Peripheral PXAMG Universal iPod Adapter with HD Radio and Auxiliary Audio Capabilities

• Add iPod control and HD Radio to your compatible satellite-ready factory stereo
• Requires a vehicle-specific adapter (not included)
• Works with optional HDRT HD Radio tuner (not included)
• Radio must be satellite capable or ready
• The iSimple PXAMG was the recipient of a 2008 CES Innovations Reward because it is the first interface ever to bring the iPod, HD Radio broadcasting, and other portable media products into the vehicle
• The direct connection eliminates the need for noisy FM Modulated solutions, and keeps the iPods internal battery charged

I am using this device with a 2008 General motors factory stereo. It is not a navigation unit, but it is XM ready. It is premium Harmon Kardon stereo available in the Buicks. This product has not shown itself to be user friendly.

The installation requires a vehicle-specific harness which simply plugs between the factory stereo and existing wiring. It's easy, which is good since I have had to open up the dash THREE TIMES!

The plugs don't fit well. The first time I lost all sound and had to re-seat and tape the harness into the stereo even though the plugs had snapped in. Plus, the cable running to the ipod will almost fall out of the PXAMG under it's own weight. I had to open up yet again to re-seat and tape that wire.

The last time was to update the firmware on the unit. All firmware on the unit and my ipod are up to date, but I am still having problems. When it works, it is nice, but the unit has a tendency to freeze up the display and so you have no idea what songs you are selecting. You can still hear music, but you can't select. The only way to get it back to normal is to reboot the ipod. This happens OFTEN! I think I have discovered that if you leave alone for the first 60 seconds or so when you turn on the stereo, it will be OK. But, if you touch a control before then, you'll crash it.

I know there are competing products out there from other companies. I wish I would have selected one of them instead.

UPDATE: (8/25/2009)

I did want to update this, as I had not given this product a favorable rating. After writing this review, I was having so many problems with the device that became far more insistant with Peripheral to be of assistance. They were very helpful. It turns out that the harness that I was using was defective. Once I replaced the harness, the device functions absolutely perfectly. It really is the ideal ipod solution. It's completely hidden, works very well and even provides power to the ipod.

Further, I recently swapped vehicles and before I did so, I removed the Gateway. I ordered another harness and just installed it in my Ford Explorer. It works perfectly in that vehicle as well!! Given a do over, I would give the PXAMG five stars, and I'd give Peripheral five stars as well.

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I installed this in my 2004 Acura TL with factory navigation. There are a lot of ipod integration accessories on the market, but i really wanted one that was completely integrated and didn't stick out like a sore thumb on the dash somewhere coming out of the lighter socket. I also wanted digital sound and don't like the FM transmitters or tape adapters. This unit takes control of the XM function of the factory radio without eliminating XM which is nice for anyone that subscribes to XM. I like the fact that it is easy to use, using only the radio controls and that i get display of music on the factory radio. I recognize that the radio I have is the limiting factor in things that I would like (e.g. scrolling of the song name).

I gave it four stars for two reasons:

1) when going through artists, it's a one click at a time of the knob, not a fast spin through artist to get to the letter S as an example. To circumvent this, plan ahead and make sure you have playlists, they are easier to navigate.

2) sometime the display will not show the song artist in the display. pressing the xm button once, will bring it up. this is a minor inconvenience and doesn't ruin the experience.

All in all, high quality item so far in the 4 months I've used it and would recommend it. no issues with playback, no dropped songs, no crackle. I also installed the HD tuner as well and it's pretty good too.

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I purchased and installed this unit in a 2007 Honda Pilot EX-L with Navigation. So far after a day it seems to work well. Able to either control the iPod (Touch and Nano) from my radio while showing song info, or have the iPod just output directly in Auxiliary mode. Unit charges my iPod as well, since it is running through the iPod connector, so don't need to worry about running out of batteries on a long trip, or using a power adapter. Auxiliary input via 3.5mm plug also works as advertised (for other MP3 players).

Plan for a half day to a day to perform the installation. The main issues that took time for me to figure out were (1) taking apart the center stack to get to the rear of the radio for which I checked out on-line forums, (2) didn't realize that switching from XM to iPod mode you have to switch to AM/FM, then XM, then turn the tuner dial *immediately* to go to iPod mode (I wasn't doing it fast enough, but called technical support on a Saturday and the specialist helped me immediately, no waiting on hold terrific!), and (3) routing the cables to the unit.

I installed mine behind the glovebox so that I can access it easily for firmware upgrades without taking apart the center stack again seems like the vendor supplies them regularly to support new iPod OS upgrades. You use a mini-USB cable to do this, and their software supports XP and Vista.

The instructions supplied, although adequate, didn't seem as detailed and "cohesive" as could be. There were a couple of pieces of paper with slightly different instructions no doubt supplied to try and avoid issues without reprinting the owners manual. Also, no vehicle-specific instructions, so check on-line to see if anyone else has done it for your car and posted their experience.

Also, if possible, check if your seller has the unit with the latest iPod cable that supports iPhone 3G (5v charging). My unit arrived with a sticker on the box stating "Now charges iPhone 3G, iPod Touch Gen 2, iPod Nano Gen4"; otherwise you *might* need to buy another cable that supports these newer devices. The cable is backwards compatible with older iPods, so you might as well get the latest if possible.

There are a few odd-ball things to get used to, I assume since this a generic unit meant to work with many cars. One, the units lets you reverse a song by pressing one of the present buttons, but on the Honda radio this button is also labelled fast forward (for the CD player). Also, the radio interface will never be as easy to use as an iPod interface; those with nice LCD navigation screens will not see an "iPod" interface, just the song info.

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I just ordered the PXAMG for my 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe,

and although getting to my radio took a few hours,

installing it was more or less simple, no cutting wires just

plug in a go. I had to go through the connection process a few

time for the device to recognize my ipod but once I got it running

and make sure all plugs were properly fit, it was a breeze.

I've got an iPod video, and an iPhone 3g, works flawlessly with both of

them, although when connecting an iPhone it asks you if you want to

go into airplane mode upon connection, but you can just bypass that.

Even though the set-up for browsing the contents of my iPod takes a while to figure out, once understood it works great.

I am able to use a dial to browse through artists, which makes it pretty

quick (I would hate to have to press a button for each artist).

Sometimes it is difficult to tell which artist is playing, but that is minor.

Also doubles as a car charger, which is nice to have (for iPhone too).

One thing that was impressive was that when I turn my car on, the music resumes almost instantaneously from when I turned the car off. Usually with a CD, it takes time to queue up, but not with this bad boy.

I'm thoroughly impressed with this device and if I didn't tell you I had installed this in my car, you could not even tell, all parts are hidden (I mounted my gateway on top of my radio towards the back) and ran cable upwards to empty bin on the top, but you can always route it to your glove box.

Definitely worth the money, if you drive alot like I do then this is a great investment.

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Be sure to contact Ace Digital Photo to ensure that the unit you're purchasing contains the new PXAMG-IC replacement jumper, which is listed as "Apple® Authentication IC Jumper Replacement for PXAMG & uPAC" on the manufacturer's site. You will not be able to connect any iDevice running iOS4 or later without it.

I purchased one of these in May 2010, installed it and was thrilled with the ease-of-use and functionality it provided. The AUX2 input came in handy when the iOS4 update made the unit incompatible with the regular iPOD/AUX1 input. The new authentication IC addresses that issue, but requires an additional $35 purchase ($30 + $5 shipping) from the manufacturer.

Ace Digital Photo has been very responsive and understanding during my ordeals with both the iOS4 upgrade and in replacing the defective unit. AAMP/PAC-Audio/iSimple (the manufacturer), on the other hand, required quite a bit of back & forth before I found someone knowledgeable and willing enough to work through the issue.