Nick@DICE

They use different connectors so just use a 50c wiretap from radio shack. You Must dissconnect the antenna wire from the stock headunit first!

revolt

Hi Nick (at Dice),

On the HD kit menu it does not state I need to disconnect the factory antenna. My understanding is that the only antenna stated that I must disconnect is the XM antenna.

revolt

must disconnect is the XM antenna and disable the xm unit

Nick@DICE

No you don't if you use the included wire antenna, which is what we recommend.

solislbc

I'm torn between these two units. I don't want to give up my XM but would consider this if HD radio had similiar programming in the extra channels available. Does anyone have an HD unit installed in the L.A. area? What do you think of the programming available outside of the normal channels? Does anyone have pictures of the interface?

Nick-
Can i retain my XM if I connect the HD unit to my 06 TL w/nav.

Nick@DICE

Sure! The only thing you'll be giving up is text display from the HD radio/iPod.

I work out of LA actually. There's about 50+ additional channels in LA I believe. If you go to www.hdradio.com you can pull up a list of the HD signals in a city. I usually listen to KROQ and Indie for music channels (I avoid KROQ's sub-channels since all they play is 80's - I hated the 80's) but I really really like HD when it comes to AM channels when I listen to the news or sports. When you're listening to a game on HDAM, you hear everything that the mics could possibly pick up.

Nick@DICE

Oh, I'd suggest you stop by a audio/video store to listen to an HD broadcast and decide for yourself.

solislbc

Thanks Nick-
I've tried Best Buy in Downey and the salereps are worthless. i went to a couple of stereo shops in Norwalk and Lakewood and niether of them have a HD radio hooked up. I guess i'll have to keep searching.

BTW...I spoke to autotoys.com and they said the Dice HD unit would not work if hooked up to the CD changer input in a 06 TL w/nav. Is this true?

Himay

Has anyone ordered the Dice kit from Autotoys.com? Just wondering about your experience. Their site is not that good and is rather cumbersome to navigate through. I ordered the kit last night and I still do not see anything other than "Processing". Just wondering if anyone has received a kit from them and how long did it take to get it?

nalek

iTrader: (1)

I have a question, maybe it was discussed and I missed it,

But on the DICE website, it says that the R4 now has Text with it. (which currently I see this forum saying the r4 didnt have text)

If I understand correctly, that means, If I have a 07 TL TypeS with Nav. I can keep my XM, Plug in the Ipod, and have Text on the Nav? is this correct?

Does anyone have any pics of what the text looks like on the screen with Nav? Does it also show on the top display (above the vents)?

nalek

iTrader: (1)

Well, The text on the page says:
"The DICE i-Honda-R4 kit now offers TEXT display on compatible radios. For a list of TEXT capable radios, please click here"
when I click the link, it talks about R3 and Text..

I suppose the R4 was a typo!

Nick@DICE

It will work. You will not have text. But it will work. If you're in downey, why don't you just swing by the office and I'll sit you in my Prius to check it out. We don't get great reception because we're right on the airport but you'll get a good enough example.

Nick@DICE

It is, and I'm trying to get it fixed....

solislbc

Awesome!

What are your hours Nick? Where are you exactly? I work in Irvine, so it may have to be later in your day, if that is ok.

Nick@DICE

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...1467&z=14&om=1

M-F from 9ish to 5ish.

borgit

I ordered my Dice R4 kit from autotoys using the group buy option. I received it in 3 days. It was shipped from Fort Lee, NJ to me here in Maryland. I've also installed the unit and it seems to work good, haven't had much time to test it out yet fully.

I did have a question for Nick or anyone else that answer, does the Dice unit charge the ipod when the engine is off? It seems like it doesn't since I dont see anything on the display, but maybe it is doing so anyway. Reason I ask is because I dont want it to kill my battery if i leave it overnight.

Thanks.

uncald4

iTrader: (3)

It stops charging when you shut the ignition off. No worries about a dead battery. You could probably charge your iPod for a month straight without starting the car and it would be fine.

Nick@DICE is out of the office for a wee bit.

You know... there is an Authorized Acurazine Group Buy on these. It's in the Sponsored Sales and Group Buys section of OFF TOPIC. The discount runs until mid August.

The thread is down right now but should be back up tomorrow. Somebody didn't ask the right people before they started advertising the DICE adapters.

rodneyc77

iTrader: (1)

Dice Unit is great... Both the Ipod and Auxilary Sound quality is impressive... IMO

donc

uncald4 just removed my music link and installed the Dice R4 in my 07 TL-S. I haven't had the opertuunity to work with it yet since my wife has the I-pod ( I need to get my own). I had a great time watching T work on my car and talking about "things". I'm having him install my new system in the 05 S2000 sometime in the next month or so. Anyone needing A/V work done on Acura or Honda will not be disappointed.

borgit

Hey I have a question, I also have the same DICE unit on my 2006 TL, but my screen reads a little different. It says Channel 001 - Ipod, not Channel 004-Dice, why the difference? And also my category says Ipod.

Acuricky

any word on compatability with the iPhone?
Nick?

Acuricky

oops clicked enter too fast.

What it sounds like from reading all of the posts is that the Dice unit has limited capability w/ the iPhone. It can be installed but only steering wheel controls will work and the iPhone will basically be locked (what happens if you recieve a phone call? will bluetooth still work?). No real time traffic, No txt msg, No email :-(

Also, it sounds like there is no hope of getting iPhone video out integrated w/ NAV screen in the near future? How cool would it be to have the music videos playing instead of just music!

I think the loss of iPhone interface is a deal breaker for me. Please correct me if I'm wrong on these assumptions.

autotoys

To clear up some confusion.

The R3 will give you text, does not have a Y dongle but operates through something called SAT mode (IE: XM mode, seen in some pictures, note the XM title in the pictures) to give you text. You will lose your XM to get this. This is also how the Honda HD HONDA R (HD RADIO) kit works to give you text. Alternatively, if your radio does not have XM capabilities, it can also be operated in CDC mode (which is cd changer mode) but will not give you text. This is all selected via dipswitches on the main adapter.

The R4 is special and recommended for cars with Navigation systems since it has a Y dongle (Y PLUG) and also is XM compatible. However, since it retains XM, it will not offer you any text. If you are looking for a great solution without any XM bleeding to your IPOD, the R4 is the way to go. As a bonus, both the R3 and R4 offers a 3.5 Microphone jack plug on the units as a secondary aux port. This can be used for your video to nav units, or outboard HD tuners.

autotoys

The Dice HD kits DO NOT use the factory am/fm antennas. Not only is it a MOTOROLA plug while the port on the Dice HD units uses some type of SMA connector, they are coaxial cables. Also, how do you propose you extend the motorola plug connector from the factory location and then get it into the special connector on the HD kit. The HD Dice kits come with a dedicated antenna which is quite small and can be mounted on the inside of the windshield.

We also know that Dice has in the past wired up a factory antenna for testing with an HD unit and was unable to get any reception with a factory antenna.

borgit

And to clarify even more, what I did is to buy the R4 Unit, and use it as an R3. That is, I set the dip switches on the DICE unit for text mode and left the XM unplugged. This way, in the future if I want to bring XM back, i will not have to buy any cables. I will just plug XM back into my Y connector, and set the switches on the DICE unit for CDC mode. However, on a more practical side with XM's crappy content, I highly doubt that I will ever bring it back, unless they merge with Serius and you will be able to use XM's receiver to pick up Serius content.

uncald4

iTrader: (3)

I think Nick@DICE corrected me a week ago... Thanks for the scolding though. I have installed hundreds of HD radio kits in the past 2 years. Every single one of them used the factory AM/FM antenna plug behind the radio. The DICE HD kit is the first exception that I've seen.

You sure showed me!

autotoys

There has some been debate on what will happen when XM and Sirius merge, you can probably find more info on some of the XM sites, but basically what it sums up is that XM and Sirius operated totally differently on seprate types of systems and it probably will not be possible to pick up a Sirius transmission with an XM tuner.

Alternatively, they can stream ALL of the Sirius content on XM by adding more channels and vice versa, but there has been some debate on whether Xm or Sirius has enough bandwidth (room) to do this.

There was talk that XM was going to steam down video (for in car entertainment) but I am not sure what happened, liability for accidents or just a bandwidth issue.

enormus

So has anyone actually installed the Dice HD unit? I am in the same pickle: I would love the Ipod text feature, but am loathe to give up XM. I would give up XM for BOTH Ipod integration AND HD Radio (each with text). We finally have a fair number of HD Radio stations in Raleigh to make this worth considering.

Nick@DICE

You'll only lose the iPod part of the iPhone. (You can't change the music from the iPhone) Everything else works - email, phone calls, texting (texting while driving, you crazy man) etc. If a call comes in, the music pauses and resumes when the call is hung up.

Nick@DICE

I've done a number of them - what exactly would you like to know?

enormus

Just some feedback from someone who is living with the unit installed: Is there a good place in a 2005 TL to hide the brain? How long is the Ipod cable? Can it be stretched to the center console tray (which is where I keep my Ipod)? Does the text from both HD radio and Ipod work as expected? How does the HD radio sound? How is reception? That kind of stuff.

Nick@DICE

Oh yes, there's plenty of space to hide the box inside the dash.

The iPod cable is 4 feet long, per Apple's specs.

Yes, you won't have much trouble getting it into the center console.

The text is fine on both HD and Ipod. I think I took some pics of what HD looks like in a TSX.... Not sure if I can release those yet, we're working on a new interface for the HD.

The sound quality difference is quite noticeable, especially if your speakers have good sound range. Higher quality than Satellite radios as well. AM vs HDAM sounds like night and day, huge difference. An HD signal is the closest you can get to CD quality via a broadcast.

Reception is dependant entirely on your area - if you currently get a radio station clearly on your radio you should be able to pick up the HD portion just fine. Most radio stations don't broadcast the HD signal as strongly as their analog due to costs, so if you're in a fringe area for a station you're going to have trouble picking up the HD signal. If you can't pick up the HD signal the DICE kit will tune to the analog signal instead.

theactivist

Nick,
I want to get this installed on my 05 w/navi. I have a fm transmitter that has run it's course--it was the best option a few years ago, and now i want something with better sound quality and text on the screen. I also want something that will work with my future iphone, even though i understand i'd only be able to work off the screen and not the iphone.

Gotta say though, i don't want to install it myself. Any recommendations for bay area, particularly oakland or other east bay, spots to go to?

Specifically, like someone else said (forgot who, sorry!), i want:

"to buy the R4 Unit, and use it as an R3. That is, I set the dip switches on the DICE unit for text mode and left the XM unplugged. This way, in the future if I want to bring XM back, i will not have to buy any cables. I will just plug XM back into my Y connector, and set the switches on the DICE unit for CDC mode. However, on a more practical side with XM's crappy content, I highly doubt that I will ever bring it back, unless they merge with Serius and you will be able to use XM's receiver to pick up Serius content."

Nick (and others), suggestions?

Nick@DICE

Off the top of my head I don't have any install shops on Oakland, but here's a shop that does alot of work for us in SF:
Custom Car Alarms
10 South Van Ness
San Francisco, CA 94103
415.553.8868

Give them a call & here's some Yelp reviews:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/7EI_JH6nbaYS...%20car%20alarm

slimmyjimmy

I got my DICE unit installed today and I am very happy with the install. The unit works great, the sound quality is awesome, and the text display is a major bonus.

I would recommend this adapter to anyone. Do NOT get the USA Spec. It's way too buggy and I'm so glad I decided to switch it up with the DICE unit.

Just my

legend74

Nick,

How does the video cradle work ? Does it actually display on the nav screen or am I missing something ?

Nick@DICE

Not exactly. The video cradle has a video out port - so it can output video to anything with a RCA connection. Now here's the catch.

We can't manufacture the part to import video. It's illegal to manufacture both since it's considered a safety risk, and a huge liability for us.

But there's plenty of companies who make video import devices for Acura's. In fact, there's a gentleman by the name of Dom who's products do this very thing you need and other Acurazine members use it with satisfaction.

enormus

Thanks! Just what I wanted to hear.

One last question: Does this new interface apply to the TL as well and if so, will it be a firmware upgrade or should I wait on the HD + Ipod?

Nick@DICE

Yup, all Honda/Acura/Toyota's.

Eh, we should have it all done in about a week. You'll have to send it in for updates. We provide the shipping label.

enormus

wow! talk about fast answers! Ok, so I can wait. Is there a version or firmware number I should ask for when ordering? I want to check with my local installer to see if he can order or will install it if I order . . .