Comments

• jehrler said:
  

  I was one of the first to order the AudioTroll and Rev. 1 was a real disappointment.

  BUT

  After sending the unit back and receiving a Rev. 2 I have to say that it has been absolutely fabulous. I have a 99 Saab 9-5 Wagon (271,000 miles) and, obviously, listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks. The new AudioTroll has been worth every penny!

  There is one small issue remaining that will be resolved when a new cable is forthcoming (it causes a slight hum) but, compared to listening to a cassette for example) it is nothing.

  -April 25th, 2008 at 1:08 am
• Ying Zhang said:
  

  I agree with Swade onthis one, limiting audio interface to iPod only is like restricting to Shell fuel only for example, it’s just silly.

  Beleive it or not, there are a large number of people who do NOT like Apple products out there (and shall I add, most I know personally are tech savvy types, on the other hand, the Apple fans I know are marketing and law people inthe company).

  Bluetooth interface is the next big thing. I recon with in 2, 3 years we will see a slew of mp3 players with Bluetooth.

  And the beauty about that, is it’s a universal standard.

  -April 25th, 2008 at 1:26 am
• PGAero said:
  

  Let’s see. I still own two yo-yos. (I should go home today and pull one out and use it.)

  I also used a hula-hoop about two weeks ago. It was surprisingly fun, although the traditional way of using a hula-hoop (on you hips) is pretty boring, for me anyway.

  Now, I don’t see any reason that I’ll get an iPod in the near future. I just have no desire.

  Oh, and I’m 28 years old.

  That being said, Saab should have integrated bluetooth as an option (at least) in every car they sell. I blame GM, and no one else, for this. Onstar be darned!

  ~Peter
  ‘93 9000 Aero. (It plays CDs, tapes, and the radio. I haven’t used the tape deck in years. I have Infinity Kappa component speakers w/ crossovers, lest you think I have no care for music in general ;o)

  -April 25th, 2008 at 1:45 am
• Dan said:
  

  I am currently debating wether to place an oderd for audiotroll (formerly trollpod), is it worth it? I have a 2000 9-5 Aero currently…

  -April 25th, 2008 at 1:48 am
• papluh said:
  

  When ordering Audiotroll just remember that international orders take ages to ship. GES (= Carl) statement says something about customs bureaucracy. While US guys ordering this year already got theirs, some people in Europe which ordered in 2006 are still waiting But maybe someone high profile like Swade can get his priority shipped….
  Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to have one, but I’m just tired of waiting….

  -April 25th, 2008 at 2:26 am
• Carl said:
  

  Swade: I’m very glad to hear that the Viggen is on its way back to the road! I realize you purchased an iPod in anticipation of AudioTroll’s initial release in 2006 and would welcome you to try the product and see how many improvements have been made in that time.

  jehrler: Thank you for your nice comments. Rev. 1 was terrible, I will not deny that and anyone out there who is still unfortunately equipped with one, send it back for a free replacement. The Rev. 2 units have been very well received and are subject to a much higher quality standard.

  papluh: If an older order was not fulfilled by this point, please email me directly and we’ll get it sorted. There are issues with customs but that is on the receiving end. There is no special priority on orders outside of just getting everything in the past cleared up as well as shipping to new orders to fund the business’ ability to fulfill prior commitments. On that note, new international orders are automatically processed with a tracking number and customs declaration to expedite the otherwise long and drawn out process.

  -April 25th, 2008 at 3:04 am
• jehrler said:
  

  Carl,

  My pleasure. Your had work finally paid off with a great product.

  BTW, are you planning to notify current customers when the revised cables become available now that the forums are down?

  One super nice feature of Rev 2 is that you do not need to use the mini-stereo jack for audio. Rev 1 required that, even when you were connected to the dock. Rev 2 moves the sound through the dock which is great for those of us with damaged audio jacks (one sided audio only). While I just finished repairing my iPod’s jack, it was nice to still be able to listen to stereo in the car.

  -April 25th, 2008 at 3:11 am
• Carl said:
  

  Research is still on-going regarding the interface cable. A lot seems to have to do with the internal grounding on the iPod itself it seems. I installed an AT in a customer’s 2005 9-5 Arc a few weeks ago with his 6th Gen. iPod Classic 80gb. Traditionally, the hard disk based iPods have had a nominal amount of interference when the hard disk spools or buffers data along with a hiss when charging. This 6th generation iPod was quiet and free of any significant noise (outside of the noise that the head unit itself makes). If a new cable is what it takes to be fully noise-free across the iPod range, it will be announced on the support page at GES.

  -April 25th, 2008 at 3:21 am
• Jeff said:
  

  Tape adapters are pretty bulletproof :p

  iPods make up something like 80% of all PMP sales, so, yes, iPod integration makes a lot of sense. Bluetooth and iPod makes the most sense to me. Chances are, iPods will eventually have Bluetooth anyway.

  What doesn’t make sense is integration for any other player. Zune integration? Sansa? That will be useful for, what, six people? So, yeah, Bluetooth is the way to go, but iPod makes sense too because they’re everywhere. They aren’t going anywhere, either. Phones will never be as good as a dedicated mp3 player. The cheap ones don’t have enough space and sound like ass, and the expensive ones…are expensive and still tend to not have enough space without media card expansion.

  -April 25th, 2008 at 5:16 am
• Joachim said:
  

  hi
  i ordered during the pre-order phase….
  it was a long time ago (nearly one year). but i got it… and now i have problems…..
  i have a 9-3 2.2 TiD Y99… on my SID i had silly views… he showed me 2000km (>1200 miles) with one full tank, 1 or 2 liters for 100km (>200 mpg), and so on… after removing, everthing was ok….
  not worth to tell you that it hasn’t work in my car :-(((
  i’ll contact trollpod to clear my problem…

  but i want trollpod. in my eyes the perfect gift for a saab….
  definitely

  -April 25th, 2008 at 6:17 am
• trogg said:
  

  The reason any manufacture should want to be able to interact with an iPod is that Apple currently has at least 2/3 of the portable audio player market. Keep in mind that the other 1/3 probably do not share a common interface so if one is to interface with a portable audio player it should be the iPod first and then any other player that had a large enough market share to justify the development cost.

  Its not a matter of liking or not liking Apple per se but developing an interface that works with the most common portable audio player(s) regardless of their heritage. No one’s talking about creating the future SAAB SID/AUDIO with a Macintosh look and feel, just he possibility that the SAAB SID/AUDIO could understand output from the iPod, iPhone or any other relevant portable data device.

  -April 25th, 2008 at 6:27 am
• Saaby said:
  

  The Audio Troll is cool because it really does work so seamlessly with the iPod, but I believe he includes an Aux mini-jack on it too, so you’re not locked into just the iPod, excpet $180 is a lot to pay to hook your Zune up and not get controls or anything.

  Perhaps GES would do well to next release a “Audio Troll Lite” that has just the Aux in.

  As for me? Well I was going to hack an aux-in into the radio for my dad (9-5) as I have done on my own (9000) but since the ‘Trolls are supposedly in stock I told him to order quick!

  -April 25th, 2008 at 7:13 am
• Alex said:
  

  I would be game for a “troll light” that just adapts an aux in to the CD input. The audio troll sounds nice, but I’ve heard about bugs when using it with the ipod video and I worry about even bigger problems using it with my newer ipod classic.

  -April 25th, 2008 at 7:59 am
• Bruce said:
  

  The Aux mini-jack on our 2007 9-5 reads my wife’s iPod output perfectly.

  Question: Has anyone in North America found a way to ditch the XM box on a 9-5 and replace it with Sirius while still getting the displays on the screen and using the built in XM antenna?

  -April 25th, 2008 at 11:58 am
• DanC said:
  

  There’s gotta be a way to install a simple line-in jack in current production cars, if not more.
  I put an aftermarket stereo in my TSD 900 that has line in, reads mp3 disks and has a USB port. Lots of flexibility there, and can play tunes from just about any device out there. Everyone’s happy and not tied to a proprietary player.

  -April 25th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
• Grider said:
  

  After the past few years of reading the late “forum” section on GES’s website for updates, I finally ordered my AudioTroll on Sunday. The final kicker was that on the 6th gen iPod Classics, they’ve somehow cut down the preamp power so the old Seth Evans-style Aux Jack barely worked any more.

  I got a shipping message from Carl today - so yep! They’re in stock!

  Now if only I could get my SID to stop fading in and out….

  -April 25th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
• Sport Mode said:
  

  Saaby and Alex,

  GES does have an aux-in only. I have it myself, which will be installed soon. I originally ordered the full AudioTroll, but I later changed the order as I don’t have or want an iPod. All I needed was an aux-in jack for my Creative and I’m set- and $65 richer.

  DanC- there is an easy way to install a line-in/aux-in jack- that is, integrating it into the stereo. I’ve seen both OEM and aftermarket with them, though on some the quality is actually a bit disappointing. Hopefully the stuff that’s hardwired into the car (like what GES produces) is much better.

  -April 26th, 2008 at 7:51 am
• eggsngrits (Author) said:
  

  As another person who uses a different brand of mp3 player (iriver), I’ve bypssed the whole thing and installed a USB-equipped stereo in the 9-5. Just load the songs onto a thumb drive and play away. Easy.

  -April 26th, 2008 at 8:05 am
• Sport Mode said:
  

  I like the idea, Eggs, though I admit I can’t quite bring myself to part with the original stereo…looks better, especially at night, and I looove my weatherband button!

  If I had to replace my stereo though, like you did, I would seriously consider the same thing you describe- that’s easy peasy.

  -April 26th, 2008 at 8:11 am
• DanC said:
  

  A line-in jack in OEM equipment seems to be an exception rather than the rule. Unless I’m missing something…
  Here’s a pic of the head unit I installed a couple of months ago. Less than $150 gets USB, line in, mp3 CDs, and with another relatively small chunk of money, a bluetooth car phone adapter can be installed that works through the stereo. Brand name is “Dual”.
  Sole complaint is that installed up high in the 900 dash it’s a tad too bright at night so I made a cover for it.
  Years ago Mazda made a big deal out of the fact their OEM stereo — I think it was in the Mazda MP3 — played mp3 discs. I wonder if there’s been some pressure from the record companies to keep that feature out of cars? Or other audio features that I’m sure many many buyers would like to have.

  -April 26th, 2008 at 10:16 am
• Bob said:
  

  Scosche:

  http://www.scosche.com/products/sfID1/151/sfID2/159/sfID3/262/productID/562

  Here is the manual:

  http://www.scosche.com/ecom/download/AXIPGMLAN_foldoutV1.pdf

  When i get my Turbo X i have to check if i have the right radio though.

  Allows full control.

  Uses GM’s proprietary protocol:

  http://www.gm.com/shop/parts/ipod/

  I live by the iPod as you can see.

  This will display songs/lists.

  -June 2nd, 2008 at 5:49 am
• Bob said:
  

  Oh, forget about the stereo jack, we are now in the 010101 digital age, i dumped LPs for SACD bitstreamed via HDMI in my home theatre too

  -June 2nd, 2008 at 5:50 am

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