PhatBox Digital Music System… Is it worth it?
May 8, 2006 – 12:27 am by Tim Mixell
Filed under Audio, Cool Stuff
Well… is it?
Almost a year ago, a few of us at Volksbloggin happened across a hella-deal on the PhatNoise ‘PhatBox’ DMS for the Mk IV Golf/Jetta platform vehicles. This is an item that retails for $600-700 new. We scored them for $120 bones a piece. Our guess was that there was an overstock (or they realized the flaw described below would hurt sales) and they needed to move this merch..
Well… the question remains: is the PhatBox worth the large wad of cash?
Lets start from the beginning…
Installation is relatively simple. The PhatBox module plugs directly into the same port in the back of your car as the multi-disk changer. My two major gripes with installation are that you are required to buy a separate mounting kit, and that you have to cut a hole in the access panel to allow for the front of the PhatBox to fit.
The actual “DMS” module is nothing more than a wrapper for a standard laptop hard-drive…. My guess is that if the drive were to ever crap out, you could replace it with a larger one pretty easily.
The PhatNoise Music Manager software is pretty nice… Think iTunes, but a *little* more clunky. Still, it has a lot of nice features (aside from being the only software you can use to put music on the DMS). I organized my entire MP3 collection using the PMM software because it allows you to quickly set album-level id3 tag information *and* rename files to match the id3 tag information. The interface for hooking the DMS up to the computer is a little clunky… Because the drive is a standard laptop drive, it needs a little more “oomph” than a standard USB port can provide, so the accompanying power block (which is kinda big) will take up a spot on the ole surge protector.
Now for the actual in-car experience. The nice thing about the PhatBox is that you control your music through the stock head unit. There are no other devices you have to install or use than the mount in the back of the car. So how can you manage hundreds of albums through an interface designed to handle at most six albums? Very ingeniously. When you import music to the DMS, it also saves an English translation of the album name into the DMS. As you scroll through your albums via the head unit, the PhatBox reads the name of the album to you over the speaker. It will begin playing the album, and after five seconds, it assumes you want to listen to your selection. There is a small pause in the music and a “blip” plays to confirm this. Any time before the five seconds, you can resume perusing your music. My biggest gripe with this interface, is the stock head unit only supports 99 tracks (which the PhatBox leverages when displaying album numbers). SO if you have more than 99 albums, you have to toggle between the “artist” list and the “album” list to skip from one set of 100′s to the next. Still: not a big deal.
All in all up to this point, I love the PhatNoise DMS…. Then I had to find *the* single major flaw in this product. Periodically, when you fire up your car, the PhatBox will not mount, requiring the owner to go back to the back of the car, unplug the thing and re-plug it in. This wouldnt even be a big issue if it happened with minimal frequency, but as of late, it seems to be happening every other time if fire it up. I have resorted to keeping a few CD mixes in the side of the door as a contigency.
So the question remains? Is it worth it? Not for as much as they want it new. My recommendation: if you have an iPod, invest in one of the WIRED hookups that plug into the back of the head unit and power the iPod at the same time. Otherwise, stick to burned CDs and save some $$$.
UPDATE: after perusing the PhatNoise website, I have noticed that they arent even SELLING a VW version anymore… blast!
PhatBox Digital Music System… Is it worth it?
May 8, 2006 – 12:27 am by Tim Mixell
Bad scene mang. I love the concept, but I’m glad I held off on one.
I LOVE THE PHATBOX BUT I HAVE TO GO TO THE BACK OF THE CAR EVERY SECOND DAY TO DISCONNECT AND RECONNECT IT TO GET IT TO WORK. IF ANYONE HAS SORTED THIS PROBLEM YOU MIGHT LET ME KNOW.
THANKS.
I did a firmware update, and that seemed to help a bit. I dont have to do the unplug/plug trick quite as often… You can find the documentation on the phat noise website.
I have had mine installed for 3 months and have not had the isuues with it becoming unmounted. The issues that I have had to deal with was a 1(1)self created issue when I first installed the unit and started trasfereing my cd’s to the music manager. If you have any issues with the cd drive you will get a lot of corrupts tracks some will play well others will others will play well in spots and the n slow within the same track. (2) the voice function has not worked yet to announce album names or track names.
I thought my Phatbox was one of the greatest things about my VW. Certainly my tunes were always more reliable than the car in which I enjoyed them. So I sold the car and kept the phatbox, hoping I could install it in my new vehicle. I can’t. So I have a 20gb phatbox for sale. I didn’t use the mounting kit, so I can’t provide that, but a little ingenuity should solve that problem in a fair hurry. Interested audiophiles should contact me at steinnagel@sympatico.ca and we can sort out a fair price.
Well, it didn’t take long, and someone snapped up my Phatbox. And yet, great device that it is, people are still asking about it. So I thought I’d just re-post to let the interested know that it’s been sold. I still miss it, though. Ipod integration into the Toyota is okay, but nothing beats those voice prompts and intelligent sorting methods. Best of luck to those still seeking.
I bought mine about 4yrs ago, as soon as the price hit 120 bucks. I had a problem with the conenctor snapping into the CD connector on the jetta. I had to ziptie the two together to form a tight connection. Otherwise not all 4 speakers would fire. Next issue, it says No Magazine now and then. My fix is to turn the power off on the radio, turn back on, switch to CD, hit fast forward a few times.
For some reason when it says no magazine and then switches back to radio automatically, the song is still playing. I can hear it when I try to switch to CD again. I hear the song for a split second, then No Magazine.
Doing the song and dance with the power button and fast forward button seems to work. Frustrating, but works.
Hi everyone I just bought a phatbox but unfortunatley I don’t have the media manager software to load my dms could does anyone know where I could find a copy or download ling thanks
Greetings! You might want to try the Phat Noise website:
http://www.phatnoise.com/downloads/index.aspx
If they don’t have what you need there, I would suggest perusing eBay for the software you’re looking for.
Good luck!!!
I have two VW’s and a phatbox in each. (both 20gig dms) I am a little stressed at reading these problems, but on the bright side, I have yet to experience any problems with my phatbox(s). If anybody has a reasonably priced 40gig or higher dms, let me know. It’s nice to have another dms to “play with” and still have great tunes in the car(s)
I recently purchased a 2001 VW Jetta which came equiped with the Phatbox DMS. However, since I bought it used, it did not include the docing craddle or the DMS cartridge. I was able to download the software from the Phatbox website. Unfortunately, however, they have discontinued the Phatnoise product so finding the items I need is proving rather difficult. I did a search on ebay for the missing items, but everyone seems to be selling either the Phatnose Unit (which I already have) or the complete system, which increases the price to more than I can really afford to spend. Does anyone have a cartridge and docking craddle to sell or donate out of the goodness of their heart :)? It would be so nice to listen to music from my collection instead of the crap on the radio. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Elisa email: elisaharrison@msn.com