Even better than Satellite TV: Satellite Radio!

[podwerkz]

Doesn't anyone listen to satellite radio?

I love it...I have two subscriptions. 

70's and 80's music...easy listening, classic rock...and some jazz and blues tossed in now and then....

Maybe even some country music when I need a bit of twang and drama.

Prices are reasonable, depending on what you are primarily interested in.

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Crickets....I hear crickets.

Oh well, I tried!

 

 

 

 

[Lou Schneider]

Since Sirius and XM merged, they use an excessive amount of data compression to cram as much content as they can onto the satellites.  Makes my ears hurt after listening to them for a while.

[hemsteadc]

XM/Sirius at home and in truck.  You bet.. that's all I listen to.

[richardbetsey]

We have Sirius in our home, truck (To pull  5th Wheel Trailer) and car.

We also added a Sirius outside antenna to the trailer so we can use our home receiver when we are in the trailer.

Sure beats trying to tune different stations when traveling.
 

[palmeris]

Have the sirus subscription with all channels , music news sports nascar nfl etc. In f450 sync 2 and escape sync 3 plus app on the smartphone or computer.  Also has the travel link for traffic ' fuel weather ski and movie listing.  It automatically renews the subscription on credit card think it's every 3 years. 

Also vehicles can connect to smart devices and can stream pandora from internet where you make your own channels. 

Lastly they have USB ports and we have flash drives with gigabytes full of music where I ripped all our cds too ' having hundreds from the 1980s to 2005 and any new album releases we just purchase the downloads onto the computer and then copy to flash drives .

Media choices are a good thing. 

[vermilye]

I have it in the truck & trailer, however the only time I use it is when I can't get a FM radio reception (usually NPR stations) or can't connect on line to an internet radio station.  I agree that the compression is terrible, however since I mostly listen to voice, it is do able...

If I had to pay more than $5.00 per month for each radio, I'd drop it.

[Chad Heiser]

I have it in every vehicle I own, including my RZR.  It is great to not have to scan for local channels when traveling to a new area.  I don’t experience the compression issues that others have mentioned.  All the stuff I listen to is crystal clear and sounds great.  I haven’t listened to regular radio in years.

On edit, I should say I haven’t listened to regular radio in a vehicle I own in years.  I did listen to regular radio in my former employer’s vehicles or in other people’s vehicles as a passenger.  If I have access to my XM, I will always choose it over terrestrial radio.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Chad Heiser

[hemsteadc]

17 hours ago, vermilye said:

.  I agree that the compression is terrible, however since I mostly listen to voice, it is do able...

I'm a musician with a pretty good ear... I don't know what the compression is you're talking about.  The music sounds fine to me.

[whj469]

Classic Vinyl in truck and Better Half's SUV, when allowed.

[vermilye]

6 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

I'm a musician with a pretty good ear... I don't know what the compression is you're talking about.  The music sounds fine to me.

I don't know how much classical you listen to, but it is pretty obvious.  Might not be as much a problem on other types of music.

My experience is based on I teaching sound design for 32 years, designed theatre sound systems and designing the sound for many musicals.

Edited September 17, 2021 by vermilye

[Jaydrvr]

I have to agree with vermilye on this subject. I am not an expert of any kind, but I have built my share of audio equipment chasing the dream of perfection. I cannot listen to any lossy compression audio files for more than a few minutes before the "sizzle" and distortion gets to me. All my albums are ripped to lossless FLAC files. I've included a link which gives a perspective on lossy compression codecs, specifically mp3s. Jay

https://productionadvice.co.uk/why-mp3-sounds-bad/comment-page-3/

P.S. I have SXM on the app so I can use it anywhere, in any vehicle, but mostly listen to news and old time radio.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Jaydrvr

[podwerkz]

Compared to highly processed terrestrial FM radio, it's at least as good as that, and doesn't fade as you travel, and most of the music channels have no ads. 

Compared to a loss-less audiophile quality (analog or digital) musical recording played on a good hi-fi tube amplifier and high quality speakers with lots of headroom, and listened to in a good acoustically neutral sound room by a young person with damn good ears, well of course XM/Sirius wont sound as good. 🙉

Is that a valid reason for a seasoned adult (with typical seasoned adult ears) to NOT listen to it in the average RV or tow vehicle as they cross multiple counties heading to their favorite camping spot?

Hold up your hand if you were told and believed that XM radio was designed and engineered for the musical purists out there?

None? 

Didn't think so.

It's a good alternative to multipath-prone terrestrial FM radio as one travels across the USA and some of us even listen to it at home! Horrors!

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by podwerkz

[Zulu]

2 hours ago, podwerkz said:

Hold up your hand if you were told and believed that XM radio was designed and engineered for the musical purists out there?

Thanks for clearing up the forest from the trees. The purists here are probably 55+ so their hearing is already down to 14 kHz with a fair chance that they also have tinnitus. So unless they hardwire a jack to their brain, the glory days are gone.

Now back to the show . . .

XM makes the journey much much easier, especially the ability to get NPR anywhere. When we traveled with FM only, searching for public radio on the far left of the dial, we’d always seem to find that religious station trying to out power the public station.

And when XM gets tiring, there's alway that audiobook via AUX.

 

[Dutch_12078]

We have XM in both the car and motorhome, and like the "Mostly Music" package. With the sound Bluetoothed into my high frequency augmented and tinnitus reduced hearing aids, it sounds pretty good to me...

[2gypsies]

On 9/16/2021 at 2:48 PM, richardbetsey said:

We have Sirius in our home, truck (To pull  5th Wheel Trailer) and car.

We also added a Sirius outside antenna to the trailer so we can use our home receiver when we are in the trailer.

Sure beats trying to tune different stations when traveling.
 

Totally agree!  It's awesome!

[lappir]

Pandora, Spotify, Slacker, Apple Music and Amazon all offer streaming tunes and the prices vary greatly. 

The one I use comes through my smart phone and then goes to many different types of speakers. I have had a few issues with "Buffering" if trying to listen through a WIFI connection, but most of the time my cell signal is good enough. 

If you were alive in the 70's do you remember the Audio Lab Stores that sold stereo systems and had rooms with the various components from the least expensive to the biggest and best?  I would visit each room expecting to hear something different, but never did. Wound up purchasing a Marantz receiver and a single record turn table and then added the cassette player a few years later. I used that system for many years and only gave up the Marantz when I started living in my first RV. Just wasn't a good place to put it. It traveled with me though through many years of travel nursing and even made the trip to Hawaii when I spent a year there. 

Rod

[podwerkz]

21 hours ago, Zulu said:

Thanks for clearing up the forest from the trees. The purists here are probably 55+ so their hearing is already down to 14 kHz with a fair chance that they also have tinnitus. So unless they hardwire a jack to their brain, the glory days are gone.

Now back to the show . . .

 

 

Sorry for the 'rant' but it seems odd for people to complain about the audio quality, when it's around the same quality (or better in many areas) as standard FM radio. That's like complaining that a motorhome is not really a 'home'...well for a lot of people it meets their needs just fine. If you don't like it, don't buy it. '

I actually enjoy many of the talk channels, and most of those are simply not available on terrestrial radio. 

I also still enjoy regular ol' AM and FM too! 

And for $5 (plus taxes and fees!) a month on the promo plans....(total about $77 a year) what's the issue? For the price of a Starbucks coffee, you can get an entire month, 720 hours of a hundred or more channels available from overhead, almost anywhere you might camp or park, and free included online streaming...there is hardly a 'downside' as I see it.

But certainly! All opinions are welcome here.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by podwerkz

[durangodon]

16 minutes ago, podwerkz said:

And for $5 (plus taxes and fees!) a month on the promo plans....(total about $77 a year) what's the issue?

 

 

I get the $5 month offers continuously.  I would pay that.  However, in the fine print it says that you have to use your credit card and that after one year it goes to like $20+ a month.  The only way to end service is by calling them.

Two questions.  How do you continue to receive it at the promotion price?  How much grief do they give you when you call to cancel service?

Thanks.

[Darryl&Rita]

2 minutes ago, durangodon said:

I get the $5 month offers continuously.  I would pay that.  However, in the fine print it says that you have to use your credit card and that after one year it goes to like $20+ a month.  The only way to end service is by calling them.

Two questions.  How do you continue to receive it at the promotion price?  How much grief do they give you when you call to cancel service?

Thanks.

Make sure to use a credit card that will expire before the next anniversary. When they try to auto renew, and fail, they'll be in touch with all kinds of promo goodies.

[vermilye]

I don't give them a credit card - they bill me (although they first tell me the deal is only available with a card).  I do have to call every 6 months and threaten to drop the service.  Somehow they always "find" a new & different $5.00 promotion for the next 6 months...

Edited September 19, 2021 by vermilye

[durangodon]

2 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Make sure to use a credit card that will expire before the next anniversary. When they try to auto renew, and fail, they'll be in touch with all kinds of promo goodies.

 

2 hours ago, vermilye said:

I don't give them a credit card - they bill me (although they first tell me the deal is only available with a card).  I do have to call every 6 months and threaten to drop the service.  Somehow they always "find" a new & different $5.00 promotion for the next 6 months...

Thanks to both of you.

This is exactly why I don't have the service.  It's not worth $20 and I don't care to jump through hoops otherwise.

[NDBirdman]

I use Sirius for $5/mo.  Have it on my truck and cell phone.  I just connect my cell phone to the car I'm in, or I just stream it to my blue tooth connected hearing aids.  I have it on my phone calendar to remind me every 11.5 months.  I call to cancel, tell them too damn expensive and they always offer me another year for $5.  I would not pay $10/mo, their service is nice but not worth paying more for.  Too many free radio apps out there although you do have to put up with commercials.  Same with the TV.  As far as compressed, or audio quality, 20 years of working on jets with my now bad hearing and tinnitus, it does not make a difference to me.

Edited September 19, 2021 by NDBirdman

[2gypsies]

We paid a one-time lifetime price about 25 years ago for $325.  I guess we're lucky we did.  We love it.

[podwerkz]

I have two subscriptions, as I mentioned earlier. One is a lifetime, I paid around $400 for it...about...I think...10 years ago? 

Seemed like a lot of money at the time but I was tired of paying the quarterly fee for so many years, I figured, after the merger, then near bankruptcy, and then recovery, I'd take a chance.

My other subscription is the 12 month promo, paid one year at a time. Yeah, you have to call to 'cancel' and let them try to talk you into a new subscription. I insist on cancelling, then let it lapse, then renew the next month when the 'new offer' arrives via email. I just re-activate the same radio....I've done this several times, more than 10 years now.

It's not a huge amount of trouble, really. 

BTW us lifetime subs got a little perk thru a recent class action settlement: Actual LIFETIME...not just the lifetime of a few radios. 

I emailed the class action attorneys asking about lifetime car subscriptions and did get a reply saying they would find out, but so far, I have not heard back. So I'm not sure how that would play out. 

 

 

 

 

[RangeMaggotBob]

On 9/18/2021 at 9:03 AM, podwerkz said:

Compared to highly processed terrestrial FM radio, it's at least as good as that, and doesn't fade as you travel, and most of the music channels have no ads. 

Compared to a loss-less audiophile quality (analog or digital) musical recording played on a good hi-fi tube amplifier and high quality speakers with lots of headroom, and listened to in a good acoustically neutral sound room by a young person with damn good ears, well of course XM/Sirius wont sound as good. 🙉

Is that a valid reason for a seasoned adult (with typical seasoned adult ears) to NOT listen to it in the average RV or tow vehicle as they cross multiple counties heading to their favorite camping spot?

Hold up your hand if you were told and believed that XM radio was designed and engineered for the musical purists out there?

None? 

Didn't think so.

It's a good alternative to multipath-prone terrestrial FM radio as one travels across the USA and some of us even listen to it at home! Horrors!

 

 

 

Totally agree. I do have a real audio system at home, but that's for listening to my vinyl. I also have regular FM of course in my vehicles and home, but it's really horrible. Sounds like AM from the 70's; they even censor the music. Satellite radio is compressed, but I can live with that, if nothing else except for no commercials. I pay around $5.00 a month per subscription. Even compressed, it sounds pretty good.

(If you want to hear some REALLY good music- check out the Outlaw Country station. Give it a few times listening, and you'll be pleasantly surprised...)