Doobiewah

Ya, that's what they told me, and I never got one for either of my newer vehicles. I saw it on the CC bill and had to call and complain. Got the extension; however, the CS rep claimed they sent me a notice on both vehicles. Hard to dispute; however, missing BOTH of them seemed unusual. I did get the rep to coordinate both vehicles to the same cycle and put a notice in my phone to remind me to call.

Just a buyer beware, as they always sent notices in the past; however, I'm wondering if they have changed their methods. It is worth the call to keep getting the lower pricing, tho....

quantum7

I never give them a credit card number....always ask for an invoice. They auto renew at ridiculous rate so you have to be sure to call early to renew. Always get the $25 for 5 or 6 months. Getting very tired of the talking DJs. I don't need Dusty Streets telling me what song I just heard.

joeshmoe

I do the same thing. It takes a little extra work every year but for me SiriusXM is worth it at this price point. You just have to call to cancel every year and they offer the "One time renewal rate" that's significantly cheaper than regular price.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Just a quick question to the group; back on Page 1 of this thread, a poster suggested there were two different quality levels of the SiriusXM service; that's the first I've heard of two quality levels. Is this true?

I'm asking because my wife and I both have SiriusXM capable cars, but neither of us have subscribed to the service, and I'm wondering if it makes sense to do so for one or both cars.

Himecraig

i remember listening to dusty streets ! FM radio and San Francisco thanks for the flashbacks.

she is broadcasting now from the R&R HOF.

In googleing so I came across being able to download the xm/Sirius app to my device.
im having problems creating/logging on so I haven't been able to demo the app...
but I would be down with paying for a service if the sound is on par with pandora and being able to have the portability of having xm/Sirius.
tho everyone tells me to get Spotify whenever I grow tired of pandora.

iirc, didn't xm first have a little satellite receiver box that was portable and was able to plug into any sound system?

?has anyone downloaded the app and what control functions will the Acura have running with Bluetooth or via USB

dirleton

They had a 6 month deal for $30. I told them I'd go for that but only by check. They said OK, that will be $38.73 (royalties fee, invoice fee, taxes). I said $30. Period. They said OK. Two rules:

1. Tell them what you are willing to pay, take it or leave it.
2. NEVER GIVE THEM A CC NUMBER.

jcross1231

I just tell them I want the same deal I've already got. They skip all the dialog and give it to me. Like others, I'm becoming annoyed at all the "non-advertising" advertising they're doing, plus the gab from the DJs. When I first subscribed in 2012, there was none of that. When you're pitching another XM channel, that's advertising. And I really don't care what they're going to be doing this weekend or who's on tour. Didn't buy the service for that.

I wish they'd offer weather for the RDX. It would make the nav system more than semi-useless.

Himecraig

Still haven't been able to load the Sirius app on my phone....
but would consider extending Sirius xm radio if there is a way to set favorite stations...anybody know how to do this?
(asking for my 17'Honda Civic Hatch which I'd think would be the same display and the way it would function)

Abarrios91182

i do this for both my cars every 5 months. This past time i did it they gave me it for 6 months plus 3 months free.

quantum7

Not sure if this applies but the app worked on my phone only within the first 30 days of my renewal. I think that they give a free trial (with paid subscription in car) for you to see if you like it...same with home computer use (I think). The problem is that they want to charge you another monthly fee to use the app. There is no way that I am paying twice for XM....car and computer, or car and App.

Himecraig

I see...so a paid package service for a vehicle plus a device app. Thought maybe I'd bite for just a single potable device to go from car to car.
Do most use Sirius/xm as set and forget content?...I notice my brotherinlaw just leaves on some mellow coffee house stuff to set the same mood while driving...
so far I listen to laugh USA, channel 50, l'll look up the dusty streets channel, try to find a fantasy football station and spend the rest of my drive searching for content while still free. Wish I could figure out how I found the BBC broadcast of the British open a few years ago

The content now is mostly deals with radio personalities that syndicate so I'd rather just listen local on my free am/fm radio with my PRESET stations.
Xm is ok as a free trial but there are so many other free options...audio books free from our library on my phone app is my latest choice.
happy for those that enjoy their subscription and good prices.

snorf

The sound of stereo in the RDX (when properly adjusted) is nothing short of awesome. It's a pain in the rump to put music on the hard drive and a pain in the rump to use a thumb drive, but I've learned that the ipod copies the music at the bitrate of the recording (often 800-1400 on CDs). I didn't think much of the sound coming from XM and I've since learned that the bit rate from XM is extremely low (i.e. poor quality). Below is a link to an article that spells it out pretty well, followed by one of the paragraphs from the article that highlights the issue.

carstereochick.com/2015/04/25/why-siriusxm-sucks-what-to-know-before-you-buy-subscribe/ from April 2015


Siriusly Compressed

When satellite radio first came out it sounded pretty good. It wasn’t exactly CD quality, but it was still pretty good. However, as the competition heated up between Sirius and XM, the compression increased. Bandwidth was squeezed and each provider added more channels in an attempt to be more attractive than the other. When service first started each provider had around 120 channels to choose from (from recollection – I can’t find an original channel line up). Now the combined SiriusXM offers more than 175 channels.

So how badly is it compressed? How about 32 kbps (kilo bits per second). Let me put that into perspective for you. When you buy a CD in the store (I think they still exist) the CD relays 1411 kbps of information. So let’s do the math.

Okay, so 32 divided by 1411 equals about .02 or we can call it 2%. You’re listening to 2% of the original information. What does that mean? You lose:

• Detail
• Nuance
• Depth
• Richness
• Clarity
• Body
• Fullness
• Warmth
• 98% of the original audible information the artist intended to relay

That is why satellite radio sounds so tinny and hollow. That is why it has no bass, no warmth, no punch. Don’t get me wrong – It’s fine for news, talk, sports and entertainment, but PLEASE, for the love of God, do not listen to SiriusXM for music and then complain to me that it sounds bad. This is why it sounds bad. You can’t make 32 kbps sound good, you just can’t. It’s going to sound bad. Why would you want to listen to something that sounds bad? I just don’t get it.

jcross1231

Well, it isn't quite that simple. CDs use PCM encoding. XM uses variable bit rate AAC. It can be as good as 96k MP3 equivalent on a good day, but usually isn't. On the other hand, the listening environment in your RDX isn't exactly home stereo quality, either. The combination is probably good enough.

quantum7

Yeah....I could easily drop XM and not miss it a bit. Most of the time I listen to audiobooks, but in the summer I tend to listen to a few of the classic channels. I agree that with all of the talking and the cost (and all of the other options) XM is not much different from the regular FM stations or other streaming apps. My wife likes it in her car so I do the dance for both vehicles at the same time. The one subscription for just the phone is actually a good idea if they allow you to do just that at the cheap rate. There are a couple of shows on XM that I like to listen to but if I am not in my car then I miss them. I might look into the phone only option when my 6 months is up.

kurtatx

I've heard that the Sirius technology is worse than the XM tech. I don't believe that is relevant for the current models, but I know my 2009 Chevy Cobalt had a way better radio signal (XM) than my 2008 Audi A4 did (Sirius)

Tech

Nope! I have a few days left and they've called and emailed reminders.

They fail to realize that all services I subscribe to add up in a year.

TDotCord

+1 agreed the ELS system awesome

As for the XM radio service, you should be able to renew on a 6 month trial offer for about $30, if you tell them you don' want to renew. I've had many 6 month trial offers on my 2014 Odyssey. The RDX initial trial expires just before Christmas, so I expect to be getting the same thing.

jcross1231

I just re-upped for a year for $99. Yeah, I know I could do better with their 6 month promotion, but it's a hassle to keep calling. And it's less than half of their list price, which is absurd. You can add Internet Radio for $20/year, which is a pretty good deal. That gives you a lot of extra channels you can stream from your phone, listen on your computer, etc. The down side being that it uses bandwidth, and you have to have cell phone coverage. Handy for me, because I travel a lot. It's a cheap way to get XM in the rental car.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

I took a 3,000 mile road trip with my family a couple of weeks ago; en-route we initiated the free 60-day trial of SiriusXM and listened to it pretty much exclusively while on the trip. Now that I'm back home I haven't listened to it once. Why? The sound quality is not even up to the quality of your basic FM radio station, and yikes, the play list is pretty limited, I mean, how many times can you listen to , "How Can I Be Sure" by the Young Rascals in one day?

Needless to say, when the 60-day window is up, I ain't paying for a subscription.