Phat Noise
Expanding Your Musical CapacityOn paper, PhatNoise fits all of my requirements: it integrates into the stock head unit, is easy to install, and it has removable media and the ability to contain my music catalog. For those who have a CD changer, the installation process is very simple: remove two screws at the top of the protective case, slide out the CD changer, remove the CD carrier, remove CDs, replace carrier, and unplug CD changer. The two brackets attached to the CD changer are reused and mounted to the PhatNoise housing.
To install the PhatNoise system, attach the adapter cable to PhatNoise, insert the DMS (Digital Music Storage) cartridge, attach the adapter cable to the existing CD harness (making sure the cable connector fits in the protective hanger), wait a few seconds until the lights go out, turn on the car's power, switch the audio system into CD mode, and start playing music.
The power of PhatNoise is not only in the hardware, it's in the software. It comes bundled with a CD and Music Manager software that prepares and catalogs audio files from your CD collection. If your computer has an Internet connection, Phat Noise can even download the CD artist/track data from Gracenote CDDB database. This saves you the time of entering the track information, which is later used to create playlists.
The playlists are presented to the user via a computer-generated voice, which tells you the mode of operation you're using (browse, artist, genre, etc.) and the current CD followed by titles. Once you're in a playing mode, the songs are presented seamlessly.
As mentioned, PhatNoise stores the music on a removable media cartridge, in this case a 20GB hard drive contained in a proprietary housing. The data is loaded onto the cartridge via a USB docking cradle. The docking cradle uses a USB 2.0 connection for faster transfer. If your PC has an older USB 1.0 port, an inexpensive upgrade card can be installed to greatly improve transfer speeds.
The first step is to install the PhatNoise software from the included CD; upon restart, the USB dock can be connected. When you first run the software, it will ask if you want to register, followed by a message for upgrading to the new PhatNoise 2.0 software (free). The software has some additional features, such as ripping audio files straight to the DMS cartridge.
The easy-to-use software can search your hard drive and subfolders for audio files that can be added to your collection. Once you have dragged and dropped the files into artists/playlists, simply choose "save and eject" to copy the files to the DMS. The DMS can then be returned to the PhatNoise system for your listening enjoyment. As a point of interest, PhatNoise works with both MP3 and WMA file formats. A side note: the PhatNoise software is designed to work with PCs running Windows 98, second edition or newer, or through emulation on Mac OS 9+ with Virtual PC/Win 98.
For the consummate audiophile, or the everyday person, it's easy to exceed the storage capabilities of some on-board solutions. PhatNoise is probably just the thing you have been searching for. It offers convenience (editing and saving playlists are a snap), compatibility and that cool factor.
PhatNoise is available for a variety of cars. See www.phatnoise.com for a complete list.
PhatNoise has also introduced two new products to complement its line of PhatNoise PhatBox Digital Music Players. The first is the PhatNoise Home Digital Media Player, a DVD player-sized audio system that uses a PhatNoise DMS cartridge to store MP3-, WMA-, Wav- and FLAC-format files for hours of continuous play. Audio is sent to one's home stereo via the digital audio output (coaxial) or analog RCA plugs. There are S-video and composite connectors for viewing the browser-based interface on a television display. A smaller integrated LCD display serves a similar function. There is a USB plug for future networking capabilities. The second product is the PocketBox, a USB keychain storage device-sized media player that plays MP3- and WMA-format files, as well as digital voice recording. The plug-and-play USB flash drive connector easily imports songs from your digital music collection and displays info on the three-line LCD display.