Hello. I have ordered my Empeg player thanks to the fire sale over at Rio since they decided to get rid of this wonderful product. Found this forum and thought I'd ask a few questions.

I've got a 20GB version coming. I think that will hold me for now. I was wondering a few things I couldn't figure out from the Empeg website. I'd appreciate a few answers if you wouldn't mind.

My understanding is you can add at least one more hard drive, or replace your existing one. Any links to details about that? I don't think 20GB will run out anytime soon, but that's related to my next question.

What's the best bit rate for quality recording of the MP3s? now that I've gotten the Empeg I'm probably going to get their in house system one day. I have a huge investment in CDs & Home Theater setup, and I don't want it to sound bad on my Klipsch Reference speakers in the house but good in the car. What's a good bit rate? 192K? 256K? 384K?

The Tuner option. Does it plug inside the Empeg somewhere? I'm planning in my head for the install, and the picture looked weird and I wasn't sure how it installed into the unit. Does anyone have a picture with it installed that I could see?

Any recommended amps & speaker combos? I'm afraied I've paid litle attention to the car audio market. My Audi TT came with a 'Bose' system so I'm going to have to yank everything out. (it's all weird amp/speakers, someone said it was like 2 ohm, or something extremely non-standard. I've got a good dealer here that I plan to use, but I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a quality system. I'm not necessarily looking for 15 25" subs. I'm more wanting good highs, mids, and lows without having to get rid of my trunk. I have the two door convertible with a small trunk, so I'd prefer a decent set of three way speakers, or maybe a component speakers. The doors have a small tweeter hole and a mid hole in them, and then there is a small sub spot at my elbow.

Anyone got any links to anyone that has done a wireless setup? I'm quite fond of the idea of pulling into the garage, going t othe computer room and uploading new CDs I've purchased to the car without having to pull the unit in and out every day. Though I do know it is easy to do, I'm more of a geek and think it's cool to have the wireless thing for grins. That means as long as it's not too expensive.

Theres a cool document which has all this info and much much more. You can find it at .......queues tfabris

My understanding is you can add at least one more hard drive, or replace your existing one. Any links to details about that? I don't think 20GB will run out anytime soon, but that's related to my next question.

20 gb should definitly get you started. And if you do decide to upgrade, there is an empty space ready to accept a second drive. Refer to the drive upgrade guide at "http://riocar.org

What's the best bit rate for quality recording of the MP3s?

Dig down a bit in the General fourm, this just recently came up. The overall concensus is to use LAME to encode, on a VBR setting (not for smaller files per say, but to allow the parts of the song that need it to go to higher rates)

The Tuner option. Does it plug inside the Empeg somewhere? I'm planning in my head for the install, and the picture looked weird and I wasn't sure how it installed into the unit. Does anyone have a picture with it installed that I could see?

Again, head to riocar.org, and browse the photo gallery. I believe there are a few pics there of the tuner. It's an external box that clips on to a plug on the dock wiring.

Anyone got any links to anyone that has done a wireless setup? I'm quite fond of the idea of pulling into the garage, going t othe computer room and uploading new CDs I've purchased to the car without having to pull the unit in and out every day. Though I do know it is easy to do, I'm more of a geek and think it's cool to have the wireless thing for grins. That means as long as it's not too expensive.

The best way to find info on this is to search the bbs for terms like "wireless" or "airport"

Welcome to the BBS. Spend some time with the FAQ on riocar.org, and it will help you get the most out of your new toy.

> Anyone got any links to anyone that has done a wireless setup?

or if you're adventurous, you could do the bluetooth install.

Definately check out the riocar.org site, especially the FAQ. Tony has done some great work there and just about every question is answered. I guess the only question left will be "who it Tony?", maybe we need a faq on that?

Tony (aka Project tfabris) is an amazing new AI set to replace normal human support personnel. It was developed by empeg to help with their support needs, but it was found to be out of place in our current time. So, they hid him in the basement with an internet connection.

Recent additions to the AI beyond it's ability to post here is the FAQ creator. The first version churned out quoted messages full of useful information, but V2 has been cranking out fully detailed pages of info, complete with illustrations.

Some people report they have seen Tony as a real person. But it's actually someone from Southern California hired by empeg to throw the public off the AI trail.

Tony USED to be a real person. Then he got his Empeg...

How odd, i used to have free space on my credit card before the same

Isn't all space on your credit card inherently "not free"?

Trekkie, keep in touch on your custom install in the TT -- I'm keeping my stock Bose setup for now, but am interested in a possible upgrade for the future. One thing that concerns me at this point is the faceplate colour; the red actually appears a little orangish, not the deep blood red of the TT dash lights. Are you seeing this as well? My empeg isn't in the car yet, so who knows how it will look when it's in.

In reply to:

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Isn't all space on your credit card inherently "not free"?

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What a brutal reality check. Thanks. I'm torn between hoping my last order of five 20 gigs comes through or gets denied...

I think they're doing some essential maintenance & upgrading of the Tony Fabris unit which is why there has been no reponse from him (it?) as yet in this thread.

The empeg red isn't a very close match to the VW/Audi red - it's closer to the BWM orange'ish. As the displays own color is greenish/blueish-white you lose a lot of intensity trying to make it deep red. In sunlight you'd have very little chance to read the display...

/Michael

This is correct. I drive a BMW and the red facia matches the dashbord lighting perfectly.
It's not readable in direct sunlight though.

Yup, I've also got a BMW. I initially has the "red" faceplate, which matched well, but was only readable at night. I've since switched to the "blue" faceplate. Even though the colors don't match quite as well, I like being able to read the screen.

On the other hand, I've found the "red" faceplate actually matches quite well with the "orange" display of my Yamaha home stereo components. So, that's what the "backup" empeg has on it now.

Tony USED to be a real person. Then he got his Empeg...

And, as you have recently discovered, Resistance Is Futile.

All your Tony are belong to us. (sorry, had to!)

I've not gotten mine either. I ordered the Radio tuner so I'm not holding my breath though from what I've been reading. If I don't get the radio tuner I may not replace the stock unit and just splice it in. over on Audiworld.com one of the TT owners in MN is developing a splitter for the AUX input that my changer is attached to. If he gets that figured out and working, I may use it unless they re-run another batch of Tuners.

Though I was getting warm to the idea of replacing everything with a really nice setup amp & speaker wise.. I guess we'll see.

That's funny. I had just watched TRON when I read this message!

/Pepijn

I'm not necessarily looking for 15 25" subs.

Of course not. Anybody knows that anything more than a dozen is overkill.

tanstaafl.

yes but there are significant performance gains with 4x32"s and a ring of 12x18"s. The acoustic coupling is quite dramatic. Naturally you dont feed the 32s anything bigger than 43.885Hz with a 24dB roll-off; and have the 18" from 32.662Hz to 102.53Hz with a 18Db Roll-off.
Guaranteed to blow more hot air than this post.