$24.99
Too many choices
The modern-day music fan is afflicted with a peculiar dilemma: too many choices. More music is now available in more forms, in more places, than ever before. The digital revolution has truly expanded our musical options beyond our personal CD collections and AM/FM radio, to include satellite radio, personal MP3 playlists, and even podcasts. Sometimes the sheer variety of ways to listen to music can leave you unsure of where to begin.
 The Pioneer Inno does everything it promises, and does it all well. |
If you've ever found yourself staring hollow-eyed at a selection of digital music players, the new Pioneer Inno might just be the answer you've been waiting for. That's because the Inno takes away the satellite radio vs. MP3 player decision and gives you the best parts of both devices. With the Inno, you can listen to XM Satellite Radio, create personal playlists that contain both XM and MP3 tracks, and even purchase songs you've heard on XM from Napster.com.
With so much capability, the Inno promises to mark a major advance in both functionality and ease-of-use for the digital music fan. My question, however, was can a single device do so many things at the same time, and do each well?
The "Chase"
Let's cut straight to it: the Inno gets it right.
As a portable XM radio, the Inno outperforms all of its predecessors, offering a sweet color screen, dramatically improved reception, thoughtful design, and all the extras we've come to expect from a satellite radio, like a built-in FM transmitter, sports and stock tickers, favorites, etc.
Recording, and managing recorded content, though, is where the Inno truly shines. Recording XM is easy — just press and hold the "XM" button to record a song or channel you're listening to. Or, press the XM button and select "Schedule Rec" to record a program at a pre-determined time (just make sure the Inno is in the home dock and can receive a strong signal). Either way, songs recorded from XM are automatically stored as individual tracks, and tagged with artist, track, channel, and program info.
By default, the Inno's approximately 1 gigabyte of memory is divided 50/50 between recorded XM content and MP3 or WMA files. Due to the difference in how XM and MP3/WMA files are compressed, this means that you can store about 25 hours' worth of XM content, and approximately 8 hours of MP3/WMA files. You have the option of devoting all the memory to storing recorded XM programming, but I can't see why anyone would do that. It's the capability of mixing the satellite radio with your MP3 tracks that makes the Inno so compelling. Keep in mind that any time you change the memory setting, you will lose all of your saved content, both XM and MP3/WMA tracks.
 The Inno, shown here in the Belkin Citron Arm Band, makes a great jogging companion. |
Adding MP3 or WMA files to the Inno is just as easy as recording XM — just plug in the USB cable and drag and drop your music files into the Inno folder. Once you've installed the XM+Napster software on your computer, you can manage all of your music in more detail. But it's the ability to organize your music on the Inno itself that impressed me most. You can create, name, and populate playlists in minutes on the Inno. Not having to connect to the computer to organize your music is a huge win, and the single best feature of the Inno.
For example, I've been recording Bob Dylan's new show on XM (tip: if you're a Dylan fan, you need XM for this show alone). On my way home the other night, I was listening to my recording of his very first show, and was struck by a beautiful old blues ballad, "Just Walkin' in the Rain," by a band called The Prisonaires. With a couple of clicks on the Inno's control pad, I moved "Just Walkin' in the Rain" into my jogging playlist. Not having to boot up my computer, connect the Inno, and transfer the file saved me time and let me get out on the road to get my run in before it turned dark.
Room for improvement
Of course, there are some things I wish the Inno did better. The biggest drawbacks of the Inno are the meager amount of memory and the inability to better customize how you want to divide the available memory between recorded XM content and your own music files. While the Inno's software and general usability are excellent, the Inno just doesn't come close to offering the amount of storage for your MP3/WMA files that the average user expects; especially when you can get a 2-gig MP3 portable for significantly less money. I have no doubt, however, that future versions of the Inno will offer more storage and more customization of the memory — it's just a matter of time.
As with all portable devices these days, battery life is also an issue. Pioneer lists the battery capacity as 5.5 hours for live XM use, and 15 hours to listen to recorded content. This certainly seems in-line with my experience. I never had the Inno quit on me during use. Still, over the month or so that I tested it, there were several times when the battery got totally drained just sitting in my bag and the Inno would not power on. I had to dock the Inno and charge it for a couple of hours to get the battery level back up. Granted, this usually happened after I'd used the Inno for a couple of hours and then left it in my bag for a day or more.
Thumbs up
Well, that's the short and sweet version of my experience with the Inno. In the next few pages, I'll get into greater detail about the design and software of the Inno, but if you're tired of reading, my overall take on the Inno is a big thumbs up. It does everything it promises and does it all well, so I can easily recommend this to anyone who wants to be able to enjoy both XM satellite radio and their own music files on a single device.
Look and feel
Pioneer did a great job designing this piece. The Inno is thinner but longer than your typical cell phone, and a bit heavier. It has an attractive, brushed gun-metal finish that gives it a sophisticated look. The built-in antenna protrudes about an inch from the top of the device, but it never bothered me when I was carrying the Inno in my shirt pocket or jeans pocket.
 The Inno is just slightly larger than a typical cell phone. |
You turn on the Inno by pressing down on a sliding button located on the right side of the device. At first, I thought this was kind of awkward. But after using the Inno for a day or two, I realized that the button is located so that you can easily turn the unit on with the thumb of the hand holding the Inno. Slide the button up to engage the "hold" feature, which effectively locks the controls so you won't accidentally change the settings. Volume controls are located just below the power/hold button.
Overall, the Inno's button layout is clean and intuitive — everything you need to operate the device in either XM or MP3 mode is accessible using one hand. Buttons for Mode (which switches operation from live XM to your recorded music and back), Play/Pause, and DISP (display) are located just under the screen. Arrows control things like menu entries and changing channels. The XM button in the center brings up the list of channels or playlists, depending on the mode, and generally acts like an "enter" button. The etched control pad is backlit with a cool blue glow that you can set to be always on, or to time out to preserve battery life. I kept it on.
The Inno's bright color display is particularly impressive. Unlike some other portable players, the Inno's screen is readable from virtually any angle and does not wash out in sunlight, even with your sunglasses on. You can capture quite a bit of information at a glance, including the time, battery level, signal strength, track progress, and song, artist, and channel information. Press the DISP button to scroll stock quotes or sports scores along the bottom of the screen in live XM mode.
A mini USB jack on the top of the player lets you connect the Inno to your computer to access the XM+Napster software (more on this later). You rotate the Inno onto its left side to connect it to the included home dock. Fortunately, Pioneer designed the Inno to automatically reorient itself — the display and the controls all rotate with the player, so you don't have to cock your head to figure out what channel you're on. Seems like a no-brainer, but with some of the hare-brained design missteps in past electronics (remember trying to program your VCR?), it's worth giving Pioneer some kudos for this one.
What's in the box
The Inno comes with almost everything you need. For connecting the Inno to your home stereo, you get a home dock and remote, plus an antenna, AC power adapter and RCA cable, all of which plug into the home dock. A USB cable is included for connecting the Inno to your computer. And for using the Inno as a portable or while traveling, you get a belt clip, ear buds, and an adapter that lets you connect the AC power adapter directly to the Inno. An XM+Napster installation CD is also included, along with a well-written and helpful user's guide.
 The Inno comes with everything you need to connect it to your home stereo. |
This is a substantial amount of gear to include with the Inno itself — compare it to what comes in an iPod box, for example, and you'll feel like you're getting your money's worth. But there are three accessories that you'll almost certainly want to buy at the same time as you buy the Inno:
 The car kit is not included with the Inno, but you'll definitely want to pick one up. |
- A car kit ($70) — If you want to play the Inno in your car, you'll need this kit. The car kit includes a dock with a swivel bracket, a remote, a car antenna that you mount on the roof of your car, a cigarette lighter power adapter, a cassette adapter, and a handy mount for attaching the dock to an air vent.
- An armband — If you plan on using the Inno while jogging or at the gym, get one. I used the Citron Arm Band from Belkin ($25) and it worked great.
- Headphones with a built-in XM antenna — These headphones are very helpful if you plan to use the Inno while running outside. The Belkin F5X003 ($40) were comfortable, sounded better than the included ear buds (better bass response in particular), and most importantly, significantly improved reception of the XM signal.
These accessories will add another $135 to your tab, but they're really essential to getting the most out of the Inno. I also tested the XM Travel Audio, a slick little travel speaker system made by Creative Labs ($80). The 2-watt x 2 channel system uses 4 AAA batteries and features a flip design and a nice carrying case. It actually sounded surprisingly good, and would be useful if you travel a lot, which I don't.
The Inno as an XM radio
I've used several XM radios over the past several years, including the SKYFi, SKYFi2, and the MyFi, so I was pleased to see that the Inno takes the best parts of these earlier radios and improves upon them. You can navigate channels by clicking the up/down arrows and scrolling channel by channel, or by clicking the right arrow to scroll by category. A new feature, the virtual keyboard, lets you input channel numbers directly. Press the left arrow once to bring up the keyboard and then use the arrows to select the numbers. Switching channels was also faster on the Inno than on the MyFi. There was virtually no lag time from when I hit enter to when the channel tuned in.
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As with previous XM radios, the Inno lets you tag favorite songs and artists using the TuneSelect™ feature. This alerts you with a beep any time that a song or artist you've identified is on an XM channel. The Inno, however, takes the idea of favorites one step further with the "Bookmark" function. Here's how it works: when you hear a song that you want to look up on Napster the next time you connect the Inno to your computer, hit the XM button and select "Bookmark Only." Next time you open the XM+Napster software, your bookmarked songs will appear in their own folder, so you can easily search for them on Napster. Click on a song to bring up the Napster presentation, which gives you additional information and lets you purchase the song.
The bookmark function highlights one of the best side effects of owning an Inno — expanding your musical horizons. These days, you can experience so much more music than ever before without having to buy it outright. For a flat fee, in this case — your $12.95/month XM subscription — you can open yourself up to new types of music and new artists, music that you would never experience on your own. Then, when you find a new artist or song that you like, as you invariably will, you can go and buy a higher-fidelity version of it online with just a few clicks.
XM+Napster
The XM+Napster software is intuitive and convenient. You can use this software to manage your entire music collection if you want. More likely, you'll use it to organize your playlists, to purchase new music from Napster and add it to the Inno, and to upload MP3 and WMA files from your own CDs that you want to transfer to the Inno. You can also listen to XM's music channels online through the Napster interface, and even schedule recording sessions on your Inno. The only caveat is that you can't transfer any of the music you've recorded on XM off of the Inno.
 The XM+Napster software is intuitive and powerful. |
Everything is done via drag-and-drop. As you browse through the Napster catalog with your Inno connected, the lower right corner is reserved for the Inno. When you find something you want to buy, just drag it onto the Inno icon and it'll transfer over.
There's really not much more to say about the Napster+XM software — if you've ever used iTunes or a similar music software, you'll be able to dive right in without reading any directions. If you're new to music management software, Napster's FAQs will guide you right through the process.
Throw away your iPod?
Not yet. The Pioneer Inno is not the so-called "iPod killer." The Inno was not designed to be the best portable MP3 player on the market, but to be the best portable satellite radio on the market.
Still, the Inno comes close to offering a real alternative to the iPod. The hard work of combining satellite radio and MP3 player functionality in a single device has been done. The user-friendly software, the intelligent integration of the Napster service with XM, and the seamless blending of recorded XM with MP3 and WMA tracks combine to make the Inno one of the best portable digital music devices I've used. Best of all, it's easy to imagine how future versions of the Inno could manage to give us the best of both the satellite radio and the MP3 player worlds. Until then, the Pioneer Inno is clearly the best portable satellite radio availabe today.