Was meant as playful joke on sacred cow - please to ignore brand names and services defaced in name of humour ...
enjoy your holy burgers ...
Originally Posted by boputnam
Er, I dunno.
I'm new to it as of this weekend. Of course the picture is vastly improved, as expected, and now hundreds more channels with nothing on. But the thing I did not quite expect was the greatly improved audio. Wow. Much better separation and consistent and properly panned stereo. Compression is not audible, to me.
2ch: WiiM Pro; Topping E30 II DAC; Oppo, Acurus RL-11, Acurus A200, JBL Dynamics Project - Offline: L212-TwinStack, VonSchweikert VR-4
7: TIVO, Oppo BDP103D, B&K, 2pr UREI 809A, TF600, JBL B460
There is no humor left on this forum. Joke at your own risk.
Some folks are just too Sirius. They need to get XMed.
Now is that a joke? Possible...?
If not, then I guess I owe you a big apology, big guy. Your "critique" of XM riled me because as it stood, it merely bashed cost and told nothing of content. Your post came out of nowhere, and was OT. I thought that unfair and misleading to someone who might be unfamiliar with XM or Sirius.
John
I have XM. When I subscribed a few years back it hit my pocketbook hard. This was due to all the new cds I bought after hearing the artists both old and new.BMWCCA said that Sirius will soon be buying XM? At one time the XM user base was almost 10 to 1 in favor of Sirius. What happened? Did the Automakers help turn the tide?
I hear compression on the web service, not on the hardware through the stereo and I consider my mains quite revealing...have really enjoyed Bob Dylan's "theme time radio hour" ..he has great writers and the droll delivery is hilarious....OTOH ...Tom Petty has his "buried treasure" show and must write his own material,,,sounds like an Appalachian refugee
Sirius and XM have agreed to a "merger of equals" and the shareholders of of both companies have approved it.
It's now up to the DOJ and FCC to approve...or not... the deal and move on.
XM has the lead in subscribership of about 8 mill for XM and 7 mill for Sirius and gaining faster.
The competitive landscape of consumer choice has changed to the point of many lawmakers see the merger as positive for the marketplace but the NAB vehemently disagrees, arguing the SatRad merger would be a monopoly and unfair competition...even though you get terrestrial radio for free and have to pay for SatRad.
Does that make sense?
As far as the sound quality goes...to most golden eared listeners on this forum....no, it won't pass the critical listening test, but you can make it sound pretty good. Most stock car stereo systems are at best mediocre, but the premium OEM systems are getting pretty good.
The thing I like about Sirius is the content. I can listen to CNBC, football, any kind of music genre, any kind of talk radio, any kind of comedy...plus video feeds are coming next year with Back Seat TV.
At the end of the day...well, and during the day on crowded freeways and long drives in the country side between radio stations...it's another choice... and I like that.
Edgewound...JBL Pro Authorized...since 1988
Upland Loudspeaker Service, Upland, CA
I've been wanting to toss my $.02 into this, and now I finally have a few moments.
For my money and my ears, satellite radio fails for the simple reason that it just doesn't sound good. This is a real shame because a slight increase in the bit rate would have made a big difference. I don't care what kind of spin they put on their codec being "state of the art" - it's a 64kb stream. I have heard it in several rental cars, and it sucked - very robotic overtones that were immediately noticeble. Plus it dropped out constantly as I was driving around the Bay Area. I've heard it at a friend's house too and even though there were no dropouts, the robotic sound was ever present.
For me, live365.com is a better deal. I pay $40 a year and get access to the same kinds of new music and new artists. I'm always near a computer so I have access to it at home and at work. Most of the "stations" I listen to are 96kb MP3Pro which sounds - to me - worlds better than satellite radio.
I bought a new (to me) car last April which has an XM radio in it. I was able to use it for a few weeks before the previous owner's subscription died. The sound was terrible compared to even an MP3 CD. Compared to the DVD-Audio player in the console? Ouch....
I bought some DVD Audio discs and passed on the XM subscription
jblnut
I do not understand this, either. Maybe everyone is beholden to Howard Stern... :dont-know
Agree - these shows are incredibly informative, too. I've been introduced to quite a bit.
That there, is funny...
Cross country, there is nothing like it. I used to spend days preparing boxes of cassettes, then the days of piles of CD's. Now I merely wash the dogs and jump in the truck - XM does the background music really well...
Yea, all perfectly valid. And, when I'm at the desk, I stream from KPIG of Santa Cruz. But when I'm in the car, I (gladly) suffer with the audio-file compression - it's vastly more tolerable than the commercial-driven playlists and yelling DJ's. Yuck.
FWIW, XM (and probably Sirius, too) has serially degraded their signals. At the first, there were only few channels and the audio was pretty damned good. Then, more channels were squeezed into the same bandwidth and compression became more audible. Finally, someone decided to compress the talk shows at a higher ratio than the music shows - that makes hella sense. But talk about "robotic sounding"...? Take a listen to the talk stations - it is dang awful...
wrt the merger, if it happens, a good result would be a reduction in number of stations and a parsing of content between satellite(s) configurations, lessening the needs for audible compression.
Both providers are edging closer to some material maintenance dates for their orbiting hardware. I need to review their prospecti (plural...) or 10-K's, but if memory serves there is degradation of the solar panels that will either require replacing or at-the-least some serious repair. This will be costly, and/or require replacement of the entire orbiters - even more costly, and with both enterprises short of funds. This may be something that is pushing the merger - if the platforms fail, their will be some legal hassles from end-users.
Here's some excerpts from XMSR's most recent 10-K, talking to the satellite issues:
----------------------------
Loss or premature degradation of our existing satellites could damage our business.
We placed our XM-3 (“Rhythm”) and XM-4 (“Blues”) satellites into service during the second quarter of 2005 and fourth quarter of 2006, respectively. Our XM-1 and XM-2 satellites experienced progressive degradation problems common to early Boeing 702 class satellites and now serve as in-orbit spares. During 2007, we entered into a sale leaseback transaction with respect to the transponders on our XM-4 satellite. If we fail to make the required payments under this arrangement, we could lose the right to use XM-4 to broadcast our service. The terms of this arrangement also require that upon the occurrence of specified events, including an operational failure or loss of XM-4, then we have to repurchase the satellite and we may not receive sufficient insurance proceeds to do so. An operational failure or loss of XM-3 or XM-4 would, at least temporarily, affect the quality of our service, and could interrupt the continuation of our service and harm our business. We likely would not be able to complete and launch our XM-5 satellite before the second half of 2008. In the event of any satellite failure prior to that time, we would need to rely on our back-up satellites, XM-1 and XM-2. We cannot assure you that restoring service through XM-1 and XM-2 would allow us to maintain adequate broadcast signal strength through the in-service date of XM-5, particularly if XM-1 or XM-2 were to suffer unanticipated additional performance degradation or experience an operational failure.
----------------------------
The spacecraft are depreciated over a period ranging from 6.75 - 15yrs, attesting to the uncertainty of asset life.
----------------------------
wrt the merger requirements of the technology:
We have an agreement with SIRIUS Radio to develop a common receiver platform for satellite radios enabling consumers to purchase one radio capable of receiving both SIRIUS Radio’s and our services. The technology relating to the common receiver platform is being jointly developed and funded by the two companies, who will share ownership of it. The development of this common receiver platform is consistent with FCC rules requiring designs for interoperable receivers with both licensed satellite radio systems. As part of the agreement, each company has licensed to the other its intellectual property relating to the common receiver platform and its respective system.
a slightly different question ???
does the receiver affect the sound quality ?? OR do they all just act as a tuner and it matters not which one you have ?? (since we have varying opinions on sound quality) ...I use a Delphi Roady 2. (can transfer from home to car and back)
Great question.
I do not know, but all mine are amongst the oldest vintage - SkyFi and SkyFi II - replaced by smaller units. I have wondered whether the guts make a difference.
Hey, Wait just one minute here! What about those of us who live in regions that simply can't get a decent FM signal?
Sure, If I'm OK with listening to Conway Twitty in between the static and hiss I can tune right into my local FM station and get 5 minutes of music I care nothing for in between the 25 minutes of advertising I care even less for.
With my XM I can just dial in the station I tend to like and get clear music and none of the garbage.
What YA'LL have to remember is that we all can't get good FM signals. I would have no TV if it did not come from a satellite and I have nothing here in the form of listenable FM so I have to pay to get what I want.
What sense does it make to have a nice stereo system and nice speakers so I can play the static louder?
XM may not be for all but for those in rural areas it sure is better then what is available otherwise.
So many tend to forget we all don't have DSL or Cable modems and clear signals to their favorite FM stations.
I will never see any of these so I have to go to outter space and pay the price.
Most of you who are making jokes would be completely frustrated at the speeds of junk dial up internet service and with the 3 local and very snowy stations on your 50 inch TV. Don't bother trying to call and complain on your Cell phone with no service here!
If it wasn't for services like Direct TV and XM radio we would be in completely different worlds.
Smart consumers buy one XM radio that can move around to where you are and be used in your car or at home or work and only generate on monthly charge to provide clear sound.
I don't necessarily like the XM or Serius concept but I sure do enjoy being a bit closer to what many others take for granted.
Gary
Pooh - even in a major market without static like Washington DC, its all syndicated crap (ClearChannel and affiliates) or NPR/PBS/Talk - all the campus-type alternative rock stations were sold out ages ago. Even one of the nicer Jazz stations (not that "easy jazz" stuff but real jazz) got sold and is now carrying CSPAN radio!! Like we don't get enough politics in this town!
Of course we've got the syndicated Country stuff as well, but they're not gonna play the interesting stuff like Dwight/Lyle/Patsy Cline/Johnny Cash later stuff ... its all the crossover faux-country type stuff.
Its internet radio or satellite feed for any real selective listeners ... and frankly, once XM and Sirius merge, what's to keep them from going down the same road as every other "mass-market" broadcaster ...
I really hope I'm wrong about this ...
2ch: WiiM Pro; Topping E30 II DAC; Oppo, Acurus RL-11, Acurus A200, JBL Dynamics Project - Offline: L212-TwinStack, VonSchweikert VR-4
7: TIVO, Oppo BDP103D, B&K, 2pr UREI 809A, TF600, JBL B460
No, you are not.
The satellite radios have already had to seek commercial advertising - their business model does not work. Costs exceeded their plan, and subscriber rates, although high, were dampened by higher fees. Give-aways, incentives, etc., nicked the revenue line while the operating costs line was ever-growing (debt service, quality DJ's, gear, hardware, Tang (), etc.). This is most evident on the talk stations, but I too worry it will metastasize across the music content, too...
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