Trying to set up a Phatbox group buy [Archive] - bimmerfest

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sshuit

06-27-2003, 02:31 PM

Is there any interest in one of these at all?

For those of you who are not aware, the phatbox is a CD changer substitue which holds 20/40/60 gigs of MP3's , WMA, or VOB's which continues to use the CD changer interface and controls.

I'm contacting Phatnoise and seeing if we can organize a GB. Works will most BMW's although some 5's with DSP need a special kit .

www.phatnoise.com

Post here if interested.

ucbsupafly

06-27-2003, 04:02 PM

I am interested if the price is right. $859 is a lot of $$ to spend on a mp3 player...

·clyde·

06-27-2003, 06:25 PM

Originally posted by ucbsupafly
I am interested if the price is right. $859 is a lot of $$ to spend on a mp3 player...

It's a lot more than just any ordinary mp3 player. Can you name one other mp3 player that you can install in your BMW that integrates seamlessly with the OEM headunit and utilizes the steering wheel controls; has nearly infinite playlist options; dynamic playlist generation; voice navigation via artist, album, genre and playlist; an announce mode and holds 20GB worth of music (40 or 60GB optional for additional cost)?

I don't disagree that $859 is pricey, but there is nothing else like it available today. I'm a cheap bastard and I haven't regretting spending the money on it in the year (nearly) that I've had mine.

sshuit

06-27-2003, 07:23 PM

Way to tell 'em clyde!

Plus keep in mind the money you save on the stock CD changer in the equation... what's the 6 disc go for.... 400$? 500?

So the upgrade to a phatbox is REALLY only 3-400$ :D

ucbsupafly

06-30-2003, 03:45 PM

Well, I am sure the phatbox is unlike any other MP3 player made for BMW, but it is still, just a hard drive w/ a processor that's dedicated to playing and sorting mp3s. You can get a very decent computer for $859.

A brand new OEM CD changer or an aftermarket mp3 cd changer can be had for $350-400, so spending an extra $500 on a device that does the same thing is hard to justify.

Anyway, with that said, any word on the GB? I am a sucker for new gadgets and would love to give Phatbox a try if the price is right! :bigpimp:

Terry Kennedy

06-30-2003, 10:16 PM

Originally posted by ucbsupafly
Well, I am sure the phatbox is unlike any other MP3 player made for BMW, but it is still, just a hard drive w/ a processor that's dedicated to playing and sorting mp3s. You can get a very decent computer for $859.Well, it has all of the software written and working (excellent in the case of the player, pretty good in the case of the "music manager" that loads the music from your PC). Also, it is quite well-constructed and ruggedized (I've been driving one around in NYC and the surrounding areas and I haven't had a skip yet, despite potholes and washboard road surfaces).

I could build a box to do this and code the software, but why would I bother when it is already well put-together?
A brand new OEM CD changer or an aftermarket mp3 cd changer can be had for $350-400, so spending an extra $500 on a device that does the same thing is hard to justify.I'm rolling around in my BMW with 1923 CDs (on 3 60GB Phatbox DMS cartridges). It'd fit on fewer if I wasn't obsessive about quality. I think that is a bit beyond a MP3 CD changer :D.

Nick325xiT 5spd

06-30-2003, 10:30 PM

·clyde·

07-01-2003, 05:29 AM

Originally posted by Terry Kennedy
I'm rolling around in my BMW with 1923 CDs (on 3 60GB Phatbox DMS cartridges). It'd fit on fewer if I wasn't obsessive about quality. I think that is a bit beyond a MP3 CD changer :D.

Capacity is another strong suit over an MP3 CD changer, but if you're so obsessed with quality, why are you using MP3s when you could be using FLAC? :confused:

And that points out another advantage of the PB over MP3 CD changers...an ever growing list of supported formats. :thumbup:

·clyde·

07-01-2003, 05:51 AM

Originally posted by DougDogs
:clap: :clap: :clap: I consider myself a "little" obsessed with sound quality, and have always wondered why people want to bother with MP3 in the car (or any other place)

Some of us can't really hear the difference. Most of the rest of us could probably hear the difference in A-B tests if someone pointed it out, but still wouldn't care.

Nick325xiT 5spd

07-01-2003, 05:56 AM

I can hear the difference at home, not in the car. (Although at home they sound pretty decent now that I'm outputting through TOSlink into my DAC... It's amazing how much better things sound when you don't have a $2 sound card doing D/A conversion.)

And there's no way in hell anyone can hear the difference with Azenis Sports mounted. :angel: The only way to describe those things is wheel bearing failure loud.

·clyde·

07-01-2003, 05:58 AM

Originally posted by Nick325xiT 5spd
And there's no way in hell anyone can hear the difference with Azenis Sports mounted. :angel: The only way to describe those things is wheel bearing failure loud.

:confused: :dunno:

One more thing in an ever growing list of items where my car is superior to yours, I suppose. :tsk: :bigpimp:

Terry Kennedy

07-01-2003, 01:25 PM

Originally posted by ·clyde·
Capacity is another strong suit over an MP3 CD changer, but if you're so obsessed with quality, why are you using MP3s when you could be using FLAC? :confused:Because the files wouldn't fit on any reasonable number of DMS cartridges using any of the lossless codecs. Currently, these 1923 CDs have a total of 1,083GB (1.08 terabyte) of file data. The FLAC comparison chart (http://flac.sourceforge.net/comparison.html) says that FLAC will achieve slightly better than 50% compression (.5297). Even if I hand-tuned each CD track and got the files down to 40%, that is still 434GB, or 8 DMS cartridges.

Besides, I already had the entire music collection converted to 192/VBR MP3 format. It is nice to be able to listen to my entire music collection wherever I am, as long as there's a broadband Internet connection. Full bitrate CD audio is about T1-rate (a T1 is 1536Kbit/sec, a CD is 1412Kbit/sec). At 50% compression, FLAC would need a connection of about 768Kbit/sec or timeouts for buffering, so FLAC doesn't seem suitable for playing over most broadband connections anyway.

Lastly, a car is not the ideal place to listen to music. Compared to a dedicated home sound system it has smaller speakers located more where it is convenient to the vehicle manufacturer as opposed to "ideal" locations, it has high ambient noise, and requires the driver to pay attention to other things (hopefully!) besides the music.

ucbsupafly

07-01-2003, 01:36 PM

Try to stay on topic guys... Any word on the group buy pricing???

sshuit

07-01-2003, 06:02 PM

Contacted phatbox, no reply yet....

ucbsupafly

07-03-2003, 08:35 PM

Originally posted by sshuit
Contacted phatbox, no reply yet....

How about their dealers? Like Bavarian Autosport?

sshuit

07-05-2003, 09:28 AM

I can try to contact Bav Auto, hoewever with more middlemen I'm sure the price will be higher. :-(

How about their dealers? Like Bavarian Autosport?

·clyde·

07-05-2003, 11:34 AM

Honestly, I don't think that you will get anywhere with Phatnoise directly and Bav Auto maybe be a much better chance. :dunno:

·clyde·

07-25-2003, 07:20 AM

I got an email the other day from Phatnoise. They are running a sale through the end of July. $100 off Phatboxes and 20% off all accessories.

mquetel

07-25-2003, 07:26 AM

I got an email the other day from Phatnoise. They are running a sale through the end of July. $100 off Phatboxes and 20% off all accessories.

What he said.

Here is the actual content of the email I got from Phatnoise:

We're on a roll! PhatNoise is moving into our new office this week, and we want to share the excitement with you. Enjoy "On the Move" deals now through July 31, 2003: $100 savings on all PhatBox systems, and 20% off all accessories. We appreciate your business and your patience as we get settled in our new space, and we will do our best to keep shipping delays to a minimum in the process. Have fun, and thanks!

The PhatNoise Team
http://www.phatnoise.com

Skrill

08-05-2003, 05:25 PM

I am interested in getting a PhatBox. I have an '04 M3 on order, and would love to get hooked up with the PhatBox in lieu of a CD Changer.
:thumbup: :thumbup:

Thanks

sshuit

08-08-2003, 08:49 PM

SergioK

08-09-2003, 11:37 AM

I'm not getting anywhere with contacting Phatbox.....

I think for now we should consider the GB dead.

If anyone else manages to get in touch with someone at Phatbox or one of their distributors, feel free to take it over.

For about half the price (including the adapter) couldn't this (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-9HvddK4GXWH/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?i=500CHAS634) simply perform the same function as teh phatbox? :dunno:

·clyde·

08-09-2003, 01:41 PM

mquetel

08-09-2003, 03:07 PM

For about half the price (including the adapter) couldn't this (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-9HvddK4GXWH/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?i=500CHAS634) simply perform the same function as teh phatbox? :dunno:

Sure it will play MP3s, but the phatbox has the big advantage of having a voice synthesized navigation system that works with the steering wheel controls. Essentially the phatbox talks to you, indicating album, artist etc. You never need to look away from the road to effectively navigate the contents of your music collection.

Also, I think burning MP3s to CD is sort of a pain in the @ss. :thumbdwn:

Terry Kennedy

08-09-2003, 05:13 PM

I'm not getting anywhere with contacting Phatbox.....

I think for now we should consider the GB dead.There aren't a lot of people there, and their main focus seems to be producing OEM units for folks like Kenwood. Plus, they are in the middle of a major development push right now.

I'd suggest posting in the PhatNoise Forum (http://www.phatnoise.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=6) and seeing if you get a response from one of the PhatNoise folks there. It would be good to find out how many units your GB might involve first, so you can mention a number. Be sure to include an email address to contact you (their forums default to no PM/no email), since for obvious reasons PhatNoise won't talk to you about a lower price in a forum where their existing customers (who paid list price) hang out :D

mquetel

08-09-2003, 05:20 PM

There aren't a lot of people there, and their main focus seems to be producing OEM units for folks like Kenwood. Plus, they are in the middle of a major development push right now.

I'd suggest posting in the PhatNoise Forum (http://www.phatnoise.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=6) and seeing if you get a response from one of the PhatNoise folks there. It would be good to find out how many units your GB might involve first, so you can mention a number. Be sure to include an email address to contact you (their forums default to no PM/no email), since for obvious reasons PhatNoise won't talk to you about a lower price in a forum where their existing customers (who paid list price) hang out :D

That's good advice...

I was planning to hold off on any additional purchases, but what the heck- consider me interested in a GB if you can get Phatnoise to play ball. :)