[Dan_ed]

I admit that this idea of paying for radio never appealed to me in the first place. However, my son upgraded his XM receiver a few years back and gave me his old one, along with a few free months of service. The lack of commercials and overall music selection did hold me captive for a while. Well, 2 years to be exact.

Since the XM/Sirius merger has led to the integration of DJs, channels, and cultures I find myself more and more put off. The new DJs want to talk more and the selections seem to be repetitive. Some of the channels I used to love, like XM Music Lab, are no longer on the channel lists.

The only time I listen to sat radio is in the car and I'm beginning to think I should dump the service and go back to ceedees, or load up an iPod and hit shuffle.

Is it just me, or is anyone else becoming disenchanted with sat radio?

[GerryD]

I hear 'ya!  My favorite XM channel was XM72 Beyond Jazz.  There was nothing else like it and I really miss it.  Bad decision in the merger!

[djbnh]

XM came free for three months with my new car purchase. The service recently expired, and I'm on the fence about signing up. One channel I liked was Bloomburg Radio, and during these times it might be nice to have that easy access to the financial information.

Some music channels were ok, others not. I think I valued the news / sports / financial mix more than the musical audio. Then again, I only had it for 3 months. That being said, it might be nice for longer trips through less familiar environs when I don't want to pack a bunch of CDs (no iPod here, but that's a thought since I can input an iPod through the car, too).

[Wayner]

I have heard that the quality of sound isn't maybe up to some audiophiles standards. I haven't heard it either and I'm sure gun shy to give somebody money for something close to what I can have for free.

However, if I was a guy on the road allot, this might be the way I would go. I think XM for mobile people might be a great big yes!

Wayner  aa

[Lyndon]

There is also another service, with the name of Slacker radio, which seems like a merge of satellite and internet,
Slacker 8GB WiFi Internet Radio Player with 40 Stations $80 + S&H
That for $3.99 a month looks pretty interesting.
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=240371&t=1141767

But people complain that the software/firmware is buggy, and I will have to sit back and see an improvement in that area before I bite.
My brother has mentioned Pandora for internet radio, and someone on this discussion thread mentions it as well.
As Wayner said, for people on the go, since it looks like the compression robs it of much audio quality.

[orthobiz]

My wife's car has it. She listens to Broadway Tunes a lot and it's great for her.

I don't care much for it. The played I'm A Man off the first Chicago album and faded it out during the drum/percussion part, totally skipping the final burning guitar that brings the song back! What's that all about?

And they do talk a fair amount between songs advertising themselves and other programs.

And the program listing will sometimes list a song as coming off the Greatest Hits collection.

And the Deep Cuts are spotty. I mean, are we destined to listen to only Aqualung, Crosseyed Mary and Locomotive Breath off JT's Aqualung?

So for me, having taken long enough trips in the car to know, it wouldn't be worth it. At least not yet.

But then, I've been a real retrogrouch lately.

Paul

[low.pfile]

I have built-in XM in my car. Renewed it once. I really enjoy the commercial-less format and the exposure to new music. I really only listen to 3 stations. But as Dan_ed mentioned, the merger with Sirius had a negative impact on the content of the stations I listen to. Yes, the bitrate has always been less than audiophile level, but, for me, that is an acceptable compromise in the car environment - but after the merger I am certain that they have downgraded the bitrate.  My subscription renewal notice came this week. I am 90% sure I am not going to renew this time around. I will break out the ipod and load up the CDs in the changer instead.

cheers,
other_ed

[Barry_NJ]

My wife has it in her Mini-Van. Radio Disney, the kids favorite is mostly what it's used for. The only free option for Radio Disney is lousy AM reception.

I have an iPod dock for music in the Z, in my beater FM is fine.

[doug s.]

I have heard that the quality of sound isn't maybe up to some audiophiles standards. I haven't heard it either and I'm sure gun shy to give somebody money for something close to what I can have for free.

However, if I was a guy on the road allot, this might be the way I would go. I think XM for mobile people might be a great big yes!

Wayner  aa

i have never been much for music in the car; my daily drivers haven't even had a radio since 1995.  (that may change now, since i yust got a used scion xb on monday.)  the lack of sound quality may not be an issue in a car, but to say it's not up to audiophile standards is an understatement - it's completely unlistenable on a good home stereo system; barely tolerable as background music.  and no way i would pay a subscription for that...

ymmv,

doug s.

[thunderbrick]

It came with my wife's new VW.  Can't stand the selection or the quality.  I'd much rather listen to my regional NPR stations and take my chances on  the playlists.  Public Radio KMST-FM 88.5 usually has excellent sound quality.

Except when they play bluegrass.............

[thunderbrick]

So for me, having taken long enough trips in the car to know, it wouldn't be worth it. At least not yet.

But then, I've been a real retrogrouch lately.

Paul

Anybody know what the difference between a retrogrouch and a protogrouch is?   

[cornhulio]

Radio is free and so is tv

[jqp]

I see commercials in satellite radios future

[Dan_ed]

It was a couple of my buddies who travel a lot who got me re-evaluating my subscription, along with the other issues I mentioned earlier. Both of these guys just plug in their iPods when they drive or fly. They both laugh about paying for sat radio. It certainly isn't about quality, for me anyway, because that luxury is left at home with my main stereo system.

The other issue that is becoming old is the drop-outs. Where I live there are hills and trees and sometimes buildings which cause interruptions in service. This particular issue makes sat radio a big step backwards compared to broadcast FM.

The more I list out the issues the more my mind is made up to drop it.

[Toka]

Any inkling I get to ditch satellite is destroyed whenever I have to drive 2+ hours...I cannot trust regular radio to do it for me, and for whatever reason I don't like my iPod in the car (I love it when on a train, plane, etc. though). I have mixed feelings on the merger (I am a Sirius subscriber of 3 years). Deep Tracks is better than the Vault was (they actually play some pretty good stuff...and of course they will mess that up by playing a radio standard, but oh well), but I can't understand why they have SIX country channels (including bluegrass) and only two jazz channels (one of which isn't even "real" jazz).

[Wayner]

What I meant was that if I was a traveling salesman or somebody on the road most of the day, I'd probably have it.

Wayner

[TomS]

I gave up on all 4 of our XM's for most of the above reasons plus I just hated dealing/negotiating with them on the renewals.

I am REALLY hooked on Pandora, if only I could get that in the car.  I suppose all you need is reliable mobile internet link (faster broadband maybe)... and XM/Sirius as a content provider (music at least) to the car wouldn't make much sense any more.  Pandora and/or Last.FM are always on at home on the Squeezebox now.

[isaacc7]

My stepbrother uses his iphone to stream pandora in the car. Sounds like a sweet set up since you can select the type of music you want and then if you hear a new song, you can orient the playlist around that new thing. That sounds ideal to me...

[wilsynet]

It came with my car, and the previous owner of the car must have paid for more than 2 years in advance because it's been a year now and I still have service.

Being a Canadian ex-patriot, it's nice to be able to get CBC Radio One.  The two NPR stations are nice too.  It's most handy when I'm on a road trip and want consistency in my radio station selection.  But the San Francisco Bay Area has an excellent local NPR station, and I find myself listening to the local stuff more than the XM stuff.

Every time I drive under an overpass it cuts out.  And the quality is, in my opinion, worse than FM broadcast radio.  While there's no static like you might get from FM, the satellite audio is compressed like all get out.

If it wasn't free, I doubt I'd pay for it.