Page 1 of 1
MP3?
Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 10:18 pm
by PhilGTi
Is there any way of having MP3 in my car without changing the origional head unit? ie multichanger or something.. not IPOD!
Phill
Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 11:10 pm
by Si_GTi
Is it the Gamma or Beta headunit? I don't know about the Beta but the Gamma in my GTi is linked up to a 6-CD changer, which could be swapped out and replaced with a VW Phatnoise unit in it's place. That would give 20GB of mp3s on a mini hard-drive which can be controlled by the OEM headunit.
The problem here is cost. The Phatnoise is about £200 to buy (the Golf boys and girls from uk-mkivs.net will be able to find you a supplier) and if you need to buy a Gamma headunit that'll be £60 or so off Ebay but possibly cheaper?
I can't advise on the Beta headunit because I've not used one so don't know if it can support a changer, but if it can be linked up to a 6-CD changer, it can be linked up to Phatnoise

Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 3:10 am
by jj86
sorry.. dont mean to hijack this!
Haven't heard of the vw phatnoise before. Does anyone have any info. experience with them? oh, and can they replace the in-dash cd changer?
Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 10:45 am
by carmadaaron
Si_GTi wrote:Is it the Gamma or Beta headunit? I don't know about the Beta but the Gamma in my GTi is linked up to a 6-CD changer, which could be swapped out and replaced with a VW Phatnoise unit in it's place. That would give 20GB of mp3s on a mini hard-drive which can be controlled by the OEM headunit.
The problem here is cost. The Phatnoise is about £200 to buy (the Golf boys and girls from uk-mkivs.net will be able to find you a supplier) and if you need to buy a Gamma headunit that'll be £60 or so off Ebay but possibly cheaper?
I can't advise on the Beta headunit because I've not used one so don't know if it can support a changer, but if it can be linked up to a 6-CD changer, it can be linked up to Phatnoise

im guessing Phil has a Beta unit, in which case itll cost quite a bit.
aftermarket is the cheaper option, and u get lots of other features.

Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 7:50 pm
by SiDaBa
You can find phatbox's / phatnoise on ebay. Different search criteria i used when looking for mine was "phatbox" "phat box" "phatnoise" "phat noise" .
I wasn't too sure whether i was going to like mine when i got it. But as soon as i managed to dock the hard disk in its cradle and listened to it in the car it's fantastic. I love the fact that it will read the artist or genre, or album or playlist you have chosen (there's probably more) out loud to you.

This is the Box it's self, the cartridge isn't presently in it but it would be in this case to the left of the box and would stick out slightly.

This is the box and how it compares to the other things in my boot. My sub is too big for the boot i feel.

This is the cartridge. Other size cartridges are available (more than 20Gb)
www.phatnoise.com I believe is the website as well
In reply to jj86. Does it replace the in dash changer. Yes in the sense that you can't use the changer with the phat noise it's one or the other. I found my self putting the cup holders back in the dash from my last polo..... I still don't understand why the hell i bought the holders..... who needs sodding 5 drinks holders in a car?

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 5:42 pm
by PhilGTi
Right, at the moment i have a Beta head unit, BUT i have a single CD head unit thingy as well (both OEM). The single CD unit has a light on it with CD changed next to it... does this mean that i could buy a phatnoise off ebay and run it through my excisting system?
Phill.