XM or Sirius, help me out Ron!

Quinn · 02-07-2004, 09:42 PM

All right, after reading everything Ron said about his experience with XM vs. Sirius, I purchased XM for my wife today. I hooked up her Roady (company car, no alterations allowed) in the house and have been enjoying it. Enjoying it to the point that I need to go out and get sat radio for my car. Anyhow, Ronald posted earlier that Sirius was coming out with some big news and I have not heard what. I would like to know if XM sounds like the way to go or if I should really consider Sirius. Has Sirius really boosted contect? Any insight is appreciated.

Ronald Epstein · 02-08-2004, 03:21 AM

Quinn,

I cannot talk about the big news concerning Sirius
at this time.

However, I would almost bet that it would probably
have no affect on your purchasing decision.

I am almost inclined to tell you to keep XM in the
home and SIRIUS in the car, but then you'd be paying
for two subscriptions.

Since you already have XM, an additional unit would
only cost you about $7 more per month.

I'm really diggin' Sirius these days and for the
car I think it sounds better (hardwired). However,
XM still has Sirius beat on playing deep cuts on the
channels I listen to.

Quinn · 02-08-2004, 01:59 PM

Thanks Ron, this site has helped me beyond words with my home theater which is why I come back here for help on everything else!

I meant to say I hooked the Roady up in the house for the time being, but it will be going into her car. As for paying another $7 to XM or $13 to Siius, its no that big of a deal. I just want to make sure I make the right choice for now and in the future (then again, who doesn't). Anyhow, can you disclose what sort of time frame we are looking at on the Sirius news? I can wait a little while if necessary.

Quinn

Ronald Epstein · 02-08-2004, 02:30 PM

Quinn,

As far as the Sirius news....

Let's put it this way...

It is has been heavily rumored on SIRIUSBACKSTAGE.COM.
It has nothing to do with music, traffic, weather or
sports.

I estimate June.

I won't even confirm the news if anyone guesses.

Anyhow....

If you can afford both XM and Sirius, by all means
get both. That's what I have. I like Sirius in my
car for the sound quality, and I like XM in my home
for the programming depth.

Here's one more advantage to having Sirius in the car....

If you have broadband accees and an account with
Sirius, you can stream Sirius into your home over
the Internet. In other words, since I have Sirius
in my car, I sit here at my desk and have it pumped
through my computer. So, actually, you get Sirius
in the home for no extra charge.

Quinn · 02-08-2004, 04:02 PM

That could do it for me. I only run mp3's from my PC to my receiver. SOunds like the added benefit of streaming Sirius is the topper.

Thanks again, your site really helps alot of people out!

**HTF Ads**

Keith Shaw · 02-08-2004, 05:32 PM

Quote:

If you can afford both XM and Sirius, by all means
get both. That's what I have. I like Sirius in my
car for the sound quality, and I like XM in my home
for the programming depth.

Having only directly experienced XM to this point, I wonder if this could have something to do with how XM is distributing their available bandwidth. I say this because there seems to be a lot of variability in sound quality between different XM channels. As an example, check out Watercolors (71), which seems to have considerably better fidelity than many of the other XM music channels.

Has anyone seem this kind of info (bandwidth distribution for the variouis channels) published or tossed around the internet anywhere? I'd be curious.

Quinn · 02-08-2004, 05:43 PM

Keith, out of curiosity, are you using a direct connection, tape adaptor, or FM modulation?

Thats the other reason I am attractred to Sirius right now. They have an offer for a free tuner with purchase of a head unit and antenna. I know XM has done this in the past, do they offer this frequently or is that done? I would prefer a head unit instead of tape adaptor of FM mod.

Ronald Epstein · 02-08-2004, 05:53 PM

Quinn,

Be careful. The music through the computer stream
is low bitrate. It will not sound as good as if you
ran a PNP unit through the home unit. It does sound
pretty damn good on my small PC speakers.

Keith,

Good observation.

XM seems to be distributing their bandwidth carefully.
The CLASSICAL channels for instance sound much better
than the DECADES channels. I would bet anything they
are giving more bandwidth to high priority music channels.

Take Sirius for instance....

Their talk channels sound very subpar. They have a
"tinny" sound to them, sort of like AM radio without
the static. The benefit is, the bandwidth is given
to the music channels, and in turn, the Sirius codec
sounds noticeably better than XM radio.

I'll go on record as saying Sirius sounds better
than XM. I say this because everyone I have talked
to that owns both hears a noticeable difference
with Sirius.

Keith Shaw · 02-08-2004, 05:55 PM

Definitely go directly to a head unit instead of a tape adapter or FM modulator if you can. If you're any kind of audiophile, the drop in sound quality with either of those other setups could be quite annoying. The Kenwood free tuner is an attractive option if you're going to buy a head unit anyway.

Quote:

Keith, out of curiosity, are you using a direct connection, tape adaptor, or FM modulation?

So far, I only have it in my house (bedroom system actually). SkyFi with a home adapter, good amplification, and a pair of Polk Audio RT25i's are what I'm basing my fidelity opinions on. I'm planning to add XM to my car in the next couple weeks as finances allow, and my Pioneer head unit is already XM ready.

Edit: Ron posted while I was typing. I could definitely see me getting both Sirius and XM at some point, Ron, just so I try both and see what each has to offer in terms of both programming and fidelity. Just need to finish counting all these pennies...

Joshua Clinard · 02-10-2004, 04:48 PM

XM gives each channel the same fixed amount of bandwidth. Sirius uses S.Plex, which gives more bandwidth to streams that need it most. The music channels also have priority over the talk channels.