Vaistech VML Installation Details for 2004 LS430 Modern Luxury
04-05-10, 02:10 PM
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Vaistech VML Installation Details for 2004 LS430 Modern Luxury
VAISTECH VML INSTALLATION DETAILS 2004 LS430 MODERN LUXURY
Posts on this site have been very valuable to me, so I thought I'd make my own contribution by telling my story and providing some additional details that I was not able to find before I started.
I bought the car without even really checking to see if the CD player played MP3s. I just assumed it would. After all, I bought a basic 200 watt JVC head unit in 2003 that could do this for 150 bucks -- so it would be absurd to even ASK if the factory player on a 2004 Lexus could play MP3s, right? After staring at it blankly for a moment in my garage, then cursing the Lexus engineers loudly ("A tape deck?! Really, you idiots?! You forgot the 8-Track player!!") I considered my options.
1. Installing an aftermarket head unit means finding the wires to all 11 speakers and hooking them up to your new box. Depending on what you get, you might be able to find an adapter to plug the Lexus harness into an aftermarket radio, but even then you will probably have no steering wheel radio controls or any number of unforeseeable problems. Not to mention, you'll go to some effort finding panels just to get it to look acceptable in your dash. I didn't feel like spending 40 hours on my stereo. I mean, you could probably make the car fly too, if you really wanted, but it's easier to just get an airplane.
2. Installing an aftermarket single-loading mp3-playing CD player where the 6 changer used to be means possibly hooking straight into the factory head unit. This seems like a reasonable idea at first, and even more inexpensive than the VML, but the 6 CD changer is connected to the head unit directly, via a flimsy ribbon cable inside the casing. So much for just hijacking some CD input lines. There may be a way to pull this off, but it's a little beyond what I was willing to attempt.
3. The Vaistech VML. I haven't found one negative review that didn't look to me like "user error," and that's saying something. All factory radio controls work with this thing, and it's just plug and play. A USB interface is a step up in convenience from playing mp3s off of data CDs, and a huge step up in sound quality over a standard 3.5mm Aux-In jack. Option 3 wins.
Getting to the head unit is extremely easy on the LS430 compared to some other cars I've encountered. I won't get into detail here, but if you pull the panel with the seat heating controls straight out, you can then have everything out after removing just 5 screws. All you need is a 10mm socket and a magnetic phillips screwdriver.
I decided to remove the 6 CD changer from the car entirely. Let's face it -- a 6 CD changer that can't play MP3s is about as useful as a poopy-flavored lollipop. It does not deserve to be gallivanting around town with me. I can always put it back together later, and besides, the kid who buys this boat from me in ten years isn't even going to know what a CD is. Splitting the changer and the head unit was harder than it looked. I had to remove quite a few small philips head screws from the panels surrounding the player, so unplug everything and take it to a table where you can see. You must take the face plate and top panel off of the head unit so that you can get to one of the hidden screws on the inside holding the head unit and CD changer together. You also need to disconnect the two ribbon cables that connect the units together. They just pull straight out. The larger one is for the CD input, and the smaller one goes to the "Load" and "Eject" buttons. The head unit works just fine without the CD changer attached.
I installed the VML in the hole left by the CD changer, with the plugs facing forward, in case I need to reset it. I ran the USB extension cable with the rest of the wires out the top right side of the compartment. When you remove the panel in the back of the glove box, you have just enough room to grab the USB cable and pull it into the back of the glove box. File a tiny notch in the top left corner of the opening, slide the wire into the notch, and that will allow the back panel to fit flush again.
99x999 songs at 5MB per song is about 500GB, so I bought a 500GB USB external drive for $89. They're made to be somewhat shock resistant already, and it's not like the LS has a bumpy ride. All mechanical HDs wear out eventually, so you're better off getting something you can change out quickly and backing up your music in your house. With the optional IDE drive, you'd have to transfer to a USB device from your computer, then transfer again to the internal drive. Why go through an extra step?
I loaded my HD with mp3s, hooked it up in the glove box, and..... No sound. The VML couldn't find any songs to play. After flipping through manuals, I realized that the VML requires a drive to be formatted in the FAT32 file system. This is a VERY important detail, because my 500GB drive came preformatted with NTFS. NTFS has some advantages, but FAT32 is a lot more compatible across platforms -- Windows, Mac, Linux, Xbox360, and PS3 can all read FAT32, so I commend Vaistech for going with FAT32 over NTFS. Most thumb drives are FAT32 to begin with. Unfortunately, it can be a challenge to reformat a large hard drive in FAT32 under Windows XP. The Disk Manager will only allow you to format drives up to 32GB in FAT32, because Windows, as usual, assumes that you don't know what you're doing. I dug around for free programs and eventually found a really good one that will quickly format drives up to 2TB with the FAT32 file system here:
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/ind...at32format.htm
After that, I reloaded my music and everything worked perfectly. The sound quality is absolutely phenomenal. My Gen 4 nav system can't display CD/MP3 mode, so I am using the MD Changer mode (what kind of moron would buy a factory Lexus MiniDisc Changer for a gazillion dollars?) MD Changer emulation is not bad at all. Navigation through albums is quite easy, as long as you go to a little effort to organize your music. You can rapidly click through disc numbers -- the number changes instantly, then when you stop on a number for a moment, it takes a second or two to display the Folder and Song names and start playing. When a song has ended and it's going to the next track on its own, there is NO delay at all -- very nice. I opted not to make my own m3u playlist files, because it seems like a lot of trouble to maintain them to me. I have one folder per album, but will soon probably run over my 99 folder limit soon. I will have to start doubling up albums in disc folders, or making the folders be genre based rather than album based. Activating the "disc scan" button will allow you to jump up and down 10 discs/folders at a time. Activating "scan" allows you to jump up and down 10 tracks at a time. So, if you're on Disc 1 Track 1 and you know you want to get to Disc 30, Track 63, you'd tap "disc scan", then "disc up" 3 times. Then "scan", followed by "track up" 6 times. Then "scan" again to deactivate it, and "track up" 3 more times. You can do this very rapidly, i.e. you don't have to wait for anything to load between button taps. MD mode will not show you a list of folder or track names to scroll through. It's a slight bummer knowing that Gen 5 people get to scroll through their folder list, but it won't slow you down if you keep your stuff in some kind of order. When you tap the button to turn song titles off, you can then access folders 1-12 with one tap, so if you're like me, you'll just keep your current favorites in the first twelve folders.
Posts on this site have been very valuable to me, so I thought I'd make my own contribution by telling my story and providing some additional details that I was not able to find before I started.
I bought the car without even really checking to see if the CD player played MP3s. I just assumed it would. After all, I bought a basic 200 watt JVC head unit in 2003 that could do this for 150 bucks -- so it would be absurd to even ASK if the factory player on a 2004 Lexus could play MP3s, right? After staring at it blankly for a moment in my garage, then cursing the Lexus engineers loudly ("A tape deck?! Really, you idiots?! You forgot the 8-Track player!!") I considered my options.
1. Installing an aftermarket head unit means finding the wires to all 11 speakers and hooking them up to your new box. Depending on what you get, you might be able to find an adapter to plug the Lexus harness into an aftermarket radio, but even then you will probably have no steering wheel radio controls or any number of unforeseeable problems. Not to mention, you'll go to some effort finding panels just to get it to look acceptable in your dash. I didn't feel like spending 40 hours on my stereo. I mean, you could probably make the car fly too, if you really wanted, but it's easier to just get an airplane.
2. Installing an aftermarket single-loading mp3-playing CD player where the 6 changer used to be means possibly hooking straight into the factory head unit. This seems like a reasonable idea at first, and even more inexpensive than the VML, but the 6 CD changer is connected to the head unit directly, via a flimsy ribbon cable inside the casing. So much for just hijacking some CD input lines. There may be a way to pull this off, but it's a little beyond what I was willing to attempt.
3. The Vaistech VML. I haven't found one negative review that didn't look to me like "user error," and that's saying something. All factory radio controls work with this thing, and it's just plug and play. A USB interface is a step up in convenience from playing mp3s off of data CDs, and a huge step up in sound quality over a standard 3.5mm Aux-In jack. Option 3 wins.
Getting to the head unit is extremely easy on the LS430 compared to some other cars I've encountered. I won't get into detail here, but if you pull the panel with the seat heating controls straight out, you can then have everything out after removing just 5 screws. All you need is a 10mm socket and a magnetic phillips screwdriver.
I decided to remove the 6 CD changer from the car entirely. Let's face it -- a 6 CD changer that can't play MP3s is about as useful as a poopy-flavored lollipop. It does not deserve to be gallivanting around town with me. I can always put it back together later, and besides, the kid who buys this boat from me in ten years isn't even going to know what a CD is. Splitting the changer and the head unit was harder than it looked. I had to remove quite a few small philips head screws from the panels surrounding the player, so unplug everything and take it to a table where you can see. You must take the face plate and top panel off of the head unit so that you can get to one of the hidden screws on the inside holding the head unit and CD changer together. You also need to disconnect the two ribbon cables that connect the units together. They just pull straight out. The larger one is for the CD input, and the smaller one goes to the "Load" and "Eject" buttons. The head unit works just fine without the CD changer attached.
I installed the VML in the hole left by the CD changer, with the plugs facing forward, in case I need to reset it. I ran the USB extension cable with the rest of the wires out the top right side of the compartment. When you remove the panel in the back of the glove box, you have just enough room to grab the USB cable and pull it into the back of the glove box. File a tiny notch in the top left corner of the opening, slide the wire into the notch, and that will allow the back panel to fit flush again.
99x999 songs at 5MB per song is about 500GB, so I bought a 500GB USB external drive for $89. They're made to be somewhat shock resistant already, and it's not like the LS has a bumpy ride. All mechanical HDs wear out eventually, so you're better off getting something you can change out quickly and backing up your music in your house. With the optional IDE drive, you'd have to transfer to a USB device from your computer, then transfer again to the internal drive. Why go through an extra step?
I loaded my HD with mp3s, hooked it up in the glove box, and..... No sound. The VML couldn't find any songs to play. After flipping through manuals, I realized that the VML requires a drive to be formatted in the FAT32 file system. This is a VERY important detail, because my 500GB drive came preformatted with NTFS. NTFS has some advantages, but FAT32 is a lot more compatible across platforms -- Windows, Mac, Linux, Xbox360, and PS3 can all read FAT32, so I commend Vaistech for going with FAT32 over NTFS. Most thumb drives are FAT32 to begin with. Unfortunately, it can be a challenge to reformat a large hard drive in FAT32 under Windows XP. The Disk Manager will only allow you to format drives up to 32GB in FAT32, because Windows, as usual, assumes that you don't know what you're doing. I dug around for free programs and eventually found a really good one that will quickly format drives up to 2TB with the FAT32 file system here:
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/ind...at32format.htm
After that, I reloaded my music and everything worked perfectly. The sound quality is absolutely phenomenal. My Gen 4 nav system can't display CD/MP3 mode, so I am using the MD Changer mode (what kind of moron would buy a factory Lexus MiniDisc Changer for a gazillion dollars?) MD Changer emulation is not bad at all. Navigation through albums is quite easy, as long as you go to a little effort to organize your music. You can rapidly click through disc numbers -- the number changes instantly, then when you stop on a number for a moment, it takes a second or two to display the Folder and Song names and start playing. When a song has ended and it's going to the next track on its own, there is NO delay at all -- very nice. I opted not to make my own m3u playlist files, because it seems like a lot of trouble to maintain them to me. I have one folder per album, but will soon probably run over my 99 folder limit soon. I will have to start doubling up albums in disc folders, or making the folders be genre based rather than album based. Activating the "disc scan" button will allow you to jump up and down 10 discs/folders at a time. Activating "scan" allows you to jump up and down 10 tracks at a time. So, if you're on Disc 1 Track 1 and you know you want to get to Disc 30, Track 63, you'd tap "disc scan", then "disc up" 3 times. Then "scan", followed by "track up" 6 times. Then "scan" again to deactivate it, and "track up" 3 more times. You can do this very rapidly, i.e. you don't have to wait for anything to load between button taps. MD mode will not show you a list of folder or track names to scroll through. It's a slight bummer knowing that Gen 5 people get to scroll through their folder list, but it won't slow you down if you keep your stuff in some kind of order. When you tap the button to turn song titles off, you can then access folders 1-12 with one tap, so if you're like me, you'll just keep your current favorites in the first twelve folders.
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