Satellite radio (sirius/xm)

[2005Q45inCali]

Just recently started listening to my Sirius satellite radio and the quality sounds horrible. It came stock with my 05' Q and sounds almost worse than FM radio. Isn't it supposed to sound almost cd like?? It basically sounds like an old tape that was recorded off a cd that people would do at home. Its not bad and its far from great. When I hit FM radio... the signa and frequencies sound higher and slighty better. Anyone have the same problem?

[DuDro]

Doesn't sound right to me...

Take it to the dealer and have them work on it. I always take full advantage of the fact that my car is still under warranty.

[pdqwrx]

Try listening to a bunch of stations. I used to sell satalite radio and both XM and Sirius seem to have some stations that sound great but others, the older music stations (Stuff from the 50's, 60's and 70's and even some 80's) wasn't recorded very well to begin with and they (XM and Sirius) do little to mask that fact. If that's not it then you have a componet issue. In my opinion XM sounds better then Sirius most of the time but Sirius still sounds better then FM........

Scott

[elwesso]

Even some songs I notice are better than others. Theres this one song that I like that comes on every so often nad its only on one station that the quality really stinks...

Sirus and XM is simply like a 128kb/s streaming MP3.

[Q45tech]

http://www.shareholder.com/Com...0.pdf

Sirius SEC filing

[Peterofdevon]

The resolution is far less than FM, forget comparing it to redbook CD. No contest. Also it is bandwidth limited across stations. You will find the less popular stations have less bandwidth. Plus its all processed to stimulate listening (equalized up bass added reverb, etc.)

I listen to XM over the Internet and somewhat enjoy the signal processing on "Audio Visions and "Watercolors."

You cannot effectively add Sat radio with any fidelity to an older car. All the receivers use FM modulation to "wire in" the input--it sounds like crap. Some do allow a cassett adaptor input but then you have to have a wire hanging out of your cassett player.

My bet is you dont like the lower resolution--no surprise.

Peter of Devon

[Jesda]

The general rule is that XM has cleaner-sounding and greater selections of music while Sirius has far superior talk, sports (except baseball), and news.

XM devotes more of its bandwidth to music. Of course, if the F50 Q uses a crummy tuner and signal processor, it wont matter anyway. XM hardware quality has improved tremendously in three years -- I wonder if the Sirius equipment in the Q is still identical to the hardware released years ago? Sirius used a lot of low-quality hardware suppliers in the early years.

I know that there's a world of difference in sound quality between the Sony tuner on my desk (2002) and the XM Roady XT that's in my car (2006).

[squeefoo]

XM killed Music Lab

[Jesda]

They also got rid of The Flow and replaced it with a horrible rap station that plays 50 Cent and Eminem. Where do I get my Erykah Badu fix?

[BlackBirdVQ]

I WAS a XM subscriber since 01 and made the switch to Sirius right around Xmas of 05. What pushed me over to Sirius was that XM made a buncha stations into Xmas carrol station 3 weeks before the holidays. One of the stations that I used to listen to quite alot, Ch 82- The System, got repleaced with the Xmas BS.

I went to Best Buy, bought a Sirius Connect module for my Alpine head unit and plugged it in. I kept my old XM Alpine setup just in case I change my mind in the future- I doubt it. My XM and Sirius run through the Ai-Net system so I never lost any of the quality with sound reproduction. XM sounded just as good as CDs did on my Alpine deck, but on the other hand Sirius doesn't sound nearly as good. I would give a 10 to XM for sound quality- but 7 to Sirius. On top of that XM would VERY rarely fade out on me- even with the antenna mounted on my rear parcel shelf (don't like ugly antennas on the outside of my car). With Sirius I loose signal for a second when going under small bridges. On top of that Sirius hardware totally sucks, its made by DEI- Directed Electronics. I am on my 5th receiver now as they all have failed to work after a few weeks or a month. XM hardware I had was 100% Alpine and never did it even hicup.

I had a Delphi SkiFi XM in my Q that worked through a FM transmitter and the sound quality sucked compared to the Ai-NET Alpine. The Tape deck adapter was lil better but I didn't like having all kinds of wires all over my center console. I still have it if anyone is interested, as I am no longer part of XM. Once I get a hold of some $$$ to upgrade the deck in my Q (which is not a priority) I will change it to a Alpine unit. My stock Bose with OEM 6disk changer in the trunk works great so I find little need to upgrade it, and why I haven't yet.

[Q451990]

I'm glad someone else is disappointed. The system on the G isn't stellar, but XM really sounds compressed sometimes! Like streaming audio over the internet on a bad channel. It won't get renewed after the free trail. I guess bandwidth is a big issue - but wow... ones and zeros... how hard can it be?

Heath

[elwesso]

I wonder if the tuner is crappy... Itd be interesting to compare the sound quality on the factory tuner vs the newer external ones...

I know in the grand prix we test drove had XM and it sounded as good as CDs, much better than the one that I have.

[MattB]

XM has always sounded very good in the Honda Accords and Acura TLs I've driven at my summer job and in the G35 loaner cars at my Infiniti dealer.