jdm56 Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I get limited Sirius/XM channels via my Dish TV box. My question is this: Is the sound quality of the sat. radio service much, if any, better when you subscribe and get the feed direct from their satellite, or is it the same quality as what I get from Dish? The reason I ask is because I have an Onkyo tuner that could receive sat. radio, but I would have to subscribe. I would consider it if the audio is better that what I get through Dish Network. The sound quality through them is mediocre at best. Must be a data rate of about 50 or 60 kbps tops, judging from the flat, thin, lifeless sound. It's really only good for background music. But if the direct feed from Sirius/XM is at least 96, or maybe 128 kbps, it might be worth subscribing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimo1 Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I have an XM Direct setup in my car (It's hard-wired through the Ai-Net, not the tuner), which has a pretty good audio system in it and is quite revealing. To my ears, the SQ is about 112-128kbps MP3 quality - Only good IMO for casual / background listening. Haven't tried listening to the Dish sat channels in the HT.. gimme a sec.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I have XM through the factory nav/radio in my Denali and I think it sounds ok in there. As good as a factory radio is going to sound I guess. I use this in my work car and home: http://www.xmradio.com/minituner/index.xmc My work car is a POS so not really a good reflection of sound here, but when I move the tuner into the house through my XM ready Yamaha 663 receiver I don't think it sounds as good as CD but it sounds better than FM radio. May be all in my head though. No scientific study to back this up. I wonder if the XM signal is still digital when it gets to my receiver or if the tuner converts it to analog. I doubt it but I wonder. I've got Dish Network and just compared the two and I think the XM through my XM mini-tuner to my receiver sounds better than Dish Network to my receiver. The Dish Network XM is a little a head of the XM tuner so if you start on Dish first you can compare the same few seconds of the same song. I went with the mini-tuner so I could listen in my work car and house for the same price. If you only need the house and you have a XM ready receiver you could use this: http://www.myradiostore.com/xm-connect-and-play/xm-connect-play-cnp1000.html Or for free you could stick with the dish signal. There is something to be said about free. But it sounded dull enough to me that I went another way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 A little Google research and I found "Direct connect option offers true digital sound" so why do CDs sound better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 A little Google research and I found "Direct connect option offers true digital sound" so why do CDs sound better?Regardless of the signal quality or bit rate, satellite radio is still offering up compressed audio; relatively low bit rate mp3 or comparable sound quality, whereas CD is uncompressed, with relatively huge data rates even compared to top quality mp3, which maxes out about 320 kbps. Still, your experience is interesting. I think I may try Sirius/XM (I think they merged, didn't they?). I find 128kbps mp3 to be much more listenable than 64-96. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amusingisthedawn Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I went through the same thing and ended up subscribing to the premium internet service. Satelite radio through the premium service is clean and sounds just as good as a CD. Any other way you try to hook up a sat. radio...it will sounds crappy to me. I bought a tuner box for my car thinking it would sound better, but it didn't. I listen to it, but it doesn't sound so good. The best thing to do is sign on to sirius via a blackberry, and hook it up to the receiver in your car. It will sound like a CD if you subscribe to the premium service for an extra 2 bucks/month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I know I can listen to XM online for free. I'm not sure if there is a paid option that is of better quality, I'll have to check into that. I think unless the sound quality is night and day different I'll stick with what I have just for convenience sake. Hooking a computer up and all that messing around sounds like a pain. I love that my Harony remote can change the channels where as with a laptop I'd have go get my lazy butt up a lot more often. I do have a laptop I'm not using right now so if it sounds really good I may go that route though. I could listen to my MP3 on the same computer as well. I know MP3 don't sound great but again convenience in mind for stuff I don't have on CD its an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 jdm56 If you have a XM or Sirius ready receiver and a Walmart near by I'd just go buy a receiver and try it out. It costs $12.95 a month and if you whine they will waive the activation fee. If it works for you than keep your subscription, if you find its no better than the Dish Network option in the way of sound quality than cancel it and return the receiver to Walmart. I just say Walmart because they have to have the slackest return policy on the face of the earth! So for a little of your time and $13 you can find out for yourself it this is for you. Of course if you have a friend who already had XM or Sirius you could just borrow his/her's and save even more hassle. If you were local to me I'd let you borrow mine for a few days to try it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amusingisthedawn Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Premium service online vs. the satelite radio IS a night and day difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Has anyone tried the digital output from the DIsh Network receiver? I listen to sirius all the time from my Dish network receiver and agree it is not very good quality but I have never tried the digital audio output from the receiver. I'd be interested to know if that sounds any better. Not all the receivers have a digital audio output, but the better ones do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amusingisthedawn Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I have the Dish Vip722 and use the HDMI output. I recently added the sirius music channels to it and they sound just as good as a cd as well. I'm a little disappointed you can't listen to the talk channels but the music channels are still cool. They sound pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I have the Dish Network DVR 625 and use s-video for the picture as its the best option it gives me on that receiver and the toslink digital for the audio. I think my XM receiver is better than Dish Network XM and I'm using digital outs off of the Dish receiver as far as sound quality. I guess it only costs me an additional $6.99 since I'm going to have it in my Denali either way and I've already bought the home and car adapter (for second car) for the mini-tuner so I'm vested now. If I was to do it over and didn't have it in a car I might use the Dish Network option. I think it sounds as good as MP3s and most of the time when I listen to XM the music is more of a background thing for me anyway. If you have a keen ear and want to sit and listen to the music for all its worth I don't know if either option will truly please you. With the Dish Network option you still can change the channels via the Dish Network remote which is nice. Listening online via a computer that wouldn't be an option. I did some checking online with XM and I see they have a $7.99 option for online service if you don't have a XM radio. I don't see any options that promise better sound quality online than I'd get for free online from XM as a subscriber. Maybe Sirius charges for the online part and with XM its free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I have the Dish Vip722 and use the HDMI output. I recently added the sirius music channels to it and they sound just as good as a cd as well. I'm a little disappointed you can't listen to the talk channels but the music channels are still cool. They sound pretty good. I wish I had gone with the 622 or 722. I planned on making my old 36" last a little longer and that didn't happen. I wouldn't think HDMI would sound any better than the toslink, would it? If not than I'd say an external sat receiver to have the XM right to the AV receiver would still offer an improvement in sound from what I'm experiencing on my system.YMMV. When you say as good as CD sound quality I'm not getting that on my system judging from my untrained ears. I'll play with my Yamaha 663 receiver tonight and make sure the settings for watching the dish and listening to music are the same. I have them set up as different scenes but last night I made a point of manually changing the Dish scene to be the same as music but who knows maybe I missed something. I don't want to promote the external receiver as being better if its really just the way the receiver is set! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 I get Sirius/XM from a Dish 411 hdtv receiver via optical digital audio output to Pioneer Elite VSX-55TXi a/v receiver. The sound sux compared to a decent CD. I will try the Wal-Mart tactic. That is a no-lose proposition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 All these companies advertise "CD quality sound" but really the sound is shite. They probably have people who don't know any better convinced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Another option: I just remembered that I could get the XM or Sirius programming by subscription through my Squeezebox, too. Drat, the water grows muddier! So I could stay with what I have, getting limited service through my Dish Network subscription, or I could by an a-daptor kit and subscribe through my Onkyo tuner, or I could subscribe for the on-line service and get that through my Slim Devices Squeezebox network music player. Wow, makes me proud to be an American! I wonder of the three options, which would sound best? I'd bet the direct sat connection through my Onkyo T4555! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimo1 Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 All these companies advertise "CD quality sound" but really the sound is shite. They probably have people who don't know any better convinced. But when I listen to my satellite radio, through a dish receiver, hooked to my Bose Lifestyle system, I get CD quality sound! That is, it sounds as good as CD's do played on it.. [8-|] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Unrelated to the topic of sound quality but has anyone else noticed that since XM and Sirius merged it seems like they play the same songs over and over again? I listen to XM 54 the most and it seems to me I'm hearing the same songs over and over a lot more than I used to. Anyone else notice this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimo1 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Unrelated to the topic of sound quality but has anyone else noticed that since XM and Sirius merged it seems like they play the same songs over and over again? I listen to XM 54 the most and it seems to me I'm hearing the same songs over and over a lot more than I used to. Anyone else notice this? Can't say about reptitiion since I don't get to listen to it for a long period of time, but I REALLY like the channel lineup now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 On March 11, 2009, we will upgrade the online listening experience to near CD-quality digital audio. Satellite radio subscriptions will no longer include internet radio at no charge.* If you renew your subscription now, you will continue to get online listening for FREE for the length of your subscription. This is your chance to keep listening online at no charge. After March 11th premium online listening will cost $2.99** per month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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