I had XM. I had the Delphi SKYFi car / home adaptor kit along with the XM SKYFi tuner. That was before XM implemented these major changes (for free):
1. 68 commercial free music channels
2. Traffic & Weather
3. America Left, Right, and Independent
4. Delphi ROADY, XM Commander, XM PCR
Sound quality wise, I would say that it varies. Some channels sound pretty good as in much better than FM but not up to par with Compact Disc. Some channels sound crappy. It's a hit or miss thing but I did not miss this conclusion: the channels that got lots of tuners tuned in had much much better sound quality (albeit with occasional commercials at the time I owned XM) than the other channels that were considered more esoteric like the New Age only channel. Here is also another truth: I sold my complete XM package deal to Head-Fi sponser Todd R; ask him what he thinks of XM
. I sold it because I found myself spending so much damned time listening to XM that I literally neglected my reference system despite the dramatic difference in sound quality. Of course, I used parts of my reference system such as my cans and headphone amp in conjunction with the Delphi SKYFi system (it really is a system). At that time, I had the HeadRoom Cosmic (Reference Module), Etymotic ER-4P/S, Grado RS-1. I think I made a serious mistake in selling my XM. The sheer width and depth of music is mind boggling. That alone is worth the price of admission. Then, there are dedicated XM fan forums like
HTTP://WWW.XMFAN.COM . They're like us except they're centered around XM only. I sold XM at a critical time in their continued growth when they decided to go commercial free, add weather & traffic, and America Right (conservative talk radio; stupid me. My favorite personalities are on along with Fox News Channel). I made a big mistake selling XM. Heck, I might get research information about XM stock as I'm reading Orman's
9 Steps to Financial Freedom book.
Ok. Enough blabbering.
At the time of my ownership, XM sound quality varied significantly but I would not characterize that as a death knell for people who might express interest in XM. Sound quality never seemed to dip below something like WMA Standard at 64kbps but some of the heavily tuned channels had amazing sound quality. I could say they were just a hair under CD quality in terms of fidelity; I would definitely think something on par with LAME 3.96 --alt-preset standard. XM is radically different from AM/FM: nationwide coverage, 24/7 music channels with zip commercials, and enough talk / news / variety shows to make your brain go into sensory overload. Music is loosely organized around themes established by not only each channel on XM but around a set of core deejays. There is indeed human contact in the world of XM: I have requested half a dozen songs by calling in or going to xmfan.com / xm.com and they played my songs within the hour! Music breadth is all encompassing from jazz, rock, soul, rap, hip hop, electronica; you name it. As Tuberoller said himself, music depth is quite amazing: you'll hear singers and songs on XM that you'll never hear on AM/FM. He's telling the truth. Now, it is all music with zero commercials. I don't know whether weather & traffic channels will stay because the US Congress and FCC are still weighing the options set by the satellite radio broadcasting laws. I do know that now they have Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Fox News, etc. that I made a sorry ass mistake of selling my XM too soon.
The good news is that XM now has over 2+ million subscribers. Stereophile once wrote them off as being a bad deal but changed its position; don't you just love how editors can do doublespeak with such elegant ease? Also, there is more good news in that there are family subscription plans, pre-paid annual contracts, and more hardware choices. When I get my full-time career landed, I'm definitely going with the Delphi Roady because it costs like $130 USD and it comes with a free home adaptor kit (the car adaptor kit is included). That thing is smaller, cheaper, and just plain cooler than the slightly outmoded Delphi SKYFi system.
Damn. I was going to tell you about how XM sounds but I just wound up convincing myself to re-subscribe. Damn. I got a budget to stick to.