Aux Input, On Its Way

Developer's response

I got a response from the developer today. I asked him if this would work in either of my cars ('02 Protege, '03 MPV), and he said:

Maybe, it depends on the bus specification. Were going to make a generic unit after we get the base market sorted out and possibly test the unit and the protocols from the other vehicles to see if they will be compatable. Physically, we belive it will work, it just a matter or the radio bus data.

They're also working on a product called AuxMod Advanced, which would allow button presses on the head unit to control an external device. I asked him which of the head unit's buttons were available to control other devices, and he said:

Pretty much a small subset. We cant pass the button event from every button, since they dont all trigger an event in the radio, but most of them can function relatively easily. There arent really a whole lot of buttons to begin with so its not too bad.

Looks promising to me! Anyone else excited about this?
 
Things like this need a fast turn around to make a profit. The Mazda3, Mazda6, and RX-8 already use a different radio and I don't think they are functionally the same. This product should have been on the market years ago when the unit first came out. By the time they get this thing into production, most people that were interested would have gone with an aftermarket replacement head unit.
 
I got a very informative response from Soundgate:

Believe it or not, the Mazda interface market is very small. Very few Mazda
owners want to change anything (who knows why).

Connecting the audio wires to the pins will not allow the audio to go in. To
get the audio section to open up, there has to be digital communication from
the remote device, otherwise the radio will not open the audio circuits. The
digital language is Mazda language, and not compatible with any other OEM or
aftermarket system.

For us to develop and bring an interface for the Mazda to market would cost
in the neighborhood of $50,000. Given that all of the manufacturers are now
starting to switch to either CAN, MOST or some other esoteric communications
bus, the interface I would develop today would probably be dead as of 2008,
maybe sooner.

Don't totally give up hope though, our engineers are always looking for ways
to combine coverage on interfaces, and I know that Mazda is on the list. It
will just depend on what they find. I have no idea on schedule.

Regards,

Richard
SoundGate Sales

So we may be SOL, we may not be. Depends on when Blitzsafe can stop jerking every one of us around or Sylfex comes through with their product.
 
I think that would do it but its also 110 bux plus shipping. I would just save that for an aftermarket HU with mp3 playback.
 
Moeed said:
I think that would do it but its also 110 bux plus shipping. I would just save that for an aftermarket HU with mp3 playback.
i just emailed the company to confirm whether or not it would work. I would spend the money (as would many other people, i suspect) so that i could keep the factory look (i don't want give anyone a reason to steal my sh*t)

-Erik
 
erikvonb said:
i just emailed the company to confirm whether or not it would work. I would spend the money (as would many other people, i suspect) so that i could keep the factory look (i don't want give anyone a reason to steal my sh*t)

-Erik


yea, ive kept my stock in dash 6 and have a good loc. Its been a good theft deterant, but i wish it was just a little bit more flexable for an ipod, or like a laptop hook up or something.

My plan with the carputer and a new HU is the reason i wouldnt spend the money, I hope it works, this community needs something like this.
 
Moeed said:
yea, ive kept my stock in dash 6 and have a good loc. Its been a good theft deterant, but i wish it was just a little bit more flexable for an ipod, or like a laptop hook up or something.

My plan with the carputer and a new HU is the reason i wouldnt spend the money, I hope it works, this community needs something like this.
I hope so too. I'll post as soon as I get a reply from tech support.

-Erik
 
Holy cow!(boom01). Talk about customer service! I got a response back within 3 minutes...on a Saturday!

Here's what they had to say:

"Hi Erik,<O:p</O:p

We confirmed this with PIE on Friday. We expect to add this information to out website early next week. These items, when used together, will allow you to add an Aux Input in the Mazda vehicles listed as compatible with the MAZ/PC-ALP adapter.<O:p</O:p

Thank you,<O:p</O:p

Scott B. Helton
scott@logjamelectronics.com
765-644-1251
www.logjamelectronics.com <O:p

LOGJAM ELECTRONICS
718 Jackson Street
Anderson, IN 46016"
 
Thats probably why Blitz delayed and eventualy seemed to ignore the product, someone else had already patented it.

When are you ordering it.
 
1sty said:
Thats probably why Blitz delayed and eventualy seemed to ignore the product, someone else had already patented it.

When are you ordering it.
Well, I'm in Canada so I think I'm gonna wait till Monday so that I can speak to someone directly, or wait until someone else buys one to see how it goes. (It's such a pain in the ass to return stuff if it has to clear customs)

-Erik

BTW- 1sty, could you make this a stickky again?
 
This looks really cool and I hope it works, but I dug into the PIE Web site and found the application guide. It's odd that they say it will work for the 03-04 Protege and PR5 when there wasn't an 04 model- and what about the earlier years that basically have the same radio?
http://www.pie.net/pcmazda.htm

There's also the description of the product on the PIE site which does not acknowledge that none of these radios have an external CD changer- that the controls available are for the MD/Tape. On top of that their "diagram" for installation keeps referring to the back of the stereo and not underneath- which is where the plug would go on mine and I assume all of them.

I'm gonna e-mail both PIE and Logjam about this before I cough up the dough.
 
ipod_pr5 said:
This looks really cool and I hope it works, but I dug into the PIE Web site and found the application guide. It's odd that they say it will work for the 03-04 Protege and PR5 when there wasn't an 04 model- and what about the earlier years that basically have the same radio?
http://www.pie.net/pcmazda.htm

There's also the description of the product on the PIE site which does not acknowledge that none of these radios have an external CD changer- that the controls available are for the MD/Tape. On top of that their "diagram" for installation keeps referring to the back of the stereo and not underneath- which is where the plug would go on mine and I assume all of them.

I'm gonna e-mail both PIE and Logjam about this before I cough up the dough.
here's the second response i got:

Hi Erik,<O:p</O:p
Actually, we are not open on Monday. We will return to the office on Tuesday. The price is shown on the website, and is $79.95, plus $29.95 for the adapters, and a flat $7.50 for UPS ground shipping inside the USA</ST1:p. We do not ship outside the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:pUSA</ST1:p</st1:country-region>. Also, quantity discounts may be available on a single order for multiple items in quantities of 12 or more. We pay the shipping on any order over $250.00.<O:p</O:p

Thank You,

I'm gonna call them on Monday and see what's up. He also said that they haven't updated the website yet. Hopefully we've got something with these guys.

-Erik<O:p</O:p
 
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