sirius versus xm

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.

should be more like 1411kpbs

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

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.

Originally posted by Urf:

should be more like 1411kpbs

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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! :D

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.