Delphi Roady & XM Satellite Radio Mini Review/Impressions (Tuberoller encouraged)

[tommyatkins]

First, this post is prompted by Tuberoller's demand for reviews (so that booger picker better like it ). There hasn't been much review of XM Satellite radio, and very little discussion of the Delphi Roady receiver. (If I remember from when the search function last worked). Warning: I use too many em dashes, ellipses and parentheses (I can't help myself – though I don't know why...).

XM Radio isn't about high-fidelity music. It is about music.

Hardware:

When I was looking at getting XM Radio (December, 2003), the Delphi SkyFi and Roady receivers were the best on the market. I originally had the SkyFi (received as a gift) and I returned it for the Roady after I played with it for a few days. More on the description of and comments on the features later.

SkyFi
The SkyFi system consists of the SkyFi receiver - and car kit, home kit or boombox (purchased separately). The kits provide an antenna suited for either the car or home, a wall wart or 12v DC power outlet plug, a dock (different for each kit), and an audio cable (either a 3.5mm to RCA or cassette adapter). Boombox has a built in dock that will take the SkyFi receiver. It includes an antenna. The reviewer comes with a remote.

-Tuneselect: none

-Memory: 10 stored songs max

-Presets: 2 banks (A, B) x 10 songs each = 20 presets

-Display Colors: 1 color (red/orange)

-Display Lines: 3 (channel name & number, artist and song)

-Display quality: higher resolution but washes out in sunlight.

-Size: um dunno dimensions...bigger than Roady.

-Connections: Dock connector; the dock has audio (3.5mm jack), power and antenna (new model docks should use the same connector as Roadys on the antennae).

-Font End: larger buttons than Roady, Jog wheel much larger and nicer to use. Face plate one color.

-Preview: Preview of song and artist on category browsing and channel surfing. When left on a channel during channel preview surfing, it will switch after some time.

Roady
The Roady comes with the receiver, a 12v DC power outlet plug, a cassette adapter, a car antenna, mounting bracket and other bits and pieces. Intended as a complete car package. Remote may be purchased separately.

-Tuneselect: 15 stored songs max

-Memory: 15 stored songs max

-Presets: 3 banks (A, B, C) x 10 songs each = 30 presets

-Display Colors: 8 colors (red, orange, green, night blue, sky blue, purple and pink)

-Display Lines: 2 (displaying 2 of the three - channel name & number, artist or song)

-Display quality: Lower resolution, but larger font and does not wash out in sunlight (quite resistant to this phenomenon, actually).

-Size: Smaller in width and height. Depth is a tad larger than the SkyFi (though no slight curve like the SkyFi).

-Connections: No dock, audio (3.5mm jack), power (Adaptaplug b) and antenna.

-Font End: Smaller buttons. Jog wheel smaller, and harder to use (doesn't actually roll, it rocks back and forth). Three color choices for face plate (red, blue, gray).

-Preview: Preview of song an artist on channel surfing only. Requires pushing the jog dial (rocker) to switch to a channel (much preferred).


Features briefly explained and commented on:

Tuneselect - push in the jog dial to store song as a tuneselect song. When this is found playing on another channel, a unobtrusive beep will sound. Push the jog dial within 10 sec or so to switch to this channel. Can delete these individually, but I think they can still be erased in the same way as memory entries.

I haven't found it particularly useful, but it can be fun sometimes. This only alerts you to a particular song by a particular artist, not the artist in general or all versions of a particular song. Nice perk, but not a deciding factor.

Memory - The information of the current song may be saved by pressing the memory button. After the noted number of memory banks are filled, the oldest entry is pushed out by the new. Press and hold the memory button to recall this information. The extra 5 entries are useful, I run out as it is. Every few days I purge the entries and post them in a special notepad file I have. Helps me determine what bands I have enjoyed listening to recently.

Presets - Just like on conventional radio. Cycle through the banks and direct channel entry with the preset/direct button (so 3 banks + 1 direct = 4 presses = one cycle on the Roady). Press the corresponding number to go to that channel. Press and hold the number while in the desired bank to set. Cycling through banks is not that convenient, but I really like the extra 10 presets. I do not tend to surf the channels when I just want a quick fix of XM.

Display - Color variety helps from making your eye crazy in your car at night. Also, pretty. The visibility in sunlight really helps in the car. I knew I'd be using it in direct sunlight with my portable rig.

Display lines - The SkyFi displays all three at once, the Roady has a button to easily cycle through the three choose two combinations of channel name & number, artist, and song.

Size - I preferred the Smaller Roady for my portable mod, described later.

Connections - The dock allows you to have one set up in the car, one at home, etc. The SkyFi unit can be switched between very easily and uses only one subscription. The docks cost more, and push the entry price of the SkyFi beyond that of the Roady ($180 vs $120 at time of purchase). The Roady is even smaller when considering it does not require a dock to provide standard connections. Again, size was a deciding factor in my situation. Plugging and unplugging the Roady is not difficult and the connectors seem fairly robust. It is in no way as easy as the SkyFi but can still be done in less than 10 seconds.

Front End - The smaller buttons are just as easy to use, in fact the slightly different shape from the SkyFi seems preferable. Face plate colors? Who cares. I actually dislike them all and have mine naked (though I've seen someone who painted a faceplate black then attached it - looks nice). The smaller jog wheel (rocker) is good because it allows for a smaller unit, but it is not nearly as easy to use as the SkyFi's jog dial. The rocker is a good idea for such a small "dial" - if it rolled, I think navigation would be more difficult. Also, the small rubber bumper surrounding the unit (the same three color choices as for the face plate) can slip off and make using the dial more difficult. I would guess a small dab of superglue would remedy this but I have yet to try it. Again, I do not surf very often, so the jog dial is not very important to me.

Preview - Handy for channel surfing. I practically never surf by category (two buttons on the front will advance forward or backward through the channel categories, so the SkyFi's ability to preview here is not very useful in my situation. The rare times I use the category buttons is to find talk channels, as I do not have any as presets.


Summary of Units

The Roady's main strengths are size, expanded features, larger display text, better in direct sunlight. The SkyFi's main strengths are the docking system and three lines of display. Even if the SkyFi has better audio reproduction, it would not be significant enough to out weigh the other factors to me. I think both are great units, and really depends on the intended use. Also, at the time I purchased it, I could send off for a free Roady home kit consisting of an extra antenna, 6v wall wart, 3.5mm to RCA cable, and cheap stand.


Wow, I didn't intend to directly compare the two, but rather explain some of the differences of the two units as well as give some impressions of XM Satellite Radio and the Delphi Roady XM Receiver. Well, onward!



Audio:Service

I really enjoy the vast amount of music the XM service offers. I regularly listen to classic alternative, bluegrass, classic rock, recorded live concerts and performances, classical (popular), progressive Rock, blues, unsigned artists, and music from a particular decade. (these are all distinct channels, and just give you a taste of the 68 music channels XM offers). I have been exposed to a number of bands I have never heard or bands I knew of, but did not know much of their music. XM adopted a policy of all music channels being commercial-free last February. Occasionally, a DJ comes on to comment briefly, but usually it is interesting and non-invasive. Talk channels still have advertising but again, I rarely listen to talk channels. There is no heavy rotation list, so I rarely hear the same song twice in one day (if I do, it is probably on different channels). I have heard songs multiple times on XM, and some bands definitely seem to be favorites of some DJs but I think the music variety is the strength of this service.

I recently took a 1500 mile car camping trip over 5 days with a friend of mine. We listened some to CDs, but we also enjoyed XM. As my friend pointed out, if you don't know a band, listening to a whole CD of them is OK but usually you don't have as much fun as the person who owns the CD. XM was a common ground we could agree on. We heard a few songs more than once, but only a few.

One of the greatest features is that XM displays the Artist and Song Title. Often I hear a song I know but I never knew who performed it. XM has really expanded my knowledge of music. Also because when I hear something I like and I can save the information in memory, I have a record of recent favorite artists. This helps be purchase new albums, but hurts my wallet. Speaking of wallet, the 10 bucks a month this service costs is really low considering the amount of music I get from it. $10 is equivalent to a used CD a month - I'd much rather have the XM.


Audio:Technical

I have used the Roady in a number of cars, at home and on my messenger bag (portable rig).

In listening I have used AKG K501 and Koss KSC-35 headphones, both with and with out a 2AA TAH Amp. I also often employ some Altec Lansing 2.1 computer powered computer speakers when I need/want to move about. Again, I will not discuss the subtleties of the audio much, as it is more about the music than the audio fidelity. I have used both cans extensively, and I feel I know their characteristics quite well.

XM uses some form of compression when broadcasting but the audio sounds far better than any FM station I have ever heard. I can definitely hear the difference between CD audio and XM but I rarely notice it when listening directly to XM.

On my recent roadtrip, I used a Belkin FM modulator to connect the receiver to my friend's car's audio system. His speakers are horrible, but they make music. We had lots of fun, but I don't know what else to say here. I have successfully used the Roady with both an FM modulator and cassette adapter, the cassette adapter is better quality, but the FM modulator did a decent job. In the end, I recognized the music, so it worked. I do not have a car here in Berkeley, so I mainly use the system at home and on the go. If I have a car here next year, I may install a permanent mounting bracket, so I would not just set the receiver on the passenger seat or in the console. The unit seems well suited to this. Also, I do not anticipate problems moving the receiver from home to car even though the Roady does not use a cradle system - it is very easy to plug and unplug the three cables.

At home, I typically plug in my computer speakers to the 3.5mm audio jack. Works well. I use the receiver unit as a wired remote and remote display. I have my home antenna set up at my window (which remains closed). I can easily unplug the wall wart, speakers and antenna when I want to move the receiver to my portable rig (which I disassemble when I plan on using it in the car).

Both the Roady and the SkyFi have adjustable audio outputs. This is to match the receivers with the rest of a car's audio system. I set it so when driving my KSC-35s directly the listening level is comfortable. Changing this requires a tad of menu navigation, so I rarely adjust it. The Roady's output is hotter than the SkyFi. I was worried that it would be too hot for my gear, but works fine. In fact, I prefer to drive it directly for my portable rig (reduced size and weight).

Before I even received the Roady, I had plans for making it portable. I have constructed a messenger bag strap that will accept the Roady. It has a battery pack, and the antenna is stored in a pouch on my shoulder. I have outlined the construction in this thread and on my website.

I have greatly increased the run time by using an extra AA cell. The Roady seems to handle the extra voltage well and the batteries last longer before dropping below the required potential. Many people have ran the Roady at 9v with no problems. I have accidentally done this once (for over and hour) without any problems. It easily doubled my runtime. I typically use audio output level 2 (0 = low, 9 = high) and my Koss KSC-35 headphones.

Reception is great in a car. It cuts out occasionally near tall buildings or when stopped beneath underpasses. My apartment works well, but that is because I have a southward facing window. I still rarely receive dropouts, but I have not yet figured out why (I cannot tie it to weather or anything). The portable rig reception is not nearly as good but it is understandable. Sidewalks are much closer buildings and are more likely to have overhanging obstructions. The worst part is I cannot use it very far into buildings, so it is less valuable in killing time before lecture. However, when I am walking around all day running errands, XM is great - constantly new music and a huge variety.



Fin.

If you cannot tell. I love it. I have not given up listening to CDs, vinyl, or live music but XM has complimented these sources of listening pleasure. I am sure this review will be updated a number of times as I realize what I have forgotten to include. However, even at this stage I think it does what it was intended to do – give Head-Fiers a look at the Delphi Roady and XM Satellite Radio. Hopefully this is interesting or helpful to someone. Questions and comments are of course welcome.

-Sam

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Also, let me know what can be improved about the review – unclear sections, verbose sections (besides the whole thing...) and structure. This is my first review / lengthy impression (I remembering writing a review on my haircut once...)