timbo

Well, IMHO, the FM transmitters are all crap, especially if you have to travel long distances. There's always a local TAB transmitter cutting into the lower frequencies, and the higher frequencies seem to have scads of commercial or ciommunity FM stattions that interfere.

Believe me, after directly connecting your iPod, you'll wonder why you ever spent $75 or what ever on the iTrip POS.

BTW, OverLOAD's custom aux-in module only costs $USD59 inc postage. It doesn't give you steering wheel control, but you can spend $70 or something on an RF remote for your iPod, such as the AirClick, and end up with almost the same functionality. OverLOAD's website

yellowrx8inoz

Thanks playa, timbo! I now agree that the FM way is pretty mediocre, after a few days of listening, but it'll have to do for now.
I've been checking out the long threads on all this too - OverLOAD's module looks like the biz for my ver 9.53 HU. I'm getting on the waitlist.
Will

itsallaboutgary

any updates or pictures yet of your install playa78?

playa78

there's been a little drama while taking the HU out...
it wasn't to do with frying it but yeah my bad...
i couldn't take the HU out for some reason and ended up breaking the board at the back while trying to force it out.. the whole radio and a/c and lights got killed..
in the end I realised that i missed one screw to right which was the problem..
while trying to take it out I also damaged fair bit of the dash with scratches from the screw driver... (even after taping it etc.. )
anyway, i'll be taking it to the dealer tomorrow to have it fixed..
just hoping i won't need to replace the whole HU..

playa78

here are some eye candies in the mean time..
u can check out more pics and pics of the red gear shift boot here.

http://spaces.msn.com/members/playa78/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaHandler=TWlj cm9zb2Z0LlNwYWNlcy5XZWIuUGFydHMuUGhvdG9BbGJ1bS5GdW xsTW9kZUNvbnRyb2xsZXI%24&_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaFolder ID=cns!1pauvFJFpO5ZPZk0KB7W750w!218&_c=PhotoAlbum& _c02_owner=1

i dunno if u can see.. if u can't, tell me and I will post a few pics later..

gateCrasher

Did you get this working yet?

timbo

playa has gone very quiet...oh dear, after all the warnings, too :o

The thing I want to know is whether playa had the same problem I had in getting the HU replaced...not in getting it replaced, but twice the wrong HU was installed

C'mon playa....you can't be any more embarrased than I was about this problem

playa78

thought I should bring this old thread back up.
sorry about the delay in response to this. I had been away abroad and had some issues with car etc.

after four visits to the dealers it has now been installed properly last week.
had various issues (damaged HU etc.) it is actually a simple matter of plugging the connector which is 2 sec job once you have the HU out.
in trying to force out the HU, it got damaged and I had no heating and music for over a month. on the first visit, they said that I need to book the car in order for them to take a closer look.
on the 2nd visit to the dealer, I left the car with them for the whole day.
at the end of the day they reported that HU needs to be replaced (duh, I told them and they saw that there wasn't any power coming thru on the first visit. I thought they would have a spare ready or at least tell me before I pick the car up) and that they needed to order it but it will be done under warranty.

the next time I went to dealer, they replaced the HU but it still had problems. the radio unit had no power and only cold air came out in this chilly Sydney winter. they said it looks like the replacement was also faulty. they said that they will try their best but could take upto two weeks to have a new unit.
I then had to go abroad for a while.

I had to take it back to dealer last week to get it sorted. they were initially thinking of charging me about $40 for install in the first visit (although it's just matter of plugging the port) but because of numerous visit I had to make, said that they will waive it off.

to cut the long story short, I am happy to report it works brilliantly!

(i am finishing up at work, so I will update this once i get home

timbo

There must be a standard Mazda operating procedure which involves not being able to replace the HU a minimum of two times!

Well, glad to hear it is now working. So, what functionality do you have? Track display? Steering wheel controls switch tracks/playlists?

sco

What's the odds the dealers didn't read the workshop manual and didn't know about the hidden bolt?

I have an Auxmod on it's way should be here next week. Will post a review once it's installed. I'll be running my CarPC into it with a hard disk full of lossless compressed audio :D

playa78

well, initially the dension logo came on the ipod (i have ipod photo 40Gb).
I had no control on the iPod during this mode where icelink controls the unit.
I thought I could control from both rx-8 and ipod but couldn't.
also, you could only play the first 5 playlists.. I was disappointed but was happy in the fact that it worked.
but then I read the manual
i had to select iPod UI mode in the option (rather tricky because you have to choose this mode from using rx-8's HU).
now I can control and select from both iPod and also skip to next song etc from rx-8.
the sound is truly great. much better than FM units I tried b4.
also, I have tried the same song from CD and also iPod.
to my amazement, it sounded better from the iPod i think it's probably because of the EQ that I can choose when I play from iPod (jazz, pop, rock mode etc) and also that it sounded more loud and strong when in same volume.

track and playlist number is displayed on the HU but it's not really accurate. but you can always check this from your iPod if you set it to iPod UI mode. skip and volume and mute all work from the steering wheel too. all in all very happy with it.
I will post some pics for viewing pleasure next week. (don't ask me why

timbo

Ah, sounds like it is a success! Would like to see pics.

Yes, I reckon the sound is better than the CD, but that may be because of the equalisation, and the volume gain which the iPod provides. I assume it is also charging your iPod?

I get a tiny bit of static which is noticeable at low volumes with car not moving, probably due to a ground loop somewhere

playa78

yes, it charges the iPod and when I turn the car off, it will power off the iPod too
i haven't noticed any static at low volume but yeah stay tuned for pics next week.

playa78

sorry for taking so long for this.
but here are some picture of how it is connected.

I have also created a .wmv movie to show you guys how it works.
it's about 6Mb, so i don't think I can upload here.
I will upload it somewhere and have it linked soon.cheers

playa78

here is the link to the video. enjoy

http://members.dodo.com.au/~sunghoon/rx-8_ipod.wmv

playa78

just one final useless info.
I can still use one cupholder to put my drink with this setup :D heheheh

timbo

Good video -- looks a nice clean set up. Can you please confirm what control integration you get?

ie:

Steering wheel -- volume up/down/mute?
Steering wheel -- next track/last track/mode?
Head unit -- play list up/play list down?

Thanks

timbo

playa78

Timbo,

you can get all those except the playlist sometimes plays up when you are in iPod UI mode.
it seems to work better when you are in Dension mode but you can't control from iPod in this mode. i'm not too sure what you mean by the steering wheel mode..
you can listen to cd's also if that what you meant.

itsallaboutgary

he meant.... can you use the rx-8 steering wheel functions with the dension? is it fully compatible. also for those waiting for the second batch of modules from www.mp3yourcar.com has anyone contacted them to see when these will come out. i just know (i called probably 3 weeks ago) this one should get rid of most (if not all) of the bugs they had with the first neo ions.

playa78

i've already mentioned that above :D
you can use all the buttons on the steering wheel to control ipod.

Slice

I have a first year RX-8 and a BOSE system - Single CD - no changer or MP3. The Headunit version is 9.5.

How do I update the HU to support (at a minimum 9.55)
Will the NEO work with BOSE.

I want to get the NANO and hook it up!

THX

playa78

i don't know what you mean by BOSE?
they are all BOSE. well, I think the HU is based on Alpine system and they give you appropriate connector which hooks at the back in the ext. cd changer port.
i don't there's any way to upgrade firmware other than to replace it in Australia but I heard there is a guy in US who do this at a fee. you should check the audio forum and do a search. btw, I am pretty sure that NANO will work with mine. I heard that NANO will ues the same docking port so all iPod accessories can be shared.

Aesculapius

Has anyone heard any of the details for the upcoming Mazda iPod support?

Cost?
Ability to install on older 8's?
Availability?

Madhops

Playa78, if you had taked your NEO to Mazda right from the start, how much would it have been to have them do the connection. I don't wanna scew with anything and risk having to fix it for more money. BTW your video was great.

Is there a factory iPod support coming for the RX-8?

playa78

madhops, I've pm'ed you on this. But just so everybody knows, they were thinking of charging me $40 Australian dollars which is about an hour of their labour charge.
It's really easy once you know how to get the HU out.
i think it's about 30min job and even less once you figure out what to do..