SIRIUS User Since Day 1 - CANCELLED!
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I originally got satellite radio for the commercial free uncut music. But I listen to Opie & Anthony, various content on HHL Home Ice, NFL Radio, the uncensored comedy channels, Playboy Radio and various other talk content. Talk is just as much a part of satellite radio as music is.
I am thinking about canceling XM in my truck.
I have lifetime subscription on another radio that also includes Lifetime Online Listening as well...
And lately I have been streaming XM from my EVO phone via Bluetooth in my truck. The sound quality is a lot better then what I am getting off of XM via satellite. How sad is that.
I have lifetime subscription on another radio that also includes Lifetime Online Listening as well...
And lately I have been streaming XM from my EVO phone via Bluetooth in my truck. The sound quality is a lot better then what I am getting off of XM via satellite. How sad is that.
My buddy bought a Motorola Bluetooth receiver and I tried streaming Sirius XM over that and it sounded like crap, perhaps it was due to the wireless FM modulation. Two years ago when I bought my Lincoln I never bothered to put my plug and play Sirius and XM units back in. My Ford factory radio is Sirius Ready, but it needs the tuner or whatever is needed to have it built in. I planned on getting it until I found out the cost. Almost $800 friggen dollars! If I’m going to spend that much, I might as well just pay a few extra hundred dollars and have them rip the radio out and put in the Lincoln Nav system, which comes with Sirius by default. I should have made it part of the haggling process with the dealer when I bought it to have them put Sirius in, but I already got a hell of a deal on the thing, so I didn't want to push my luck.
Last month I went to the NASCAR race in Dover, DE. I picked my friend up in Scranton, PA and we went together. No way in hell was I going to drive 5 hours by myself with no satellite radio, so that Friday night I went to Best Buy and bought the Audiovox Onyx as I wanted something brand new. Worst satellite radio receiver EVER! Returned it Tuesday when I got back home and reactivated my old Roady XT.
Last month I went to the NASCAR race in Dover, DE. I picked my friend up in Scranton, PA and we went together. No way in hell was I going to drive 5 hours by myself with no satellite radio, so that Friday night I went to Best Buy and bought the Audiovox Onyx as I wanted something brand new. Worst satellite radio receiver EVER! Returned it Tuesday when I got back home and reactivated my old Roady XT.
Mine sounds good, at first I tried it and it sounded like MUD... then I figured it out. I need to turn the volume down on the phone to almost off. Once I did this the sound was amazing. 
That's what I do in my work truck using the cassette adaptor. I have the volume on the phone all the way down to almost nothing and control the volume using the trucks volume controls. Sounds better to me then doing the opposite. Not sure how good or bad it really sounds, as the diesel engine drowns out the radio pretty good, plus the right speaker has a short and only works when I hit a speed bump or go over railroad tracks
I doubt that the right speaker has a short. That would break the radio. It has a loose connection, that's why it comes on when you hit bumps....
Actually, music was the least of what sold me on Sirius in 2005. I have my favorite music collected on CDs and my mp3 player and prefer to listen to those than someone else's opinion of what songs should play in a favorite genre. On the otherhand, we have nothing but conservative talk on terrestrial radio here and I wanted something else to listen to when in the car. I also enjoy the NASCAR channel, the news channels and the comedy channels. I rarely play music on my Sirius.
They need to subtract stations of all genres. Give the remaining stations more bandwidth. They do not need NEAR the amount of music, comedy, or news stations they have now. Right now they have so many channels its hard for the average user to know what most of the channels even have on them. I end up listening to the same 2 or 3 channels, only to find music I enjoy on other channels on accident once in a while.
DSpud said:
True but the two to three channels I listen to are not the same two or three you listen to and all those aren't the same that Joe Smith listens to. Hence Sirius' dilemma when they mess with the available channels they piss someone off.
I just bought a new Tahoe that had factory XM in it, and it sounds aboslutely horrible. If I stream it from my evo to the aux input jack it sounds much better. I have sirius in my other vehicle and that sounds better (not amazing) but sound quality on both is very bad now. I got xm and sirius the same week it was available in my area. (xm did a soft rolling launch if I remember correctly right after 9/11)
I have both as well. I joined a little later but I've had XM since Summer 2003 and Sirius since Fall 2004. Right now I have two Sony A/V Receivers one with XM built in, one with Sirius built in. To me, XM sounds better when comparing the two like that and XM has always sounded better no matter what receiver or method of connection I've used throughout the years. If it wasn’t for some of the talk content I’d probably get rid of satellite radio altogether at this point. My new A/V Receiver has Shoutcast and Rhapsody built in, and both my TV and BluRay Player can do Pandora and Slacker. On the go, with smartphones it’s way too easy to get all that music. If having an online streaming only option was cheaper then having a regular subscription, I’d go that route.
After I blew up the Clutch in my car I parked it for 7 months. It has a sirius radio in it. So I canceled the service..After not moving it for that time I got in it and to my surprise It was still working. now 2 months later the Sirius still works. I didnt know that would happen.
Any ideas why. Im not complaining.
Any ideas why. Im not complaining.
The receiver has not received the deactivation kill signal yet. Keep the receiver powered on long enough and it will eventually. My first XM receiver that I bought, the Delphi SkyFi has been deactive since 2005 and I still get all the channels. I plug it in maybe twice a year.
I bet when you called one of two things happened.
One: The car was parked and the battery disconnected.
Two: The car was parked in a place the did not have line of sight.
In order for a Sirius or XM tuner to be activated or deactivated, the tuner needs to be powered, antenna connected and have line of sight, if not the tuner will not be activated or deactivated.
Being 7+ months sence you called it might be a while before Sirius comes around with your deactivation. However, it has been 7+ months. Sirius may not come around to your deactivation and your tuner will remain active permantly.
If you call Sirius and tell them to send out a deactivation signal, they will do it. If you do call for a deactivation, make sure the tuner is powered, the antenna is connected and has line of sight.
Yes. They should make YOU happy and to hell with everyone else. Sounds like a good business model to me!
my business partner hasn't paid for his Sirius in at least two years. Still works.
I've had XM since 2001, and I agree it has gone nowhere but into the crapper since the merger. Unfortunately though, since I'm now living in cow country, I'm stuck with it since the radio stations around here don't even make it to the next town. It's 3 years since they merged, and you STILL can't get a Sirius and XM radio on the same account to get the discount.
That 'royalty fee' (which is my hugest gripe) is complete horsesh*t. For those of you who don't know, the RIAA (as acting puppet for the NAB) wants satellite radio to pay higher royalty fees than terrestrial radio because they claim satellite radio is a 'download service'. This is due to receivers such as the Inno, which buffer the signal, and can record an entire song to its memory even if you hit record in the middle. Now we all know this is NOT download, since you don't get a pristine copy of the song, anything you record has the same DJ banter or crossfade that you would encounter if you recorded it on a tape.
Not only that, but receivers with this capability (A) do not give you access to the record memory, so it is impossible to get it off the device (they came out starting 6 years ago and still haven't been hacked), and (B) if you cancel your sub or otherwise deactivate the device, the recorded music is locked out! This little quirk even goes 1 step further in that you have to listen to live XM at least 30 minutes every 10 days (to validate your subscription), or else the recorded music locks out until you do! So they can't claim it is a 'download service' if the recorded content (which actually falls under 'Fair Use', just like recording off the radio) dies with the subscription. This is exactly the argument Hugh Panero was using, and XM lawyers were prepared to fight the RIAA all the way to the Supreme Court. Then the merger happened.
But Mel Karmazin (being a broadcast bitch) didn't fight it at all, he just bent over and took it from the RIAA (and by proxy, the NAB) with full intent of passing the cost onto the subscriber. So Sirius was already paying the higher royalties when they merged, therefore we get to pay it now.
I really don't understand how when two companies merge, the company that is in worse shape gets to run the ship. Sirius was a DISASTER. Not to mention all the antitrust issues that were basically ignored by the FCC (paid off?) that actually allowed the merger to happen. Now that there is no competition to keep the unified company in check, they can charge whatever they want.
Another thing that never happened was the merging of the companies was supposed to pool their satellite bandwidth and allow for more channels at higher quality. But that still hasn't happened either. In fact, there's even LESS bandwidth available because both services have to now carry 'Best of the other' channels. I think that is a lot more of a factor than the sports, because the sports channels are low bandwidth anyway, and they take up barely any when there isn't a game in progress.
That 'royalty fee' (which is my hugest gripe) is complete horsesh*t. For those of you who don't know, the RIAA (as acting puppet for the NAB) wants satellite radio to pay higher royalty fees than terrestrial radio because they claim satellite radio is a 'download service'. This is due to receivers such as the Inno, which buffer the signal, and can record an entire song to its memory even if you hit record in the middle. Now we all know this is NOT download, since you don't get a pristine copy of the song, anything you record has the same DJ banter or crossfade that you would encounter if you recorded it on a tape.
Not only that, but receivers with this capability (A) do not give you access to the record memory, so it is impossible to get it off the device (they came out starting 6 years ago and still haven't been hacked), and (B) if you cancel your sub or otherwise deactivate the device, the recorded music is locked out! This little quirk even goes 1 step further in that you have to listen to live XM at least 30 minutes every 10 days (to validate your subscription), or else the recorded music locks out until you do! So they can't claim it is a 'download service' if the recorded content (which actually falls under 'Fair Use', just like recording off the radio) dies with the subscription. This is exactly the argument Hugh Panero was using, and XM lawyers were prepared to fight the RIAA all the way to the Supreme Court. Then the merger happened.
But Mel Karmazin (being a broadcast bitch) didn't fight it at all, he just bent over and took it from the RIAA (and by proxy, the NAB) with full intent of passing the cost onto the subscriber. So Sirius was already paying the higher royalties when they merged, therefore we get to pay it now.
I really don't understand how when two companies merge, the company that is in worse shape gets to run the ship. Sirius was a DISASTER. Not to mention all the antitrust issues that were basically ignored by the FCC (paid off?) that actually allowed the merger to happen. Now that there is no competition to keep the unified company in check, they can charge whatever they want.
Another thing that never happened was the merging of the companies was supposed to pool their satellite bandwidth and allow for more channels at higher quality. But that still hasn't happened either. In fact, there's even LESS bandwidth available because both services have to now carry 'Best of the other' channels. I think that is a lot more of a factor than the sports, because the sports channels are low bandwidth anyway, and they take up barely any when there isn't a game in progress.
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Actually, Sirius was a lot closer to becoming a profitable company than XM. They clearly were doing some things better than XM.
Not really. Sirius posted a larger loss every quarter. Never once did they reduce their loss. All they kept doing was diluting their stock to make it look like they had cash (very much like what the government is doing with the dollar right now). XM had loss reductions the last several quarters before the merger, and given another year or two would've been in the black.
All Sirius was better at was offering up ridiculous salaries to attract marginal talent with big names (otherwise known as hemorrhaging cash). You can think whatever you want, but Stern, Oprah, Martha, Eminem, Foxx, Hawk, and all the other 'buzz names' they hired ain't worth the contracts they got from Sirius. They (especially Stern) don't bring in the kind of listeners that they want you to think they do (Stern has to net 20 million new subscribers PER YEAR just for Sirius to break even on his contract). That's why they are reigning in the salaries. If "Bubba the love spooge" thinks he can get better than $200k (let alone $1M) on commercial radio (or internet radio, as it would be), he's sorely mistaken.
I will say though, the thought of Stern having to take a pay cut saddens me.. I mean really, how on earth will he survive on $20M less per year? $80M just doesn't go as far as it used to!
