Phatnoise and Ferrari | FerrariChat

Phatnoise and Ferrari

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by acw, Feb 7, 2004.

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  1. acw

    acw Karting

    Nov 3, 2003
    122
    I'm considering getting a phatnoise digital media player.

    http://www.phatnoise.com/products/digitalmediaplayers/ferrari.php

    In theory, it plugs in and works out of the box with the 360 becker unit.
    If you have one, I'll be curious to know how easy or hard the installation was and how user friendly the "voice based" interface is.

    Thanks

    AW
     
  2. Bmyth-FDC

    Bmyth-FDC F1 Rookie

    Oct 4, 2002
    2,742
    Southern California
    Full Name:
    Byron
    Arnaud,
    I was thinking about buying one of their "prototype" units back in the day when they first came out... the reason I didn't is b/c for the cost (and space it takes up) you can just get a new head unit that plays digital media... Personally, I would opt for just changing out the becker unit for a higher end head unit/amp system... probably a combination of Eclipse/Alpine/McIntosh components... :)

    Btw, still searching... hehe... the right one will come!

    Byron
     
  3. thomas_b

    thomas_b Formula Junior

    Sep 15, 2003
    765
    I looked into this for my 360 Modena. The player works really nice with the Becker head unit since you can control it with the existing buttons. Disclaimer the car stereo manufacturers are changing connections constantly so some of what I say may be outdated.

    Pain starts once you want to install it. The unit does not fit into the location of the stock CD changer (size).

    My plan was to fix the unit to the side cover of the luggage compartment and use the standard wiring harness of the CD changer. However the CD changer is connected through a Sony proprietary bus, with the Becker head unit, which has its own connector.

    The Phatnoise box comes with its own cable that plugs into the back of the Becker head unit and it is an easy installation from there. However I did not want to rout the cable from the luggage to the passage compartment. I am not even sure that this can be done since the cable is pretty thick and has large connectors at the end.

    The Phatnoise box uses a special computer connector (which is hard to get). I fabricated a short adapter cable that had the computer connector on one side and the Sony connector on the other. I was able to run the Phatnoise box with the stock wiring harness.

    At that point I exchanged the Modena with a Stradale so I never installed the Phatnoise box for real and there is no need for music in the CS (besides you would not hear anything anyhow).

    From my limited experience the box seemed to work and sound pretty good. I suggest to install it under the dash or passenger seat in the 360 and use the supplied cable.
     
  4. Doody

    Doody F1 Veteran

    Nov 16, 2001
    6,099
    MA USA
    Full Name:
    Mr. Doody
    could the phatnoise unit fit inside the 550's glove box?

    i've long been interested in these things, but have yet to pull the trigger.

    doody.
     
  5. acw

    acw Karting

    Nov 3, 2003
    122
    Thomas,

    Thanks a lot for the info. My car does not have a changer so room won't be an issue. However, I'll have the same problem to rout the cable... I'll probably buy one.

    AW
     
  6. thomas_b

    thomas_b Formula Junior

    Sep 15, 2003
    765

    you have to have at min. 10 1/2 inch. depth for the box plus the hard drive cartridge part that sticks out and the stupid computer connector - width is 9 inch. and height is 2 ½ inch. which should not cause any problems – you could try to install eth unit sideways but you need at min. 6inch clearance to get the cartridge out (i.e. 16 ½ inch in total)
     

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