XM Sound Quality

[kdarcangelis870]

I got XM radio a little more than two years ago (in my 04 nissan murano) and I am starting to notice the sound quality isn't as great as it was when I got it. It sounds really overcompressed, kinda like a 64k mp3 file. Some channels, Like Top Tracks, make me want to grind my teeth while listening to it. I flipped between FM and SAT radio several times and the FM sounded much warmer and cleaner (content sucks though). I am wondering if anyone else has noticed this or am I just hearing things?

 

[Trainnut]

They seem to tweak things alot, this AM I actually had to flatten out the bass and treble on my car stereo. I'm using a MyFi with the internal FM Mod.

 

[mecro]

XM constantly changes its bandwidth settings, based on usage of other channels, like MLB Play-by-Play, the college networks, etc... but yeah, the 64k stream is sound about right. Listen to a channel like Flight 26, and then switch to MIX 22, and you'll see what satellite radio used to sound like, before they crammed it full.

 

[fourbye99]

XM sound

I'm glad to hear someone else say something about how XM sounds.I thought there was something different with the sound.I was thinking it sounds more like FM?,or flat,or something.,or too much med range.It does carry the sound better when you have the windows down ,when in the car.Maybe that is the thinking behind it.My MP3 player stills sounds better in the car,for highs and lows.

 

[mecro]

That's just it. When XM first came out, the signal wasn't nearly as compressed as it is now. Because they've stretched really, over 200 channels into XM, there's no dynamic contrast, and there's no 'depth' to the sound, for those of us who are musicians or audiophiles. Basically, there is no loud, and there is no soft. Everything is the same volume, due to the compression of the signal. Take a listen to a song called "Sugar We're Going Down" by Fall Out Boy. Horrible song, but listen to the quality of the music that you are hearing. It is such a loud song, that it almost comes across as 'digitally distorted' for lack of a better phrase.

Now, try and listen to the same song again, on XM 21, or 22, and you'll instantly hear the difference in quality compared with the ClearChannel run stations versus the XM ones. ClearChannel gets a certain amount of bandwidth, and they've only got 5-6 stations on it right now, 3 of which are talk, and three are music. You'll notice what i'm talking about it.

It really is quite a bummer, because I don't think there's any plan to fix this, or make the audio quality any better. I have XM because I'm on a family plan, and I'm from Cincinnati, so I actually enjoy XM 173, 700 WLW.... I have no idea what SIRIUS sounds like, but on my DISH network TV receivers, I can still hear the lack of dynamic contrast, and the overall 'compression' of the sound quality.

I'm interested to hear what other people think about this as well.

 

[mjbanks]

I think XM sound quality has gone down a ton. I have an Alpine tuner box built into my aftermarket car stereo. I've had it for about 3 years now. It used to be very very good, but it sounds "tinny" (for lack of a better description).

I'm taking out my aftermarket stereo next month and putting all factory back in, so I'm going to have a get a new receiver. I'm debating staying with XM or switching to Sirius. Both will have portable receivers by then. I did the Sirius 3 day trial and the music stations play much better stuff in my opinion. On XM, it feels almost "too cool for the room" on all the Rock stations and some Hip Hop stuff. Granted I like new and unheard music, but I do want to hear the stuff I already like too.

Only downside to switching in my opinion is Opie & Anthony. I listen to these guys every day. I can always get them on Audible.com, but it's not the same as flipping on the live show in the car.

What are other people's opinions of sound quality in XM vs Sirius?

 

[Peter Parker]

And as happenstance would have it we will be having apoll on this very soon.

 

[mecro]

The polls will favor Sirius, just as everybody favors DISH vs DirecTV. I think the polls can only count if you compare the two side by side, which most people cannot do.

 

[kevlard1]

I think my vote counts since I originally did have XM. I was not pleased with their music selection. So, since that, I switched to Sirius and am much more pleased. I think these polls are unfair because most people have only had one service and don't know what the other one is like. But, it's the best that you can get for the moment.

 

[MattBarstow]

I have heard this said about XM a lot lately. I am wondering if this is the reason why so many people say that they prefer Sirius?

 

[mecro]

I'd be interested to know which technically was the better quality service. So many people don't know what to listen for, or what dynamic range compression is. I'd really like to know the 'specs' for both services, as well. Its a shame that quality isn't the driving force behind satellite companies anymore.

 

[Beyond]

I'd be interested to know which technically was the better quality service. So many people don't know what to listen for, or what dynamic range compression is. I'd really like to know the 'specs' for both services, as well. Its a shame that quality isn't the driving force behind satellite companies anymore.

I've had Sirius since Monday in my Mustang, and I can verify that the SQ on Sirius is terrible as well. Admittedly, I got Sirius primarily for Howard Stern, and naturally, his show sounds fine. When you throw in music, however, you can really tell it sounds terrible. It sounds like a streaming WMA file, hardly comparable to an MP3 encoded at 128kbps. Talking about the music's dynamic range is pointless; the music starts lacking in the overall reproduction of the sound in general. The highs are the most noticeably lacking among all frequencies, but everything in general sounds really bad as well.

I expected a lot better. If it weren't for Howard Stern, I'd never renew my subscription to Sirius again after this month. Sure, the selection is nice, but for a guy like me who doesn't listen to downloaded music because the sound is far from acceptable, the music on Sirius doesn't appeal to me (at all).

By the way, I'm running a Sportster 4 using a mini-RCA cable to connect the Sportster 4 into the auxillary-in on my Eclipse CD8455.

 

[MattBarstow]

I honestly think that both of these have issues that they still need to work out. I call it "growing pains." It's going to take them both a while but in the end one is going to figure it out better than the other and will emerge as the winner. Only time will tell.

 

[mecro]

I've had Sirius since Monday in my Mustang, and I can verify that the SQ on Sirius is terrible as well. Admittedly, I got Sirius primarily for Howard Stern, and naturally, his show sounds fine. When you throw in music, however, you can really tell it sounds terrible. It sounds like a streaming WMA file, hardly comparable to an MP3 encoded at 128kbps. Talking about the music's dynamic range is pointless; the music starts lacking in the overall reproduction of the sound in general. The highs are the most noticeably lacking among all frequencies, but everything in general sounds really bad as well.

I expected a lot better. If it weren't for Howard Stern, I'd never renew my subscription to Sirius again after this month. Sure, the selection is nice, but for a guy like me who doesn't listen to downloaded music because the sound is far from acceptable, the music on Sirius doesn't appeal to me (at all).

By the way, I'm running a Sportster 4 using a mini-RCA cable to connect the Sportster 4 into the auxillary-in on my Eclipse CD8455.

You got it nailed! I knew somebody could agree with me. The question is, what do we do about it? More and more people are subscribing, and very few people leave because of the sound quality. What's our next step? Who can we contact?

 

[Beyond]

You got it nailed! I knew somebody could agree with me. The question is, what do we do about it? More and more people are subscribing, and very few people leave because of the sound quality. What's our next step? Who can we contact?

I don't know. Perhaps we could first start an organization to get an idea of how many people agree with us?

 

[mecro]

I don't know. Perhaps we could first start an organization to get an idea of how many people agree with us?

I don't know how much success we'll have. Look at DirecTV and DISH. They bother overcompress everything they have, and yet people accept it. I don't think the general public cares. That's the problem. Ever heard of HD Lite?

 

[Beyond]

I don't know how much success we'll have. Look at DirecTV and DISH. They bother overcompress everything they have, and yet people accept it. I don't think the general public cares. That's the problem. Ever heard of HD Lite?

Yeah.

I really hate how our society accepts anything. Ignorance? Apathy? I don't know what causes it, but it's really sad.