Sirius Music Quality

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RawisTheGameHhH

SatelliteGuys Guru
Original poster
Mar 29, 2006
135
0
Southside of Chicago, IL
I just got my Sirius radio about 1 week ago. I had it installed by CC and they used an FM modulator to silence the FM antenna. I have the Streamer GTR recv'r. I have a 2004 Ford Mustang GT Conv't. My signal is always at least 2 bars. However the music quality sucks. My FM sounds much better than my Sirius, which sucks. Any suggestions or is that just the way it is, thanks in advance!
 
Dgenx321 said:
thanks for the quick reply. i am using 88.1 but the site says 99.1 so I will try that, but doesnt the fm modulator kill my fm antenna, so that doesnt explain why the music sounds horrible or maybe it does, the sports and talk sound fine
 
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RawisTheGameHhH said:
thanks for the quick reply. i am using 88.1 but the site says 99.1 so I will try that, but doesnt the fm modulator kill my fm antenna, so that doesnt explain why the music sounds horrible or maybe it does, the sports and talk sound fine


No it doesn't kill your antenna at all. As a matter of fact if it killed it, your radio wouldn't work at all.

All the FM mod does is overtake that frequency.
 
There are FM modulators that due kill the antenna such as this http://www.myfmstation.com/html/pll-1.html. They sit between the antenna and the radio and basically feed an FM signal into the radio. It prevents you picking up another station at that frequency while using the sat radio. If you have one of those and everything is set correctly and it sounds like crap. Then either they screwed up the install, the inline fm modulator is screwed up (if they used one) or maybe the sounds quality of Sat radio isn't for you. Some people just have those ears and it sounds like crap to them.
 
digiblur said:
Find a quiet station and put the Sirius on that station. Or your best bet is to use the hard wired option.
I have it on the best station according to the link in message #2 and it just sounds like a 96kbs song you can download from a P2P client and this is the FM Module Relay I have http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/SIRIUS-FM-Module-Relay-DEI-14110-/sem/rpsm/oid/124111/catOid/-14623/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
so far i think Sirius is awesome, just wish it came in as good as my FM does; is it just the compression of the music???
 
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cassette adapter

Use a cassette adapter. I think I picked up mine at BB about 1.5 years ago.
It has like 3x better sound quality. :cool: Some Sirius units barely transmit 3 feet away. The FM repeater does not work well with in-window integrated car antennas.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sirius Sportster since 08/04, now trying the XM Tao portable.

-So far, Sirius wins on rural satellite reception (Sats are much higher for us in the NW and North) and in music quality (Higher freqs)

-XM for Bass...
-XM for Repeaters which have full bars within 1.5 miles of highways / around windows at home Tao works best with car/indoor antenna attached.
 
RawisTheGameHhH said:
I have it on the best station according to the link in message #2 and it just sounds like a 96kbs song you can download from a P2P client and this is the FM Module Relay I have http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/SIRIUS-FM-Module-Relay-DEI-14110-/sem/rpsm/oid/124111/catOid/-14623/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
so far i think Sirius is awesome, just wish it came in as good as my FM does; is it just the compression of the music???
I agree 100% on the sound quality. I think it's just the compression.

Does your stock head unit have the AUX input? You can buy an adaptor to interface to that and it should improve the audio quality:

http://www.logjamelectronics.com/auxford.html

My #2 radio is a XACT unit (Starmate replay variant). I have the home kit with this one and have the line out piped into the line in on my PC. It sounds MUCH better than the FM modulated unit does.

I bought the in-line antenna switch deal but I have yet to install it. I think I'm just going to spring for the PIE adaptor from Logjam and integrate it a bit cleaner.
 
I agree with the cassette adaptor, I have an FM modulator and a cassette adaptor for my DVD player and I get distortion and noise with the FM while the cassette adaptor has strong, solid sound.
 
Shawn95GT said:
I agree 100% on the sound quality. I think it's just the compression.

Does your stock head unit have the AUX input? You can buy an adaptor to interface to that and it should improve the audio quality:

http://www.logjamelectronics.com/auxford.html

My #2 radio is a XACT unit (Starmate replay variant). I have the home kit with this one and have the line out piped into the line in on my PC. It sounds MUCH better than the FM modulated unit does.

I bought the in-line antenna switch deal but I have yet to install it. I think I'm just going to spring for the PIE adaptor from Logjam and integrate it a bit cleaner.

Ditto the aux input suggestion!!! I did that for both my 350Z and my Tacoma. I had to use the FM modulator when I first got the Tacoma till I had time to get the parts and install everything, and it was excruciatingly horrible sound quality and terrible reception on every station I tried. Once I got the aux input installed it was just like the 350Z...crystal clear...and much better than broadcast radio over FM!
 
I wanted a virtually invisible install, and with a factory Cadillac premium sound system, although very nice, it has no aux input. I have found that I so rarely use my FM, I simply popped the trunk and removed the antenna lead and remote power from the mast; now I get GREAT Sirius reception, that many people have mistaken as a hardwired sound.

I can also use just about any frequency I wish. A lot of the FM issues are not only because of a station's bleed thru, but the tuner's sensitivity, they are not all built the same, and anyone planning a head-unit upgrade should keep that spec in mind.

Sensitivity is rated in units of ''dBf'', the lower the number, the better the reception. Mine is somewhere around 11dBf.
 
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DAVEGTESTR said:
Use a cassette adapter. I think I picked up mine at BB about 1.5 years ago.
It has like 3x better sound quality. :cool: Some Sirius units barely transmit 3 feet away. The FM repeater does not work well with in-window integrated car antennas.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sirius Sportster since 08/04, now trying the XM Tao portable.

-So far, Sirius wins on rural satellite reception (Sats are much higher for us in the NW and North) and in music quality (Higher freqs)

-XM for Bass...
-XM for Repeaters which have full bars within 1.5 miles of highways / around windows at home Tao works best with car/indoor antenna attached.
I do not have a cassette player in my car.
 
DWS44 said:
Ditto the aux input suggestion!!! I did that for both my 350Z and my Tacoma. I had to use the FM modulator when I first got the Tacoma till I had time to get the parts and install everything, and it was excruciatingly horrible sound quality and terrible reception on every station I tried. Once I got the aux input installed it was just like the 350Z...crystal clear...and much better than broadcast radio over FM!
NM, I only have an AUX/CD button and not just an AUX button
 
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RawisTheGameHhH said:
I just got my Sirius radio about 1 week ago. I had it installed by CC and they used an FM modulator to silence the FM antenna. I have the Streamer GTR recv'r. I have a 2004 Ford Mustang GT Conv't. My signal is always at least 2 bars. However the music quality sucks. My FM sounds much better than my Sirius, which sucks. Any suggestions or is that just the way it is, thanks in advance!
let me be a little more specific, it does not sound like static bleeding through or another channel, it just sounds like the music quality is bad when I crank it up.
 
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fm modulator worked for me

I have the Sirius Sportster Replay and the music quality was horrible......too much FM bleed-through.....I was constantly changing FM channels, but I ordered a FM modulator through Crutchfield and that took care of all my bleed-through problems:up . Sound quality is best with a head unit because my Pinoeer XM head unit sounds great, but if you can only use something like the Sportster try the Fm modulator too. Also, I drive a 18 wheeler and decided to lay my new antenna on the dash rather than mount it outside again.....the last one got trashed. I have driven from Pittsb to Memphis with hardly any drop outs except for the bridges around Cinn:) .
 
biged007 said:
Also, I drive a 18 wheeler and decided to lay my new antenna on the dash rather than mount it outside again.....the last one got trashed. I have driven from Pittsb to Memphis with hardly any drop outs except for the bridges around Cinn:) .

Ding! ;)
 

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