Paoloveg

Intro: I am in Asia and I took the chance of getting the unit shipped. During trouble-shooting, Vaistech have been really helpful. Thumbs up for a good product and good customer service.
In a nutshell: 90% impressed 10% could be better

I will agree with most of the praises in the main thread listed here:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...sl2i-user.html

Here are some advice from me for people interested to install it in the future.

• I placed my ML+ unit under the passenger seat. Some slight cutting of carpet involved but totally invisible. Software upgrade is easy. There is no need for USB extension when you can pull the cable out from the armrest box. Shorter cable=less chance of interference or loss of signal?
  
• From my experience, this ML+ video out function only works with iPod Touch and iPhone. It does not work with iPod Classic. Perhaps Vaistech could advise otherwise. I tried to get the video out to work on iPod Classic but to no avail. That's rather disappointing because iPod Touch is only 64GB max and costs more. In the end, lured by the album art, I changed my iPod Classic to iPod Touch running iOS4. Those running a jail-broken iPhone will be able to display everything you see on the iPhone, including TomTom Nav and Google Maps, even streaming TV.
  
• Go to apple store and buy the original component cable. It costs more but it will save the hassle of doubting the cable when things go wrong. I had problems of crackle and pop sounds with the cable Vaistech provided. Also faced inferior sound quality in video out mode. The first advice you get is "are you using an original apple cable?". Pissed me off at first as I got the cable from Vaistech but I realized it might not be their fault as it may be hard to get rights to sell original apple products.
  
• Audio for ipod video out mode is somewhat disappointing and barely acceptable. While I understand the difference of analog vs digital, I still question if the ML unit can do better. I have only highs and high mids played over the 3" speakers on the dash. Very soft audio comes out of the speakers on the door panel much less the subwoofer. As there is zero bass, audio is really tiny. A test with the same cable on my TV produces a much better result so it's not the ipod nor the cable's fault. I suspect the audio signal is really weak and the audio level boost function on ML+ just causes the sound to crack. No solution for this yet. Hopefully the next software upgrade fixes it.
  
• The operating system is slightly unstable but acceptable. Sometimes graphics don't show up in ipod out mode. Sometimes the font increase/decrease in size. Usually, a restart of engine will solve everything.
  
• The latest update will solve most of the flickering problem and song up/down button on steering wheel.
  
• My car did not come with factory-installed backup camera. Due to this, backup camera does not turn up automatically when reverse is engaged and the backup camera button will not work. This is according to Vaistech. I had to select source and AV3 in order to see graphics on backup camera. Suggestion to Vaistech: Since there is no need for the backup camera button for factory-installed backup camera, why not make the backup camera button direct to AV3? If this it not possible, then there is room for an additional button. Can you please make a quick toggle for source selection so that I can view AV3 with 1 action?
  
• Too long a song name gets cut out from graphics. Suggestion to Vaistech: Perhaps the next software upgrade should make the text scroll from left to right for long song names.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

1) the key is iOS4 from apple, that's needed because that's when ipod out was first supported. ipod classic and such, they don't have ios4. itouch and iphone do

2) in video mode, audio is analog, that's again apple's problem i believe. they didn't enable digital audio out when feeding video.

Paoloveg

I politely disagree with you on both points.

1) iPod video out does not rely on iOS4. An ipod classic can display video out through a component cable to TV. It should be able to do the same on ML+. My jailbroken iPhone running iOS3 can display everything on video out mode on ML+ except album art. Although i have not tested it, I believe the ipod video out mode is simply an AV AUX in. It should display everything from nav to playstation. iOS4 is only needed for the album art display.

2) I use the exact same cable and exact same ipod on a simple sound system at home. This sound system is also using digital for audio and analog for video. Yet on this home system, the difference is not as drastic as the one on ML+.

*Batman*

There is something funky going on with the audio.

I am now experiencing the same problem. When I first installed the ML+, I noticed a difference between the digital audio in the ipod audio out mode and the analog audio in the video out mode, but it wasn't a deal breaker.

Since the firmware update, I am experiencing something similar to Paulo:
1) In the output settings, I have to set audio out to +10 in video out mode to match the volume level on audio out mode.
2) The voices of some of the artists break up like a bad cell phone signal. Its so striking, I could capture this on my iPhone video microphone. When I play the same music video through audio out mode it sounds fine.

I think Paulo is generous when he says it is barely acceptable. To me it is completely unacceptable. However, I wonder if it is a bug or a programming error. As I said I have gone from not having this problem to having this problem.

Paoloveg

Thank you. I have been trying to get this message across since my trouble-shooting thread. All the replies in the forum including Vaistech's tried to attribute it to the difference between analog and digital. As an audio system lover for the longest time, I STRONGLY disagree. As I mentioned, my test with a home audio system did not show this drastic difference. Hopefully, now that voices are stronger, Vaistech will look into this.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i am talking about official iOS. jailbreak is a whole new different thing i am not going into that. but if you talk about factory iOS, iOS4 is the one with ipod out, period. before this ipod out was not enabled by apple

for audio, that's the exact words i got from vaistech, so i am just relating the information

Paoloveg

Ok. If you are correct, then I think Vaistech should spell that clearly on their website. Using their product comparision chart http://www.vaistech.com/products/product_comparison.php, it says ipod/iphone video out interface..check. I suppose it should be iPhone, iTouch running > iOS4 video out.. check.

While I have never used their earlier products, I also wonder since SL2Vi and SL2iC have ipod/iphone video out interface checked as well, that they also require iOS4. Afterall, iOS4 is not available more than 1 year ago.

Paoloveg

Installed the latest update.

Solved the ipod video audio quality problem. Sound is now what I expected it to be.

Did not try the new fix for iPod classic because I upgraded it to an iTouch. Dear Vaistech, if you admitted that there was a fault when I first feedback to you and fixed it, I wouldn't have to spend more money for this upgrade. No grudges but I think you guys should take feedback more seriously.

Aside to Rominl: iPod video out does not require iOS4 as seen from the latest update. It was a flaw that Vaistech has now fixed. Please do not be to quick to use "period" in the future.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i can now see where the misunderstanding is. you have been talking about the ipod video output from ipod, and i kept on thinking about the ipod graphical interface output. that's why i kept on saying ios4 is the problem, which is definitely needed for the graphical interface. if you read back my post, i also said ios4 is needed for ipod out (never mentioned ipod video out). for that i apologize

Paoloveg

No offence taken. All for the good of the forum members