shake777 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I just got xm and I'm happy with the quality of the broadcast and the music I'm getting. I saw old posts that were all negative. Has the quality improved since then? I had some problems with setting up the details on my Denon 4306 that two tech support people at Denon couldn't solve, but finally got it through trial and error. Due to an access problem with my router, I can't get internet radio and I guess the $8.99/month I'm spending (discount because we have it in the car) seems like a waste to those who enjoy IR. Of course something like my SACD player is in another league. Still, the sound is good and the variety is not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I just cancelled Sirius after 2 years primarily because I spend as much if not more time listening to books in the car. I don't think the quality has improved over the years. It's still mediocre at best IMO. The programming is good though. I enjoy the Dead channel, real jazz, the comedy channels, sports, etc. XM/Sirius was all about the channels for me. It was never about the quality of the audio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winchester21 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Got 3 free months with my tahoe- Raw Dog Comedy- X rated comedy at its finest- LMAO everytime I turn it on. Also Bluesville is not bad. Have not checked out the dead channel if it exists on XM. The country stations blow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted July 14, 2009 Moderators Share Posted July 14, 2009 I don't have the separate unit to receive Sirius but it's on the Dish Network service we get and Gary is correct mediocre at best. This weekend I was cleaning the workshop and found an old car antenna and I had already had ran a cable out the wall for a FM antenna which I never did go get. So I put the old car antenna on the cable and set it up on the edge of the roof and went in to try it. I was surprised It sounded better than the Sirius channels, much better and more bass, also the 2 oldies stations and a couple of rock stations had a better play list than any of the Sirius channels. They say CD quality [bs] and it's there HD receiver so there is no excuses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winchester21 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 This is the second tahoe I have had with XM. If you are looking for sound quality... look elsewhere.. highly compressed sucky garbage.. much better with a decent CD. I have the BLOWS system in my truck so it is going to sound like @ss anyway. The XM on my Direct TV is background noise at best. i never listen to it.... awful. Footnote- the XM on my last tahoe remained on for 2 years after I cancelled it. I got in a big fight when they popped my credit card for like 350.00 without my permission. they ended up losing and eating the charges but it was a big time consuming mess. The comedy/sports channels are.. m a y b e worth keeping if you spend a ton of time in your car/truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_Strummin Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Not! I drive through tunnels and it always cuts out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkytype Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 We've had XM for about 3 years. The lovely and gracious Paula has a GM version and I have a dockable version for home and on the road. Since my home unit docking unit is a glorified boom box, I can't speak to the quality issues raised. My biggest complaint with the XM music channels is they are programmed like terrestrial radio and not a new paradigm for the listener. I don't want to hear the Top 40 on real jazz (or any other music channel). Just to pick an example at random---Paul Simon has recorded well over a hundred songs. You wouldn't know it from the playlist on The Bridge. How many times do we have to hear Mother and Child Reunion in a week? While the music channels may be commercial free---they are not DJ free. Sometimes I want to throttle Lilly on Watercolors. Dammit! now I can't get Mother and Chils Reunion out of my head...... Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Not! I drive through tunnels and it always cuts out. It cuts out under trees on the golf course also. I do like the programming though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 My biggest complaint with the XM music channels is they are programmed like terrestrial radio and not a new paradigm for the listener. I don't want to hear the Top 40 on real jazz (or any other music channel). Lee The Jazz station on Sirius (Pure Jazz???) before the merger was MUCH better than Real Jazz IMO. The programming was better, the DJs were better and there was more unusual and rare material played. My biggest complaint with the Dead channel is too much Ratdog! They suck!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Couple thoughts; I can drive cross country and not change stations with XM. That is a biggee for me. While I like to tune in to local media ocassionally when I drive to different places, I also like to have a bit of consistency, i.e not having to listen to Mexican radio to keep track of the world series while going from San Diego to Vegas. I usually listen to the radio when in my car/trick, FM does not sound any better there and it fades a lot regardless so SQ is not a factor for me. Another biggee is XM has College football on Saturdays so I can listen to my conference of choice if I am on the road on a Saturday AM (I am an avid PSU fan). For Me XM does what I need it to. I do not listen critically to anything in my truck (has a Bose system so how could I?) So overall I like XM/Sirius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winchester21 Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Decision time- My free trial on my new tahoe runs our 8-8-09 love rawdog comedy- funniest foul mouth comedy on the planet but is worth 13.00 a month?? maybe if I let it lapse they will offer me a better deal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 I just cancelled Sirius after 2 years primarily because I spend as much if not more time listening to books in the car. I don't think the quality has improved over the years. It's still mediocre at best IMO. The programming is good though. I enjoy the Dead channel, real jazz, the comedy channels, sports, etc. XM/Sirius was all about the channels for me. It was never about the quality of the audio. It is really a "car toons" thing for me. Tom Petty show is cool for the variety. Today he played Animals, Etta James, Arthur Crudup, Beach Boys and asorted others as I drove across Michigan. I like it for drives around the midwest I make when I lose my Detroit sports station. Indispensible for trips! I like Pandora as well but the lossy formats gets fatigueing when I listen to them on the Belles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 If you drive a lot it is a good system, it can stay on any station all day long. At home, I'm not sure, most of the talk stations are on the web and most TV systems have a few of the music stations as part of the package so it's a bit less useful. I didn't use it at home enough to keep it. Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I like CNN, ESPN, FOX news, some of the comedy channels aren't bad. Don't listen to much music on it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shake777 Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 Hi Russ, Do you find internet radio to be better quality? Thanks, Shake777 PS Thanks to all for answering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerTuber Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I let ours lapse, only used it in the car and I get better music grabbing the ipod to plug in. If I drove all day then maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I just had a Serious boom box but the XM stations I get on my satellite TV are only fair in quality. If you are looking for "CD" quality, it's not. Not even close. It's just better than a distant station that you can't tune in on your FM tuner. Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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