[adrian.warren]

My Christmas present for 2004 was a 2005 S4, my first Audi, what a car!!

I ordered it with satellite radio (XM) unimpressed so far, although I think the antenna may be defective as it keeps losing signal.

What I really want to do is add a trunk mounted hard drive based MP3 player. I intended to add the Phatbox unit, I was unaware until after delivery of the car that, you lose the sat radio if you do. After some of the bad stories I’ve read about the unit, I did some checking on the net and came up with a unit from MPTronix (www.mptronix.com) that can work with a BlueTooth PDA which means there’s no need for any surgery inside the car or cables.

I want to keep the XM seeing as I paid good cash for it and I’m sure I’ll like it after the antenna’s fixed. Has anyone tried anything like this?

From what I understand you need to unplug the sat feed and replace it with the audio from the MP3 player, does anyone know of an A/B switch that will allow me to select sat or Aux input (MP3). I really don’t want to suffer with an FM modulator as they’re never that good.

Thanks for any input

 

[bhb399mm]

Originally posted by adrian.warren+Jan 19 2005, 08:41 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adrian.warren @ Jan 19 2005, 08:41 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>My Christmas present for 2004 was a 2005 S4, my first Audi, what a car!!   

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[/b]

not a bad xmas present.. i see you live in LA.. what dealer did you get it from? also.. what color/packages did you get?

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2005, 08:41 PM
From what I understand you need to unplug the sat feed and replace it with the audio from the MP3 player

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the sat radio interface is probably where the phatbox would go

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2005, 08:41 PM
does anyone know of an A/B switch that will allow me to select sat or Aux input (MP3)

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there are switches available to switch between RCA inputs, however, both the phatbox and the sat radio have one plug harnesses connecting to the radio. you would need to locate the L/R audio input wires on both devices and convert them to RCA plugs THEN find a way to splice the A/B switch back into the wire harness.

the problem you run into is, both harnesses have different functions that need to be interfaced with the head unit. the A/B switch would need to accommodate all of these functions (satellite input, mp3 song change, ect). There is no such device available

<!--QuoteBegin-adrian.warren@Jan 19 2005, 08:41 PM
I really don’t want to suffer with an FM modulator as they’re never that good.

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[/quote]

true.. they are terrible

 

[adrian.warren]

not a bad xmas present.. i see you live in LA.. what dealer did you get it from? also.. what color/packages did you get?

I bought it through carsdirect.com (in 15 minutes) the dealer was Commonwealth VW Audi in Santa Ana (they delivered it to my house).

It's a red with tiptronic Premium Package/Premium Audio(XM) heated seats, power shades.

the problem you run into is, both harnesses have different functions that need to be interfaced with the head unit. the A/B switch would need to accommodate all of these functions (satellite input, mp3 song change, ect). There is no such device available
true.. they are terrible

I was hoping that either an adapter existed or someone had a wiring diagram so that my installer could custom build something.

 

[bhb399mm]

try this

[attachmentid=241]

 

[bhb399mm]

by the way.. where did you hear that phatbox and sat radio cant be used together? i was under the impression that phatbox interfaced with the CD changer harness and sat radio uses the can-bus harness?

 

[adrian.warren]

Originally posted by bhb399mm@Jan 20 2005, 01:01 PM
try this

[attachmentid=241]

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Thanks I'll pass it on to my installer

 

[adrian.warren]

Originally posted by bhb399mm@Jan 20 2005, 01:05 PM
by the way.. where did you hear that phatbox and sat radio cant be used together? i was under the impression that phatbox interfaced with the CD changer harness and sat radio uses the can-bus harness?

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Deep in Audi's web site Audi Collection

 

[bhb399mm]

okay.. phatbox and sat radio do do use separate cables, but there is only one aux input on the head unit - bad design. people have integrated both, however it is apparently a wiring nightmare and will most likely void whatever warranty the audio equipment has

audi has been promising a cable to accommodate both for some time now. apparently it'll be out by july. might want to wait and see what they come up with before your installer butchers the wiring harnesses

 

[adrian.warren]

Originally posted by bhb399mm@Jan 21 2005, 03:24 PM
okay.. phatbox and sat radio do do use separate cables, but there is only one aux input on the head unit - bad design. people have integrated both, however it is apparently a wiring nightmare and will most likely void whatever warranty the audio equipment has

audi has been promising a cable to accommodate both for some time now. apparently it'll be out by july. might want to wait and see what they come up with before your installer butchers the wiring harnesses

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Thanks for the input. How firm a date is July? How does one find out when/if it will be available?

 

[bhb399mm]

i would say its not very firm at all.. they've given several dates as to when it'll be available.. i'd ask your dealer if they've heard anything.

 

[Scott]

Stupid question (my specialty). Does your car stereo by chance have a cassette player? My A4 does. I purchased a cassette adaptor into which I can plug my MP3 player (iPod). The sound is surprisingly good! I now rarely - - if ever - - use the CD changer.......................

 

[adrian.warren]

There're no stupid questions......only stupid answers!!!

I have a cassette adapter (have had for a long time) that I plug my porrtable MP3 in to, however, I'm looking for a solution that will allow me to use a trunk mounted unit with 100GB capacity.

Also, the quality of the cassette adapter although acceptable is no where near the quality of a direct Aux-in, especially when playing MP3's encoded at 320bps

 

[milo]

If forced to choose between the lesser of 2 evils (FM modulator or cassette adaptor) to connect an MP3 player, which would you choose?

BTW, I don't understand why the CD changer in my 2005 Audi A4 won't read MP3 files burned to a CD. I have a 3 year old Pioneer unit in my other car which reads them. Or am I writing the files incorrectly?

 

[netcat72]

Does anyone have an update on this? I have a Sirius unit installed in my 2004 A6. I don't want to butcher the wire harness. My dealer said they would do it for 4 hours of shop time. ($115/hr) I don't want this. I'd rather buy something after market. Any updats on this? I really want to get my Phatbox going with my sat.

 

[kazyee]

go with an eclipse avn head unit... its more power ful i have it in my whip and love it