I am trying to get the Mazda6Club people to get on this board, and some have, but I started a thread over there for the truly lazy to show support.

http://www.mazda6club.com/forums/read.php?TID=13767

 

It's up to you. I'm sure that at some point, Mazda will dislike this module, since it can potentially reduce sales of their tape deck, but they should have been smarter and added an Aux-In plug.

The difference in sound quality is Night vs. Day. The tape has hiss, and isn't clean. The test version sounds as clean as a CD.


Regards,

OverLOAD

 

Count me in as a Miata owner (2002 LS, bose, CD, no tape). I'd buy an aux-in adapter in a heartbeat! I'm mostly interested in a simple aux-in, selected with the tape/md switch. Hopefully no changes to the dash to keep it looking stock. The cubby hole in the console between the seats is a perfect place for an Ipod!

FYI, we're talking about it over in Miata Forum Aux-in thread.

Steve
2002 Miata LS
(used to have a 1987 RX-7 GXL)

 

Is the actual audio signal on the mazda connector carried as a digital (i2s or spdif?) or analog signal? If its an analog signal, why bother with the spdif->analog conversion on a board for $50? I don't think you'd be able to put a much better D-A section on a $50 board than whats in most consumer devices that have an spdif output in addition to analog. Just my 2c...

Also, has this been confirmed to work on a Mazda3? I found a link to this forum from a 3 site, but nobody had confirmed if the modules were in fact identical to the rx8/mazda6.

Please put me on the email list, I'll buy one as soon as I get my 3 if it works.

 

I am interested in this as well.

 

Definately interested, would like something cleaner sounding than my XM through an FM Modulator

The ability for it to be on Tape/MD button would be a HUGE plus also, no more wasted preset for 87.9FM

 

i'm IN!
RCA all the way for this 6 owner!

 

It's an analog connector, but requires a lot of other bus data and connections to be detected to enable it when you press 'tape'. I personally would like an electrical SPDIF for my Archos, just to make it more immune to noise. Any SPDIF would sound cleaner than its analog counterpart, just by that fact alone..

Regards,

OverLOAD

 

Eh what the heck. I'll post another "I'm interested" reply. Can't hurt

 

So it's really working? Great!

One question we Miata folks have, though, is whether the pinout is exactly the same. Our head unit is slightly different (an older generation) than the 6 and 8 have. I hope the unit will work in our version! The '04 Miata has the same unit as yours, FWIW.

Stephen

 

Sign me up as well!

Vince

 

You should drop by head-fi.org and headwize, there's a few threads on DIY DAC's. You may also want to take a peek at the pimeta schematic (headphone amp) for a relatively simple analog section with active ground, that could make a pretty big difference with the car's noisy ground, whether its an analog in going through a unity gain amp, or digital.

Drop me an email if you guys need any help with anything, I'm an EE as well, but unfortunately won't be getting a 3 for a few more months.

 

Overload,

I am using the Transpod with my iPod and would love to have a cleaner way in. Keep me posted! I have the CD Bose unit.

 

Me too! x2 for the 8 and the 6.

 

me too x 2 for the 8 and the 3 (if it turns out to use the same i/f)

 

Wow... count me too... Please email me at flyboyindy@aol.com when it is ready!

 

I am all over this too. The only thing that could make my 8 cooler is 40GB of iPod.

Let me know when it's ready!!!

Thank god for you!

 

Count me in too!! let me know when it's ready!!

 

Please let me know when it is available.
sgrigby1@comcast.net

 

This post has set me to come to the conclusion that my idea (Alpine or Pioneer MP3 Changer with FM Modulation) is an bad one.

I will see the shape of the thing before I count myself in.

But I will be watching, this thread (and the other one) with interest.

Thx Overload

 

Someone asked for a picture of the development kit..

It's kind of messy, but it does the job of spying on the head unit pretty well.. With a couple of other modifications and wires connected into the tape module (pretty extensive so far), we've gotten the unit to send audio on a 'simulated' tape mode.

OverLOAD

edit: ps.. This in no way represents what the production board will look like..

 

And the wires plugged into the Tape module... There's a bunch of wires going all over the place. Not really an informative picture, but I figure you guys want to see what we're doing.

Regards,

OverLOAD

 

Keep up the good work

 

Thanks for the pics OverLOAD. I was really wondering what the dev stuff looked like. Just wondering, now that I see how you have it all hooked up, how confident that you will be able to get the required cassette adapter pin header? I'm only asking because I see that you are connecting through an existing cassette adapter at this point. But I conceed that you may only be doing this for protocol hacking purposes.

Anyway, keep up the great work. And thanks again for the pics, they're always welcome

 

This is very very cool, but I'm quite impatient....just how much better quality can I expect out of this over a tape adapter or the tape hack? Obviously, this will be cheaper than the $180 or so for the tape deck, but putting that aside and just looking out sound quality, is it likely to be worth the wait?

Also--is this sort of thing likely to have any warranty implications? If I had some problem with the stereo and they saw this thing in there, do you think the dealer might try to claim that the module was to blame? I can imagine some companies making just such a claim if you plugged a custom electronic device onto a proprietary bus that was created through reverse engineering....

Thoughts on either question? Thanks!
-Brian