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Satellite Radio Systems Compared
The NYT has a review/comparison of XM radio and Sirius, the two systems of digital satellite radio. Not everyone wants to pay for radio, but I guess if you spend enough time listening to it, maybe it's worthwhile.
Yeah, I'd buy that for $10. Hmm... FP?
This sig no verb.
Delphi, the major maker of XM receivers has announced that they are moving all product design and engineering offshore because workers in the USA are paid too much.
You may want to take that into account when picking a system.
My folks just built a log home in an area where you can not get any cellular signal. You can barely pickup the nearest radio stations, and that's only if you hold your nose just right. TV via antenna is next to impossible thanks to our hills that surround the home. Satelitte isn't just used by radio aficionados. Real folks like you and I sometimes need it.
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"It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists." -Ludwig Wittgenstein
They sound the same to me, and have the same selection of stations. This is largely due to the fact I own neither.
not worth it. You'd have to spend quite a bit of time in your vehicle to make staellite radio worth the cost that it is now. One may as well invest in a multi-disc changer that reads MP3 discs. This way you can have hours upon hours of music that you choose, commercial free. Hopefully, if/when a song sharing service comes around that is legal and not stomped by the RIAA, people will pay the cost per song, be able to burn them all to CD, and then listen in the car. I don't see how paying a monthy fee for satellite radio is even justified when we already have the technology to give ourselves hours of music on a single CD. IMHO, staellite radio hasn't really taken off, and I don't think it ever will. It just seems like a bad trend.
Try actually thinking for yourself. It's quite refreshing.
The bottom line, for those needing a quick answer, is Sirius is superior in sound quality, features(free streaming from their website!), and channel quality(better music, no commercials, better talk). XM has a few more channels that make very little difference to the end result (read on).
After careful review of both systems, Sirius came out the winnner, as I have said. The channels are laid out well, lack commercials, sound great, and are streamed on the internet. The only disadvantage of Sirius was its oft-sited lack of Nascar, which they seem to be trying to remedy. Also, XM has an extra comedy channel (it's boring, and features older, censored comedy), and a few more "experimental" music channels which most will find totally useless. Surfing XM for music is often like surfing the regular (terrestrial) radio in a large city-you get nothing but frustration. It's no wonder XM doesn't stream live on the net so that you can try before you buy. Also, XM's channel layout was unfriendly, in my opinion.
The greatest and most dizzying drawback in comparing the two, however, are the staggeringly stupid and annoying XM commercials. Not necessarily the corporate commercials that come from outside companies (which are annoying in an expected way), but the ridiculous and loud in-house XM stuff that makes you have to turn down your radio really quick when you've had it up loud-especially with the windows open (yes, they are that embarrassing). This, and the better performance of Sirius, was the deciding factor in my cancelling XM.
XM, however, holds their own and can satisfy a customer with some decent music and a fair selection of Talk. If not for Sirius, I would have kept XM, I think; probably because it IS nice to listen to the same station no matter where you go. Yet, as is the way of competition, Sirius has offered everything good that XM does and DONE IT RIGHT. Sirius outshines in the talk category, with a variety of Right and Left-wing shows, all of the useful talk channels XM has, and NPR, PRI, and a well laid-out channel plan.
XM does a bit better in the design of their customer care website. Sirius also has a customer care website, but it is not as robust (less detail). However, XM doesn't have streaming audio on its website-apparently we all have to pay XM $6.99 extra in additon to buying another $200 receiver for the house. In addition to the crappy commercials, this is probably where the corporate influence of XM being part-owned by ClearChannel and GM shows. (Clearchannel is responsible for the reason regular radio is so terrible).
One other interesting tidbit is that I was able to receive both services with an antenna hidden below the rear-deck of my car-made possible probably because it has a large rear-window at a steep angle. Sound quality was the same wherever the antenna was placed-inside or outside-of course. I understand that there was a professional review of XM vs. Sirius and that XM was said to have better sound, but the superiority of Sirius was glaring in my test. I say A-B it at a store with XM, if you can, on the same system. Do a channel comparison, too-I'm sure you'll see that what I've written is the case.
Good luck, and, for my two cents, I would support Sirius unless XM does an about-face. XM may be cheaper by a few bucks, but trust me: you get what you pay for.
Is there censorship???
That's the one thing that bugs me more than anything else about an AM / FM radio. When I listen to songs, I'm tired of the FCC regulating stations, and butchering songs I would otherwise appreciate into beeps, buzzes, silent space, and otherwise crap FX.
Maybe I'm the only one, but I couldn't care less about having a radio station that I could bring with me across the country. I'm more concerned about
a) Having a radio station not play the same thing 20x a day and
b) Having them NOT butcher the song.
Of course, I've been to all the places, Best Buy, etc and ask them. They don't know. I don't have any friends with this device.
So for now, it's a no go. Not until I know that it's uncensored, and always will be that way.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Everything today is dominated subscriptions.
Every software company has these subscription software developers network.
Every other game is becoming subscription based. I am glad sims online is failing.
Every good radio frequency is subscription based.
Soon public bathrooms will be subscription based. The only thing that needs subscription is magazines.
Radio used to be a wonderful local medium. Anywhere in the country you'd here local accents talking about local events advertising local businesses and appealing to local tastes in music. Even well into the era of media conglomerates, radio was still by-and-large a small-scale operation.
Clearchannel and the whole deregulation mess has pretty well ended that. Aside from a few AM and college stations, radio has about as much identifyable personality as network television. And now proponents of Big Radio can point to the few remaining independents, by and large willfully obscure and pretentious holdouts, as examples of why small radio is no longer relevant.
Satellite Radio is probably good for a lot of reasons, but it certainly will do nothing to slow the gradual blending of America's cultural palette into one big swath of homogenous gray.
I've only lived in two places in my life. I'm about to take a two month long cross-country drive. I'm seriously worried that I'm not going to see (or hear) anything unfamiliar.
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
Would be a nice list. That way I can avoid any company that does not produce its stuff in Sweden, or other parts of Europe. Don't want my money to fatten up American workers when European ones can get it instead.
The idea goes both ways...
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
"And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
I listen to Sirius everyday at work for about 4-8 hours a day. Now that I have it, I would say that I would have to quit my job if I ever could not listen to it for some reason. I fly aerial surveying missions, and it can get very boring up there with nothing to do. Now I have a way to have entertainment anywhere in the country, even in the middle of the desert at 12000 feet!!
I have 100 channels to chose from, and have yet to get bored of the 5 or 6 I listen to regularly. I personally think Sirius is much better than XM, mainly for these "streams" as they call them: 2 NPRs, PRI and JamOn. There defiantly is a reason to pay for radio!
Am I the only one that did a double take on reading:
...ohhhhh yes that's how I like it mmmmmhm....."
"Neither satellite radio company promises to freeze its current prices or percentage of ads. XM, in fact, already offers the first premium premium channel - a Playboy channel for an additional $3 monthly, the first step toward a future filled with tiered, ever more expensive packages."
I mean what's ON that station....
"ooh yeah baby, that's it, uh huh, faster, ohh yeah...**and now a message from Mr. Hefner: Please open your eyes and pay attention to the road while driving, thank you**
- "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
I chose to go with Sirius Radio and I've been very pleased with it (I've had it for a bit over a year now). And, in addition to the no-commercials policy on their music stations, one of the major deciding factors for me was ClearChannel's stake in XM.
For those not aware, ClearChannel owns over 1200 stations nationwide and they're one of the major proponents of payola. That's right -- artists get on the air simply because their labels paid for their songs to be played.
I believe that radio play should be based on merit and not deep pockets. And, I don't want to have anything to do with ClearChannel.
Alex Bischoff
HTML/CSS coder for hire
Sirius has no commercials. And better channels (my mouth watered at their online trials). And subscribers can stream the music to any computer. Consider the large amount of time our soceity spends in front of the computer and the luxury of having excellent music for that entire time.
While I haven't used Sirius yet, I hope to afford it soon. XM seems like the work of monopolistic, commercialistic, record-company-loving businesspeople, rather than music lovers, and their service is inferior. Take a stand for a company that respects its customers by subscribing to Sirius.
I have an aftermarket Sirius unit in my 2003 Chevrolet Silverado. The variety is absolutely awesome, but in my case the sound quality isn't. The reason for this is that my satellite receiver is connected to my truck's head unit via an FM modulator. The XM receiver integrated into my Mom's Honda Accord sounds dramatically better. If you visit satellite radio fan sites, you'll find that people generally accept the quality of satellite radio if FM modulation is not involved, and are not fond of it otherwise.
Both the XM and Sirius radio streams are compressed to somewhere in the neighborhood of 64kpbs. They sound far better than what one would normally expect at that bitrate (I'm the type of person who encodes MP3s at 256k-320k). I believe each system uses its own proprietary codecs, and both have the capability to update those codecs over time and continue to work with existing equipment. Anyway, back to the point, it's a highly compressed audio stream. Between the compression and FM modulation, the music takes on a very dull sound. I do not think it is worth buying satellite radio unless you can have it direct input into your head unit.
I've finally managed to locate a company ("SoundGate") who makes an adapter to connect my Kenwood sat. receiver directly into the back of the truck's head unit (GM makes this a big PITA, by not providing a direct input unless you speak their proprietary protocol). It shows up this week or next, and I can't wait.
What has *science* done?!? -- Dr. Weird (ATHF)
Okay, you only buy Swedish stuff, and I'll only buy American stuff. We'll see who lasts longer.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
Outsourcing is not as pronounced because American companies have greater flexibility due to less regulation of employment practices. It has nothing to do with salary compensation.
If you look at the total compensation for employees in America and Europe, you won't find much difference as the higher American salaries are balanced by the higher outlays European companies make to finance the larger benefits and government taxes.
As I've indicated, outsourcing from Europe to America is marginal at best. So don't worry, your IT jobs will be going to India. At least this way you can feel better about yourself.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
As both of my favorite entertainment acronyms that begin with "N" are on Sirius (namely, NPR and NFL), I'm all about Sirius. My car stereo is due for an update, and Sirius compatibility is topping then list.
I live in a part of the world where I can't tune in the insanely ecclectic interviews and call-in panels on The Connection, or Click and Clack's "Car Talk." I can burn CD's for music, but not for NPR or NFL game play-by-plays. (I heard the Patriots make their goal-line stand on a staticky, faint AM station. I was honking my horn like a madman.)
XM has some really corporate news stuff (read: fluff), and some right-wing talk radio masturbation festivals, but Sirius has that =and= NPR. (Liberal-leaning hosts and commentators, usually, but a stringently centrist editorial policy. PRI and Pacifica are public radio left-wingnuts, but NPR makes damn sure all sides of a story are given their say.)
SoupIsGood Food
i work at bestbuy and i know pretty much about the satellite radios considering i sell them all day.
Hands down Sirius is the better choice.
First off Sirius has no ads, XM does.
Sirius is 12 a month, XM is 10.
Sirius has 2 satellites, 1 on each coast
and 1 doing a figure 8 over the the
middle of america and mexico.
Sirius has much better satellite service
than XM considering their better satellite
placement, and since XM only has 2.
Also in NYC alone Sirius is better as they
have ground transmitters to carry the signal
throughout the whole city, and they broadcast
from here in NYC.
From one of my old University buddies: Ars Technica: Satellite Radio Review
Everytime you look at porn a devil gets their horns.
I had been looking at Satellite radio for awhile, but always concluded that I did not want to pay $10 - $13 a month for the service... So I never bothered to purchase the equipment.
While cruising one of my daily sites, someone had posted a message that Sears had a Sirius radio package deal... everything you need to get Sirius up and running for $50. I figured, for that price, I couldn't lose.
It tooks 2 months, and Sears finally cancled my order because they realized that the demand for the box set had exceeded the order. I was pissed off. Not because they misjudged the amount of orders that would come in... That's somewhat understandable. I would have let the subject drop right there if that was the problem. But no.. they had CHARGED my card two months ago, and I was thus paying interest (actually, it was a debit card, but Sears didn't know that) for two months on a product I didn't have. That's what really ticked me off... they took my money, used it for 2 months, and then said "oh... sorry, here's your money back, and we won't pay you interest." I wasn't about to stand for that.
I stomped down to my local Sears and bitched up a storm. They finally agreed to cobble together a similar Sirius system and give it to me for the $50 price.
The next day, I installed the system, via the FM modulator and got it hooked up. It was pretty easy to install myself. I had never installed any radio equipment in a vehicle before. Learned quite a bit, actually. Anyway, it fired right up and sounded a lot better than I was expecting considering it was via FM modulator. In fact, it sounded just like my stock head unit.
I'm not a big fan of stock head units, but I have not replaced my current head unit in my vehicle, even though I've had it 3.5 years. Boy... am I glad I waited.
I'm going to be getting a Sirius head unit, so I can plug directly into it. I love the Sirius, and I won't ever be going back to "regular" FM radio again. I will happily pay the $13/mo that I was reluctant to pay after actually using the system. The lack of commercials is so liberating. It's so frigging nice to turn on the radio, and listen without hearing all the bullshit I hear on FM stations. I have about 6 channels I listen to regularly, and I can usually find someone on one of the 6 that I like at any given time. There are a few occasions when all six channels suck, and I will jump around and experiment with other stations.
There are a few nitpicks that I have, though.
First, the fact that Kenwood Sirius tuners are not compatible with Panasonic Sirius tuners is ridiculous. They are both Sirius tuners, they should be compatible with any Sirius head unit. The upside of this is, the Kenwood Sirius tuner is $150, and is what I currently have. The Panasonic tuner is $50. Why is that important? Because all but the most expensive ($500) Kenwood Head Units suck. Really bad. Their LCD displays are like 10 Character, vintage 1990's displays. On the other hand, the Panasonic head unit (983 I think?) has a nice Active Matrix display for $200. That's the head unit I'm going to be buying here after Christmas... but I'm going to have to plunk down an additional $50 for the Panasonic Sirius tuner... which kind of irks me.
The other nitpick I have, which may or may not go away with the new head unit is the fact that channel surfing is exceptionally difficult. It's hard to find the stations you might want to listen to, and skip over the junk you know for sure you don't want to listen to. Currently, on the FM modulator, there's only 6 preset buttons, with 4 different positions. So you can have a total of 24 presets. However, getting to the 2, 3 and 4th position pre-sets is a pain in the ass. So I pretty much stick with the first 6 pre-sets.
Couple the fact that the FM modulator is a Kenwood unit, with it's 10 character display, and it's impossible to have the information you want on the screen up at any given time. You are limited to a portion of the song title, OR