Satellite Radio

[daepp]

I recently purchased a new car with satellite radio - Sirius to be precise. I am surprised at the poor sound and signal quality. The sound quality seems "tinier" than FM, and the signal is very easily interrupted - even by trees. Is this a familiar experience?

[gr8fl4porsche]

I've had Sirius for 2 years - rarely lose the signal except when stuck in traffic under an overpass or under a canopy while getting gas.

Sound quality in my aftermarket install is fine. Better than regular radio but not CD quality. Really depends on which channel you are listening to, some of the channels are rebroadcast from other local sources and they don't sound as good as the studios in the Manhatttan HQ.

[Tim Walsh]

My wife has it and she gets a fair amount of electronic noise just from the inadequately shielded input cable. How and where are you using the sat. radio?

The signal isn't bad here on the east coast, but overpasses will block the signal as well as our basement garage.

[daepp]

Thanks for the response.

How about the text that's delivered with the audio signal. Do you find that you get it all or that it's truncated?

[daepp]

Tim - the sat radio "module" was installed by the dealer. The actual receiver itself is the factory Lexus install.

[Tim Walsh]

I get all the text, it doesn't seem to be truncated at all, on the other hand I'm using a sirius receiver which if anything works, that should.

Hmm I'd expect a "factory" install like that should be pretty clear. Now granted most of what she listens to is in the 20's (rock and pop) so I don't really know how the other stations are in terms of sound quality and even if I did, they're played out of stock chevy speakers, so it's not hi-fi by any means.

On the plus side she LOVES it, but that's mostly because there aren't any radio stations to speak of where she works and she's half deaf anyway.

[911Rob]

Hey David,
You should check your factory settings? I've got the same and no troubles, I'm amazed just how good it is.

I listen to Station 14 or 15.
What do the rest of you listen to?

[motion]

I have Sirius in my house and am really disappointed with the audio quality. They squeeze the hell out of it for bandwidth purposes and it ends up sounding like crap. I'd like to find something as an alternative like HD radio or iTunes radio streaming or something similar.

[Scott R]

Our Jeep, now thankfully gone, had a dealer module and it sounded like crap. Turns out after much argument the unit was just bad, replaced and it was fine.

[Seahawk]

Check the FM freq it is on...there may be interference from an adjacent FM station in your area. With the movable units (I have no experience with the installed units), I change the FM freq the unit is on a bunch when I travel due to interference from FM stations.

[daepp]

Rob: My favorites are 30 (Coffee House), 18 (Spectrum) and 105 (Comedy).

I do think they have squeezed the bandwidth for some reason - I don;t get any interference and have no options with respect to changing any frequencies (there's a dedicated SAT button on the radio).

[89911]

Many are catching on to how poor the quality of Sat radio is. Clear, yes. It is best played in cars with some ambient noise. It actually doesn't sound bad in my factory installed Honda and a Pioneer Nav unit in my Toyota. But if you listen to is on good headphones or a high end system, you will be disappointed. The Stereo separation is generally very poor and most broadcast sound like Mono. Clear mono though

[89911]

I've never listened to Sirius. Maybe there quality is lacking. I did find this:

XM STATEMENT REGARDING SOUND QUALITY
UPGRADE FOR XM MUSIC CHANNELS
• XM will implement a sound upgrade on August 5th.
• In partnership with Neural Audio, XM has implemented a new upgraded audio processor for its music channels, resulting in a fuller and richer sound across the more than 70 XM music channels.
• This upgrade has been in development for over a year.
• Listeners may need to make adjustments to their audio settings (Bass and Treble) for their individual radios to fully experience these sound enhancements.

SOUND QUALITY UPGRADE: Q & A
Why does my XM radio sound different?
XM and partner Neural Audio implemented a new upgraded audio processor for its music channels, resulting in improved sound quality. You may have to adjust your audio settings (Bass and Treble) on your XM radio to meet your own preferences. Once you do so, you should experience improved sound.

Why did XM implement this change?
We’re always striving to enhance quality of our sound. Over the year, XM has been working closely with the sound experts at Neural Audio to implement this sound upgrade. Our extensive testing indicates this upgraded package will deliver an enhanced audio experience.

How is this better or different?
This upgrade should make your XM music channels sound even better by delivering a fuller, richer music experience.

Does XM have plans to upgrade the sound of its news, sports or talk channels?
XM is always striving to enhance our sound quality and we will continue to upgrade our sound in the future. The timing of those upgrades is to be determined at a later date.

Is this just more of XM compressing music channels to gain bandwidth?