DICE MediaBridge 1500 Bluetooth questions

So I am thinking of getting one of these. I have searched a lot and seen several threads about it but most people install it for use with iphones/ipods and only leave brief remarks about a2dp music streaming. I will primarily use bluetooth streaming and sometimes aux. Can someone who uses this feature chime in with their experiences? Please mention what bluetooth music player you use with it. I will be using an android phone. Specifically here are some things I am wondering:

1.) Does it quickly connect when you start car and quickly disconnect when you shut the car off? When it connects does it automatically start playing music and stop music when you shut the car off?

2.) Do any of the buttons act as a play/pause button? As far as I can tell next/prev do work and also function as answer/ignore/hangup during a call. Is this correct?

3.) Does it skip a lot/at all? I know this is a YMMV type thing but I have used an aftermarket BT head unit before and it skipped enough to be annoying. Then one day I had a rental car with factory bluetooth and had not one skip the entire time I had it. I was so jealous. Does DICE work as well?

4.) Some people mention static. Do you have this problem with bluetooth or aux?

5.) Does the head unit bass and treb controls work for sound from BT and aux?

Thanks for any input! Hopefully this thread will help other people who are in the same boat because detailed info on the bluetooth streaming feature is hard to find right now.

I use the MB with my iPhone 4, but almost entirely over A2DP. I installed the MB behind the glove compartment and ran the mic up to the overhead console, but didn't run a USB cable. My answers to your questions are below:

Originally Posted by jon-k

So I am thinking of getting one of these. I have searched a lot and seen several threads about it but most people install it for use with iphones/ipods and only leave brief remarks about a2dp music streaming. I will primarily use bluetooth streaming and sometimes aux. Can someone who uses this feature chime in with their experiences? Please mention what bluetooth music player you use with it. I will be using an android phone. Specifically here are some things I am wondering:

1.) Does it quickly connect when you start car and quickly disconnect when you shut the car off?
Yes
When it connects does it automatically start playing music and stop music when you shut the car off?
I believe so, yes. I can say for sure that if I am playing music, and the iPhone connects to the MB via BT, it automatically starts playing over the speakers. In addition, all system sounds, including games or movies, will also play over the car speakers.

2.) Do any of the buttons act as a play/pause button? As far as I can tell next/prev do work and also function as answer/ignore/hangup during a call. Is this correct?
The steering wheel buttons will change tracks and pick up and disconnect calls. I don't believe they play and pause, but I haven't tried that.

I typically play and pause directly on the phone, which I keep in the front cup holder.

3.) Does it skip a lot/at all? I know this is a YMMV type thing but I have used an aftermarket BT head unit before and it skipped enough to be annoying. Then one day I had a rental car with factory bluetooth and had not one skip the entire time I had it. I was so jealous. Does DICE work as well?
I haven't noticed any skipping.

4.) Some people mention static. Do you have this problem with bluetooth or aux?
What I notice is less static and more a periodic chirping. I have never used the aux input, so I can't comment on whether the chirping exists there as well.

5.) Does the head unit bass and treb controls work for sound from BT and aux?
I assume so, although I haven't tried that. Remember that the MB is emulating a CD changer. As such, it only co-opts the 1-6 preset buttons used to select disks. The bass and treble controls should work as per usual.

Thanks for any input! Hopefully this thread will help other people who are in the same boat because detailed info on the bluetooth streaming feature is hard to find right now.

I have an Android and can verify the previous poster's feedback, with a few notes

I haven't noticed any static at all

I don't recall if the bass/treble presets are source specific or universal, but there is a volume control to the MB device, so should be able to find a sweet spot if the former.

I stream from WinAmp and Pandora.

If you use Navigation, the voice commands will play through the head unit (unless muted), same with alerts.

One additional note, if you plan to use a USB stick plugged into the MB, the scrolling/navigation is really primitive, and very slow if you have a lot of music. That's really my only criticism of the MB 1500, aside would be nice to have phone address book functionality on the device. Otherwise, I really like the product.

Thanks for the helpful comments guys. Heartychoke, I have heard that disabling the scrolling text might stop the chirping. You should give that a try.

zanth119 since you use android, any chance you could confirm the automatic playing? If you get in the car and the music player is not already playing, when you start the car and BT connects does playback start automatically? This would be really nice especially since there is no way to play/pause from the HU. What was nice about the factory bluetooth HU that I used was that I didnt even have to take my phone out of my pocket at all. Music just started palying and there was a play/pause function on the HU and steering wheel.

I own the MB1500 and would like to make a note on the bluetooth music streaming. My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S, and it streams music and whatever else is playing when the bluetooth mode is selected on the Mediabridge. However, sound quality is not that great. I know that bluetooth will never be able to give the same audio quality as a direct line connection, and I guess to some people the bluetooth streaming quality is adequate, but for my listening tastes it isn't. The sounds takes on almost a 'spatial' effect, with a good bit of music detail lost. I have all the sound eq settings on my phone set to flat, and no sound effects turned on. Turning off the HK button helps a little, but this isn't a problem that the HK effect is causing. Just giving you a heads-up on this since this function seemed to be the one you would use most. You may be happy with the overall audio quality using bluetooth...

I see that you also own an '01 325i. If your factory radio has never been replaced with a newer factory model, then like me you most likely have what Dice refers to as the 'double-click' radio. This means that sometimes you may have to hit the track up and down buttons on the radio twice to make a selection. Also, forget about storing satellite radio presets using the preset buttons-it will not work on the older double-click radios. This is a HUGE issue for me, as satellite radio is the main thing I have the Dice unit for. Dice says that they know about this issue and engineering is looking for a resolution, but you would have thought with all the firmware updates they have released that would have been resolved by now.

Overall, I am pretty happy with the Dice MB1500. I will say that it can be VERY finicky and tempermental at times. It might occasionally not work at some point, and you will have to unplug the wiring harness on the unit, wait a few minutes, then plug it back in for it to work again. Sometimes, you may have to disconnect the battery in the car for 15 minutes for it to be recognized again. The latest firmware update killed my original Dice module for good, but I was able to get a replacement from Dice this past week that is working-however, I had to jump thru some weird hoops in order for it work.

In the end, for those of us who do not want to install a different head unit but want satellite radio, hands free bluetooth, and ipod connectivity, the Dice MB1500 is about our only solution out there. When it is working, then it is great....as long as it keeps working.

Originally Posted by jon-k

Thanks for the helpful comments guys. Heartychoke, I have heard that disabling the scrolling text might stop the chirping. You should give that a try.

zanth119 since you use android, any chance you could confirm the automatic playing? If you get in the car and the music player is not already playing, when you start the car and BT connects does playback start automatically? This would be really nice especially since there is no way to play/pause from the HU. What was nice about the factory bluetooth HU that I used was that I didnt even have to take my phone out of my pocket at all. Music just started palying and there was a play/pause function on the HU and steering wheel.

I've used it with my Bionic and Galaxy Nexus... both work well. Sound is OK. I've heard splicing the cable right to the rear of the deck (as opposed to running all the way to the back of the car) clears up some static/hiss.

As for automatic playback... I can get in the car, start it up, drive off, and hit the 'next track' button, and my music player app will fire up and start playing over BT... sometimes. Its weird, sometimes it works, other times I get nothing and have to take the phone out of my pocket, hit play manually, then the controls work. Maybe I'll update the firmware. I can't seem to figure out if its a DoubleTwist issue or Mediabridge issue. It has done it with both my Bionic and my Nexus, so its not a device issue.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Eric Giles

I will say that it can be VERY finicky and tempermental at times.

I agree completely. At least once or twice a week I get "No Tuner" when on Sirius... Rather annoying. Luckily only needs to be key'd off for a short while and usually works the next time I'm in the car.

Originally Posted by Eric Giles

I own the MB1500 and would like to make a note on the bluetooth music streaming. My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S, and it streams music and whatever else is playing when the bluetooth mode is selected on the Mediabridge. However, sound quality is not that great. I know that bluetooth will never be able to give the same audio quality as a direct line connection, and I guess to some people the bluetooth streaming quality is adequate, but for my listening tastes it isn't. The sounds takes on almost a 'spatial' effect, with a good bit of music detail lost. I have all the sound eq settings on my phone set to flat, and no sound effects turned on. Turning off the HK button helps a little, but this isn't a problem that the HK effect is causing. Just giving you a heads-up on this since this function seemed to be the one you would use most. You may be happy with the overall audio quality using bluetooth...

I see that you also own an '01 325i. If your factory radio has never been replaced with a newer factory model, then like me you most likely have what Dice refers to as the 'double-click' radio. This means that sometimes you may have to hit the track up and down buttons on the radio twice to make a selection. Also, forget about storing satellite radio presets using the preset buttons-it will not work on the older double-click radios. This is a HUGE issue for me, as satellite radio is the main thing I have the Dice unit for. Dice says that they know about this issue and engineering is looking for a resolution, but you would have thought with all the firmware updates they have released that would have been resolved by now.

Overall, I am pretty happy with the Dice MB1500. I will say that it can be VERY finicky and tempermental at times. It might occasionally not work at some point, and you will have to unplug the wiring harness on the unit, wait a few minutes, then plug it back in for it to work again. Sometimes, you may have to disconnect the battery in the car for 15 minutes for it to be recognized again. The latest firmware update killed my original Dice module for good, but I was able to get a replacement from Dice this past week that is working-however, I had to jump thru some weird hoops in order for it work.

In the end, for those of us who do not want to install a different head unit but want satellite radio, hands free bluetooth, and ipod connectivity, the Dice MB1500 is about our only solution out there. When it is working, then it is great....as long as it keeps working.

Thanks for the comments. That was actually a typo, I have a 2002. I have the cassette HU though so probably still the one you are talking about. Interesting note. If the MB works well though I would upgrade to the CD receiver in the future. I have used bluetooth HU in the past so as long as the quality is on par with those I should be satisfied. I hope you dont mean it is worse than other bluetooth HU's?

Originally Posted by jon-k

Thanks for the comments. That was actually a typo, I have a 2002. I have the cassette HU though so probably still the one you are talking about. Interesting note. If the MB works well though I would upgrade to the CD receiver in the future. I have used bluetooth HU in the past so as long as the quality is on par with those I should be satisfied. I hope you dont mean it is worse than other bluetooth HU's?

Honestly, I have never streamed bluetooth audio over another head unit before so I cannot comment on that. It's not that it's unlistenable, it's just not great quality overall.

Originally Posted by zanth119

I have an Android and can verify the previous poster's feedback, with a few notes

I haven't noticed any static at all

I don't recall if the bass/treble presets are source specific or universal, but there is a volume control to the MB device, so should be able to find a sweet spot if the former.

I stream from WinAmp and Pandora.

If you use Navigation, the voice commands will play through the head unit (unless muted), same with alerts.

One additional note, if you plan to use a USB stick plugged into the MB, the scrolling/navigation is really primitive, and very slow if you have a lot of music. That's really my only criticism of the MB 1500, aside would be nice to have phone address book functionality on the device. Otherwise, I really like the product.

How do you adjust the volume on the MB?

I personally think A2DP sounds good in my car. I guess I need to get a aux cable for better sound?

Sent from my PG86100 using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by slosvt

How do you adjust the volume on the MB?

I personally think A2DP sounds good in my car. I guess I need to get a aux cable for better sound?

Sent from my PG86100 using Bimmer App

From the manual (attached). Use the mode button on the head unit to select the media bridge. Within the first 5 seconds of selecting the MB press disc 3 and use the prev/next track buttons to adjust.


So to tell my complete story, a few months ago before I new this thing existed I put an aftermarket head unit in my e46. I definitely think OEM looks much better but I really wanted the features. It looks as good as an aftermarket single DIN can look IMO (OEM centered bezel, Kenwood x993; an older model but still the best looking; all the newer ones look like toys; customizable illumination color). It is a pretty good head unit but it skips too much while streaming over bluetooth. After using that oem HU in the rental with flawless performance I want better. I might wait a little while though since I just put this one in and spent around 350 total. Maybe I'll wait for some more bugs to be ironed out or till a killer deal shows up on ebay.

I got a Mediabridge 1500 a couple months ago and I was initially using A2DP BT streaming from my Iphone 4s. Since then, Ive switched to an Android phone (galaxy S3) and have noticed a serious degradation in the BT Audio streaming quality. Someone in this tread mentioned 'spatial' effect. I'd agree with that description. The way I describe it is like being in an auditorium with a weird echo. Since the A2DP quality was much better with the iphone, I guess this has something to do with Androids A2DP. Ive tried several EQ apps for my phone which have helped slightly, but I was wondering if anyone else is noticing this same issue with BT A2DP and the mediabridge 1500.

I have a Iphone 4s and a droidx. I did find that the iphone sounded better on blue tooth than the android. I will also say that plugging in the iphone directly sounds much better. I like the media bridge very much. The only weirdness I get is sometimes after a phone call it will leave the music paused. I listen to trance mixes and some tracks are over an hour long. The only way I have found to un pause it with out changing tracks is to hit the little m button and fast forward a sec or two to get it to play. It will play music as soon as It connects. In fact as soon as I open my door I hear the Charge sound on the iphone come on.


1.) Does it quickly connect when you start car and quickly disconnect when you shut the car off? When it connects does it automatically start playing music and stop music when you shut the car off?

yes

2.) Do any of the buttons act as a play/pause button? I cant find one
As far as I can tell next/prev do work and also function as answer/ignore/hangup during a call. Is this correct?Yes

3.) Does it skip a lot/at all? I know this is a YMMV type thing but I have used an aftermarket BT head unit before and it skipped enough to be annoying. Then one day I had a rental car with factory bluetooth and had not one skip the entire time I had it. I was so jealous. Does DICE work as well? No skipping for me

4.) Some people mention static. Do you have this problem with bluetooth or aux?no static or hiss

5.) Does the head unit bass and treb controls work for sound from BT and aux? yes

Originally Posted by ExcelonGT

I got a Mediabridge 1500 a couple months ago and I was initially using A2DP BT streaming from my Iphone 4s. Since then, Ive switched to an Android phone (galaxy S3) and have noticed a serious degradation in the BT Audio streaming quality. Someone in this tread mentioned 'spatial' effect. I'd agree with that description. The way I describe it is like being in an auditorium with a weird echo. Since the A2DP quality was much better with the iphone, I guess this has something to do with Androids A2DP. Ive tried several EQ apps for my phone which have helped slightly, but I was wondering if anyone else is noticing this same issue with BT A2DP and the mediabridge 1500.

Just wanted to report that I noticed this same low quality A2DP when streaming from a ipod nano 7th gen that I just got for xmas.

I was hoping Dice (er Audiovox now) would have a more recent f/w update for the mediabridge 1500 since the last one came out on 8/15/12.

i had a dice mediabridge in my car for about six months,i would agree with all the previous posters about its operation in general,it does a pretty good job overall,bluetooth is very good, i had no problems,however the music streaming quality is slighty sub-par compared to direct connection and its operation is a little bit bothersome as it is emulating the cd changer,very easy to install but it has been consigned to my box full of unused gadgets as i have installed an eonon dvd/nav unit which has flawless music streaming and far superior sound quality to the oem head unit