Maestro ADS-MRR Universal Radio Replacement and Steering Wheel Interface

Very impressed with this module. This review is to give specifics of what does and does not work in this specific vehicle and hardware combo. Vehicle is a 2011 Audi TT-S (Mk2, 8J). Radio is Pioneer AVIC-W8500NEX. This module does not let you retain the factory amp, which my car had. There are at least 3 possible types of factory systems for this car: Concert radio without factory amplifier, RNS-E radio with factory amplifier, and Bose radio with factory Bose amplifier. I had the RNS-E with amp combo, so I had to manually bypass the factory amp (in the driver's side hatch compartment). Firmware setup was kind of difficult because you need Internet Explorer (not Edge, Chrome, Safari, etc.) and there are some specific Java and such updates that you need. During setup, you get to decide what your steering wheel buttons do. There are separate functions for press and hold for when you press each scroll wheel in and for the voice button. There are also ways to set a function for when you hold scroll up or hold scroll down, which doesn't really make sense, so I didn't set anything for those. Also, you can't program anything to the Mode button. I was able to make volume, seek, mute, source change, call answer, and Siri all work. Scrolling the volume is actually just as responsive as it is from the factory, except when you're on the gauge display, when there's a slight lag. Song and call information does appropriately display on the factory gauge cluster in the top 1/3 segment. HOWEVER, you have to set it to MFD type 2 in the settings menu on the radio, AND it doesn't scroll. The top line says the source type for awhile after changing it, then changes to the song title. The second line shows the artist, then changes to the album name. This all works regardless of the source type, interestingly including wireless CarPlay, which I didn't expect. The gauge display screen has a ton of options for gauges to show, and it can show up to 5 at a time. There's about a half second lag, but it's still very cool. I forget all of the options as you have to configure them when you set the firmware up, but there are two presets that I set as you can see in the pictures. You can have it record peak values and set indicator lights for when any parameters go out of range. The second screen that can be displayed isn't particularly useful. The door open indicators, battery voltage, and check engine light tool all work, but tire pressure analysis doesn't work on mine (it may on other trim/option levels). I had a check engine light and was able to see the specific code and clear it with ease. The section for climate control doesn't work (probably doesn't work on any TT's), and the parking sensor section doesn't work, but may if you have that option on your car. The unit also does some other things like allowing you to retain your factory Bluetooth functionality (so you can use the factory microphone and vehicle Bluetooth connection), but I preferred to use the Pioneer Bluetooth instead. The unit also provides +12V ignition, VSS, parking brake, and reverse light wires during installation, which drastically simplify things. Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with this unit. Many sites say they don't recommend replacing the radio in this car, but I see no detriment at this point as long as you know how to bypass the factory amp and use the Maestro module (VW1 harness is also "required" for use...I'm sure you could hardwire it somehow, but it GREATLY simplifies the installation...and there's a ton of space behind the radio to put modules, wires, harnesses, etc, FYI)

I have been installing aftermarket stereos in my vehicles since I started driving in the 80s. It has been a few years since I have done one, and I was amazed at how far the technology has come with units like this Maestro ADS-MRR. I was able to program it specifically for my older truck I just purchased - a 2014 F-150 with a tiny, stock 4.3" screen. During programming, it showed a diagram of my steering wheel buttons as I chose what function I wanted to use with each button - very specific and VERY helpful! There was no guesswork. One word of caution - I used a MicroUSB cable I already had connected to my computer and it did not power on or cause the computer to recognize that a new USB device had been connected. I knew the cable was good, so I thought maybe the unit was bad or needed something else done. I tried a different cable and had the same result. When I used the cable that came with the unit, it lit up and connected just fine. I don't know why - it is just another MicroUSB cable, but for some reason, my others did not work. The one supplied is a little beefier, so maybe that was it. The unit works great. Setup was not difficult. The instructions are not as thorough or understandable as the video they had for my vehicle on their website. Using the two together helped make the installation easier. All in all, I highly recommend this unit. I am thoroughly pleased with the result and have a fantastic stereo setup in an older truck.

This is the one of the coolest devices I've ever seen. It talks to your car and passes the information it gets through to the Head Unit, and it works really well. The software for it is easy to use, the guides on installing it make sense, and the company even has a support forum where you can talk to their engineers to get help if you need it. Be sure to buy the right harness for your car(you can check their website to see which one you need), and follow the wiring diagram from the website exactly. It does include some cables, but since I had the GM5+ harness they weren't needed. My only gripe is that some of the connectors on the Maestro didn't fit all the way in at first, so they may want to do a little QA on those- I just had to mess with them a bit until they were snug. This does allow you to see all the info about your car on the head unit - tire pressure, fuel level, diag codes, Transmission Fluid Temp, and tons of other stuff. It also let's you keep your steering wheel controls, and their software let's you customize what each button does. The unit is also small enough to fit under the head unit or in the dash, so you don't have to worry about finding room for it. Overall this is a cool product, and you can tell a lot of time and money went into developing it. Definitely worth buying if you're upgrading your radio.

Not happy. It was not advertised as a used product. It arrived with half of the cables missing.

Great product and great Support. Hooked this up with DMX1037S and it goes along very well. The support personals via the 12voltdata forum are excellent. They are fast to attend to the queries and helps. Easy to install as long as you follow their installations and have a bit of knowledge on the radio wires.

The factory stereo in my 2009 Ford Escape was very closely integrated with the medium speed CAN bus. There was no ignition +12V or illumination wires present in the connector, as both those signals were sent serially over the bus. The Sync (APIM) module, the Satellite Radio Receiver (SDARS) module, and the auxiliary display above the vents (FDIM module) are all only controllable via this bus. I was extremely pleased to find that this neat little product was capable of retaining ALL of those network functions with my new aftermarket radio. It provides the necessary switched 12V outputs for accessory and illumination, it can retain full Sync functionality (personally I have it disabled), full factory satellite radio (including channel names, artist/title of tracks, presets, etc), and it even displays the current time and date on the auxiliary display (time synced from the aftermarket radio, which itself syncs from GPS). It also provides a bunch of other useful feature, such as VSS (vehicle speed sensor) pulsed output, reverse lamp output, and parking brake output. The built in steering wheel control interface also works great. I love that you can flash the firmware and settings easily over USB, and all you need to do is create a free account. I found a minor bug/limitation with my specific aftermarket radio, where the auxiliary time display takes up to 60 seconds to "refresh". This means upon startup it spends up to 60 seconds displaying a completely wrong time/date. I contacted idatalink support, and within a day they had figured out what was going on, and they'll be releasing a patch to work around this limitation in the near future. If you want to upgrade your stereo, but your factory radio is CAN bus dependent, I highly recommend this product! I don't think any other competing product comes close to this level of integration (especially since most aftermarket radios have built in support for this interface).

Una maravilla de integrador. Funciona a la perfección, aunque si requiere dedicarle un buen rato, y el cableado tambien requiere de atencion, pero bien vale la pena el esfuerzo

I have a newer Civic with Honda's premium audio system with factory amp and subwoofer, and integrating those into a system with an aftermarket deck is pretty much impossible without something like this. That isn't the only benefit, you can also retain your steering wheel controls for your stereo, and if you have a compatible stereo, integrate things like tire pressure sensors and OBDII code reading INTO YOUR STEREO. You can also have your installer set custom functions for your steering wheel controls if you choose, and a bunch of other cool features. Be aware, along with this module, you will need the applicable Maestro wiring harness to go with it, which in my case was an additional $50, but in my opinion it was worth it in order to keep the factory components and retain my steering wheel controls. The other features are icing on the cake. Worth the cost.