Since they started to combine XM and Sirius stations I've noticed a HUGE decrease in quality. The sound breaks up quite a bit on the music channels. I wondered it was my speaker connections but then I heard it in my other truck with my little Roady receiver plugged into my cassette deck. The sounds doesn't seem as clear as it used to either. Am I crazy or has anyone else noticed this as well?

Today they also combined Dallas with Houston traffic. What cheapskates... The dude is BORING, didn't mention the tollways and this evening described every freeway as "slow"... DUH! I can literally see that. They aren't supplying the outside temps and weather conditions either (not that I can't figure that out myself either but it goes with cheapening everything else). Sirius blew before and XM was much better IMO... but not the suckiness of Sirius is leaching over... funny thing is that Sirius was the one in "Sirius" financial trouble with a bleeding income and balance sheet and stock price. How did they become the one to rule the roost? Thank you FTC, SEC and FCC...

 

You too?????? Actually, I've been a Sirius subscriber since 2001. I prefer Sirius but, that's a different subject.About 2 months agoI noticed a big drop in sound quality. I took my truck back to Car Toys 3 times complaining about the crappy sound.They checked everything, including a new head unit with the same result. I love satellite radio but, if they are reducing quality to stop the financial bleeding, they won't last!

 

Yes the quality of both services has gone down, but the problem is a technical one, not financial. Each service has a limited amount of available bandwidth. More channels = higher compression ratios = poor audio quality. Both XM and Sirius already made the decision years ago to forgo quality of audio for quantity of channels. Adding even more channels since the merger, from each others service, has only exacerbated the existing problem.

They have even said that the audiophile is simply not their target audience. Their thinking was that most people would think that the sound was better than FM, simply because there is no static. Personally, I use for talk broadcasts only, similar in the way one would use an AM radio, and a hardwired iPod for music.

 

Thanks for the info! Interesting. They currently offer several of the same streams on 2 channels, one Sirius and one XM. That uses more bandwidth, right? I imagine they will eventually do away with this redundancy once they complete the merger... Still wondering if I will be able to activate my wife's XM radio into my Sirius account at $6.99. They have not replied to my emails. Calling is no help.

 

Well if its a bandwith issue... I'd be happy to give up Oprah and Marth Stewart...

 

yeah,i have sirius too,it's not working good.i'm not paying another year.i can't hear the radio anyway[sm=smiley33.gif][&:]

 

I have an older SkyFi2 that I used in my office and put it in my truck on the weekends. I have also noticed the quality degrading.

 

I'm glad I'm not going as crazy as I thought, lol...I use a stilleto at home (long story) for Sirius and noticed the reception sucks now and does break up and such, from time to time. I doubt I'll be renewing. Wish they'd take off some of those stupid channels and let us choose (and only pay for) the ones we want. Same thing with satellite TV; why am I paying for commerials! (just waiting for the radio to do this, also)

 

I don't want to jinx this but... yesterday and today the audio quality seemed to improve enough that I had to re-adjust my bass, mid and treble settings... I also noticed that on the traffic they are providing local weather conditions... I didn't notice any breaking up of the sound today .. I'll have to listen more tomorrow on the way to work.

This is really funny because last week I sent a nasty gram snail mail to the Sirius - XM CEO. All of the changes I just noticed were complaints in the letter. I need to see in the morning if they addressed providing more info for traffic. I also brought up several times the 11 cent stock price and that I would consider canceling my subscription.. while spreading the word to others to do the same.


hmmmmm