bootnet

here is the deal dana..
I think like shaun said we bought out their entire inventory.
I myself am like you.. I plan on getting this thing working one way or another.. worst case with FM modulator.
mine should arrive monday.
I say me you and shaun seem to be pretty motivated to getting this thing off the ground and I really dont see anyone else posting much on this thread - so why dont the 3 of us put our heads together and get it working. You guys can always email me and we can exchange #s and talk about it. Im in socal I dunno where you guys are really.
As far as facts I called blaupunkt and they said it MIGHT work..because they are not 100% sure about the audi interface. The tech guy said he would check for me and call me back.. I plan on calling him monday. Then I read a really good thread posted by "troll" and he had posted pictures of the audi wiring harness and the blaupunkt harness and they looked identical. well the audi was 3 pieces stuck together and the blaupunkt made up one of those pieces. I know the shape of the harness doesnt mean anything really but..we shall see.
My first plan is to obviously plug it in and just see if it works..then go from there. The blaupunkt tech is also gunna fax me pin out info on monday..again pinout doesnt constitute exact signal protocols but I am HOPING or speculating that these things all conform to some sort of standard like ISO or whatever so hopefully if they will communicate if the wiring is setup correctly. then again as someone in this thread pointed out..maybe not.
till I get the unit I wont even know if it has a controller port. If it does then worst case you can use a fm modulator and tack on a controller screen to control the mp3 changer.. (blau makes a really nice controller too).
finally check out www.pacparts.com and www.pac-audio.com and www.soundgate.com
they sell harnesses and stuff which might help us.<ul><li><a href="http://www.pac-audio.com">pac-audio</a></li></ul>

bootnet

everyone knows an fm modulator is crappy so here are a few items that might help us.
few options.
1. try to get the interface to work (if the protocols are the same) using harnesses
2. blitzsafe (which I cant use ..cuz I have bose and xm and it cant apperantly be using with changers) although I think if you have a changer controler then you can send the output to blitzsafe?
3. and best bet.. use a changer controler along with a harness/docking station to send the signal.

here are some links for such an item by southgate. specifically mentions the application in our cars with symphonyII

http://store.yahoo.com/logjam/pieaashar.html (this frees up the changer port on the back of the HU)

http://store.yahoo.com/logjam/soundockaudi.html

http://store.yahoo.com/logjam/soundalvw1.html
(and this one allows the use of an alpine cd changer which I cant be certain but I think alpine uses the same scheme as blaupunkt ?)

other thing I found out is that the harness and protocols are the same for audi/mini/bmw in more recent models.. if this is true then maybe the mdp-01 will work for us with the adapter from the first link in this post. afterall someone said it works for bmw as plug and play.

my concern is that in my car I have xm and I would bet that they probably add xm via the changer interface so you can either have XM OR extra changer but not both. I may have to resort to a docking station. It might be cheaper to go w/ phatnoise? phatnoise is roughly $600-700 if these docks and adaptors start adding up.<ul><li><a href="http://search.store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/nsearch?catalog=logjam&amp;query=audi&amp;.autodon e=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.logjamelectronics.com%2Fpiesony aftmktcbl.html">soundgate audi selection via online reseller logjam</a></li></ul>

Shaun

I'll definitely be in touch as soon as mine arrives. Thanks for keeping the ball rolling!

bootnet

when you post if you check the box "show email address in post" then I can email you.

Shaun

Here you go... shaun_buggie@yahoo.com.

bootnet

Hey everyone (those of you still tracking this post).
I spoke with chuck out of the blaupunkt service center in FL..he transferred me to a tech..here is what I was told..(as of today I still havent gotten the unit to experiment with but what he told me makes sense and is bad news)

tech said that this unit (mdp-01) does not have mp3 decoding capabilities..it simply provides storage..that is why it only works with only certain blaupunkt HU's . The head unit must be able to not only view the directory structure but also decode mp3 so something like a mp3 headunit that plays mp3 off of cdrom might work with this but our headunits probably wont.
FOr this reason he said it cant work with our stock headunits or any other ones other than those they list. He also said the unit does not have a controller port so it cant be used with a fm modulator because there will be no way to control the device in other words.

that basically means for us that the unit is worthless and even in the worst case senario of using an fm modulator this thing cant work for us. Now still being the skeptic I will still plug it in and test it out with our HU and post for you guys what I find..but if this info is accurate then it wont work.

My other concern is that I have XM on Bose so does that mean my changer port is taken by the XM tuner? if so I wont be able to add a changer of anytype at all (even the glovebox one)
anyone got any info on this ?

lastly has anyone recieved their mdp yet? (meanwhile phatnoise is on sale at clairparts for $599 ..its starting to look better every day now even though $599 is kinda pricey)

ErikNYC

Actually I thought it would at least DEcode the MP3 files and the problem would be that the protocol would just not interface with the Audi. At least then you would have a chance of it working.

Based on the info you just posted I dont see how this will ever work with our headunits as I know for a fact that they DO NOT decode MP3's. The only input on our headunits is an ANALOG audio signal. This is how the blitzsafe adapter works.

At least you got a 1GB compact flash card out of it

As far as an MP3 solution I still think an iPod is the best bet.

Shaun

Jeez, that sucks for us! Oh well...

bootnet

I'll still try it and let you know..
why would "duke" post here and show a picture of it plugged into our HU's if it didnt work??

anyhow you are totally right as far as the best solution is ipod.. well maybe phatnoise but Im not a fan of the price.

I wish we had an updated HU w/ a real NAV and other modern features like multiple controllable inputs..
also why cant there be a universal protocol for this stuff..its messed up..
for all of its faults microsoft (in regards to computers) has at least forced certain standards..there should be a similiar force in car electronics.

dleasman

I was just looking at the Blaupunkt site and looked up the product... In this PDF file, they talk about the pin out of the cable.

http://www.blaupunktusa.com/NR/rdonlyres/7E87E1DC-64E8-4CE5-A8EE-401FD44FCD5E/0/MDP01.pdf

It clearly states the following:
13 CDC Data-IN
14 CDC Data-OUT
15 +12V Permanent / 3A
16 +12V switch voltage (max. 300mA)
17 CDC Data-GND
18 CDC AF/AUX-GND
19 CDC AF/AUX-L
20 CDC AF/AUX-R

So... If 17-20 are audio, and only 13 and 14 are data in and out, for controlling the unit... Are we SURE that this unit is not doing it's own digital to analog conversion?

If the unit is only data access and storage, then why is it so big? Why is it not more the size of a usb cf card reader?

I realize that this is what was reported by a tech at blau, but I am not completely convinced.

I think someone needs to try hooking one of these up and find out for sure, because I am not convinced that it really works the way we have been told.

-Dana