[drphoto]

Or is it some sort of compressed MP3 type stream? I went to their site and didn't see anything regarding encoding.

[doug s.]

it's compressed, for sure dunno how or how much, but i find it unlistenable, even as background music.  quite harsh gritty & irritating.  (a buddy of mine has it.)  i have not been back over to his place to listen, tho, since he got a tube buffer stage for it - supposedly smooths it out a lot, according to my friend...

doug s.

[quanbb]

I've had xm sat. radio almost a year.  I love the variety and choices offered by xm, but the sound quality is only average, sounded kinda flat and  one dimensional, and not much gain when connected to my tube integrated amp,  About 6 months ago, I read about a mod. that could be performed on my xm delphi home tuner.  It was an aftermarket addition of a digital toslink connection, which bypassed the delphi  receivers dac and output amplifier.  For my system, the improvement in sound quality was definitely noticeable.  Music now sounded louder, with greater dynamics, imaging and clarity have also improved.  I have the toslink connected to my musical fidelity a324 dac .

[sukhjeet]

sirius might have better quality... not sure.

[doug s.]

sirius might have better quality... not sure.

there's a difference between sirius & xm?  sirius is what my friend has, that i was talking about...  since i last wrote to this thread, i've been back to my friend's to listen w/the tube buffer stage.  now, at least, it's tolerable as background music, but barely.  forget actually sitting & listening to it - pure ear garbage.

doug s.

[Carlman]

I have Sirius in my car and love the variety, the attitude of the DJ's, etc.. It's what I always wished radio could be.

However, to answer your question, no... it is NOT hi-fi.  It is low-fi.  I hate to say it but I agree with Doug's assessment to its sound quality.  It's almost as good as a 128 mp3... however, it's different... there's more swirly digital haze... However, I find that more on the talk stations than the music.  I find it difficult to understand what people are saying on the talk stations.. it's that bad.  But on the audio stations, it seems to be much better.... but still low-fi.  

Sometimes the digital sound signature gets to me on long trips and I have to switch to cd's or the radio to give my ears a break.

All that said, I wouldn't get rid of it.  I get to hear loads of new (to me) music.... In 1 year, it's brought me a lot more music than I'd hear on the local stations in 100 lifetimes.  If you like more than just today's pop, country, rap, light rock, and classic rock, you'll find satellite radio refreshing.  It'll definitely make you a smarter cd shopper.

[byteme]

Agreed with the consensus thus far, I've got XM and love it.  Great variety, songs you have never heard or haven't heard for ever (and would NEVER on regular radio).  But, the sound quality isn't up to "critical" listening standards.

[doug s.]

I have Sirius in my car and love the variety, the attitude of the DJ's, etc.. It's what I always wished radio could be.

However, to answer your question, no... it is NOT hi-fi.  It is low-fi.  I hate to say it but I agree with Doug's assessment to its sound quality.  It's almost as good as a 128 mp3... however, it's different... there's more swirly digital haze... However, I find that more on the talk stations than the music.  I find it difficult to understand what people are saying on the talk stations. ...

it's yust like the crack dealer that gives ya some for a coupla weeks, to be "nice".  then, when yure addicted, he sez sorry, ya gotta buy it, now...     it's the plague, yust say *no*!!!

doug s., supporter of public radio...

[denverdoc]

Now have XM in my 05 acura tl (which also plays DVD-A in surround--very sweet). Totally agree with sentiments about exposure to new music XM provides--reminds me of the golden age of FM in the 70's when long sets, and album oriented rock was the norm. Now I have to have it my home--curious whether anyone has heard the sony xm receiver to see if it might be better than the delphi?

[byteme]

Now have XM in my 05 acura tl (which also plays DVD-A in surround--very sweet). Totally agree with sentiments about exposure to new music XM provides--reminds me of the golden age of FM in the 70's when long sets, and album oriented rock was the norm. Now I have to have it my home--curious whether anyone has heard the sony xm receiver to see if it might be better than the delphi?

If you're looking for a straight home unit you may want to give a look at the Polk XRT12XM.  http://www.polkaudio.com/xm/index.php

$300 direct from Polk or you can PM me.  I rep Polk.

[drewfidelity]

I own the Polk Refererence XM Tuner, I also have had XM in my car for a year, and would recommend XM radio to any music lover.  The Polk XM Tuner has both Toslink and Coax digital outputs.  I run the XM Signal through my NorthStar 192 Dac and the sound quality is very good.  The variety of music offered is incredible.  All musical genres are represented well. I could not think of a better audio investment that the Polk XM Home Tuner.

[KKM]

What is the monthly fee? Or is there also a one time lifetime fee for the Polk?

[byteme]

What is the monthly fee? Or is there also a one time lifetime fee for the Polk?

XM runs anywhere from $9.99 a month on down depending on how long you sign up for.  If you hook up for 3 years (cancellable at any time for a refund of your remaining $$) it can be as low as like $8.75 a month.  That's for the first reciever, you can add up to 5 addl. I think in the same family for an addl. $5.99 (if I remember right).  So, if you have a Roady 2 in your car, the Polk in your house and a MyFi you can fit them all under the same plan.  There is no fee other than purchase for any of the receiver units.  XM is running a special through the end of the year waiving the $10 activation fee.  I sold a couple hundred of the Roady 2's when they first came out and now I'm waiting for the arrival of the MyFi's.

I agree, XM is awesome and the only reason I listen to FM now is to catch the local morning show guys on my way to work, otherwise, my Roady 2 follows me from car to car and into the house as well.

I should look into that Polk receiver since I sell them!!

[Sintz]

I've listened to both XM and Sirius in my previous vehicles' sound system (one of the better auto systems, if I do say so myself)....
http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/192289

With respect to sound quality, I find XM to be the better of the two by a significant margin. Neither should be considered hi-fi by any means due to the use of a heavy-loss encoding before transmitted. IMHO, I don't think either are good for any type of music listening... barely adquate for voice/talk shows. Again, just my opinion here.

Personally, I am curious why either company didn't use a lossless encoding (equivalent of FLAC or MP4).  I got rid of both because I just didn't listen to it.

Hope that helps!

[bunky]

I've listened to both XM and Sirius in my previous vehicles' sound system (one of the better auto systems, if I do say so myself)....
http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/192289

With respect to sound quality, I find XM to be the better of the two by a significant margin. Neither should be considered hi-fi by any means due to the use of a heavy-loss encoding before transmitted. IMHO, I don't think either are good for any type of music listening... barely adquate for voice/talk shows. Again, just m ...

i own the Polk XM reference tuner and i got it as a parting gift from Matt Polk & company at Polkfest 2005 at the Polk HQ in Baltimore. i bought a 1 year subscription and to be totally honest i rarely listen to it and i doubt that i will renew the subscription when mine runs out next year. i like the commercial free formats but it sounds very compressed to my ears.a  good concept but poorly executed in my view. i never listen to the AM or FM radio either so maybe its just me!thanks....WCW III

[lcrim]

directv just switched over to XM radio on their music channels.  Previously, I used a separate DAC to decode the PCM output from my HDTV receiver and was pretty happy w/ the quality of sound on the jazz and classical stations.  
Since the changeover to XM, the dreadfully compressed nature of the bitstream served as an added incentive for me to get onboard the PC audio bandwagon.  No offense meant but I can't spend any time listening to that crap.

[mjosef]

Larry you just answered my question. Last night I was channel surfing on DTV and saw all their music stations had XM as the name brand. I wondered if it was the same XM I was hearing so much about, appears it is. Sounds ok to me at low levels, haven;t really listenned critically...I just used it for background music while I sleep. I would not see myself paying extra for it...mhnnnn wonder if my rates went up and I didn't notice? ANother medium I have no interest in is the Ipod fad/trend. Hell I don't even own a cell phone.