Is it just me or did anyone else notice lately that the XM sound quality gone down? Sounds like digital.

Maybe from the channels they added on?

 

Sounds the same to me. Maybe its bad weather or something? :p

 

DirecTV had the same problem. As they added more channels the picture quality went down the tubes.

 

I'm glad you posted this...now I know i'm not crazy

I have XM in my car, and I have noticed a huge drop in sound quality. I haven't even listened to it in a few weeks...just bought some cds instead...I hope they get it fixed (mine also has a very slight hissing sound in the background, does anyone else have this?)

 

Usually when there's a change at XM, you'll know about it almost immediately from XM subscribers at www.xmfan.com or www.xm411.com. A quick scan shows no unusual threads about sound quality or the like. These are both pretty decent forums for nitpicking XM.

 

I just got my car a couple months ago and have noticed that XM has far worse quality than FM radio and of course, CDs. I was wondering if this was noticed by others and now I know - thanks for the post.

 

The poor sound quality is the main reason I didn't listen to XM much during the trial period, and didn't subscribe when it was over.

I think the high fidelity of the ELS system is a poor match for XM; it doesn't mask the audible artifacts of the XM compression algorithm sufficiently.

Mike

 

good now I know Im not the only one. I hope they fix this.I remember the sound quality used to be great nows its just normal.

 

the XM is soft and the quality just ain't there. I'm waiting for soundgate to get off their ass and finish the Sirius translator so I can drop some good sat radio in my car without having to FM mod or use an Aux tuner.

 

I think svtmike is right, I have also felt the ELS system overwhelms the XM. The only station I listen to that I think has comperable fidelity is Watercolors (70). The rest often sound worse than FM to me too. Although I have subscribed to XM (mainly because I hate to have buttons on the car that don't opperate anything) I would rather have a better selection of DVD-A disks out there. Let's do something about that too!

 

I believe Watercolors is XM 71, but agree with your premise. I've found fairly decent "fidelity" on AudioVisions XM 103.

Folks, I think we're almost talking apples and oranges here - kinda like we used to in the 70's when they came out with quadraphonic systems. Boy that didn't last very long, huh.

If you really want to get a decent perspective of audio quality and progress, compare Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" by listening to a record (you remember those), then on cassette (maybe less hazy), then CD and finally DVD/Audio. Amazing. Another great media comparison is Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."

 

I've had XM for awhile (before I got my TL), and I havn't noticed a change in quality. Maybe my ears just arn't as sensative, but I still think it sounds much better than terestrial radio.
Also, XM hasn't really added any net channels (except the traffic). When they add a new station, they usually remove an old one.

Oh and yes, GET MORE DVD-A

Joe

 

without a doubt I think XM sounds better than terestrial radio. but It used to sound better than it is now. I dont think the quality went down cause of the added channels, because I've noticed the quality change only two weeks ago. They added channels at the beginning of the year.

Oh and Im the guy with the broken cd player, but it should get fixed in a week or two. so no dvd-a

 

XM has most definitely dropped it's quality. Audio is my thing and I can't believe how bad it got sice I started playing with it. The best way to describe the problem for those that havent noticed is that it sounds like digital compression. Listen to the "S" sounds and High Hats in music. It's horrible. I'm glad someone started this thread and I hope someone can find the answer. I used to tell people how great XM was and now FM is beating it.

Bah.

 

Well, I will have to bow out to the audiophiles on this one. I've only had it since December (a gift from my wife, so now we have it in both cars) and it's always sounded great to me.

Joe

 

Hey jefffree,
Where did you find "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Good-bye Yellow Brick Road" on DVD_A???? Both must be GREAT titles in surround sound!

 

I was about to ask if the quality had gone up, mine seems to be crisper and clearer now, I originally thought it was totally muddy.

 

Umm haven't bought any dvd's yet, but Dark Side is on the top of my list. My all time favorite album :smokin:

 

I haven't noticed a drop in quality - only have it now a month. But lost signal yesterday when on a road that was next to riiver and trees overhanging. What a pain. I thought part of the advantage was that you have stations no matter where you are. Figured it would be great in the mountains, etc. where regular radio fades out.

I also figured not to keep it after trial but later on subscribe. Anyone know what the cost would be to later on activate it and subscribe? Any difference in monthly charge, etc?

 

ive noticed some stations have better audio quality than others. one time as i was listening to xm, the DJ apologized for the poor cd player they used which made the song skip and have a static sound. i thought that was funny

 

You have to remember that XM doesn't use loss-less compression. Works sorta like badly compressed MP3. Better than FM, but not nearly as good as CD, not to even mention DVDa.

The data rate is approximately 7.5 Mbits/s. After accounting for overhead, including forward-error-correction coding (Reed-Solomon outer code and convolutional inner code) and encryption, we're left with an audio bit stream of about 4.4 Mbits/s. The bits stream may be broken down into as many substreams as required by the commercial system. At the moment, the 4.4-Mbit/s bit stream has 100 channels, averaging 44 kHz each. But, each bit stream may be assigned its own unique bandwidth.

Talk channels, which require far less bandwidth than music, may be assigned a 24-kHz bandwidth and music channels may be assigned a 64k bandwidth. It can be any combination Sirius decides as long as it doesn't exceed the total bandwidth of around 4.4 Mbits/s. When combined with modern Perceptual Audio Codecs (PACs) and statistical multiplexing, the sound quality that the average listener perceives is far superior to today's FM radio stations.

So in the end, it really depends on how XM wants to broadcast that particular channel. In theory, it could sound really great. But the bottom line is how much bitrate they give to each channel.

And YES, the more channels they add, the more the whole pie has to be sliced into thinner-bandwidth channels. So what you percieve is most likely correct.

 

Good explanation. In which case, they really shouldn't add more channels until they get more total bandwidth. If more total bandwidth is not possible, they should prune the channels they have now before adding new ones. If you look through the list, there's some unnecessary redundancy and overkill of certain types of music. IMO anyway.

I find the overall quality of XM pretty good, though. But, if you're listening to a high-quality CD or DVD-A and you switch to XM, the difference is very noticeable.

 

Exactly what I was thinking'

nice info 340hp

 

340,

sweet info man, thanks for the real explanation. That goes exactly with what i was saying. It has gotten progressively worse, and it is DEFINITELY more noticable on certain channels.........

 

I've noticed differences in resoution, I listen to
Watercolors (71), and the Heart (62) which seem pretty good to me...

I also notice that some news channels do have commercials.

 

Got both from TowerRecords.com. Both were in stock and had them two days after online order. Amazing.

Goodbye was kinda ho-hum. I had really, really high hopes for "Funeral For A Friend." Elton lead off his 1973 concert with that in Portland (OR) and I've been intreagued with that piece ever since. What showed off the 5.1 system was the cut of "Grey Seal." I was driving on I-5 during rush hour and the whole interior came alive. I almost had to pull over.

Anyone heard of a good version of the 1812 Overture?

 

Dark Side of the Moon is not available as DVD-A. Did you get the Hybrid SACD? If so, in the TL you're just hearing a stereo mix.

Mike

 

Mike, you're 100% correct! My apologies for any confusion. Need to rest my bones beside the fire!

 

I tried listening to music on 41 & 44 today - it was awful. Thankfully the CD changer was full (Sammy Hagar on DVD-A did the trick).

 

I have only had the car a couple months and am still on the trial period. I wasn't impressed with the quality of the sound from the beginning, but i do like the talk radio and traffic reports, and as was posted earlier i hate having buttons that don't work so i will most likely keep it.
As for the DVD-A, where are most people buying the discs?

 

I bought some from Best Buy. They had decent selection, but not as good as some of the online retailers.

 

I spent several hours on the road this week, and I didn't detect any loss in quality of the signal.

If anything, my favorite channel, XM Cafe, seems better than ever this week.