Pioneer Inno - XMFan Hands-On Review

[Ryan]

XM's newest line of portable radios is getting ready to hit the market. This review is of the Pioneer Inno. The Samsung Helix functions the exact same way, same features and runs on the same software. The only difference is the color of the radio.

It's been almost 2 years since the MyFi was announced and as you will see with the new radios, the technology has advanced greatly. The new Inno radio not only acts as a portable satellite radio device, but also as an MP3 player-- an industry first. This new convergence product is sure to attract users of the current iPod market.

The first thing you notice about this radio once it's charged and powered up is the crystal-clear color screen. Not only does it display the current artist and title information, but also the XM channel logo. The Pioneer Inno is smaller than my cell phone and weighs in at only a few ounces-- even with the battery installed.

Reception:
Portable reception was one of the biggest deals about these new radios. After marginal reception from the internal antenna in the MyFi, Tao, and Airware, this radio and it's internal antenna were supposed to be unstoppable. I didn't find this to be true-- but it's not bad either. Portable reception is much better than the MyFi, Tao and Airware when the device is used externally. Let me explain: The portable antenna is built into the top left of this radio. That's what the little stump is. It works great when you are carrying the radio in your hand or even attaching it to an arm band (available soon from Belkin), but I personally like to keep the radio either in my pocket or clipped to the outside of my pocket. When the radio was inside my pocket, I basically received no signal. It was all static with a few "drop-in's". When I took the radio outside of my pocket and clipped it to my belt, it worked better, but not perfect. I would still get many drop outs (but far less than versus the MyFi). Once I unclipped the radio from my pocket and held it in my hand while I was walking-- perfect reception. Not a single drop out. I live in an area with no terrestrial repeaters, so reception is strictly satellite. To me, the internal antenna alone was not sufficient based on how I use the radio.

Included in my press kit was a set of the new Belkin in-the-ear antenna headphones (available separately). The signal quality was absolutely perfect. Not only did I not have a single drop out anywhere outside, I didn't have any dropouts anywhere in my house. Plus, I got to keep the radio inside my pocket while I walk, which I like. Belkin Antenna Headphones: http://www.xmfanstore.com/showproduct.php?id=belkinheadphones

Use:
The interface of the radio is very easy to use. After about 5 minutes of playing around, you will be an expert. Click the up or down buttons, and you will scroll through the channel list. Click the left button and a number pad comes up. You can then type in a channel number to direct-tune to. Click the right button and you can view what's playing on your favorite channels (after you have added channels to your "Favorites"), click it again and you can browse by category.

The radio has 10 minutes worth of recording buffer. Say you're listening to a song. Half way through the song you decide you want to record it. Simply hit the "XM" button in the middle, hit Record, then hit Record Song. It will save that entire song in it's entirety to your stored XM content. As long as you hit the record button before the song is over, it will save it in it's entirety. You cannot record a previously played song, and you cannot listen on a "timeshift" like you can with the SkyFi2.

You can also record an entire channel. Simply select "Record Channel" from the record menu, and it will record every single song that channel plays until you tell it to stop (or until it runs out of memory). This is a very quick way to add XM content to your pre-recorded library.

Like a song you hear? You can either TuneSelect or ArtistSelect like with previous generation radios, or you can "bookmark" it. By bookmarking a song, it will show up in your bookmark list when you connect the radio to your computer via USB and load up the Napster software. If that song is available in the Napster library, you can purchase it for 99 cents.

The right side of the radio has a volume UP and volume DOWN button, which makes it much easier to control than the MyFi. Above that, there is a power button and a HOLD button.

Sound Quality:
Sound quality is good. Not as loud as the iPod, but still sounds good. You can adjust the bass and treble in the settings menu. The radio ships with a pair of sound-isolating ear buds. The rubber around the ear bud slips in your ear, blocking out sound from around you. The Belkin antenna headset sounds slightly better than the included earbuds, and has an in-line volume control.

Home and Car:
Like all of XM's plug-and-play radios, you can move this easily from your home to a car. The radio is packaged with a home kit, but car kits are available separately. The radio docks in the cradles sidways. The screen will rotate and your buttons will also automatically change (the right button is now the up button, etc.).
For those who want to listen to this through a boombox, the current Belkin F5X007 boombox for the RoadyXT and Audiovox Xpress will function with these new radios through an adapter. No word on pricing or when this adapter will be available.

CreativeLabs also has a very tiny boombox that zips up in a nylon bag. Speakers are built in and the Inno docks to this "boombox". No pictures of this yet, as it has not yet been announced.

Memory:
The Pioneer Inno has 1GB of internal memory for saving MP3's and recording approximately 50 hours worth of XM content. Unlike previously implied, the Inno will not manage it's memory between the XM content and the MP3 content. You must select either 100% of the memory dedicated towards XM programming, or 50/50 XM programming and MP3s-- maxing out your MP3 storage at 512MB, which isn't a lot. XM has said they may further customize this feature allowing you to set a custom size for both MP3 and XM storage, but as of the current production firmware, that's not possible. This feature was very confusing to me. When my firmware was flashed into the radio, it was set to 100% XM content by default. This would not allow me to transfer any music because the radio claimed there was only 9MB of free disk space available. This memory management "feature" is not documented anywhere in the users manual, and can ONLY be accessed when placed in the home cradle. (UPDATE: I would like to make a quick correction to my review. I had indicated that the Memory Partition feature was not documented anywhere in the user's manual. I was wrong about that. It's listed on page 77, under the Settings section of the manual). I was told that the production units would ship as "50/50" by default. Any time you change the partition, all content is lost-- both XM and MP3. See images below.

For the first time ever, the software that runs these radios internally (called firmware) can be updated by the end user. XM can add new features and fix bugs with the radio after you purchase it, assuming you have a computer. A firmware flashing program is hidden in the XM+Napster installation CD, but cannot be run directly by the end user. When an update is available, the XM+Napster software will do the updating for you.

The partition that stores the recorded XM content is not accessible via your computer, so don't think you can digitally extract songs you can record from XM to your computer. Even if this were ever "hacked", XM's content is recorded in it's proprietary audio codec, so you would not be able to play it back on your computer or burn it to a CD.

All content you record and store off XM is available for you to listen back only as long as you are an XM subscriber. You cannot record 50 hours worth of music, cancel your XM subscription, and still listen to the recorded content. According to the user's manual, the radio must receive at least 8 hours worth of Live XM signal each month to authorize your radio's content. If you do not allow your radio to receive a live signal for 8 or more hours each month, the radio will lock you out of listening to your pre-recorded XM content until it has confirmed you are still a subscriber through the activation signals over the live broadcasts.

Strangely, the software files that run your radio are not stored on this hidden and locked partition. Instead, they are displayed in a folder called "xmsys". Not only are these files available for the everyday user to access, they are also not write-protected. You can delete these files, or even format your radio's internal memory-- basically "killing" your radio. There is a large warning in the user manual telling you not to do this.

Software:
The Inno comes packaged with an installation CD for the XM+Napster software. This software is compatible for Windows only, and a Mac version will not be available.

Even if you don't plan on subscribing to Napster or paying for each song, you can still install and use this software. Not only can you transfer your MP3 or WMA music, but you can also create and edit playlists, create recording sessions, and listen to XM Radio Online through this software.

When testing out the XM+Napster software, it crashed on me several times. The program would just freeze up and I would have to CTRL+ALT+DEL to close it, then reload it. These bugs will be fixed, and the software will update itself when a new version is available.

If you prefer not to use the software, you can still transfer music to your new radio. Windows will recognize the radio as a USB Mass Storage Device. You simply copy music files to the "MyMusic" folder. The radio will recognize and play MP3 and WMA files, as well as PLS playlist files.

Stability:
UPDATE: This is a revision to my original review. I was having problems with the unit crashing a few times, but found out my demo radio was running some pretty old, pre-production firmware. I've updated to the newest version and it's been running flawlessly for the past 7 days.

Your radio shouldn't crash, but if it does, please don't freak out. Simply hold down the power button for 5 seconds, or remove and re-insert the battery to "reboot" the radio. Again, this isn't something you should have to do, but if it does happen, there is a quick fix.


In-The-Box:
The retail package includes the Radio, home dock, home antenna, home power cord, travel adapter, RCA cables, USB cable, belt clip, ear buds, and the battery. You cannot connect a home or car power adapter directly to this radio like you can with the MyFi. The "travel adapter" is needed, which converts the power plug into the data port.

The Pioneer Inno is now available at XMFanStore.com.
http://www.xmfanstore.com/showproduct.php?id=pioneerinno

I have posted many pictures below to give you an idea of how it works. If you have any questions, just let me know and I will answer them for you.


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The Inno:

Powering the radio directly with the Travel Adapter:

Battery door off:

Battery out:


Inno in Belkin Travel Case (available separately):








Outdoor reception with the Belkin antenna headset:

TuneSelect:

Bookmark a song:

Installed in a vehicle:



Direct Channel Access:


Remote Control direct channel access:


Radio glows nicely:

Press the Left button for direct channel access:


Do not remove while connected to your computer:


Safe to remove:


Hardware firmware updater:


Display with InfoExtras:


Retail box:


Napster Install:




Browse by neighborhood:


Memory partition!





Hit the "XM" button in the middle to bring up this menu:

Hit the Record button to bring up Record menu:

Record the channel:


Record this song only:


Windows recognizing the radio:


XM+Napster main screen:


Click the "Library" button on the top left to bring up this iTunes-type
manager:


Click on an artist, to bring up more information:


Bookmarked songs. Click Buy Track to buy it:


Confirming purchase:


Purchased song has been downloaded to your PC:


Schedule recordings through your computer:


Listen to XM Radio Online through XM+Napster:


Software will create playlists of what you listened to through XM Radio
Online. You can then save this playlist for future purchase.


Belkin headset (available separately):


Hit the MODE button to switch to pre-recorded content. You can browse
by All Songs, Artists, etc:


All songs will display. Names with the music note next to them are MP3
files:


Browse by artist:


Select Artist:


Click on a song to Play, or edit:


MP3 song begins to play. Player will read ID3 tags and display genre
where the XM station logo normally is:


All songs by this artist:




Playing back XM-recorded songs:

[Kas]

Looks great Ryan! Reading it now...

[dupontdude]

Wow! Very impressive! Thanks Ryan!

[Ryan]

product sheets

[Kas]

Done reading it. Nice review Ryan. I like the high level of PC to radio availability. But that leather case is ugly. Did they use fabric from their grandmothers carpet

[Kas]

Can you include pics of the remote and earbuds?

[CJB1979]

Ryan, how do the many presets work? I like being able to just hit a single number key on my MyFi while I'm driving.

[Ryan]

[Kas]

Do the rubber tips on it come off? Looks exactly like my SONY MDR-EX71SL:

[Ryan]

[Ryan]

[CJB1979]

[Kas]

[Ryan]

one thing I forgot to put in my review. The MyFi, Tao and Airware could record only 2 sessions. When you set a timer to record as a session, there is a 99-session limit. There is no limit to individual song recordings.

[Kas]

Up to a year in advance?