empeg wouldn't be a plug & pray fit in a Beetle dashboard, it would take a bit of work and you need an amp. Darn car makers and their funky stylish dash!
I will give you one piece of advise, tagging, take you time and do it right the first time. If you want to discuss the in's & out's of converting your CDs to MP3, PM me.
 

fitzski

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Ottawa
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Uh... hmm... Well, none...
tagging... ugh...

Definitely the most important step in getting max value out of the Phatbox (or any digital media player), especially if you have a lot of music. But it can be a tedious and time consuming chore, so a little bit at a time gets the job done - eventually.

My current fave tools are MP3 Tag and Tag & Rename.
 

cartog

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peteman said:
Is Phatbox Mac compatible?
The Phatbox is generally Mac compatible (OSX of course). There are a couple of different tools for putting your iTunes playlists onto the unit; they are getting better constantly. However, the software definitely lags the Windows side. You have much more control over manipulating the music already on the Phatnoise with Windows. If your music collection is larger than the unit holds, you might feel the software currently available for OSX is inadequate; I can't say I've explored every avenue, however.

I have an older iPod which I used for a while with the cassette-deck and FM transmitter options. I'm happy I got the Phatbox, though. It's always in the car. While the navigation with the stereo controls isn't as nice as the scrollwheel, it's definitely safer while driving. The unit will give you voice prompts to navigate by, so you don't need to take your eyes off the road.
 

jbrone

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Real cheap alternative is to buy the cassete adapter with the headphone jack and use your MP3 player. I spent $20 at Radio Shack and play my Ipod through it.

positive: sounds much better than those FM transmitters - in fact I think it is quite good

negative - the wire from the cassette needs to be routed and hidden(same issue with a hard wired Ipod adapter)
 

fitzski

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Location
Ottawa
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Uh... hmm... Well, none...
"Tagging" refers to associating each MP3 file, each song, with the appropriate metadata - song title, artist, album, track number, year, genre. In MP3 land, these are the ID2 or ID3 tags that you may see mentioned (there are others, too, but not so common).

It is from those tags that much of the power of the Phatbox is unleashed - if you want to listen to "Classic Rock", then you browse the Genres on the Phatbox (by using the stereo controls and listening to the voice prompts), select "Classic Rock" and the Phatbox will dynamically create a playlist of all songs that have the ID3.Genre tag as "Classic Rock".

Most of the effort is done for you - when you rip your music, the software will connect to an online database, search for the CD you are ripping, and download the necessary tag data - all in a matter of seconds, without you really even knowing. You still have a chance to edit the data yourself before ripping, and even after - the Music Manager software will always let you edit the tag data, so nothing is permanent.

For maximum potential, you need consistency. If you have some songs that are tagged with the ID3.Artist as "Rolling Stones", others as "The Rolling Stones", and yet others as "Rolling Stones, The", then those will all be treated as different artists on the Phatbox. If you want the Phatbox to play all Rolling Stones, it can't really do it on it's own.

Hope that helps; it comes down to just how... particular... you are about the music. Me... I'm pretty particular, and spent hours and hours properly categorizing music, correcting spelling mistakes, and just making sure things were consistent.
 

fitzski

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Oct 13, 2004
Location
Ottawa
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Uh... hmm... Well, none...
That's correct - the Phatnoise Media Manager (PMM) software performs all those functions. The other important function is the generation of "playlists": collections of songs that you create in PMM and then copy to the Phatbox when the data cartridge is connected to the computer.
 

hagar

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I'm having a problem with mine. All the music I "obtained" plays fine. Most of the cd's I ripped myself, will not play. I get a "corrupt track" voice message.
 

PD2004

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Cincy_Mike said:
I love my phatbox but my gripes are:

It likes to occasionally give me a 'No CD' message which means I have to pull-out and re-insert the cartridge in the trunk a few times. I still haven't learned the silly combination of steps required. This is pretty rare so don't let it scare you off.
There is a prior thread here that sort of deals with this. Essentially, there appears to be some headbutting between the glowplug circuit and the phatbox. The workaround is extremely simple. When you get out, turn your head unit off. Start the car first and then turn your head unit on. Since I started using this procedure, I've never had the 'No CD' message. Again, thanks to the members here for that trick.

Cincy_Mike said:
I find the music manager pretty counter-intuitive. I should probably read the manual, though. I'm a computer guy, this shouldn't be that hard to use.
It really is a poorly designed piece of software. It works. It rips your CDs. It is a real pain if you want a true mix.

Cincy_Mike said:
I leave it on Mix all the time but it seems to play songs too often to be truly random. However, this is a function of the head unit and not a fault of phatbox.
I don't use Mix. I should try that. I play according to playlists and mood. Don't know about the fault of the head unit.

Cincy_Mike said:
I despise corporate radio and (still) love the phatbox. Btw, you will need channel locks to get the connector seated (a little absurd in my opinion)
I agree. Radio is crap. I didn't need the channel locks if I remember correctly.

All in all, I like the fact that it carries a substantial amount of music (I have the 10GB version with somewhere around 1000 songs with more room) and is hidden in my trunk compartment. My interior is stock without the clutter of additional wires, etc. Looks clean and I got rid of that CD case I had to keep moving around when people rode in my passenger seat.
 

jamesandruth

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peteman said:
For hardwiring an ipod you need some cables which can cost anywhere from $35.00 (using the rear cd changer jack) to $200.00 (using the back of the factory radio).
BTW yes my ipod works after sitting at -30 in my car.
Is Phatbox Mac compatible?
You can download PhatMac here...
I think PhatMac works a lot better for Mac users. It does not replace iTunes, but compliments it nicely by transferring your iTunes music to your Phatbox DMS cartridge.
One thing it does a lot better than PMM is its treatment of "Compilation" albums. PMM sorts by artists, so the songs from these albums get spread all over the place. If you select the "Grouping" or "Composer" buttons for compilations, it will group the tracks according to that field, rather than artist. Then, you can enter the album name into the "Grouping"field, or use the "Composer" field in the same way.
Make sure the tracks are marked as "compilations" in iTunes.
Eventually I just re-ripped all my music to AAC (192kb/s) in iTunes and bought the AAC decoder from Phatnoise. That will work nicely with the ipod that you will buy eventually. Get the AAC all set up and working in the Windows PMM first. Then purge the DMS with the PMM, move to the mac and never look back!
 
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