xm radio online through SB2 or 3??

mr_bill · « **on:** 6 Nov 2005, 06:06 pm »

Here's an idea.
Buy XM Radio on line only $7.95 a month.

Will the Squeezebox 2 or 3 pick this up and play it from your PC?

You then will have a less costly XM set up and get better quality than buying a XM plug and play or Polk home XM tuner?

An comments - will this work?

Thanks,
bill

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #1 on:** 8 Nov 2005, 05:47 am »

I'd love to know this as well. BBC radio 1, which I listen to via internet streams, just signed up with Sirius and I'd totally pay $12 a month to get this channel in decent audio quality through the squeezebox.

Michael

JoshK · « **Reply #2 on:** 8 Nov 2005, 02:30 pm »

I don't know the answer really, but I think XM radio is a no. I'd ask on the third party forum on slim devices' forum. They also have a list of the plug ins and what they offer.

AlienBBC is a plugin for BBC broadcasts but I don't really even know what BBC is, so I can't tell you whether you'd get it or not, particularly when they move to Sirius.

However, remember the actual broadcast of XM and Sirius is seriously compressed (pun intended) so the playback unit might not be the bottleneck in terms of good quality sound.

mr_bill · « **Reply #3 on:** 8 Nov 2005, 06:59 pm »

Thanks for your post Josh.
Are there any good quality internet radio streams that can pass through the SB3 and then into a dac.

My FM sound is not that good in my area and XM doesn't seem to be the answer either for a two channel high end rig.

Tweaker · « **Reply #4 on:** 8 Nov 2005, 07:59 pm »

I've found the Shoutcast streams that I've listened to (jazz), to sound incredibly good through my SB2.

Jampot · « **Reply #5 on:** 8 Nov 2005, 08:10 pm »

Being in the UK I can't comment on XM - but I do know that all BBC Radio channels are available via the internet, and could therefore be streamed to a Squeeze box without an XM subscription.

Why not try them for free? Go to www.bbc.co.uk/radio/ then select the channel you like the look of.

Hifi World magazine last month, published an article critical of the BBC's (relatively) low bit rates (192kbps) on satelite digital broadcasts, but music enthusiasts here have always held the quality of BBC Radio live concert transmissions on FM in high regard, so it may be well worth trying.

I am reading as much as I can find on Audio Circle (and others) with a veiw to adding a squeezebox to my system. One area I am not sure about for instance is that bit rates do vary and a 'modded' squeezebox may only support CD...

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 Nov 2005, 07:23 pm »

I use the computer streams all the time to listen to BBC One. It's such a ridiculously great radio station in comparison to the crap we have on FM here in NYC, where there are a few good jazz/classical stations, but little outside of weakly transmitted college stations to hear new music on. I'm listening more to my computer than my hifi rig because BBC one is so damn good. I don't care that it sounds like crap because the playlist rules.

I wish we could get an excellent uncompressed FM transmission like you have in Britain. If that were available, I'd buy a wicked tuner just to play BBC one. I'm looking into options at this point, but I'll buy whatever gets me the best quality and I'll let go of my FM tuner because Clearchannel is killing radio here.

Michael

JoshK · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 Nov 2005, 07:27 pm »

College station? Are you referring to Seton Hall's station, 89.5? I get it pretty well here in Jersey and typically listen to it a lot on the weekends. They play a lot of defmetal but a lot of other stuff too.

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 Nov 2005, 07:32 pm »

Yeah, Seton Hall is the one I can tune in best, but it is a bit heavy on the deaf metal. I also get NYU's station, which has some really interesting stuff, but neither of these are as diverse as what I can hear on BBC one. Try streaming it on your computer at work, Josh. I think you'll like it very much- knowing your taste. Plus, they have some really wicked programming (e.g., the essential mix- top DJ's spinning)- I'm totally addicted to this station.

doodlebug · « **Reply #9 on:** 17 Nov 2005, 02:24 am »

I'm an active listener of internet streams and have both an outboard USB-based soundcard plus the Squeezebox 2. Both of these arrangements give me quite a bit of options. For both, I run them through my Mac C2200/Mac MC-225 monoblocks/JBL 4425 monitors with excellent results including surprisingly good soundstaging.

Firstly, on the soundcard approach, I've found there are *some* good quality internet streams out there - KPLU.org and KCSM.org are 2 that quickly come to mind. Also, I've been impressed with the Swedish Broadcasting Classical channel on their web site, too. Again, depth of the imaging and overall sound quality far surpasses most anything I've found so far.

I'm amazed, though, how many higher bitrate streams do not sound good and I'm convinced that the station engineers just haven't figured it all out yet.

On the SB2, I'm getting good results from the Radioio.com streams. All of these streams are excellent quality and good dynamics. I particurlarly like the Classical, Jazz and the Acoustic streams.

BTW, I also use an Alilent (formerly HP) power supply to run the SB2 instead of the little wall-wart PS they ship with the unit.

Cheers,

David