Questions about new DICE Silver iPod controller.

No, it's not possible. There's no space for it, and honestly there has never been a request for it. I personally have around 1/2 a terabyte of music and I've never used it. If I want inspiration of what I want to listen to it's gonna to strike while I'm browsing through everything.

 

You're thinking that we are changing the display - in fact, we are using the 'now playing' screen the entire time. Much like the current DICE kit, the 1 through 6 changes how you browse.

1 changes through the songs
2 is playlists
3 is artists
4 is albums

So, when you're spinning through the artists and if you then press 4 to go through the albums, it immediately loads the albums for the artist you stopped on.

There is no cancel button. Such a thing isn't available sadly

 

The thought of having to spin through 1000 artists to get to the one I want strikes me as a potentially daunting process. The knob still has to do 1000 individual "clicks" doesn't it? How long does 1000 clicks take? Does rapid spinning accelerate the scrolling -- something akin to the iPods scroll wheel?

If you're using the wheel, the scrolling speed is the same at all times - very, very fast.

By the way -- when a song is playing, what info do you see for it (artist, album, song?), and how big is the text (i.e. how much text fits on a single line)? I've seen some setups where the text is huge and it has to constantly scroll due to the small number of characters on each line.

It's the same size as the current text. Remember, we can't change the interface in anyway. You'll see Artist, Album & Song name.

I looked at the Dice website, and the only picture I could find shows the 1 through 6 buttons, but no "playing now" info that I can see, and I can't see any list of scrolling items. I do see "playing now" info on the picture of the "CD emulation" screen posted on the Priuschat store, but you indicated that the SAT emulation is a better way to go. This is why I'm still really confused about how it all works/looks.

I never said SAT is the better way to go - some people will prefer one way, some will prefer the other. I personally use CD mode, not just because I have Sirius. We have not posted pictures yet as we have not shipped yet. But I'll get them up just as soon as we do.

 

when you're in SAT mode, scrolling is faster than CD/Mp3. That's not saying CD/Mp3 is slow. Forgive me if I forget anything on this list:


You can use the steering wheel to switch between category (artist, playlist, etc) selection. Which is nice because you never have to take your hands off the steering wheel to do anything. On sat mode you have to use the touch screen. In SAT mode you can scroll within a category just fine from the steering wheel.

On 04/05 Prius' you have to use the Text key to switch between category selection and the text info screen in both CD and SAT mode. On 06+ the 2 are combined in CD/Mp3 mode.

In SAT mode, you can use the tune wheel to scroll through the selections. This makes going through everything very very fast. In CD/Mp3 mode you have to use the track UP/DOWN keys. The speed of that is only limited by how fast you can push it.

In SAT mode we mapped the selection buttons to say 1-Song 2-Playlist 3-Artist etc on the screen. Not all that useful, but it's nice when you're getting used to the operation.

If you have XM/Sirius you won't be able to have the kit in SAT mode. If you have an external CD changer you won't be able to use the kit in CD/Mp3 mode.

Big piece of advice: This kit does alot of nifty stuff. You're gonna love it. But don't get adsorbed into using it while the car is in motion! Take an hour and practice how it all works so you can do most of it without looking. Don't learn how while driving as you'll likely run into something. That would seriously suck.

 

I'm new to all this, and have spent a few days now reading all this information. I apologize in advance if you have already answered these questions, but I have not come across them so far. All these questions refer to a 2004 Prius with no perks (no nav, bluetooth, cd changer, etc. Just the basic CD player.)

1. Can you play the iPod in "shuffle" mode through this setup? And if so, how would you go about doing that?

2. Does the actual Dice product allow for more than one aux input? I currently have an older XM radio and an iPod. Can I hook up both to the Dice system and just select which one I'd like to use? Or do I have to choose, before buying anything, whether I want one or the other hooked up?

Thank you again for taking the time to answer all these questions. You have been very helpful in trying to make the right decision regarding this very important matter. I can't drive with just a radio anymore!

 

1. Can you play the iPod in "shuffle" mode through this setup? And if so, how would you go about doing that?

Yes, just put the iPod into shuffle before you plug it in. It will then shuffle whatever playlist or anything you select.

2. Does the actual Dice product allow for more than one aux input? I currently have an older XM radio and an iPod. Can I hook up both to the Dice system and just select which one I'd like to use? Or do I have to choose, before buying anything, whether I want one or the other hooked up?

You wouldn't be plugging in the iPod to the AUX jack so it doesn't matter - you can plug in both at the same time, without problems.

 

I've just purchased a 2008 with package 1. Single CD player, no aux input. I wish I could've bought one with package 2.

My understanding is with 2008's you need to purchase the Silver controller?

I don't see any reference to a Silver controller on the Dice Electronics website. Nor do I see installation manuals that are Prius specific to installing this product.

Are there instructions that show you how to get at the Prius head unit or are their photos posted showing this procedure? Do car audio companies carry the Dice units such as Car Toys?

All I really want is to connect the iPod via the docking port into my radio system. I don't care about displaying on the MFD.

Where does everyone mount the Dice unit, in the glove compartment or under the dash. Are there any Prius photos?

Thanks for any further information

Kelvin

 

So, is the Silver the latest version or are there now two?
Which one offers the best performance & features?
I cannot find reference to the Silver on diceelectronics.com