Digital Trends

Pioneer AirWare XM2Go

June 28th, 2005 | by Rebecca Day

Setup and Use

To leverage your $299 investment (plus $13 a month for XM service) you can use AirWare as an auxiliary audio source for your main sound system--if you're willing to wire your family room like a science fair project. To use the device that way, you have to connect the power adapter and dock to an outlet and connect the AirWare audio plug to stereo inputs on a music system or powered speakers. Then you have to find a place with a line of sight to the XM satellite and plug the antenna into its connector on the AirWare. Phew!

The audio cable Pioneer supplied wasn't even long enough to run from the rear panel of my A/V receiver to the front. Fortunately the XM cable is far longer. The only spot I could find that worked for all three connections was directly in front of my TV, using its audio inputs instead of those on my audio system. So AirWare is sitting on its dock on the floor with three cables streaming out of it directly in front of my TV. That's hardly elegant or user-friendly and not something I'd be willing to do on a regular basis.

I tried AirWare in the car (which accounts for a good share of the 18 pieces that came in the box). That solution is wiry, too, since you have to connect AirWare to the magnetized antenna that attaches to the roof of the car and to the power adaptor that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Included is a cassette adapter for playing XM through the car audio system, but many cars, including mine, no longer have cassette players, so I used the built-in FM modulator. To my surprise, I had better reception using AirWare in the car than I did with my professionally installed XM system (also a Pioneer), which I attribute to the rooftop placement of the antenna. Living in New York, I'd feel compelled to remove the antenna for security reasons anytime I parked the car so it's an effective, but not very practical solution.

I also used the built-in FM modulator to play back XM content over a Tivoli Audio PAL, a nice compact solution for an office or kitchen.

Performance

AirWare has a lot going on. It has to catch a satellite signal, record music, log favorite songs and provide quick access to more than 100 channels of content. I couldn't figure out operation without the manual, but once I had a hint of what to do it was easy to remember how to record content, store stations in preset locations and navigate through the device. Recording live music is as simple as pressing the XM2Go button once and then again to confirm.   

Performance of a satellite receiver is largely about signal reception. I had a narrow window of sky to the southwest from my living room and had to maneuver the coaster-size antenna to secure reception. Being about 30 miles northwest of Manhattan I didn't have the benefit of the XM repeater system, which allows tuners to pull in signals even from indoors. When I used AirWare outside, I lost the signal as I moved from the side of the deck to the north side and as I passed under trees.

The time-shift function is AirWare's most compelling feature. Setting up the clock is as simple as choosing your time zone from a list. Scheduling a recording is almost as idiot-proof. You scroll through numbers for start and stop times and you can schedule two recording session at a time. If VCR recording had been this logical, there may have been no blinking 12:00s.