DICE's HD Radio and iPod Kit

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(baca008 @ Mar 5 2007, 07:44 PM) [snapback]400671[/snapback]</div>

Can you tell me if iPod portion of the unit works correctly ? Can you navigate the playlists, song ect. Does it correctly list the song data ?

Thanks,

Ken

 

I finally got my Dice HD to work. Had to get another one because something was wrong. Everything seems to work alright. I am able to see the song titles on the screen and I can listen to HD station, which sound really nice. Only thing that bothers me is that everytime I start my car it'll start playlists from the beginning which is sort of a bummer but I can live.

 

Hey folks!

Need some help, and that's what PriusChatters do best! Well, unless you're posting in FHoP, but I digress...

Got my Dice HD partly installed in a Prius 2005 model with factory XM. Seems as though everything worked as advertised, except that the stickum didn't stick in 57 degree weather. Plus, when I disassembled the A pillar, I discovered as expected the side curtain air bag. While I think I found a route for the wire which doesn't interfere with the air bag, I really would rather not risk it.

So the question arises: Has anyone built a splitter for the stock antenna and adapted it to the Dice antenna input? Is the Dice HD Antenne amplified? If so, it is with phantom power from the Dice receiver?

Would be cool if I could use the stock Prius antenna so that I could avoid the whole airbag issue, as well as avoiding sticking something else to my windshield.

Oh, and does anyone know if the antenna input on the stock Prius radio is like the standard auto antenna connector you find on most cars? Curious minds want to know.

Thanks to you all for your help!

Dan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Apr 13 2007, 12:09 AM) [snapback]422386[/snapback]</div>

Well, the sticky didn't work at all for me last evening Must have been too cold, so I'll have to come up with an alternative. Plus the receiving element was peeled back from both ends already when I opened the container. I wrote to the customer service line and asked for a replacement, cause it was a mess by the time I got it out of the spool.

thanks!

Dan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(snowcrash74 @ Feb 1 2007, 12:13 PM) [snapback]383924[/snapback]</div>

Same thoughts here as well. I'd love to get this at a discount if I can use it seamlessly w/ my existing Sirius radio install. Where are you people putting the head unit? I'd really just want it for the HD radio for the most part, but it'd be nice to have the AUX IN port accessible 'cause the g/f has an iPod.

Also, some of the install photos I've seen have horrible dangling wires across the dash... that would be a bit of a turn off, too. I'd appreciate some good feedback about this, and Prius specific install guide if possible.

 

Good day to all!

I finally got the Dice installed in my 2005 Prius with XM. While I had issues with the long, sticky receiving element, I got it unstuck enough to put it in temporarily. (It came pre-peeled and pre-tangled. Dice folks immediately sent a replacement, so here's a bravo to their customer service!) Here's some installation notes and first impressions.

I installed the cable without removing the radio from the dash. I removed the enormous white cable connector in between the radio and the glove compartment. It moved sufficiently for me to be able to get my hand back there, trace the XM cable, unlatch it and pull it out. Replacing it with the Dice cable was easy. From what I read here, however, some people reported problems that the cable didn't seat tightly. Knowing that, I made sure to give it an extra firm push until I got that little satisfying "click" when the retaining mechanism engaged. I believe that solved the potential loose cable problem.

After consulting with the Dice folks, who by the way, are terrific with answering emails promptly when you have oodles of questions as I did, I elected to put the Dice head unit in the UPPER glove compartment rather than the lower one. I use the lower one for a bunch of stuff, and the upper one to a lesser degree. I didn't want to take up cubic inches in the main glove box. I drilled a 1" hole on the right side of the upper glove box through which I would route the cables. This would avoid any external wiring whatsoever, which was as absolute requirement.

[attachmentid=7575]

A closer look:

[attachmentid=7577]

I took Dice's advice for routing the antenna:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Apr 13 2007, 12:09 AM) [snapback]422386[/snapback]</div>

I had actually discovered this routing on my own, and was thankful that I could route it with no impact to the air bag. Connecting the ground wire to the visor mount was equally simple, though I needed three hands to hold the wire, screwdriver and visor. Fortunately, I am a mutant, so this was not an issue.

Once I got everything in place, I dressed up the wires and snapped everything back together and fired 'er up. In DC, there are a TON of multicast stations on FM and damned if I didn't get them all! Some of the HD2's have some pretty cool stuff on it -- WTOP-HD2 in particular has what sounds like a classic rock format that I like. WAMU actually has an HD3. So it's pretty clear that stations are implementing this and selling it.

Overall, the sound difference between FM and HD is minimal. What I found on most stations was that any radio noise disappeared and the stereo separation significantly improved. But analog FM with a strong signal wasn't that much worse. Noticeable, yes. But striking, not really. Keep in mind, though I DO have a prescription for hearing aids, and I don't often wear them. So I may be missing some of the subtleties.

But on the one AM station I could pick up? Woo Hoo! What a difference! Definitely near CD quality on AM. Since I bought this for WTNT-AM, this was exactly what I was looking for. Not sure that WTNT is broadcasting in HD yet, even though the guide says they are. We'll see.

I'm about 22 miles out of DC proper, so I got some significant fading driving around down here. Since the digital carriers are being broadcast at about one one hundredth of the main carrier power, I expected that. But in the city, it's clearly going to be rock solid. (Edit: After a week, this prediction has turned out to be true.)

Overall, the instructions in the book are a little convoluted. This is one system where you can't wing it -- it's not intuitive in the least. But having said that, it DOES work and once you "get it," it's not too bad at all. I took about 15 minutes to set up the presets, and now I can find what I want quite fast.

The sound quality on the Dice HD versus XM is striking. HD Radio is FAR BETTER than the sound I get on XM. I was really surprised that even with my rotten hearing, it would be so different. It shows how much XM has compromised its audio quality in the pursuit of more channels. HD radio on FM beats XM's sound quality hands down. And with the surprising variety of formats on the multicast channels, I believe that HD could well give XM a run for it's money. (And this from a guy who owns four XM receivers and stock in both XM and Sirius.)

Bottom line: Dice's HD Radio works as advertised and provides a significant improvement over conventional FM and AM transmission. Compared to XM Satellite, HD wins the sounds quality comparison. Installation was relatively easy, and the kind folks at Dice, Adam through email, and Vagabond here on PriusChat, and other PriusChatters all helped to educate me before, during and afterwards and calmed my fears. Installation took right around an hour -- people who have disassembled the Prius dash should be able to get through installation in far less time.

If I can, I'll grab some pix of the final installation in the top glove box. It's pretty slick and I am delighted with the results.

Well done Dice Electronics! You have a satisfied customer.

Dan

P.S.: The finished product!

[attachmentid=7576]

 

Here's a minor issue that's come up. Perhaps there's a simple setting fix that will help...

When the power has been cycled to the DiceHD a couple of times through normal start and shutdown of the car, I lose control of the Dice. It powers, but refuses to be controlled from either the MFD or the steering wheel until I have physically disconnected the receiver for about 10 seconds or so. Once I have done that, the unit appears to be reset and functions normally again.

Is there something I am doing wrong?

Sure does sound great, though... WTNT AM actually IS broadcasting in HD, and so my AM talk show sounds terrific in HD and the transition back and forth from analog to digital is seamless.

Very cool system -- even if I do have to reset it!

Thanks much,

Dan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dan-Wolfe @ Apr 17 2007, 08:01 PM) [snapback]424965[/snapback]</div>

You make disconnecting it sound so simple! Is there a way you are getting to it to disconnect it without breaking apart your whole dash?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westofrome @ Apr 19 2007, 06:45 PM) [snapback]426356[/snapback]</div>

See the photos above in my revised original post!

Still totally love the Dice HD. I find I am using it more than XM for music. By the way, for those in the DC Area who may remember George radio from 104.1 FM, that's the format that WTOP has on it's HD2 feed. And it is really terrific! http://www.wtop.com/?sid=598471&nid=442

Dan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Apr 19 2007, 07:05 PM) [snapback]426382[/snapback]</div>

You say that as if having to unplug it to get it to work is an acceptable situation.

(the replacement DICE sent to me does the same dam* thing.)

I refuse to believe, given the experience of others here, and the fact that this is a problem with communicating with the head unit, that you insist on blaming the problem on use of a Gen3 iPod.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Apr 23 2007, 01:06 PM) [snapback]428430[/snapback]</div>

Well, it's been two more weeks. I've heard NOTHING more from DICE, or from you. If you think you can drag this out for a year until the warranty expires, you're mistaken.

The DICE still fails to come up every time. Maybe 1/3 of the time I can't select the DICE (CD1). I have to turn the car off/on a few times, eventually it will get recognized. Less frequently, the head unit display "hangs," the iPod continues to play but the display is stuck on one song. That takes unplugging the DICE to correct.

I've had a ticket open on the DICE web site for over 2 months, and there has been ZERO action on it since 3/7. Every time you promise to take action, nothing happens until I post yet again pointing out DICE's product unreliability and lack of support. What does it take?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mike.s @ May 7 2007, 07:42 AM) [snapback]436729[/snapback]</div>

Hi mike,

Have you tried Vais Tech? I had dice and returned it (which btw they can't find the returned item, which is the hassle I am going through right now) . The Vais Tech is really stable, it is just somewhat bigger than the Dice unit, and definitely more like a piece of rock solid radio equipment. Only problem is, which really isn't a problem for me at all, is that you have to create playlists. Overall I am very satisfied with the Vais Tech unit.