Thanks for all your input. Decided to go ahead and purchase the Denison with the current funds. Driving around with the radio just isn't fun and especially, when you go on a drive longer than 30 mins.

I'll start saving for the coilovers and hopefully have enough in a month or so to get them installed. Or since I live in Las Vegas, I could go to a casino and put it on black

pOrsch3: thanks for recommanding ef1motorsports. Talked to Fab and he seems like a good guy and price is well below what I'm getting here.

 

Coolio- Fab is the man with suspension installs / alignment. Killer pricing eh? The real deal..

 

Thx for all the advice guys. . . the search begins. __________________
2007 IB M6
2008 ML 63 AMG

*gone but not forgotten*
2004 Tiag E46 M3
2008 Jeep SRT 8

 

Get in line. We are all searching .

 

I got the dension and I don't like it at all. There are two major short-comings with it that, in my opinion, make using it suck.

1. You can only get a one level search unlike two on the ipod. What I mean is this: When most people search for music on the ipod they search Artist>Album>Play. On the Dension You can only search Artist>Play, or Album>Play, or Playlist>Play. This may not sound like a big deal in writting but you'll find out when you use it that not being able to go from Artist to Album is a big deal.

2. It takes about 30 seconds to load the list of tracks once you hit play. What that means is that once you select an Artist, or Album, Playlist and hit play, you are forced to listen to 30 seconds of the first song of your selection before you can switch to the next one. If you select NEXT before the track list loads it takes you to the next Artist, Album, or Playlist. Again, this may not sound like a big deal but being forced to listen to 30 seconds of a song you don't want to listen to blows. Next time you are scanning radio stations, listen to the first one for thirty seconds before changing to the next. You'll see what I mean.

This unit is seriously lame IMO. I get that the limitation comes from the way they have to fool the Porsche head unit into thinking that the iPod is the CD changer. However,for the $800+ to get the thing installed it shouldn't feel like such a hacked together solution. I would never buy or recommend this product to anyone.

I also have the Tooki bluetooth cell phone adapter (from NavTV) that integrates with the Porsche head unit and it is great. I wish the Dension unit worked as well as the Tooki does.

 

997C2SCAB,
I agree that the interface is not perfect due to (as you said) the Dension having to trick the PCM into thinking it is a CD changer, but I like my iPod selection of music and and FM transmitters suck (unless you like that really distant & static filled radio sound).
For your 2nd point: I believe the 30 second delay can be eliminated by selecting "Disk 5" manually after you are on the playlist/album/artist you want. Disk 5 is the normal mode for the Dension - the mode that allows you to select the next song by pressing the next button. It reverts to this mode (disk 5) itself after 30 seconds from any other mode - it is not loading the list of tracks, it is waiting to see if you selected the playlist (or artist or album) you really wanted. At least I think it can work that way. I'll try after work.
I admit that I tend to "set and forget" my playlist choice on my iPod so the Dension works great for me. Great sound.

 

If I understand you correctly you are saying that I need to, for example, select an Artist and then navigate back to the "CD List" menu and then select "CD 5" (which is actually displaying the name of my iPod). At that point I should be able to press the NEXT button and go to the next track by the artist I had selected earlier.

I just went to the garage and tried it but that is not how it behaves. If I do the steps I describe above, as soon as I select CD 5 it plays the first track on my iPod regardless of who the artist is. Pressing NEXT goes to the next track on my iPod (inalphabetical order).

In other words, selecting CD5 behaves like a fouth seach option for searching by Track. It should just be called "Select Track" instead of displaying the name of my iPod.

 

Hmm. Ok, sorry, I thought it did what I said, but I didn't have a chance to try it yet today.