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In Reply to: RE: SiriusXM is your answer posted by Rob Doorack on September 22, 2016 at 02:54:39
Although I am an XM Subscriber, I would not listen to any serious music with it. I use it for news and information. Here are the very poor Specs.
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Siriusly Compressed
When satellite radio first came out it sounded pretty good. It wasn't exactly CD quality, but it was still pretty good. However, as the competition heated up between Sirius and XM, the compression increased. Bandwidth was squeezed and each provider added more channels in an attempt to be more attractive than the other. When service first started each provider had around 120 channels to choose from (from recollection - I can't find an original channel line up). Now the combined SiriusXM offers more than 175 channels.
So how badly is it compressed? How about 32 kbps (kilo bits per second). Let me put that into perspective for you. When you buy a CD in the store (I think they still exist) the CD relays 1411 kbps of information. So let's do the math.
Okay, so 32 divided by 1411 equals about .02 or we can call it 2%. You're listening to 2% of the original information. What does that mean? You lose:
Detail
Nuance
Depth
Richness
Clarity
Body
Fullness
Warmth
98% of the original audible information the artist intended to relay
That is why satellite radio sounds so tinny and hollow. That is why it has no bass, no warmth, no punch. Don't get me wrong - It's fine for news, talk, sports and entertainment, but PLEASE, for the love of God, do not listen to SiriusXM for music and then complain to me that it sounds bad. This is why it sounds bad. You can't make 32 kbps sound good, you just can't. It's going to sound bad. Why would you want to listen to something that sounds bad? I just don't get it.Cut-Throat
Follow Ups:
1. Access via internet is not as limited in bandwidth. You are able to choose two higher resolution settings.
2. I use it for exploring new music, never "sirius listening". :)
You should check out Tunein Radio (Free) for exploring new music (Especially the Russian Jazz Stations) and Spotify Premium ($10 Month). In Spotify Radio, I have over 300 Genres of Music that I can select from. If you find a 'keeper', simply save the Artist, Album or Track in your Spotify Library.
Cut-Throat
1. I'm not a jazz fan
2. I enjoy accessing new music in our vehicles
Thanks anyway. Perhaps I'll give one a trial.
My wife and I were offered free trials in our last two cars. I couldn't believe how bad it sounded. Needless to say we didn't stick with it.
Great content in mediocre sound beats crap content in great sound, always. Satellite radio never promised better sound quality than terrestrial radio; it's all about the content. It's just not arguable that satellite radio has a vastly broader variety of programming than is found on terrestrial radio. You might find a couple of hours of blues per week on a college FM station in your town, for example. SiriusXM has a 24x7x365 blues channel. Maybe there is an NPR affiliate in your town that has a weekly opera program; SiriusXM has a channel that plays nothing but opera. I like listening to '40s and '50s radio shows when I drive long distances. Good luck finding a terrestrial station anywhere in the entire United States that plays those around the clock. SiriusXM has a channel for that.
we pipe in satellite radio at work and I hear the same playlist over and over again day in and day out, multiple times per day.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Tunein Radio offers much more for free than my XM Subscription, and at a much better quality. There are about 25 Russian Jazz Stations that stream American Jazz music 24 hours a day with no commercials, at 256 kbps. You should sign up it's free.You can listen to stations from all over the World, Pretty much an unlimited supply of News, Info, Sports and Music at Great quality.
Just trying to help you out here man.....
Cut-Throat
Edits: 09/22/16
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