Sirius satellite radio sound quality

[JohnnyStep]

I'm considering subscribing to Sirius satellite radio, but I've read a few reviews on the internet where people have said the sound quality is poor. The hardware I'm considering is the Clarion SIRPNP unit with a car docking station. I would be connecting the line level output directly to the auxiliary input on the HU, so degradation from an FM modulator wouldn't be an issue.

Anyone have any firsthand experience with this type of setup? What's your opinion of the SQ? Thanks!

--Johnny

[AsK 5109]

OK....I'll school you on some Satellite Radios.

Pretty much the SQ between XM and Sirius is basically the same. I have although read on the bow for the XM Roady that XM was rated better SQ over XM. But in general they have the same SQ all around.

XM has two satellites.....one on the east coast one on the west coast. Sirius actually has 3 satellites....east coast, west coast and one angled at 45 degrees meaning that when you pass under a bridge or what not there should be know interference. If you go either way with XM or Sirius you shouldn't have to worry about interference.

XM is actually alot more popular than Sirius. The only major difference between the tow is that Sirius has a few more sports stations. Sirius has the NFL and NHL.......XM has Nascar......nobody has MLB yet which *****.

Try lookin at XM's Delphi model, great looks, it's very low profile for your car. The model itself costs $100 and the car station will cost you another $70.00. If you don't have a cassete player in your car you'll need the FM modulator which is another $30.

Also the Roady 2 just came out also. It's about 3 quarters of an inch thick and extremely low progile. Also has about 8 different colored screens to change from.

Between the too I hear more people liking XM, more people buy XM....and I haven't come across one person at Best Buy who dosn't like it.

Anymore questions you wanna ask go ahead cause I got alotta moe.

[phycophonetech]

I have sirius running through my kenwood HU AND the SOUND IS GREAT . I like sirius myself , xm seems great but with so many channels , sirius has enough stations for me, wiseguy show is pretty good and there adding channels every so often

[jlaine]

I'm considering subscribing to Sirius satellite radio, but I've read a few reviews on the internet where people have said the sound quality is poor. The hardware I'm considering is the Clarion SIRPNP unit with a car docking station. I would be connecting the line level output directly to the auxiliary input on the HU, so degradation from an FM modulator wouldn't be an issue.

Anyone have any firsthand experience with this type of setup? What's your opinion of the SQ? Thanks!

--Johnny

<--- ordered Sirius...

Friend has XM...

"SQ" and "compressed format" really don't go hand in hand... Both sound equally acceptable and both still sound compressed. Get the one you prefer at the time.

[Unreal]

Had both. Sirius rocks. Much better programming.

[Puggsley456]

It ***** that we cant get that up here in Canada. I'd be all over that!!

[JohnnyStep]

I went to Best Buy and Circuit City on my lunch break to check out the equipment and reception. Best Buy was a complete waste of time. They didn't have the stuff hooked up correctly for a decent demo, but the dude did say that he thought XM was better.

Circuit City actually had their act together, and had a good demo setup. I listened to Sirius for a bit, and it would cut out momentarily on a quite regular basis. When I switched over to XM, there were no reception interruptions, and it sounded much better. Both units were FM modulated, so it was pretty much apples-to-apples.

The Sirius hadware is BULKY. Not that it's not portable, but the XM units were much more compact, while still offering a decent screen size. I felt that the Delphi SkiFi unit had the best interface feel and navigation (although it was a quick test).

So far, I'm disappointed with Sirius based on what I saw in the store. I've been streaming some of their channels at work for the past few days, and their programming seems decent, but not incredible. I'm pretty much only going to listen to the dance/techno channels, and Sirius has 2 more channels than XM. For me, that's a big disadvantage to XM. We'll see, though. When my trial Sirius listening period expires tomorrw, I'll start streaming XM for a bit to check it out.

The mission continues.....

--Johnny

[JLCivic]

It ***** that we cant get that up here in Canada. I'd be all over that!!

I believe Sirius is coming your way. I think I saw a press release to that effect a few months ago.

[Puggsley456]

What does it compare to in quality? A decent Mp3 or something?

[JLCivic]

I went to Best Buy and Circuit City on my lunch break to check out the equipment and reception. Best Buy was a complete waste of time. They didn't have the stuff hooked up correctly for a decent demo, but the dude did say that he thought XM was better.

Circuit City actually had their act together, and had a good demo setup. I listened to Sirius for a bit, and it would cut out momentarily on a quite regular basis. When I switched over to XM, there were no reception interruptions, and it sounded much better. Both units were FM modulated, so it was pretty much apples-to-apples.

The Sirius hadware is BULKY. Not that it's not portable, but the XM units were much more compact, while still offering a decent screen size. I felt that the Delphi SkiFi unit had the best interface feel and navigation (although it was a quick test).

So far, I'm disappointed with Sirius based on what I saw in the store. I've been streaming some of their channels at work for the past few days, and their programming seems decent, but not incredible. I'm pretty much only going to listen to the dance/techno channels, and Sirius has 2 more channels than XM. For me, that's a big disadvantage to XM. We'll see, though. When my trial Sirius listening period expires tomorrw, I'll start streaming XM for a bit to check it out.

The mission continues.....

--Johnny

I have Sirius and love it. You do realize that, with Sirius, you can stream the music channels all the time, for free. You cannot do that with XM(I believe their online streaming is a demo only unless that has been changed recently).

Go with whichever has the programming you prefer. Sirius has more sports(nba/nhl and will have all nfl games this fall). They started an nfl channel within the past few weeks.

One thing I would NOT do is base your decision on which service has more subscribers. That is just flat out dumb, imo. I would NEVER decide which is better based on the number of people using it(I bet sony sells more decks than eclipse does, but you would be VERY hardpressed to find somebody who thinks an Xplod deck is better than anything Eclipse has ever made).

XM had about a year's headstart on Sirius. I believe that has accounted for most(if not all) of their advantage in number of subscriptions. If Sirius came out first, they would have the same huge headstart on XM.

I think both would make you happy, just check out the programming and go from there. I will say this, though, once you have satellite, you will wonder how you ever went without it.

[JLCivic]

What does it compare to in quality? A decent Mp3 or something?

I(as well as many others) describe satellite as better than FM but not as good as CD.

[phycophonetech]

go with sirius and just gett a kenwood HU dont buy the other units unless you plan on taking it home or on a boat

[adam71]

go with sirius and just gett a kenwood HU dont buy the other units unless you plan on taking it home or on a boat

There you go, its settled. Do what this guy says just because he said to.


LOL

j/k

[JimJ]

It ***** that we cant get that up here in Canada. I'd be all over that!!

heh, who says you can't...they're satellites...

a surplus C band dish, latest set of coordinates for the sats, transponder frequencies, a demodulator to handle the downlink once you've downconverted from L band or whatever they're using...well within the realm of possibility

ne thing I would NOT do is base your decision on which service has more subscribers. That is just flat out dumb, imo.

agreed...baa baa

decide based on programming and cost. The technology, for the overwhemingly most part, is the same.

[unrealii]

I'm probably going to sign up for sirius soon because I like the fact that I can stream it live from ANY computer as well as on my reciever.