VAIStech ipod interface install in 05 & 06

so yesterday, after much reading and stalling, i had a VAIS SL2i UP ipod interface installed into my 05 and my wife's 06 prius. i had the install done at my local toyota dealer in case anything went wrong...

a few observations:

MY 2005
1) unit was originally configured to pose as a CD changer. unit cannot see the entire library, only playlists. interface is sluggish and playlists limited to 99 songs. not impressed.

2) i had the dealer reconfigure dip switches so VAIS would pose as an MD changer instead. much improved interface speed and playlists can now hold up to 999 songs. definitely the better of the 2 options.

3) one annoyance, CD text on display shows playlist and song title or artist. i'd much rather have artist and song title, but haven't found a way to make that happen.

4) sound quality is vastly superior to my older peripheral ipod2car unit, especially in bass response. sound is fuller yet undistorted. the best i've had to date.

5) connecting ipod disables local ipod control. everything must be done from the interface.


2006 prius:
1) vastly improved control options over my 05. can drill down by playlist, artist, album, genre, etc. can select individual tracks from touchscreen.

2) accessing artist list is incredibly slow. impractical. the best way to get to a particular artist is to include them in a playlist. scrolling from "A" to the middle of the alphabet incredibly time consuming. no way i've found to jump to a particular letter or speed up the browsing process.

3) listing by album occasionally displays incorrect album/artist information. have no idea why. problem doesn't seem present in artist mode

4) sound quality is excellent


one nice thing, the VAIS supports a wide variety of models. both my wife's ancient GEN 4 ipod and my ipod touch were supported. it also supports iphones (as long as it's the SL2i UP model and not the older SL2i) with both playback and charging.

final conclusion: excellent sound but occasionally quirky. unit is more expensive than DICE silverline, but it sounds great and obvious elements like cable and dock connector seem sturdy.

unit was $250 and i paid $100 for installation.

hope this helps those who might be interested....