So i was getting my oil changed, and waiting, so checked out the 05 Rx8 brochure- in the accessories section, it has something listed as a Phatboy Audio System or something like that- a hard drive that can hold up to 500 CDs and is trunk mounted. Sorry if this is a repost, i did a search- at any rate, any one know info about this? Apparently you can remove and detach the 'drive' to upload wavs, aiffs and basically any audio format so I know its not the mp3 player. I also checked finish line and its not listed. ....anyhow, sorry if this has been discussed before, but more info is greatly appreciated if anyone has it....

 

Nothing new...http://www.phatnoise.com

Just new for the Mazda.

 

I was also interested in the Phatnoise system, since it was listed as an available accessory when I bought my 2005 RX8. However, MAzda parts people know nothing about it and the Phatnoise manufacturer states that Mazda is not done testing it. So why put it in the brochure? I went with an icelink becuae they advertised text capability in the headunit, but that doesn't seem to work either.

 

I had a Phatnoise in my Evo and let me tell you - it is a hassle to get through the playlists while you are driving. Imagine having 255 different cd's in a changer and trying to navigate through them while performing another more important task. Changing from playlist to playlist is very slow and the USB 1.1 dock it comes with simply takes too long to initially dump your mp3 collection to the disk. Too much vibration from the chassis, which I don't believe the RX8 would have a problem with which my Evo unfortunately did, caused the device to have to be reset on a near constant basis.

Other than that, the music sounded as good as my stock speakers could make it sound, and the Phatnoise plays FLAC - a major selling point, I think.