Community/SoapBox

I agree absolutely: I tried Sirius for a while, got sick of the lousy quality and pulled the plug.
Sacrifice some of that lame-o content for quality and I’d pay any price.

I spent two months traveling across the country in a car with XM, and while the convenience of not having to change channels every 200 miles and the wide selection was nice, the horrible compression artifacts made it difficult to listen to. But what was even worse for me--and what is the main reason I won’t subscribe to XM (or Sirius)--is that the personality behind local radio (the DJs and even the local ads--maybe I’m the only one, but I actually like some advertising) is replaced with a robotic, automated playlist. If there’s not going to be an actual *person* entertaining me and introducing me to new music, then I might as well just hook up my iPod and put the music in an order I like.

@Ned Christiensen: I’m not sure what satellite you’re listening to, but there’s no way that XM is *better* than FM. FM may be slightly modulated and dynamically over-compressed, but the digital compression artifacts on satellite radio are horrible (listen for that swirling, weird “digital” sound in the upper-mid frequencies). I guess as long as a majority of the population believes as you do, there’s no hope for those of us who appreciate high-fidelity sound.

@xzi: Where do you show that AOL Radio subscribers get 128kbps? My grandfather subscribes to AOL (as a service), and under both his login and my free AIM one, the AOL Radio streams show as 64kbps (AOL channels show as 64kbpsDolby VLB, which appears to be a Dolby derivative of AACPlus; XM channels show as 64kbps AACPlus). On the AOL Radio page, I don’t see any information on how to separately subscribe to AOL Radio (either bundled with AOL for Broadband or as a separate product), so I was under the impression that there was no higher bitrate option available. How do you subscribe to it?

The sound is really bad.  Got a Sirius trial with my wifes new Mercedes which has a great sound system.  Everythng sounds great - CD’s best, IPod next, FM last - except Sirius.

It’s so bad (must be worse than 48kpbs mp3) that sonds are almost unrecognizable.  It’s hard to describe exactly what’s wrong because it doesn’t have as much “woosh-woosh” sound as bad mp3s, but It’s like the treble and bass are mostly missing and then they sucked/compressed out the middle - and there is some “woosh-woosh”.

I’m really glad it was a trial.

I don’t know what you guys are talking about. I got my XM radio right after it was launched. It is one of the first models and the sound is great all the time. I listen to a wide range of music - jazz, 70s, Cinemagic, Audio Visions, rock - and it sounds like I’m in my living room.
I also have the boombox and play it at low volumes for background in my home office. Again the audio is excellent.
Maybe your installation was subpar.

I’ve had XM for 3 months now and the reason I looked at this site was to answer the question “Why does it sound so bad?” I have a very good system in my car and there is no comparison between CD’s or FM and XM. I don’t have an aux input so I have to use an FM modulator. I thought maybe I just need to spring for a satellite ready head unit but apparently that won’t help much. I love the content and lack of comercials but when I turn on FM or a CD I say to my self “That’s how music should sound!” It should be the other way around since I’m paying for XM. I guess satellite’s just not for me.

compressed music suck, buy the cd’s in ebay 3 to 5 dollars, you don’t lose any quality

I am pretty sure you all need a urine test,I have 3 units functioning since 3/21/04 and have not listened to FM radio during this time.I do not find a big veriation in sound quality between the two and if it comes down to a robotic music lineup without a commercially lined ad libbed DJ,then this is my pick.The very reason I went to XM is the very fact it has commercial free music.

I recently purchased a new vehicle with xm already installed.  I also live in Nashville which has a WSIX which is simulcast on XM.  THere is absolutley no comparision in quality.  The FM boradcast is by far superior to that of the XM.  I agree with John that there should be an attitude of quality over quantity for XM

Amen!

I have Sirius Radio installed directly into my car receiver. I’ve compared the sound quality of Sirius and XM. Although both have the compressed stream “buzz” sound, Sirius is considerably worse. Stations that play bass heavy music sound better. Those that play music with more high range frequencies are almost unbearable at times.

I’ve written the company several times about the problem and have never received a response. Unfortunately, I don’t think that enough people notice the difference in sound quality. There aren’t enough of us audiophiles out there driving the market to upgrade its sound. I’m hopeful, however

I got sirius in my car and it has too much compression articacts.

Everything sounds like tin.  I love the content and music selections.  I love the absence of commercials. 

they need to improve the bandwidth cosiderably.

Normal FM sound better in my area.