sirius versus xm

[kosmo vinyl]

Sirius and XM may have BBC World, but only Sirius will be adding BBC Radio1 soon

[Dr. Anton Phibes]

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
  Sirius and XM may have BBC World, but only Sirius will be adding BBC Radio1 soon

>>>> Now if only XM would add BBC 6 then I would have a tough choice to make....hhmmm...

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by The Artist Formerly Known As grotty:
  Ultimately I think all satellite radio is over-rated.
 
 You can get much better via the internet. But of course you can't take the internet in your car...just yet.
 

yeah, i was wondering about this ... do you guys listen to satellite radio (or any radio, for that matter), when you're not in a car?  the only time i ever hear the radio is when i'm in a cab or someone else's car, i couldn't see how it would be good for car-less people

[Venerable Bede]

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
  Sirius and XM may have BBC World, but only Sirius will be adding BBC Radio1 soon

let me know when either get espn 8- the ocho.

[TEM]

No one's discussed the sound quality of satellite radio, which is wholly disappointing, both for XM and Sirius.  By cramming 100+ channels into their limited bandwidth, the Satellite Radio companies have to compress the hell out of all channels.  This is fine for talk stations, but the music reproduction is poor - it's akin to a very strong AM radio signal!  
 
 What kills me is some people claim satellite radio has CD-quality sound.  Sure, it's all-digial, but it's definitely NOT CD-quality.  The music stations' bitrates are around 64 kb, which anyone familiar with mp3's knows, this is not even close to CD sound (which is 128 kb and above).
 
 If you have a very basic sound system in your standard car, you'll probably won't notice a difference, since everything will sound muddy.  However if you've upgraded your stereo & speakers (or have a nice stock system in your luxury SUV), there's a night-and-day difference.  Play a song on XM/Sirius then pop in a CD; the gap is amazing.
 
 That being said, Sirius is the way to go since I've bashed satellite music.  It dominates the sports aspect, has all the news/talk you can handle, and is getting Stern in January.

[J'Mal]

Hoya---
 
 I usually listen at home.
 
 TEM---
 
 If you think XM sounds like a good AM station there is something very wrong with your setup.
 
 I'm something of an audio geek and have a much better than average system, not world-beating, but a few steps above best buy/circuit city. (musical fidelity A series amp, JBL studio series s38ii's, NAIM audio CD2).
 
 XM does not sound as good as a CD on this system, but it is close enough.  It is certainly better than any FM signal.  They use a version of AAC+ (the codec favored by apple) and it is most similar to a high bitrate mp3.  Sirius went with PAC, enough said.  (And if your CDs sound like 128kbps mp3's, there is something wrong with your CD player, too... should be more like 1411kpbs    )
 
 Ultimately it is about the content, about hearing things you wouldn't hear otherwise, expanding your horizons, and having access to good programming of music in which you're not going to be expert enough to build a good library yourself.  It isn't perfect and it is not supposed to replace your ipod or cd collection, it serves a very different purpose.

[rfredley]

should be more like 1411kpbs

Is that a real number, or did you just make that up?

[Bombay Chutney]

Originally posted by J'Mal:
 Ultimately it is about the content, about hearing things you wouldn't hear otherwise, expanding your horizons, and having access to good programming of music in which you're not going to be expert enough to build a good library yourself.  It isn't perfect and it is not supposed to replace your ipod or cd collection, it serves a very different purpose.

ding ding ding!    We have a winner.
 
 And for the record, I have XM at home only (not in the car).  love it love it love it.

[J'Mal]

Originally posted by Urf:
   

should be more like 1411kpbs

Is that a real number, or did you just make that up? [/b]

get a simple piece of software like musicmatch jukebox. put an audio CD into your CD drive.  See what the sampling rate is.

[Bags]

I'm going with Sirius, and it's all about Howard Stern.  I don't listen to sports on the radio, so that does nothing for me, but I'd pay for Sirius just for Stern.  So, I'm a  bad barometer.
 
 I've heard XM's music programming is better (just what I've heard), and they have a portable player which I would definitely get if Sirius had one.   It does seem XM has better (and more) equipment.
 
 I'm also just about to get Tivo, so we'll see what kind of convert I become over both 'new' technologies.

[kosmo vinyl]

Originally posted by Bags:
 
 
 I'm also just about to get Tivo, so we'll see what kind of convert I become over both 'new' technologies.

The first thing you need to do with you Tivo is setup it up to record "Robot Chicken" on Cartoon Network.  Seth Green and friends are behind this one and it's freakin' hilarious.  Some of the funny stuff on TV at the moment.  All done stop animination style with action figures, etc.  The "Behind the Music" segment on Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem was priceless...
 
 Plus with Tivo one can easily keep track of those BBC America series which come and go so quickly.  We always tape them during the late night repeats and haven't missed an episode of "Jules and Mimi" yet.

[Lamb007]

Originally posted by Fine French Chaz:
  Sirius has the Underground Garage channell, a huge plus in my book.  Handsome Dick Manitoba has a nightly show!

In my opinion, this plus the NFL package makes Sirius the no brainer.

[xneverwherex]

i'd go with Sirius for Howard Stern mainly. And since my boyfriend works with Nina Blackwood, its a no-brainer for me. Now if Nina can just hook me up with Sirius, it'd work out perfectly!  

[bellenseb]

Unfortunately both services fall down when it comes to good indie programming. XM has XMU, which is basically on autopilot with no personality, and only plays "recent" indie (nothing before 2001, ever); Sirius has Left of Center, which has an incredibly small, repetitive playlist that rarely ever changes. There's no programming on either service that comes close to stations like KEXP, 89.3 the Current, WOXY, KCRW, etc.