Dension MP3 - Problems

[simonskippy]

Okay, the unit has been fitted 4 days now and so far the follwoing has happened.

1) Satelitte head rattles really badly

2) No radio reception at all when MP3 turned off

3) Distorted play back

4) Faulty FM Modulator

Any of you people experienced this? My local fitters are working on some repairs and fixes for some of this put help is required:(

[Grangey]

Did you buy it from www.ihaveto have.it? If so, Lee will happily exchange the faulty parts for you. I would've thought that the original supplier would be the first place to go if something is faulty so soon after buying it? I understand your frustration, but sabre ratlling won't achieve much :D

www.ihavetohave.it also has some forums that may be more fruitful than LOC.

[In-CarMP3.com]

Grangey beat me to it! I was trying to post last night but the PC kept dying!

OK, Simon.... firstly I think that you've been beaten badly with the unlucky stick. We were speaking with Adair at Oxford Car Audio yesterday which is what prompted us to register here and post.

1. w.r.t. the rattly sattly, I believe that Oxford Car Audio have replaced this for you, we're replacing it for them, Dension's replacing it for us, etc, etc.

2. No radio reception when the DMP3's off. This is just wrong and probably symptomatic of point 4. We've sent Adair some new FM modulators to test. From the diagnosis that he was doing on your install, it looks likely that we've been unlucky enough to find two FM modulators with wierd behaviour on your car. We're taking these away next week and will be testing them.

3. Can you explain further please.

4. See 2!

Irrespective of whether you sourced the unit from C.A.D. or ihavetohave.it, with my In-CarMP3.com hat on, we want to ensure that you're up, runnning and happy with your DMP3. As we don't hang out on this forum much (no Lexus you see...) if you want to converse off-bbs, please email me at info@In-CarMP3.com. As Paul mentions, it would also be good to use the Dension DMP3 support forum at the www.ihavetohave.it forums.

We'll get you to where you should be with this unit and keep Adair/C.A.D./Oxford Car Audio well in the picture. We'll be visiting them some point next week.

Out of interest, what are your thoughts on a replacement head unit (I picked up on this from Adair)? Our integration work's almost complete and we'll be working on some recommended head unit/DMP3 combinations for:

low-cost CD-Tuner/DMP3

high-end CD-Tuner/DMP3

MD-Tuner/DMP3

single-DIN satnav/DMP3

Cheers

Lee.

[simonskippy]

Lee,

You are right mate Adair at Marston Car has been superb, they have replaced the satellite head for a new one, replaced the modulator but I still have no radio. He has come up with an ingenious little switch to alter the power !?! to the FM modulator. I flick the switch turn off the Dension and the radio appears!! The only problem now is the playback of the tracks is distorted - this is intermitent and will happen on some tracks and then when you play them back again it will be fine. I have tried ripping the tracks with CDex instead of the bunddled software but this does seem to solve the problem. The playback of the tracks from the hard disk when the disk is docked in the PC is fine.

With regards to the replacement head unit, I am having troubles finding the facia plates to allow this to happen, Ideally I would like a High End Sat Nav +DMP3 or a High End CD/Tuner with digital input for the DMP3 i'm looking for some recommendations here, Adair has come up with some good units and speaker combinations for the car but any more suggestions would be good. The main problem though is the facia plates.

Cheers

Si

[simonskippy]

One last note, I have to say that although the unit is not functioning 100% at the moment it is still a brilliant piece of kit and I would reccomend it to anyone. All the problems that I have had are either in the process of or now have been rectified by Adair at Marston Car Audio. I would also recommend Marston Car Audio to anyone wanting a very professional install.

[Rodders_UK]

Is the "Adair" you guys are referring to the guy who used to work at Prolek in Banbury??

He's a top guy - I'd like to find out where he works now.

[Rodders_UK]

I've had best results on ripping by adjusting the settings on Musicmatch to 320K and adjusting the bandwidth selector as high as it will go, which seems to give less clipping on treble on some tracks.

[simonskippy]

Rodders,

I have changed my software to CDex (thanks to Paul for the recommedation) and since I have re-formatted the hard drive and started to use this software to rip the CD's the sound quality and the playback in the car has improved ten fold. I am still not sure what caused the problem with playback in the car, I have so far replaced the blue 'plug' on the docking unit as this seemed a touch loose, I have re-formatted the drive and now use CDex. It could have been anyone of those that sorted it out.

I am now nearly 100% functional I still have the switch to move me from Radio to MP3 which is not ideal but it works, and I still have the problem of no memory on any of the settings.

I think that it is the same Adair, he is now at Marston Car Audio in Oxford.

[Rodders_UK]

Si

Are you sure that you've got the permanent live wired up correctly? - that's likely to be the cause of no memory settings - perhaps Adair strapped the permanent and switched together?

A way to tell is when you put the unit in the car dock, even with the ignition off, it should light up for a bit.

If you talk to Adair - please remember me to him - he's installed a few bits in my wife's CRV (SatNav and a Phone kit).

I'd be grateful for his new work number if you have it.

Cheers mate

Rod

[simonskippy]

Rodders,

Just been out and tried that but it still lights up regardles of the switch position, I think that the switch only cuts the FM Modulator in and out.

Adair is at Marston Car Audio, he can be reached on 01865 761668

[Rodders_UK]

Originally posted by simonskippy

Rodders,

Just been out and tried that but it still lights up regardles of the switch position, I think that the switch only cuts the FM Modulator in and out.

Si

No mate - I meant that the MP3 unit will light up when it's put in the caddy regardless of the IGNITION switch setting

if the permanent live is wired up correctly.

You might also wanna try swapping around the RJ45 leads on the back of the box - apparently is doesn;t matter which way they go around - if you satellite then plays up but the FM mod is OK, it might be the MP3 unit.

[Grangey]

I had the problem of the unit not remembering what state it was last in (i.e. track, album, on or off). The permanent and accessory live were both strapped together. You DO need a permanent live or it won't work properly. I took a permanent live feed from the light in the boot of my 200.

[simonskippy]

Okay,

I have taken out the Boot unit and put it back in, the unit lights up for a few seconds and then goes blank. This happens with no key in the ignition and when the motor is running.

To be honest not having the memory settings is no huge problem just a minor annoyance, I am hoping to use andyharts instructions to get the whole unit connected up with the RCA leads and then just get rid of the FM Modulator.

Si