Chris Miler
Auditioning
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2004
- Messages
- 1
I'm trying to decide between XM and Sirius. I'm looking mainly for use in the house but would consider getting a kit for long trips in the car. I've listened ONLINE to both. Now I don't know if the online sample is the same as they're actual broadcast and have emailed them to ask. Contrary to what I read on this site, it seems like XM (on their online "listen now") plays mostly "safe" overplayed tracks, where Sirius has more divers sets. I listen to mainly upbeat Adult Album Alternative (David Gray, Keb Mo, Nickel Creek), Worldbeat stuff (like Putomayo), contemporary Christian and the more grown up side of Alternative/Indie (The Shins rather than Nine Inch Nails).
Sirius' "Disorder" station seems to really fit that entire mix. Sirius' "AltNation" is pretty good, but sometimes loud for me. "The Spectrum" is good, but I cannot stand the mix of 70s pop (sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone). So then I listened to XM online for a couple days. At first I really liked the xmCafe (AAA mix) and xmEthel (alternative), but it started to sound boring. XM never played anything new and everything I heard had probably been on the Billboards Top 100 at one time -- meaning it was "safe".
Unfortunately Sirius' stream is only active for 20 minutes -- hardly easy to listen to for a couple days and get anything done. And I don't know if the XM's online sample is live or very accurate to what they actual play now.
Last night I sat down and listened to Sirius for a few hours (logging on every 20 minutes) and XM (all the same songs that I heard earlier in the day). I thought I was set with Sirius, but then to complicate the issue more I read that Tivo (which I have) will be supporting XM. Perhaps this is another topic, but helps me to choose, do you have to have a broadband connection to use XM with Tivo? I have a new Mac laptop with a wireless network (Airport) and have no idea how that set up would work.
Thanks for any insights.
Sirius' "Disorder" station seems to really fit that entire mix. Sirius' "AltNation" is pretty good, but sometimes loud for me. "The Spectrum" is good, but I cannot stand the mix of 70s pop (sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone). So then I listened to XM online for a couple days. At first I really liked the xmCafe (AAA mix) and xmEthel (alternative), but it started to sound boring. XM never played anything new and everything I heard had probably been on the Billboards Top 100 at one time -- meaning it was "safe".
Unfortunately Sirius' stream is only active for 20 minutes -- hardly easy to listen to for a couple days and get anything done. And I don't know if the XM's online sample is live or very accurate to what they actual play now.
Last night I sat down and listened to Sirius for a few hours (logging on every 20 minutes) and XM (all the same songs that I heard earlier in the day). I thought I was set with Sirius, but then to complicate the issue more I read that Tivo (which I have) will be supporting XM. Perhaps this is another topic, but helps me to choose, do you have to have a broadband connection to use XM with Tivo? I have a new Mac laptop with a wireless network (Airport) and have no idea how that set up would work.
Thanks for any insights.