I recently (like 3 weeks ago) picked up the Dice Electronics (http://www.diceelectronics.com/) Ipod integration unit for the 2006 A4 Symphony II headunit.

Here's the website info on the product: http://www.diceelectronics.com/ipod_integration.htm

INSTALLATION:
I bought the radio removal tools off of ebay and easily removed the radio. Installation is a breeze with very few complications in the procedure. You can find the installation instructions here: http://www.diceelectronics.com/suppo...di_install.pdf Simply add the Dice Electronics harness between the stock head unit and stock wiring. You'll have to ground one of the wires from the new harness on a screw in the back of the headunit. The plug in the Dice black box into the harness and you're half done. I wanted my ipod to stay in the glovebox out of the way of sight for security reasons. In order to get the wire into the glove box I was forced to remove the glovebox inner lining. This can be achieved by simply removing all the screws that hold it in place. Once you have taken the lining out you must cut out one of the punch out squares in order to fit the cable through. When this is done simply pass the ipod wire the comes out of the Dice electronic box through the knockout hole in the rear left side of the glovebox lining. Replace all the screws to re-attach the lining and you're done.

The system works amazingly allowing you to flip between up to 99 playlists. The steering wheel controls also function when the Ipod system is in use. As far as ipod integration systems on the market I highly recommend the Dice Electronics unit.

 

few questions.
What was the overall cost (were there any duties or anything)? Did you buy from the manufacturer direct? Did you have to re-enter the security code for the radio? DO you see song titles and playlist titles on the player? I just bought an 06 2.0T and it didn't come with the radio code card (I assume its lost) so as you can imagine, I'm a little worried about cutting off power to the unit. I did read that this generation radio should recognize it's host car though...

 

I just called Dice electonics because I didn't see my 2008 A4 avant on their list. The guy said to order the 07', its the same he said. Anyone know?
He also asked where its being shipped to and I said toronto Canada, so he refered me to EnfigCarStereo.com for internation orders.

This is what I was looking for....

 

hmmm good to know...

 

I don't remember re-entering my radio code, but can't remember 100% for sure. I bought it direct from the company that installs the Integration kits for Pfaff Audi. I believe the company is called Nu-Tek Electronics but I can't seem to find their number.

On another note the 2006 A4's came with the Symphony II stereo's which don't have song title capabilities. From what I understand the Symphony II+ from the 2007 and up A4's can see song titles. You could probably find out the radio code from your dealership.

 

Is there a function that needs to be enabled to allow me to see names of radio stations and names of songs/artists? I have DICE Ipod installed and understand that a SAT-capable car should allow me to see playlists, artists, songs, integrated with car? Again is there some switch on IPOD device or some part of car's computer system where I enable this feature? Is there a difference between functionality in a SAT-capable system and an SAT-enabled system?

Currently the display is just the radio station number and the IPOD track/song number but demo car of same model, 08 A4, had integrated text display so assume this 08 A4 should also have this.

 

When I spoke to the guy who installed mine he had made mention that 2007 and up should be capable of displaying specific track details from the IPOD with the stock stereo system. As I have an 06' A4 I dont have that ability...apparently Audi didnt make the system capable of it by that point.

Not sure if other systems in your car might be interfering. For the record though, I did notice that we tried a few different settings which made the IPOD work in different ways. One setting was really good for tracking the track numbers and control but didnt allow any IPOD manipulation directly using the IPOD's controls. We settled for being able to control the IPOD and from the car but the track numbers get screwed up often.

 

If anyone would like a unit, I have an i-Audi-R available brand new, works with Symphony II units. $160cnd.

 

Hey guys,
I got my car from a used car dealer and it didn't come with the original radio security code.
I went to Pfaff Audi and asked what I could do.
They took down the VIN off my car and gave me two four digit codes XXXX/XXXX

The dealer will give you 2 codes but only one is the correct code.
Write that down somewhere and BINGO!!!
You're in BIZ.

This works if your radio came stock with the car and works for all Audis new or old.

the word.... if anyone needs this tip.

Cheers.....drive it like you stole it

 

I put the Dice unit into an 2006.5 Audi A4 Quattro 2.0 with the base Symphony audio package. I do not have a SAT receiver. Installation was trivial; no need to pull the radio, just route the iPod cable from the trunk back into the cabin any way you like and stash the DICE behind the glove box.

The DICE is not a perfect thing, and there are many tricks to getting it working.

First off, the manual is much much too short and you can only learn most of this by trial and error, which can be damned annoying, especially when you are trying to figure it out at a stop light.

I use an iPod Classic for the car. I bet Nanos work just like Classics on DICE. I have no info for iPod touch, iPhones or iPads.

Be very sure you set the tiny DIP switches on the DICE to match your needs. These determine whether or not the full control set will be made available to you, as well as what sort of display you have. My DICE came pre-set correctly for full control of the iPod and my Symphony's simple, two-line text display.

The iPod Classic has a slider lock switch. The position of this switch makes a huge difference in what features the Dice enables for your dash controls. Basically, if you want what you paid for, never dock the iPod to the Dice unless the iPod is LOCKED. Otherwise, most of the features are disabled. The manual does say that.

A common problem is turning the car on and having the Symphony display NO SAT RADIO. I am not sure why this happens. My theory is that the DICE doesn't put the iPod to sleep when the power is removed, and the iPod may discharge if left that way long enough. It then needs several seconds to reboot when external power returns, but the DICE detects a load on the dock cable, decides there must be an iPod out there, and when DICE doesn't get a quick response from the iPod it gives up. *Theory only* My usual trick to avoid this completely is to never leave the iPod docked when I park for long periods (overnight). I just disconnect it from the cable. Then, this almost never happens. Almost.

The Symphony's soft buttons are devilish under DICE. Button 2 is for choosing Playlists, 3 is for Artists, and 4 for Albums. Here one can find some real shortcomings in the DICE firmware. If you are listening to a track and touch any of these buttons, you are doomed: you cannot change your mind and keep listening to the current track uninterrupted. If you choose Albums (I do this most often), you must tap ">" (upper right of the display on my Symphony) immediately, or the DICE will move to the first Album on your iPod and start playing it. No retreat. You will get very, very tired of hearing the first song on your first album (perhaps that is ABBA, which I had to pull off of my iPod for this reason).

Next trick is that your steering wheel volume controls will work, but they will interupt the music. Just use the volume ****. It works perfectly and is convenient anyway. On my DICE, if I use the thumbwheel in the steering wheel to change volume, the music in interrupted and in the gap, it sounds as if the in-dash changer is cycled quickly. The first is the DICE not being able to do anything else while a CAN bus exchange is in progress, I think. The second symptom is just weird. Why does it activate the (original, real) changer mechanism?

Next trick, I have not yet figured out. Sometimes, the DICE puts on the Symphony display "STOPPED". Just "STOPPED". There is no music, of course. But figuring out how to resume music play can be hazardous while driving. This may be a hidden feature, a brain-teaser to help you fight off road hypnosis. Sometimes I wonder: I sent too many commands too fast, and the DICE and the iPod are out of synch. The best theory I have on this one so far is to use button 4 to choose from the Albums. Eventually, the DICE and the iPod resume talking to each other and you'll get that lovely first song on your first album again. At least you are back in control. Now you can pick an Album and go on with your day.

Dice does not have any way to skip to Album/Artists starting with A, L, R, or Z (for example). If you want to get to your music without rolling through every Artist/Album one at a time, be ready to build lots of Playlists. The Playlist mode works well for this. Unlike some iPod adapters, there does not seem to be a low limit on how many Playlists DICE will handle. So you can generate Playlists for the A-F albums, the G-M etc. and shorten your searches.

When all else fails: decelerate, pull over, remove the iPod from the DICE and reboot it (two-finger reset). You'll need to move the slider to UNLOCK for that, so put it back to LOCK before you re-attach to DICE. This is not always a cure, but it's an option you should remember to try when things get rough.