PhatNoise Car Audio System manual

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Table of Contents GETTING STARTED ....................................................................................... 4 Four steps to a quick st art ....................................................................................... 5 System Componen ts ........................................................................................[...]

Gracenote is CDDB, Inc. d/b/a "Gracenote." CD and music-related data from Gracenote CDDB® Music Recognition Service SM © 2000, 2001, 2002 Gracenote. Gracenote CD DB Client Software © 2000, 2001, 2002 Gracenote. U.S. Patents Numbers #5,987,525; #6,061, 680; #6,154,773, and other patents i ssued or pending. CDDB is a registered trademark[...]

Getting Started The PhatNoise Car Audio System is one of the most advanced digital automotive music systems available today. By offering one-touch access to a virtually unlimited numbe r of MP3s, WMAs and other music files, it provides music lovers the ultimate in power and flexibility through its seamless automotive integration. Page 4 PhatNoise C[...]

Four steps to a quick start This manual contains step-by-step instructions for the operation of your PhatNoise Car Audio System. Here is a quick overview of the four major steps: Step 1) Installing the PhatBox in your car. For more information on how to install the PhatBox in your car, see section I. Step 2) Installing the PhatNoise Music Manager s[...]

System Components Please check to make sure your PhatNoise Car Audio System package is complete. You should have received all of the following parts: 1 PhatBox 1 PhatBox connector cable 1 DMS cartridge 1 USB cradle with attached USB cable 1 USB cradle power adapter 1 PhatNoise Music Manager software CD-ROM PhatBox PhatBox connector cable DMS Cartri[...]

USB Cradle power adapter PhatNoise Music Manager software CD-ROM Mounting Screws Manuals and Guides There are two manuals that are included with your package – these manuals provide essential informat ion for installing and using your PhatBox. PhatNoise Car Audio System User’s Manual – This manual, a general guide for installing and troublesh[...]

PhatBox Overview The PhatBox chassis is the “brain” of the PhatNoise Car Audio System. It is a computer that you install permanently in your vehicle. The PhatBox software and the music file s themselves are contained on the cartridge that is inserted into the PhatBox. ! Note: Please refer to the includ ed Quick Start Guide for detailed connecti[...]

DMS Cartridge Overview The DMS cartridge is what makes the PhatBox flexible. Just like a computer hard drive, its huge st orage capacity can accommodate thousands of music files. When inserting the DMS Cartridge in to the PhatBox, make sure the cartridge slides all the way in until th e latches click. Press the release button whenever pulling the d[...]

USB Cradle Overview The USB cradle plugs into the USB port in the back of your computer. Inserting the DMS cartridge into the USB cradle allows your computer to download and store music files in your DMS cartridge. This cradle is USB 2.0 compatible for fast transfer speeds. It is highly recommended that you use your USB cradle with a high- speed US[...]

Safety and Handling Precautions Do not install the Pha tBox on the rear de ck of a car where it will be subjected to direct sunlight and high temperature s. Do not install the Pha tBox where it will be subje cted to hot air from the heater or any other high-temperature location. Do not install th e PhatBox wher e you cannot firm ly secure the unit,[...]

Section I: Installation Guide For your convenience, the PhatBox has already been configured for your head unit. For the PhatBox to reco gnize this configuration, you must insert the DMS cartridge int o the PhatBox, prior to installation. ! If you have no experience inst alling car audio equipment, we recommend you go to a professi onal installer fo[...]

Mounting Clearance You must leave the front of the PhatBox unobstructed to allow the DMS cartridge to be removed from the DMS cartridge slot. The PhatBox cable needs at least 3 inches of clearance to keep the cables from straining or bending un necessarily. Please keep this in mind when choosing a mounting location. Connecting the PhatBox to your h[...]

Once you have made all the conne ctions and the PhatBox does not begin playing back, please check the front lights for the following: No lights come on at all: Possible Cause Solution The PhatBox connector cable and/or head unit wiring harnes s is connected incorrectly. Reconnect the PhatBox connector cable and/or head unit wi ring harness correctl[...]

Section II: Setting up at Home Installing the PhatNoise Music Manager software The PhatNoise Music Manager software is included on the CD found in your package. You can use the software to create and manage playlists of MP3s, WM A and WAV files. ! You must install the PhatNoise Music Manager software on your computer before you connect the USB crad[...]

6. When the installation is fini shed, the setup program will ask you to reboot the computer. 7. Once rebooted, plug the power connector into the USB cradle. Make sure the other end of the power cable is plugged into a wall outlet before connecting the USB cradle to your computer. 8. Connect the USB cradle to a USB port on your PC. (We recommend th[...]

11. Let the Autoplay feature finish. 12. Next, dialog boxes will appe ar for two new drives, labeled PHTDTA and PHTSYS: Page 17 PhatNoise Car Audio Sy stem User Manu al 1302-MAN Copyright 2003 PhatNoise Inc.[...]

13. For each dialog box, sele ct “Take No Action” and check “Always do the selected Action”, then Click “OK”. 14. Your DMS is ready! ! If you have USB 2.0 ports installed on your machine, but the cradle is plugged into a USB 1.0 port, Windows XP will give the warning below. To solve this, plug the cradle into a USB 2.0 port. Page 18 Pha[...]

Section III: Creating and Managing Playlists ! This section of the instruction manual serves to introduce the core features of the PhatNois e Music Manager software. To explore all the features of the software, press F1 while the Music Manager is running MP3 Files and ID3 Tags The PhatNoise Music Manager software allows you to organize, play, and c[...]

o Double-click the PhatNoise Music Manager icon on your desktop. o Click “Start”, select “Program Files”, and select the PhatNoise Music Manager icon. 2. You will see the Music Manage r splash screen, then the “Load Songs” screen will appear. 3. Choose a location on your co mputer that contains songs you wish to load into the PhatNoise [...]

Converting an Audio CD to computer files The CD Encoder view allows you to create MP3 files from your CDs. 1. Switch to the CD Encoder vi ew by pressing this button: 2. Insert the CD into the computer. Press the Load CD button. 3. If the computer is connected to the Internet, the songs names will appear next to the track number as follows: 4. If yo[...]

5. Edit the “Artist”, “Title”, “Genre ”, and “Year” information if it is missing or incorrect. 6. Choose the tracks to enco de using the checkboxes. 7. Choose the file format to encode. 8. Choose the bitrate of the file to be created. We recommend the MP3 format at 192kbps for the best combination of sound quality and file size. 9. [...]

Finding Music First, display the library of music you have loaded into the Music Manager. Click on the Library View button: The Library view appears: Page 23 PhatNoise Car Audio Sy stem User Manu al 1302-MAN Copyright 2003 PhatNoise Inc.[...]

There are many ways of finding music with the PhatNoise Music Manager. Here are a few you may find useful: Search Box: Type artist, album, genre, pa th, or filename information into the search box and view the results below. Browse View: Click the browse view button to see a breakdown of your music library by Artist and Album. Hint : Right click on[...]

Media Explorer: Open the Media Explorer tree to see where your music is located. This display mi rrors how your music is stored on your computer. Creating Playlists A playlist is a collection of songs. It can simply be a collection of songs you choose ( static ) or a playlist based on criteria ( dynamic ). Adding songs to a static playlist 1. Click[...]

3. Find the songs you wish to in clude in the playlist, and then highlight the desired songs. 4. Drag the desired songs into your playlist. Adding songs to a dynamic playlist 1. Click the Create playlist button. Enter a name for this playlist, choose Dynamic Playlist , then press Ok 2. The playlist properties window will automatically appear. 3. To[...]

4. Each time you select a playlist in the PhatNoise Music Manager software, the list of criter ia in that playlist is checked against the MP3 collection on your PC's hard drive. All songs that match the criteria are automatically added to your dynamic playlist. Accessing the DMS Cartridge 1. Insert the DMS cartridge into the USB cradle. The LE[...]

The Device view is organized in two parts: • The PhatNoise Music Manager Playlist and Windows Explorer panels • The All Supported Devices panels 4. Activate the PhatNoise DMS cartridge by clicking PhatNoise DMS in the All Supported Devices panel. When the DMS cartridge is connected properly, a summary screen appears with a red GO button. If a b[...]

1. Find the base folder where all your encoded CDs are located using the Media Explorer . In this example, it is under C:My Music: 2. Drag the Folder onto the bottom left space of the window to create a “virtual” Disc 1 . On the bottom right you can see the music contained in this Disc (see next page). Page 29 PhatNoise Car Audio Sy stem User [...]

You can also browse this content in the car by Album, Artist, and Genre; no further setup is necessary to do this. Skip to the next section titled ‘Eje cting the DMS’ to begin copying your music to the DMS cartridge. Playlist Based: If you like to create custom mixes of music , follow these steps: 1. Select All Songs , then choose the songs you[...]

2. Drag the selected songs onto the bottom left space of the window to create a “virtual” Disc of these songs. Page 31 PhatNoise Car Audio Sy stem User Manu al 1302-MAN Copyright 2003 PhatNoise Inc.[...]

3. Give the Disc a name by select ing the disc twice – this name will be read aloud to you in the car when you play this disc. 4. You can also directl y drag a playlist you created earlier, listed under All Playlists , onto the DMS. These virtual discs are now available in the car with the same names and numbering using the Playlist mode. Ejectin[...]

Syncing Music The PhatNoise Music Manager has a on e-click synchronization feature. This allows you to easily update the DMS cartridge with new music you may have. In the Device view, a yellow star next to the Disc icon denotes a dynamic playlist . This playlist is set to find songs that match certain criteria. In the example below, the “My Music[...]

Section IV: Operating the PhatBox The PhatBox is controlled through th e CD changer controls of your existing car stereo head unit. ! The PhatBox operates differ ently than a standard CD Changer! Please read the instructions below carefully to learn how to properly use the PhatNoise Car Audio system. Becuase every radio is designed differently, ple[...]

Using SSA The SSA interface mirrors the music organization performed by the PhatNoise Music Manager on your home PC. You can access the Virtual Discs in the order you placed them onto the DMS cartridge via the Playlist Mode , or you can have the PhatBox sort the music by Album , Artist , or Genre via the corresponding playback modes. Playback Modes[...]

Mode 6 is Features Mode In the Feature mode you can set special features and options of the PhatBox. The Track up/down butto ns change the feature to be selected . To make a selection, press the SCAN or Fast Forward button. A voice will describe the fe atures that can be activated. To learn how to access each of the modes using your particular radi[...]

Playback Example Our current song playing is “Love my way” by Beth Jones. This song has the following ID3 tag information: Playlist Album Artist Genre My Music The Best of Beth Jones Beth Jones Rock Looking at all the 4 lists on the PhatBox, you can see this particular song’s location in each list from the arrows illustrated below. The Active[...]

Now the next song we will hear is of the Rock genre. Since we are not changing the genre, the current song will continue until it is finished playing. If we were to change genres to Blues, then the first Blues song would begin playing. Other Notes Voice Prompting When changing modes, the PhatBox will announce which mode it is entering. This will he[...]

To alleviate this, the SSA album mode sorts by artist first, then alphabetically sorts by album name. Our example now looks like this: Artist Name Album Number Album Name Beth Jones 1 The Best of Beth Jon es Blender 2 Beats and Rhymes Blender 3 Straight Up DJ Freddy 4 Mix It Up Express Mail 5 This is Express Grand Prix 6 Award Time! Mobile Army 7 D[...]

Appendix A: Updating the Firmware in your PhatBox Your PhatBox has firmware programme d inside of it. It has already been setup at the factory to work with your car stereo head unit. PhatNoise periodically releases update s to the firmware in order to fix problems or to provide feature u pgrades. A notice of firmware updates may appear on the PhatN[...]

4. Click the text PhatNoise DMS and then press the “ GO” button. 5. Press the Hardware Options button. Page 41 PhatNoise Car Audio Sy stem User Manu al 1302-MAN Copyright 2003 PhatNoise Inc.[...]

6. If you have the Ford/Visteon MACH MP3 Jukebox, make sure the ‘Installed Product’ is the MACH MP3 Jukebox. Otherwise, ‘Installed Product’ should be PhatNoise Car Audio System. Press the Start Wizard button to begin the update process. Page 42 PhatNoise Car Audio Sy stem User Manu al 1302-MAN Copyright 2003 PhatNoise Inc.[...]

7. The wizard will begin. Press Next to skip the introductory screen. Page 43 PhatNoise Car Audio Sy stem User Manu al 1302-MAN Copyright 2003 PhatNoise Inc.[...]

8. Press the Check for Updates from PhatNoise Website button to load the latest set of head unit firmware available for download. NOTE: if the Version number of the firmware package is higher than the version number in your “Current Setup,” it is newer firmware. Left click on the firmware package you want to download (there may be only one). Pa[...]

9. Press the Next button . The window will display information about this particular version of firmware. 10. Press the Next button one more time. This screen summarizes the options you have chosen. Press Update PhatNoise DMS when you are done, and the firmwa re will then be downloaded to your DMS Cartridge. ! Make sure you are choosin g the correc[...]

After completing these steps, your DMS cartridge is set to reprogra m the PhatBox with the firmware you just downloaded. Now the PhatBox can be updated using the following steps: 12. While your car radio is off, insert the DMS cartridge into your PhatBox. 13. Turn on the radio and verify that the PhatBox powers on (the green light begins to blink).[...]

Appendix B: Troubleshooting Note: For the latest support i nfo rmation, please check the PhatNoise website and support sections: http://www.phatnoise.com http://www.phatnoise.com/support When Installing the PhatBox: Problem Cause/Solution No lights come on at all. The PhatBox connector cable and/or head unit wiring harness is connected incorrectly.[...]

The DMS cartridge is not fully inserted. Fully insert the DMS cartridge. Or, File(s) on your cartridge may be c orrupt. Run the PhatNoise DMS Doctor on yo ur computer and fol low the recommendations. The radio displays NO CD. No playlists were found on the DMS cartridge. Please place playlists on the DMS cartridge using the PhatNoise Music Manager.[...]

playback mode changes a brief mute in sound may occur. This is normal and a property of the radio. 3. Check to see if you are you using the latest firmware and desktop software. This is very important, as software is updated frequently. 4. Sometimes a heavily fragmented cartridge can skip due to increased seek times. Defragment the cartridge for be[...]

proper USB support. - The USB interface has been disabled in the system settings or in the motherboard BIOS. Voice prompts are missing in the car Check your voice prompt settings: 1. Insert the DMS. 2. Open the Device view and select the DMS. 3. Press the Hardware Options button. 4. Open the DMS Database/Voice Promp ts tab and click Fix Voice Promp[...]

Appendix C: Important Safety and Handling Instructions FCC WARNING This equipme nt may generat e or use radio f requency ene rgy. Changes or modifications to this equipme nt may cause harmful interference unle ss the modifications are expressly approved in the instruction manual. The user could use the authority to operate this equipment if an unau[...]

Digital Media Storage Cartridge Precautions 1. Do not remove the DMS Cartridge from the PhatBox Player unless the PhatBox Player is turned off. 2. Do not remove the DMS Cartridge from the USB Cradle until downloading is complete. 3. Do not leave the DM S Cartridge in locations with high temp eratures and high humidity, such as on a car dash bo ard [...]

Appendix D: Using Audible content with your PhatNoise Car Audio System Introduction Audible is a huge collection of a udio pr ogramming delivered digitally over the Internet, anywhere, anytime. At audible.com, you can choose from over 4,500 audiobooks and 14,000 other aud io programs. You c an download those programs to yo ur computer and li sten i[...]

3. When you click the " All Audible Content " lin k for the first time you will be presented with the fo llowing dialog box: The Audible User Name Entry dialog box gives you th e following three options: Welcome - Tell Me More! Click the Tell Me More! Button to get more informa tion about audible.com Existing Users - Click Here! Click the[...]

Enter your audible.com userna me and password. Then pre ss the OK button. A dialog box w ill appear askin g if you woul d like to synchroni ze your subscriptions with th e Audible.com servers. We recom mend y ou pre ss the Yes button. New Users - Click Here! Click the New Users Click Here! Button t o create a new audible.com account and take advant[...]

You will be taken to the new us er signup page at audible.com. Please follow the instructions o n the site. Once you have registered at the audible.com site, return back to the PhatNoise Music Manager. Now that you are a registered audible.com user, click the Existing Users - Click Here! button and follow the steps explained above. Once your audibl[...]

3. Click on the " PhatNoise DMS " text un der the All Supported Devices panel 4. Click on the red GO button 5. On the top portion of the Device view click on the " All Audible Content " text in the Playli st panel 6. Drag an audible file to a DMS dis c Page 57 PhatNoise Car Audio Sy stem User Manu al 1302-MAN Copyright 2003 Phat[...]

You will notice that the Audible f ile will be added, an d each section break will correspond to a track on the PhatNoise DMS. Assigning a track to each index point is meant to assist you in finding your place in longer audiobooks and/or periodicals. Dynamic Audible Subscription Discs It is possible to create discs tha t will automatically u pdate [...]

2. Choose " Audible Subscriptions " from the "Create From" drop down list. 3. Select one or more Audible su bscriptions and click one of th e Create buttons 4. You will then be asked if you 'd like to include all of the issues of the subscription, or only the most recent issue. C lick yes or no as desired. Page 59 PhatNoise[...]

To update the Audible Subscription Discs Discs will automatically be updated when you click the Sync DMS button. Saving Your Changes When you have finished organizing your Audible content, click th e SAVE/EJECT DMS button. Playing Audible content in your car A playlist with Audible content on it will auto-resume. The Auto-resume feature allows the [...]

Appendix E: Contacting PhatNoise Support Need help? What goes where, comp atibility, and troubleshooting? First, check our Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.phatnoise.com/support/faq/ If you can’t find the answer to your question there, please feel free to contact us at: Web/Email: http://www.phatnoise.com/support Phone: 310-954-3650 Call ce[...]