Help if you have Sirius/XM

[nagooro]

Planning on getting one of the two, still havn't decided which one though. I listen to techno, rap, r&b, and club type of music, so if you have any recommendations.
Which do you own?
What kind of music do you listen to?
Are you satisified with it?
Any pros/cons?

Thanks

[Dritto]

I subscribe to XM, I'd say it's worth the money. XM used to be a bit cheaper than Sirius but they recently changed their pricing, so now it's equal to Sirius.

Of all the available channels I stick to 2-3 mainly, the rock stations are my favorite.

XM has an online service that's handy if you find yourself at work or school, or even at home if you don't bring the radio inside. Sound quality is honestly not the best, definitely not comparable to even FM, which most people don't expect initially. I was pretty disappointed at first, I thought there was actually something wrong with my radio but it's the same for everyone. I've never heard Sirius but I hear the sound quality is not as good as XM, no idea HOW much worse, just what I've heard around..

If I listen for 10 minutes my ears start to forget about the quality issue. But man, if you listen to a CD and compare it directly to the XM, it seems HORRIBLE. I dunno, it depends what you're willing to live with.. Listen to an MP3 recorded at 65kbits a second and you'll roughly get the idea, it's not AWFUL sound quality but it's far from excellent.

Overall though I really like the XM, I've had it since it's been available in Canada and I've never wanted to cancel the subscription, and the radio is still working really well (almost a year and a half old by now?), so I think that's a plus, the hardware seems to be of good quality. I've got a RoadyXT.

And the radio has a stock ticker, preset stations.. you can browse what's on other stations without actually changing the station (song title and artist info), which is handy. A bunch of convenience things that make it nicer to use. I can't speak for the quality of the Sirius hardware, it looks great though. Many of the same features that are available on the XM hardware. Hardware seems to be priced mostly equally for roughly equivalent products.

I used to sell these radios when they were first available and everyone who bought them really seemed to like them, XM and Sirius. The programming is mostly the same on both, or it was when I was selling them (about a year ago, so it could be different now, XM has definitely added stations since it started). Tiny variations on similarily themed stations is what I noticed. I've always been a fan of the XM but that's just because I own one, I couldn't really recommend one service over the other since I don't have much experience with Sirius. I don't think you could go terribly wrong with either.


So there it is, fairly indecisive, but I hope it helps!

[wrxer1]

Great review^
First, consider the website Pandora.com This is basically create your own personalized radio station. Very useful for finding new music. This replaced my xm radio subscription.
Also, consider buying an ipod and a deck with full connectivity. Much more useful in the overall picture and can actually be cheaper if you already have an ipod or alpine deck.

[SWX]

I've got XM also and i find it to be great, they also just added 20 more channels, not sure what they are, haven't checked yet. Best thing to do is compare the channel line ups on line and go from there. Oh and XM has a deeper play list.

[e36bmw///]

nm

[nagooro]

A deal as in a special?
or just like, "can I have a discount" type of deal.

[Sharpie]

XM 66 XL Raw = the shit for rap

[ninspeed]

I have both.. My xm with the aftermarket reciver is not bad for quality.. its the same as my ipod pluged into the aux port.. The sirius though is very clear, but its OEM...

[schurchill39]

I have been a sirius subscriber for a little under a year now and I love it. Definitly worth the money. Your never bored with the wide variety of chanels. I have found myself listening to music I would never of know exsisted if it wasn't for sat. radio. The sound quality is just awesome if you can find a clear FM station. I will be buying a deck right away here to hook the my sat. radio directly up to it. Thats supposed to improve the quality even more

My girlfriend's mother has XM and in my personal opinion its not nearly as good as sirius.

I have the starmate replay receiver. Tons of features. So many chanel presets that I dont know what to do with them all. I can also store up to 30 artits or songs so when they play it gives me a warning that it is playing on such and such channel. You can also browse whats on other stations without actually switching the chanel. My favorite feature by far on my radio is it will record up to 45 mins of live radio so you can pause/rewind etc. The only downside is that this is erased and restarted once you chose a different channel. Of course this all depends on the the sound quality. The minimum it will record is 45 minutes but if I am listening to (for example) the comedy channel, it will record up to an hour and 45 mins just because its lower quality.

Worth the money in my opinion. I personally would go with sirius but either or would be a good idea.


EDIT: Sirius also has the same online feature that XM does just like Dritto stated. Very convinient

[nagooro]

I signed up for a 3day trial for both sirius and XM, so tonight I was listening to both on and off. So far im leaning towards sirius, and will most likely get that over XM.
I am still debating what kind of player I want to get.
Do most of the players come with the feature where it alerts you when certain songs are playing on a different channel?

[schurchill39]

Yep... the majority of them do. Some have more space then others. For example. My startmate replay can hold 30 artistis or songs where as my friends first gen startmate can only do 10.

[nagooro]

Are the smaller players any good? the mp3/cellphone looking ones?
such as:
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...38&catid=23641

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...37&catid=23641