XM or Sirius - Looking to buy a Sat Radio

[bmd34202]

..and don't forget that sirius has a 24/7 Elvis channel! Woo Hoo!

 

[Rod]

Well Rod, its 50-50 as I write this. Has anything been said to sway you one way or another?

Can't stand Howard Stern, and really don't want any of my monthly payment going to him. Yet, Sirius seems to offer a better selection of music. I'm used to XM already, yet I would like more of a variety. I think I'll give Sirius a shot and see how it goes.

Thanks for all the info guys, much appreciated.

 

[Mr_Wolf]

Sirius, we have 3 units. I took the small unit off my motorcycle and put it in my work truck. Can't stand Stern, miss Ron & Fez (use to listen to them after Don & Mike), love the NFL & NHL coverage (is the NHL really leaving? ) Hmmm....there was something else...

Oh yeah, Playboy Channel :love: Don't know if XM has that channel, butt we do!

 

[Spartagas]

Having had both, I now only have Sirius. I think the programming is much, much better.

 

[slowhand]

I love listening to baseball on the radio so it was an easy choice for me.

I personally don't think there is room for both of them and I think they will merge one day. Which would be great since I would like to have the NFL also.

To me, that is how you make the choice. MLB or NFL?

Plus, XM has a Bob Dylan show. Good enough for me

 

[Smitty]

i did sirius for the nba, nfl and other talk radio i follow that is not on XM.

 

[Rod]

Ok, so I went out and bought a Sirius radio a couple weeks ago. While the selection of channels was excellent, the reception was quite poor. I setup the radio in my car, and the FM transmitter was extremely weak. Excellent radio (aside from the weak transmitter), but service was poor, so I returned the radio.

Just bought an XM Radio, and the reception is excellent. Channels are pretty good as well. I prefer Sirius programming over XM, and the Sirius radio was MUCH better. However, if I can't receive a strong signal, no point in keeping Sirius.

After having tried out both services, I have to say that Satellite Radio is way over rated. Fidelity sucks on both services. I have always been into electronics, radio's especially so I know how it works. Unfortunately both providers are cramming way too many stations into one downstream, which means they have to compress each station. The more stations they offer, the more compression is needed. This results in lower fidelity and tuneled sound.

I was expecting CD quality sound, however that is not the case. The audio downstream is good, but it can definately be better. There are a lot of stations which play the same songs. Why not elliminate some of these stations?

In any case, I'm with XM for now. Hopefully they will find some way out to increase the audio quality some day...

 

[Brickhouse]

Yep, you're right. The sound quality is poor. I think it can improve though if you can get it straight input into the radio rather than the transmitter dealy though.

 

[Spartagas]

Rod, Brickhouse is right, because I have that setup on my car. I noticed the same thing when I first got Sirius, and having it run directly into the radio eliminates all of the problems. You are right about the sound, however, but that's a problem that both Sirius and XM share.

 

[Rob_k]

most of the new sirius receivers have an aux out plug (usually a 1/8" mini jack) you can avoid all the interference by using that instead of the fm transmitter, which sucks arse. also, you can run it through a cassette deck if you have a mini to cassette adapter. or the best setup is to buy a head unit with the sirius box, then you just hit a button for sirius.

 

[Mr_Wolf]

Another gripe I have is the signal from the satellite fading when I'm driving under a canopy of trees. Seems like pine trees are the worst offender where I am. Really sucks on the comedy channels, 'cause it seems to lose signal right at the punch line!

 

[Rob_k]

Another gripe I have is the signal from the satellite fading when I'm driving under a canopy of trees. Seems like pine trees are the worst offender where I am. Really sucks on the comedy channels, 'cause it seems to lose signal right at the punch line!

weird..never happens to me here. i mean i get the ususal signal loss if i am under a bridge/overpass, but never with trees, even when i am wheeling up in the mountains with a canopy of trees. could it be you have bad antenna placement? mine sits dead center on the roof just behind my windshield.

 

[Seanohue]

sirius all the way! Love Howwie 100 and 101 and 023: Hair Nation!

 

[Rod]

I used the output port and directly connected the xm receiver to my amp in the house, and it sounds pretty good, but not cd quality. Compression is way too high.

 

[Mr_Wolf]

Another gripe I have is the signal from the satellite fading when I'm driving under a canopy of trees. Seems like pine trees are the worst offender where I am. Really sucks on the comedy channels, 'cause it seems to lose signal right at the punch line!

weird..never happens to me here. i mean i get the ususal signal loss if i am under a bridge/overpass, but never with trees, even when i am wheeling up in the mountains with a canopy of trees. could it be you have bad antenna placement? mine sits dead center on the roof just behind my windshield.

Could be, it's in my work truck, and I ain't supposed to have it in there :laugh: I'll try and move it more in the center of the roof to see if that helps.