[blessingx]

Okay, I just picked up an Xact Jockey II Sirius radio yesterday and currently in the middle of the three day grace period (to get refund of my 6 mo. service membership) and was wondering for those of you satellite radio listeners how long did it take to get use to the compression? As much as I like my home computer/DAC setup and iPod on the go, finding new music outside my perspective (and current likes) is nearly impossible that way and FM is pretty bad in my city (SF) and except in specific genres, I haven't found internet radio to come into its own either. Worked several years in record stores and miss the input (past music and future). So I wanted to give Sirius a shot (NPR and Stern advantages over XM for me), but the music broadcast quality is dull (and I wasn't expecting a much, just FM quality and it doesn't appear to be even that) and especially shocked at the talk stations artifacts (and Sirius supposedly is better in this area). It's very difficult to listen to NPR, BBC, etc. for any length of time. That's said by someone who listens to 32 kbps mono MP3 audiobooks all the time.

So at this point I'm likely giving up, but I wanted to find out if others in the past felt the same way and were able to get over it? Again I'm not expecting audiophile quality, just listen-able. If you were able to get over it or not, please pipe in and let me know your experiences.

 

[RickG]

I have Sirius in my car (from factory). I love it and listen to it all the time when driving. However, I wouldn't be interested in any other applications of the service due to the compression.

I'm not familiar with the equipment you're speaking of. Is that a home/car unit or both?

 

[blessingx]

It's a plug + play device.

I went with something I thought I could use at home, car and office. Conceivably, if I really liked the service I might pick up a SR-H550 in the future if reviews indicate it somewhat improves sound like reportedly the XM Polk SRt12 does (could always output optical to my TubeDAC+ to smooth the artifacts).

The problem is the car would only account for a small portion of it's use in my case. I live in San Francisco and take public transportation to work (and underground traveling for half that) so car usually only gets used on the weekends.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickG I love it and listen to it all the time when driving. However, I wouldn't be interested in any other applications of the service due to the compression.

I agree. For anything beyond car (& maybe portable) use, or low-level background music at home, the compression is too great.

 

[raisin]

Once the compression is recognized, you never forget it's face, so don't expect things to get better. Boom box quality at best.
However, the programming IS real good, compared to what goes out over the airwaves today.
You have to decide which half of the baby you want?

 

[blessingx]

Thanks for the impressions. Well I just cancelled. I may give it another shot with new gen chips (may help slightly). Have to admit I was getting addicted to the content. As irritating as it was, I think I'm gonna miss the selection.

 

[RickG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx As irritating as it was, I think I'm gonna miss the selection.

Yeah, kinda like going from cable TV back to rabbit ears.

 

[blessingx]

Yeah definitely. I know they're changing the lineup on Thursday so it will be interesting to see what changes. I was curious about the music, but it was the talk I kept turning to. As much as I was originally bothered they had dropped Air America (though most store flyers and even their online listening "radio" still had it listed), it was the choice of NPR, or other NPR, or PRI, or BBC that I'm already going through withdrawn on.

 

[RickG]

You know, it's funny. I've had Sirius for almost two years now and with the exception of some of the NFL games, I haven't listened to anything but music.

 

[blessingx]

Then you missed the worst of the compression.

What also sucks is although you have online access with an account, it's only for music, no talk stations are broadcast thru the web interface. I was surprised by this and asked and they said they don't 'own' the talk stations (meaning I guess limited broadcast rights).

 

[Echopac]

My only experience with Sirius in a rental car, sounded fine to me. I do have XM in both the XMPCR (no longer available) I run that through a Yamaha analog receiver ( the graphical interface is through the PC), sounds good if not very good to my ears, I've recorded via an iRiver on average at 192 and moved to iTunes, sounds good. Also using a Polk Audio XM Reference Tuner (using optical out) to a Sony receiver. To me, talk channels on XM sound just like normal radio. Ya might want to check out www.xm411.com and www.xmfan.com get some feedback there. I have heard that XM's compression is better audio wise vs Sirius due to XM designs their own chips and Sirius farms theirs out. Just what I heard, overall, I'm very satisfied with XM. What XM has given me is a wide portal to ALL the music available and since have increased my collection.

 

[Echopac]

BTW streaming XM or Sirius IMO is not very good, they do not do that well.

 

[RickG]

Actually, the music sounds quite good in my car. However, I'm in Santa Cruz which means frequent trips "over the hill". Sometimes I get service drop-outs coming and going and if it gets too bad, I just hit the CD button...

 

[swmtnbiker]

I had XM via a SkyFi2 and home kit hooked up via line out to my Aragon Soundstage -> Sherbourn 5/1500A amp -> Onix RS-750 mains. Sounded like complete crap. I canceled after a week of experimentation. The depth of programming was phenomenal, but there was no way I could live with that kind of lousy sound quality from a service I was paying for. I'm always amused when I come across a Sirius or XM ad touting their "100% digital quality sound". 128KB MP3 sounds like SACD in comparison.

 

[zephyr1]

I use the XM radio service for my commute since they have local weather and traffic conditions. It's also nice to have on long trips. I could listen to CNN, FOX and the Weather Channel when I evacuated family members from Houston to the D/FW area last week (it still didn't help being on the road for 19 freaking hours!!!) Being able to listen to MLB is also a plus! Has anyone tried any of the "home" satellite radio components from Tivoli, Polk, or Yamaha? I can't really imagine an improvement in fidelity. Like others have said, no matter how you try and massage the satellite signal, the compression kills the quality.