Satilite Radio

[grampi 10+ year member]

Any compressed music will sound worse than a CD. Going down the highway at 70, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference though unless you're using an FM mod in which case the limitations of the FM receiver will still be fairly apparent. Most modern music is so poorly produced that the difference isn't all that big between a CD and a 128kps mp3 as far as sound quality goes anyway.

The difference in SQ between a CD and satellite radio is clearly audible at any speed even when the receiver is directly connected to your HU. You're right, ANY compressed source is going to suffer in terms of SQ when compared to CD.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

You must have golden ears then. You aren't going to hear a difference in my car. I can switch between my iPod, XM (which by all accounts does sound better than Sirius, different compression scheme) and a CD and unless I really crank it an I'm going slower than 55 you can't hear the difference. The only real difference is on the top end and the road noise in my car masks that difference very well.

 

[AVX Mike 10+ year member]

I love my sirius and so does my wife. Great channels, very few with commercials. We have XM and sirius at the shop and all the employees prefer sirius.

 

[grampi 10+ year member]

You must have golden ears then. You aren't going to hear a difference in my car. I can switch between my iPod, XM (which by all accounts does sound better than Sirius, different compression scheme) and a CD and unless I really crank it an I'm going slower than 55 you can't hear the difference. The only real difference is on the top end and the road noise in my car masks that difference very well.

No actually I've lost some of my hearing, but I can still hear a difference. You must have a very noisey car.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Yes, I do have a VERY noisy car, but even with the engine off it's not a night and day difference. I seriously think that not all sat receivers are created equal. I know that there is a difference between XM and Sirius (that was actually measured by one of the audio mags a few years ago with a distinct SQ edge going to XM) but I've a feeling that there is an audible difference between different models and brands of receivers. I have a hideaway direct connect unit in my car running through my Alpine deck and it really sounds very good. The only source that sounds distinctly different in my car is regular radio. Obviously more noise but the reduced frequency bandwidth is obvious as well. No such problem with the XM. Sounds at least as good as my iPod, also a direct connect through the Alpine Full Speed cable and all mp3s ripped at 19? kbs. With a well produced CD you can hear a difference if you listen in an A/B comparison. If you didn't know which source you were listening to though you'd be very hard pressed to tell me what the source was.

 

[Super Pickle 10+ year member]

i have xm in one of the cars and i really love it, especially that station Lucy they play some banging music

and also, sirius and XM can't merge by law because it would create a monopoly.

 

[dan5505 10+ year member]

i have xm in one of the cars and i really love it, especially that station Lucy they play some banging music

and also, sirius and XM can't merge by law because it would create a monopoly.

"While it is not illegal to have a monopoly position in a market, the antitrust laws make it unlawful to maintain or attempt to create a monopoly through tactics that either unreasonably exclude firms from the market or significantly impair their ability to compete''

Since there are no other satilite radio firms to compete with, they can get away with it.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

The FTC allows monopolies in circumstances also where the cost of competing infrastructures are impractical. The cable companies have regional monopolies because they would either have to allow a competitor to use their cables or the competitor would have to run their own (the local governments would not allow that). Phone company, water, power, etc... all legal monopolies. The cost of launching a satellite is huge. The usable orbit space is finite. You can't just throw another satellite over the equator because that space is already taken. It really doesn't make sense for there to be two satellite radio companies any more than it makes sense for there to be two water companies somewhere. By allowing them to merge, their costs go down and the service price should remain stable for the consumer for quite some time.

 

[oneiztoomany 10+ year member]

i've noticed that SQ is better with XM then sirius and i also like that Lucy channel on XM. unfortunately though HOward Stern is on Sirius and i am not willing to give that up.

i really hope the two companies merge...

 

[oneiztoomany 10+ year member]

The FTC allows monopolies in circumstances also where the cost of competing infrastructures are impractical. The cable companies have regional monopolies because they would either have to allow a competitor to use their cables or the competitor would have to run their own (the local governments would not allow that). Phone company, water, power, etc... all legal monopolies. The cost of launching a satellite is huge. The usable orbit space is finite. You can't just throw another satellite over the equator because that space is already taken. It really doesn't make sense for there to be two satellite radio companies any more than it makes sense for there to be two water companies somewhere. By allowing them to merge, their costs go down and the service price should remain stable for the consumer for quite some time.

agreed, by the way i am loving the spelling of satellite for this thread! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Mystic Knight 10+ year member]

I love XM. Might be switching over to Sirius though since the new HU I just got came with a Sirius tuner.