Neyland
join:2003-02-04
USA
| reply to amarryat
Re: Color me gone
I disagree. Piped into my stereo through a direct feed it sounds just fine. But then I'm not an audiophile so you may hear something my inexperienced ears may not.
Some reading:
»www.codingtechnologies.com/news/···_eng.pdf |
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amarryat
Verizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA
 ·Verizon FIOS
2 edits | said by Neyland  :I disagree. Piped into my stereo through a direct feed it sounds just fine. But then I'm not an audiophile so you may hear something my inexperienced ears may not. Some reading: » www.codingtechnologies.com/news/···_eng.pdf Try tuning channel 210 and tell me that sounds fine. Tinny and lispy.
FYI - not being rude. I am not an audiophile either, but probably closer than most.
Edit - just took a look at that website. The XM press releases were when they had 100 channels. Now they advertise 170, which means that they have to compress more for them to fit in the same bandwidth. |
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Neyland
join:2003-02-04
USA
| Well not a good channel to select for your argument. With that said, I'm sure you would say to pick any channel but selecting a Boston Traffic and Weather channel for audio quality.... of course it's going to have the least amount of bandwidth... all those types of channels will.
Probably much like other sat companies, XM knows which of it's channels have more listeners and those channels are afforded more bandwidth than channels that have a much smaller audience.
Now, don't get me wrong... I know it's not cd quality.. but then I trade of programming access for some amount of quality.
As you pointed out in a lower post, I'm interested in seeing what they consider a premium channel.
My wife likes pop and top20. I listen to talk,news, SEC football, and my music tends to be more distortion based. My folks like the 50s and channels like watercolors and audio visions.
I would commute around 45 mins to work. My locals just gave me crap.. the morning shows were hack and the commercials... ugh. I still get some commercials on some sat channels, but that's mostly on mine. My wife and parents because they listen to almost all music get no commercials. We enjoy it.
We paid 3 years to bring the cost down to like $8.99 then $7 for each of the other radios in our 'family'. |
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amarryat
Verizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA
·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | said by Neyland :Well not a good channel to select for your argument. With that said, I'm sure you would say to pick any channel but selecting a Boston Traffic and Weather channel for audio quality.... of course it's going to have the least amount of bandwidth... all those types of channels will. I chose that channel because it was blatantly obvious how bad the audio quality is on the talk stations. I listen to 121, and occasionally 150-154. They sound pretty bad too. Even my undiscerning wife notices. And I have tuned in 177 which would carry the same MLB broadcast as one of our local FM and AM stations - there is no comparison.
I do switch between 8, 9, 20, 22, 25, 26, 30, and 49. They sound OK. However they don't have the kick/punch of a CD, and they also lose quite a bit of the low end bass. FM doesn't sound as good as a CD either, but it is noticeably (to me) better than the XM music.
Edit - as I pointed out above that my wife notices the poor quality on the talk channels, she has also said that she'll subscribe in a second when she gets her next car. |
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MadMANN
Premium
join:2005-08-19
 ·Comcast
| reply to amarryat
Re: More lousy audio?
said by amarryat :Don't know how Sirius sounds, but XM quality is lousy. On the talk stations, it's horrendous. Sounds like streaming audio on the internet. Music is OK, but a strong FM signal is still far better. I find the quality to be pretty good. I have heard XMs feeds and they are, indeed, slightly lower in quality. Although, I am pretty biased, since I am one of those idiot Stern fans who would listen to him through a can & string if need be. |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to amarryat
You're right.. I DON'T have a "boze" .. I think I know how to spell Bose.. I have them all over my house.
Still, the way you are describing the sound quality of XM in a way that I just can't believe. What kind of car do you have? what kind of sound system do you have? Based on what you're saying.. that system could be in a Scion.. "premium" is thrown around and the number of speakers doesn't necessarily make it any better either..
Not putting your car down, but I gave actual names behind my system.. why didn't you? Maybe GM does something to make an XM sound better than what you have.. I dunno. But, for what you are describing, well, maybe you're over exaggerating. I know what streaming audio sounds like on the net and I know what a properly installed XM factory head unit sounds like and they are NOTHING like what you are saying.. or, you just got ripped. |
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amarryat
Verizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA
·Verizon FIOS
| said by fiberguy :You're right.. I DON'T have a "boze" .. I think I know how to spell Bose.. I have them all over my house. Still, the way you are describing the sound quality of XM in a way that I just can't believe. What kind of car do you have? what kind of sound system do you have? Based on what you're saying.. that system could be in a Scion.. "premium" is thrown around and the number of speakers doesn't necessarily make it any better either.. Not putting your car down, but I gave actual names behind my system.. why didn't you? Maybe GM does something to make an XM sound better than what you have.. I dunno. But, for what you are describing, well, maybe you're over exaggerating. I know what streaming audio sounds like on the net and I know what a properly installed XM factory head unit sounds like and they are NOTHING like what you are saying.. or, you just got ripped. Since yesterday, I have been reading quite a bit around the internet and have discovered that I am not alone in this opinion. And as I said, my new audio system sounds great. From a review:
Audio systems - Two impressive audio systems are available in the 2008 Accord and Accord Coupe. The standard system features 160 watts, a single-disc CD player and six speakers. The premium audio system, which comes standard on EX-L and V-6 models, has a six-disc CD changer, 270 watts total amplification and seven speakers including a subwoofer. The systems use the central display screen found in all Accord trim levels. The systems include:
o Standard AM/FM/CD with MP3/WMA® playback, and new Radio Data System (RDS) function.
o All trim levels have MP3 capability and an auxiliary audio input jack.
o All trim levels have steering wheel audio controls.
o XM Satellite Radio is standard on all leather-equipped (EX-L and V-6) models.
o All trim levels have speed-sensitive volume control (SVC).
Mine is the latter. It sounds great with the kids iPods and my Sansa as well. I have burned CDs with 192kbps MP3's and they sound great as well. As I mentioned in another post, have you tried tuning in 210 - that will emphasize the point I am making. |
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