Alfa 166 CD changer emulator, mp3 player -> www.loudlink.eu

[arnoldf]

Hi Guys!

Take a look: http://www.loudlink.eu

COOL !!! - not?

A.

[howell811]

No ! Just had a multi-changer fitted

[Mitch166]

Looks great but £140 plus postage! I wonder how it controls on the ICS, I mean if you have say 100 tracks stored and you want to hear track 100, will you have to press the forward button 100 times??

[Mitch166]

Reading the data sheet you make 6 directories with up to 98 tracks on each so I suppose you do have to press the button up to 50 times to get the track furthest from where you are!

Good solution though, I might go for it.

[niallmoran]

anybody want to buy a changer??

[arnoldf]

Originally Posted by Mitch166

Looks great but £140 plus postage! I wonder how it controls on the ICS, I mean if you have say 100 tracks stored and you want to hear track 100, will you have to press the forward button 100 times??

Second hand changer...EUR238:
http://cgi.ebay.de/CD-WECHSLER-ALFA-...QQcmdZViewItem

I think £140(EUR199) is more than okay. The original price of the new changer is about 1000Euro...

But the original changer is...not the best changer what I ever seen.

See: (Playlist coming soon...)
http://www.loudlink.eu/datasheet.html

Using playlist to control hundreds of mp3s is gonna be easy...

But I think without playlist is absolutly useable... like the original changer. I'm using it... My friend using it... Other peoples using it...
Nobody said the original changer is better...

It's Great!

[arnoldf]

Originally Posted by howell811

No ! Just had a multi-changer fitted

Bad luck...
how much was the multi-changer?

[Mitch166]

Originally Posted by arnoldf

Second hand changer...EUR238:
http://cgi.ebay.de/CD-WECHSLER-ALFA-...QQcmdZViewItem

I think £140(EUR199) is more than okay. The original price of the new changer is about 1000Euro...

But the original changer is...not the best changer what I ever seen.

See: (Playlist coming soon...)
http://www.loudlink.eu/datasheet.html

Using playlist to control hundreds of mp3s is gonna be easy...

But I think without playlist is absolutly useable... like the original changer. I'm using it... My friend using it... Other peoples using it...
Nobody said the original changer is better...

It's Great!

But I already have a changer so do I need to spend another £140 plus?

Also I guess this "playlist control" will be an extra, more dosh?

[arnoldf]

Originally Posted by Mitch166

But I already have a changer so do I need to spend another £140 plus?

Also I guess this "playlist control" will be an extra, more dosh?

I've got a changer too (in the garage now )...
Burning/changing damagable cds take too much time for not much music...I hate it.

Playlist: via firmware update for free...

[Pigfarmer]

my mate has this type of thing in his Focus ST, its good sounds, but rubbish on the controls, and is as you say a lot of work for that > button...and it doesn't display text either...

[Rich T]

and it doesn't display text either

But neither does the CD player. And if you have a CD with lots of tracks you have to press the button a lot to skip through that too.

The only disadvantage of this thingumy is the cost when my car has more important jobs that need doing...

[Tony Rome]

If anyone buys one, it will be interesting to hear what they think but, at 200 EUR, it seems overpriced. This subject came up before and there was a unit from a Dutch guy which allowed an MP3 player to be connected and the CD changer to remain useable - for 79 EUR. Did anyone here buy one of these?

The original thread:
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-...-in-166-a.html

And the link to the site:
http://home.tiscali.nl/~rvbaar/pictu...T_AR166_UK.pdf

[niallmoran]

it does make Rogier's and Sander's doo-dahs look good value....i guess the integrated SD MP3 player is pretty cool and the fact you can change tracks from the ICS. I still think the best solution will be sander's v2 which is the line in adaptor with ipod control....just need sander to finish it now

Also, i think it was rogier who was developing a video in adaptor for the ICS...now that will be cool!

[arnoldf]

Originally Posted by Tony Rome

If anyone buys one, it will be interesting to hear what they think but, at 200 EUR, it seems overpriced. This subject came up before and there was a unit from a Dutch guy which allowed an MP3 player to be connected and the CD changer to remain useable - for 79 EUR. Did anyone here buy one of these?

Overpriced? I don't think so...

Mp3 cd changer prices are higher AND alfa166 cannot control them.
Ipod+dongle price is higher...and if you need to leave your iPOD in the car, you will worry about sunshine, theft, etc...
Original second hand CD changer price is higher...

It seems to me that loudlink has the best price...

And Loudlink contains a special CD changer "unilink" connector.
No need for cutting, soldering cables, removing ICS, etc.
Just plug and play....and it really works!

And if you buy more than one...you get a discount.

A.

[niallmoran]

you on commision arnold?? hehe

[arnoldf]

Originally Posted by niallmoran

you on commision arnold?? hehe

Definitely NOT!
I'm just a boy...who wants to all alfa166 owners to be happy all around a world.

A.

[niallmoran]

sounds like a great mission

[arnoldf]

Originally Posted by niallmoran

sounds like a great mission

"Cuore Sportivo" ... you know

[CrispDust]

its a cheaper solid state Phatbox - this uses an HD instead of SD card. And has audio "visualistion" of tracks.

[Rich T]

... and these guys might be alive - unlike Rogier. Emailed him and got no response.

*EDIT* he was away and has just let me know he does have dongles

[TeamAlfa]

I still think Radio London Talk shows are the best entertainment value save your £140!

[Tony Rome]

Originally Posted by arnoldf

Overpriced? I don't think so...
Mp3 cd changer prices are higher AND alfa166 cannot control them.
Ipod+dongle price is higher...and if you need to leave your iPOD in the car, you will worry about sunshine, theft, etc...
Original second hand CD changer price is higher...

1. Rogier's MP3 changer can be activated, if not controlled, via the ICS. If you don't want to retain the existing CD changer, it's only 55 EUR, which is a quarter of the cost. As has already been mentioned by others, the 'control' aspect of the Loudlink is not impressive, as it consists only of using the > button to search for one of possibly hundreds of tracks! If it had a decent control mechanism, the extra cost might be more justified.

2. Re iPod cost, you're assuming that one has to buy this to begin with, whereas a lot of people already have one.

3. One mini jack to unplug is not a big deal and you have the added advantage of being able to take your MP3 player with you, rather than having a device fixed in the car.

Originally Posted by arnoldf

And Loudlink contains a special CD changer "unilink" connector.
No need for cutting, soldering cables, removing ICS, etc.
Just plug and play....and it really works!

I didn't think there is no need for this with Rogier's device either. It plugs into the cables to the CD changer.

200 EUR buys a lot of high tech kit these days. I only paid that for a cool, portable DVD player with 10.4" TFT, integrated DVB-T receiver, MP3 player, remote, USB 2.0, SD card slot, game controller etc.

Still, the more people in the market re 166s, the better

[arnoldf]

Originally Posted by Tony Rome

200 EUR buys a lot of high tech kit these days. I only paid that for a cool, portable DVD player with 10.4" TFT, integrated DVB-T receiver, MP3 player, remote, USB 2.0, SD card slot, game controller etc.

It's your choice...

I love the sophisticated solutions... Loudlink is that. Like Alfa166
With warranty, with support, with etc.
Other people love too...
And using it in Hungary...where nobody said in the hungarian alfa forum EUR199 is overpriced... The people said: "WOW!" - who used original changer, or DVD and other complicate to use stuffs hacked to ICS display... and one of them sold her original changer over EUR250...goood business

And other people love hi-tech universal (but sometimes is unusable cheap, "made in China" ) all-in-one stuffs.

The peoples are different.

I prefer, if I starting the car, the music is staring too.
If I stopped the car, the music is stopped too.
And i don't need to pushing, docking, remoting,.... something.
Next time if I will start the car, the music will continue where it stopped. Fully automatically. And if I would like to enjoy a new song...just copy to SD card.


I like it.

A.

[Tony Rome]

Originally Posted by arnoldf

I love the sophisticated solutions... Loudlink is that.

But that's the point. It's not really very sophisticated, is it?! The control system - using > to access tracks - is not very impressive. Then there's no option to play random tracks, auto repeat tracks or play tracks in a particular order and no track display details on the ICS. The 'sophisticated' solution is just that you can plug it in and hit the > button...!

There are loads of things which could be done to make the Loudlink better. You wouldn't be justified with those critisisms if someone had put it together themselves quite cheaply, but for something which has been produced professionally and sold commercially, I think it's disappointing.

Originally Posted by arnoldf

and one of them sold her original changer over EUR250...goood business

That's a good way to pay for it and helps justify the cost.

Originally Posted by arnoldf

I like it.

That's the important thing!

[arnoldf]

Originally Posted by Tony Rome

But that's the point. It's not really very sophisticated, is it?! The control system - using > to access tracks - is not very impressive. Then there's no option to play random tracks, auto repeat tracks or play tracks in a particular order and no track display details on the ICS. The 'sophisticated' solution is just that you can plug it in and hit the > button...

Shuffle -> play random order
Scan-> play the first 10 second of the song
Playlist(coming soon)-> particular order
FWD, RWD, FFWD,FRWD

I'm using the following functions frequently:
switch to FM
switch to CD
CD1 CD2 CD3 CD4 CD5 CD6 buttons

sometimes:
copy song to SD
delete song from SD
and <> buttons to skip 1-2 song....

Tony, if you have ideas to make loudlink better, write them!

A.