Story by Zerin Dube

With the origins of music dating back to before the advent of recorded history, music is something that has evolved and grown over time just like us humans. Some say that the music originated with naturally occurring sounds and rhythms, and that the first musical instrument was actually the human voice itself. With the oldest known song in the world dating back to over 4,000 years ago, music has clearly stood up to the test of time and evolved alongside the human race. Music is one of the few things to which every single culture on the face of the planet can relate. From the tranquil sounds of classical music, to the hard and aggressive sounds of heavy metal, there is literally something for everyone on the planet to enjoy.

Traditionally, FM radio has only done a mediocre at best job of covering all these genres. For example, in my market there are about 5 country stations, 3 pop stations, 2 R&B/hip-hop stations, and one modern rock station. If I want to listen to good dance music, I’m out of luck. What about a station that plays nothing but show tunes all the time? Once again, the answer is no. How is it that there are hundreds of genres of music out there, and FM radio only covers about four of them? of them.On top of being limited in variety, FM radio stations seem to play twice as many commercials as they do actual songs. FM radio is aggravating at best.

Thankfully, FM radio isn’t the only option for radio anymore. Satellite radio companies like XM Satellite Radio have taken the airwaves by storm, and give subscribers over 80 channels of programming, and cover everything from decade specific channels, to uncensored hip-hop, to 24 hour sports talk stations.

When XM Satellite Radio launched in just two markets on September 25th, 2001, the initial lineup included 71 music channels, and 28 general channels covering everything from sports radio to children’s programming. XM was really supposed to be everything that FM radio wasn’t. With its promise of digital quality sound, combined with commercial-free programming and the ability to listen to a single station from coast to coast, XM closed out 2001 with nearly 28,000 subscribers. Not too bad considering the nationwide launch of XM happened just a month prior in November 2001.

While there were many skeptics of how the public would respond to a fee based radio network, the numbers clearly speak for themselves. XM Satellite Radio closed out 2006 with 7.6 million paying subscribers, with 1.7 million of those being added in 2006 alone. With satellite radio being offered in just about everything these days from home theater receivers to high end sports cars (Porsche signed an exclusive XM agreement for the US market starting in 2007), it is clear that XM Satellite radio has beat the odds by giving people a service that delivers exactly what was promised.

I have to admit, I was one of those skeptics at first. I really didn’t buy into the whole idea of paying for radio, and I always swore that I would never do it. Of course, here I am in 2007 and I am an avid fan and loyal listener to satellite radio. What can I say–I love my music. I love being able to get into my car with integrated satellite radio, and driving from my home in Texas, across the country to California, all the while listening to my favorite station during the entire drive without interruption.

Despite this growth and integration of XM Satellite Radio over the years in just about everything, there has always been one major area that I felt was lacking…portability. Sure I can get in my car and jam out, or stream it from my computer at the office with sound quality that is on par with a phonoscope, but what about everywhere else? XM’s first try at portability was the Delphi XM MyFi, which was a half-decent portable satellite radio device. While it was a great leap technologically, the MyFi was about as portable as a brick.

I’m happy to report that XM has stepped up the program with the Pioneer Inno. Weighing just 4.5 ounces, the Pioneer Inno measures 2.2 inches wide, 3.7 inches tall, and a very slim 0.6 inches deep. At a size that is no bigger than your average cell phone, the Inno is a truly portable device.

Finished in a very nice brushed-metal look, the Inno features a 1.67-inch color screen that is both bright and clear to read in all lighting conditions. Inno designers kept the design of the device very clean by incorporating a very simple button configuration. There are three main function buttons, with a directional type pad below them. As with most new gadgets these days, the Inno’s buttons are illuminated in a soothing electric blue color that allows the Inno to be used even in the dark.
The Inno is comfortable to hold and the interface is as easy to use as the design would make it look. Channel scrolling is handled by the directional pad and XM button. Volume controls are within easy reach on the side of the device, and all menu functions are easily reachable with just a few clicks of the buttons.

Unlike certain portable music devices on the market, you won’t find yourself spending as much on accessories as you did on the Inno itself. Pioneer has included just about everything you could possibly want or need to use the Inno inside the box: a home docking station, earbud headphones, a decent looking case/holster, a remote control, AC power adaptor, all necessary cables, and a home antenna. Pioneer even includes a travel power charger so the device can charge without being on the dock.
As they say on those ever annoying TV infomercials, “But wait! There’s more!” The Inno’s resume of features doesn’t just stop at being an easy to use portable XM radio receiver. In fact, it does much, much more.

Utilizing the Inno’s 1GB of internal memory, you can record any song you hear from the XM network directly to the Inno. Because the Inno buffers live songs, you can hit the record button midway through a song and still capture the whole thing. Recorded songs are available through a separate menu that sorts by either artist name or song name. You can also create multiple playlists from these recorded songs, making it even easier to go straight to the music you want. Keep in mind that like most electronic music content these days, the songs recorded to the Inno are subject to a version of DRM. That is, the content that you record off the XM network is only available to you if you are an active subscriber to the XM service.

Another feature of the Inno is its ability to play MP3 and WMA files. Although only 512mb of the Inno’s 1GB of storage is available for use of this feature, you can still fit a few of your favorite songs on the device to carry anywhere. To load these files onto the Inno, XM includes XM+Napster software in the box. While the XM+Napster software is fairly simple to use, it isn’t nearly as robust or powerful as Apple’s iTunes software for the iPod.

One feature I really liked about the software and device that I haven’t seen anywhere else is the ability to “bookmark” songs that are playing live on the XM network. Once you dock your Inno, the XM+Napster software displays the bookmarks along with direct links to purchase the songs from the Napster online store. With the amount of music that XM plays, it’s nice to know that you’ll never forget the name of a song you hear and want to buy.

As nice as all this sounds, any device like this is only as good as its ability to pick up a signal from the satellite network. I was actually rather surprised that the Inno performed as well in this area. With my office being on the 24th floor, cell phone reception and even FM radio reception is almost non-existent. After hooking up the included home antenna and putting it near a window, the Inno displayed only two bars of signal strength. While I thought this meant certain failure and choppy music playback, the Inno never skipped a beat. I never experienced breaks in my music, and signal acquisition from the XM network was fast.
When the Inno is used as a mobile device, you are somewhat limited in the type of headphones that can be used with it. Because the included headphones also double as the portable XM antenna, you can forget about using your expensive Sennheisers. The included headphones are decent, but really don’t have the dynamic range available from higher end headphones. As far as I know, the only third party headphones with an integrated antenna available on the market right now are the Belkin F5X002s. While I haven’t tested them, they are relatively inexpensive at about $40.

If you plan on using the Inno in your car, Pioneer has an available CD-INCAR1 kit ($70) that makes integration fairly painless. The kit includes a car dock, power adaptor, antenna, and remote control. Sound is transmitted to the car’s stereo by way of the Inno’s built in FM transmitter, or via the headphone jack if the stereo has an auxiliary input.

To get an accurate gauge of the sound quality of which both the XM Satellite Radio network and Inno were capable, I brought the device home to my personal stereo setup. Using a 3.5mm headphone plug to RCA Y-Cable adaptor, I plugged the Inno into my Yamaha HTR-5990 receiver. Sound reproducing duties are handled by Definitive Technologies’ BP 10B bipolar tower speakers. While this is certainly not the ultimate in stereo setups, I know how various devices sound when played through it, thus providing a good reference point.

So how did it sound? Well, marketing people would like the public to think that the word digital automatically means the best sound quality available. Considering that 192kbps is the most commonly agreed upon bitrate for CD Quality music, and most XM music streams run around 60kbps, you are losing a LOT of sound quality simply from compression. While XM sounds decent on headphones, and even most computer speakers, the lack of bitrate becomes very apparent when played on a decent sound system. The sound quality can be extremely tinny, much like you’d find on some low bandwidth internet radio stations, or on low-quality MP3s. I found that low range frequencies became extremely muffled, and high frequencies were almost too bright at times. Until the XM network increases its bandwidth, don’t expect CD quality sound from the Inno and the XM Satellite Radio network. To be fair, this is something that plagues any XM receiver, and isn’t just limited to the Inno.

With a retail price of $399.99, plus XM Satellite Radio’s monthly subscription fee of $12.95, the Inno might sound a tad bit expensive at first glance. In reality, $399.99 is quite a bargain for a device that not only lets you listen to XM Radio almost anywhere you go, but also doubles as an MP3 player and a recording device. The price is also a bargain considering Pioneer has already included several accessories in the box. With its simple and sleek design, the Inno can even be used by people who say they are very technologically challenged. I was able to take the device out of the box and have it up, activated, and playing my favorite genre of music in about 12 minutes.

So, is the Pioneer Inno a must have device? Well, yes and no. If you are looking for a device to primarily play MP3s, you are better off buying a dedicated MP3 player with a greater storage capacity. But, if you are looking for a satellite radio receiver that can be used at the home, office, and just about everywhere in between, the Inno is purchase you can feel good about. With 170 channels of programming now available on the XM Satellite Radio network, the Inno puts just about every genre of music imaginable at your fingertips…most of which are presented without commercial interruption. Now that’s what I call music to my ears.