Who Here Has An XM Or Sirius Radio?

runway23 · Fri Feb 29, 2008 8:50 am

A few weeks ago I found myself renting a foolish GM car which was equiped with XM. I liked it so much that I went out and bought a portable radio receiver (which stays on my desk unless I am on an airplane). Coupled with being able to listen over the internet I find XM has good content which fits my needs.

Do any other a.nutters use XM or Sirius?

CaptOveur · Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:07 am

I have both. Personally, I prefer Sirius.

Sirius has better sound quality and programming. XM has much better equipment. I guess it really just comes down to personal taste.

airfoilsguy · Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:02 am

I have XM and love it. I drive a lot and its nice not having to change channels every 40 miles

don81603 · Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:06 am

I've had the Sirius system for over 3 years now, and I love it, except that some moron decided to trade the NHL contract for NASCAR. For a few months I had both systems, but in my opinion the XM couldn't hold a candle to the Sirius.

LHMark · Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:02 pm

I've always chosen XM for the MLB coverage. Plus, my Element came with an XM-ready receiver. I like it, but hate the godawful commercials on the non-music channels.

767Lover · Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:09 pm

I love my Sirius, but I have a really crappy receiver. I need to get a new one.

KROC · Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:12 pm

I've had Sirius for a couple of years now and I love it. I have no use for "free" radio anymore except AM to hear a couple of sports talk shows. I've been happy with the equipment I have had through Sirius. The only thing is I wish it had MLB instead of Neckcar, NBA, etc. Whenever the two merge I'll get baseball though. Besides, I watch baseball on T.V.

halls120 · Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:29 pm

Quoting Airfoilsguy (Reply 2):
I have XM and love it. I drive a lot and its nice not having to change channels every 40 miles

XM here. The other car in our pool has Sirius. Other than they have Howard Stern and we don't, I see no difference between the two.

They are, of course, far better than AM or FM. I rarely listen to either band any longer.

jfktowerfan · Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:56 pm

I have been with Sirius for almost four years. I am to the point where if I do not have Sirius in a car I will not even listen to the radio, just shut it off. The amount of content is amazing. I just bought a Sportster 5 which is real nice. Hopefully this merger goes through before the next ice age.

Corey

Stretch 8 · Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:57 pm

My wife's new Tahoe has XM. I think it's a fantastic service, and would like to retrofit it into my own car. I especially like the "XM LED" all Zepplin channel.

iflyatldl · Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:59 pm

I've had Sirius for almost a year now and love it. My partner and I have it in both our cars and in the house. I haven't listened to regular radio since. I have noticed in the last week since that satellite was shot down(whether it has any bearing on it or not) our reception once in a while goes in and out, but that's just been in the last week. I've done the XM on FL which is good and the "watered down" XM on UA.

Go3Team · Fri Feb 29, 2008 5:25 pm

XM listener since year 1. If no XM available, its either music, or nothing.

austinairport · Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:09 pm

Well DishNetwork has Sirius, and i love it. I listen to 36 which is awesome!! And we used to have XM which i also loved. BPM 81!!! But really between the two....i would have to go with Sirius. Smile

N1120A · Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:26 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 6):
I have no use for "free" radio anymore except AM to hear a couple of sports talk shows.

That is because you live in Crapchester. While I love my XM, I still listen to KCRW and KROQ, as well as KNX-AM for traffic.

iflyatldl · Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:35 pm

Quoting N1120A (Reply 13):

Quoting KROC (Reply 6):
I have no use for "free" radio anymore except AM to hear a couple of sports talk shows.

That is because you live in Crapchester. While I love my XM, I still listen to KCRW and KROQ, as well as KNX-AM for traffic.

I don't think that's an honor Rochester can totally bogart...ATL's radio market pretty much sucks...which is why I went to satellite in the first place.

jfk69 · Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:51 pm

Got the XM more than 4 years ago. Can't sit in a car without it. Give me my XM202 and NHL networks and I can drive for days,

LOT767-300ER · Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:01 pm

I had Sirius for 3 years and got rid of it.

No need to pay for music. Especially when your ipod and a 120gb Hard Drive is hooked up to your head unit with video on demand Silly

KROC · Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:12 pm

Quoting N1120A (Reply 13):
That is because you live in Crapchester. While I love my XM, I still listen to KCRW and KROQ, as well as KNX-AM for traffic.

Quoting Iflyatldl (Reply 14):
I don't think that's an honor Rochester can totally bogart...ATL's radio market pretty much sucks...which is why I went to satellite in the first place.

Exactly Iflyatldl. Far be it from me to shoot down such theories, but radio in Crapchester is pretty much the same as radio in other cities. Sure L.A. or NYC will have mroe variety in stations, the smaller cities have that variety too, its just usually local shows on very local stations. Either way radio sucks. I'll drop 13 bones for commercial free music and Howard Stern.

Go3Team · Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:57 pm

What I don't understand is people that say that they don't pay for radio, but yet have no problem paying for cable/satellite TV.

ShyFlyer · Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:33 pm

I've been an XM subscriber for probably nine or ten months now. No real complaints from me about the service, but I'm not terribly happy with my radio (Audiovox Xpress). The display is way too bright at night, even at the lowest setting.

srbmod · Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:35 pm

Quoting Iflyatldl (Reply 14):

I don't think that's an honor Rochester can totally bogart...ATL's radio market pretty much sucks...which is why I went to satellite in the first place.

Damn straight. That was the main factor in finally getting Sirius back in 2005. I drive between 700-800 miles a week on my route and in some areas the radio reception just sucks. For a time I resorted to using my MP3 player as it had an FM modulator in it.

I had been going back and forth between XM and Sirius for a number of months before finally deciding on Sirius. At the time, what cinched it for me was the NHL and the EPL. A few days after I activated my receiver was when the NHL announced the deal with XM. Had I waited two weeks, I probably would have gone with XM.

I've listened to XM a few years back when flying on AirTran. It wasn't that bad, but there versions of some of the channels I listen to weren't all that good. Plus they lack Little Steven's Underground Garage, which is the best music channel on Sirius. Their NHL coverage beat the pants off of Sirius' coverage at that time.

Quoting 767Lover (Reply 5):
I love my Sirius, but I have a really crappy receiver. I need to get a new one.

If you have an eBay account, look for one there. You can get a complete setup in many cases quite a bit cheaper than what it would cost in the stores or through TSS Radio or the store on Sirius' website (Although I did get a good deal on a refurbished Stiletto from the Sirius Store.). I just need to get one of the new antenna headphones for my Stiletto, as the ones they include on the Stiletto 2 (On the ear instead of in the ear.) are better.

Duff44 · Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:02 am

I've had Sirius since December 2005 (right before Stern started in January of 2006)

I like the fact I can listen to Howard, Bubba the Love Sponge, comedy, and music without the FCC bleeping stuff because someone can't be responsible for their own ears and switch the channel.

Plus I've got the NFL, NASCAR, College sports, ESPN radio, and all other kinds of sports programming.

Quoting JFKTOWERFAN (Reply 8):
Hopefully this merger goes through before the next ice age.

Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius, has threatened to sue the FCC if the merger isn't approved.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6499829.html

It's already taken them a lot longer than it usually does to approve/deny the merger. The article is from Nov 10, which was at the 154 day mark... it usually takes 180 days. It's now 265 days without an answer.

luv2cattlecall · Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:39 am

I've had XM for more years than I can count and refuse to live without it! They also give you free access to XM Online so we now have XM programing pipped into our home intercom/speaker setup, which really adds to mundane things like getting food ready or sorting out junk mail. I personally have never cared for Sirius, XM seems to have a broader array of unique channels - around the Holidays, they have 5 or 6 stations devoted to Xmas music...now they have a channel devoted to Michael Jackson to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Thriller, and they have a commercial-free station called "POTUS '08" devoted to the elections.The traffic and weather is really nice too... My car came with Sirius and I can't find a way to "hack" the iDrive screen to make it accept XM, so I have a clunky setup.

If you do go with XM, I really recommend the Roady XT (type in "Delphi Sa10276-11P1 Roady Xt Receiver" on amazon.com, it's $35 - even cheaper on eBay). My favorite features of the Roady XT are the thinness, the streaming stock quotes/sports scores, and the fact that you can chose between 6 or 7 background colors, to somewhat match your cars interior lighting. Also forget the SureConnect crap, definitely go for the "Delphi SA10112 FM Direct Adapter " - $15 on amazon.com. It's an FM modulator, but it cuts off your main antenna whenever your XM unit is on, so that you don't have to keep hunting for open frequencies in big cities. It says it's only for the SkyFi2 but works with just about all of the current generation receivers, including the Roady XT.

PM me if you have any questions or want any installation tips!

ArmitageShanks · Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:48 pm

I've had XM since 2004 and I love it.

I listen to XM 202 and music channels 45, 54, and 22 almost 24/7. News is great, too.

sw733 · Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:00 pm

I have Sirius and I love it. Got one for my house and one for my car. Got mine right around the time Stern came on too, but I have actually never listened to that no talen ass clown, it was just a coincidence that my parents purchased it for me as a Christmas gift in 12/2005. I'm not looking forward to going back to regular radio when I move back to Namibia!

ArmitageShanks · Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:18 am

Quoting SW733 (Reply 24):
I'm not looking forward to going back to regular radio when I move back to Namibia!

Just go with Worldspace Satellite Radio. It covers all of africa and shares some of the same channels XM has. I believe the COO or something like that actually came from Worldspace to XM.

jetjeanes · Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:40 am

Now if they would get uniteds channel 9 on there i might buy one

sw733 · Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:45 am

Quoting ArmitageShanks (Reply 25):
Just go with Worldspace Satellite Radio. It covers all of africa and shares some of the same channels XM has. I believe the COO or something like that actually came from Worldspace to XM.

Oh I've definitely considered that, and probably will. But It will be tough to go on without Covino and Rich on Maxim Radio Wink

seb146 · Sun Mar 02, 2008 3:15 am

I have had both. I started off with Sirius, but when I listened to the channel choices on XM, I switched. I actually had both for a few months just to compare. Since XM had NHL, that was even better!

Quoting ShyFlyer (Reply 19):
but I'm not terribly happy with my radio (Audiovox Xpress). The display is way too bright at night, even at the lowest setting

I have a Roady and I really like it. My partner has an Audiovox Xpress and I found it is way too bright at night, too! The funny thing is, we can swap recievers! I don't want to since he has his channels programmed different than mine.

srbmod · Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:03 pm

Quoting SW733 (Reply 27):

Oh I've definitely considered that, and probably will. But It will be tough to go on without Covino and Rich on Maxim Radio

You know you could always subscribe to Sirius Internet Radio and still listen to them as Maxim Radio is one of the channels they offer on the Internet service.

lnglive1011yyz · Sun Mar 02, 2008 4:12 pm

Quoting JFKTOWERFAN (Reply 8):
I have been with Sirius for almost four years. I am to the point where if I do not have Sirius in a car I will not even listen to the radio, just shut it off.

Bingo -- And you know what? Almost everyone that was a cynic when I bought it.. after spending some time in my car, most of them (90%) have either bought, or are thinking of getting it.

Quoting LOT767-300ER (Reply 16):
I had Sirius for 3 years and got rid of it.

No need to pay for music. Especially when your ipod and a 120gb Hard Drive is hooked up to your head unit with video on demand

You may be right -- but Satellite offers much more than an iPod can. An iPod cannot offer live, uncensored, comedy, talk, and news radio.

Your iPod MAY be able to hold thousdands of songs.. but it cannot possibly hold the entire catalogue of music available to Sirius and XM.

I have found myself venturing into other genre's of music, (classical, country (yes, believe it or not), and.. even some stuff from the Pop hits channels.... It's allowed me to pick up some new songs / artists that I normally woudln't listen to.

Your iPod is customizable to your liking, yes, however..

My Sirius receiver is both a Satellite receiver, MP3 player, AND it records anythign I'm listening to at the touch of one button.

With all due respects, your iPod likely cannot do that, all on the fly.

There are too many benefits to satellite radio. I hate commercials. I do. I absolutely detest them. The fact that *most* of their channels do NOT have commercials, is a blessing.

Yes, you can change radio stations, or put on your own MP3's with terrestrial radio, but.. the radio stations have gotten smart, just like t.v.. they ALL now take commercials at the same time.

I could go on and on and on.. The content is better, the sound quality is better, it's more flexible, more to offer, continuous music, no commericals.. same channels no matter where you are in the satellite feed zone.. hardly ever any breakups of the signal, all for a few cents a day??? C'mon, there's a clear winner.

They said people wouldn't pay for cable.. and look at the industry today.

Too many benefits to not take advantage of, if you're looking for variety.

1011yyz

srbmod · Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:21 pm

Quoting Lnglive1011yyz (Reply 30):

The coast to cover coverage is why Sirius and XM are very popular with truckers and other folks whose jobs have them on the road constantly.

Don't forget about the sports offerings. You can be on the other side of the country and listen to your favorite team(s). The sports offerings is why I wish the merger would get approved. There are folks who have both Sirius and XM because of the sports offerings, and are paying for two services as a result.

Quoting Lnglive1011yyz (Reply 30):
They said people wouldn't pay for cable.. and look at the industry today.

And folks will pony up hundreds of dollars for the NFL/NHL/NBA/MLB add-on packages to their cable or satellite TV. Meanwhile they can get the radio feeds off of Sirius or XM for less than that plus they don't have blackout restrictions like with the TV broadcasts.

CaptainJon · Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:29 pm

Had XM but cancelled after a year or so. Originally I cancelled in protest of the Opie and Anthony suspension. Then when I would of considered resubbing, I decided against it, as the only time I listened was driving, and well, yes I do drive a lot, however on average my commute is only 45 minutes everyday. In the office, I did enjoy listening online which was great and all, but they still play the same stuff over and over again, just like FM. So I bought an iPod instead.

Only time I cringe, is when I needed to go down to Washington, DC from New Jersey, changing the station every 60 miles was rather annoying. But that is rare, that drive.

If the merger does happen, and they do the ala carte thing the FCC wants, then I will go back with haste!

ArmitageShanks · Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:42 pm

Quoting CaptainJon (Reply 32):
Originally I cancelled in protest of the Opie and Anthony suspension

Good man. I cancelled 4 units for the duration of their suspension and re-subbed them as soon as they returned with each getting 3 months free once I did so.

iairallie · Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:52 pm

I had both. I prefered Sirius. I no longer use either service. I don't drive much. less than 7000 miles a year. When I do drive I listen to talk radio or to my Ipod.

WestJetForLife · Sun Mar 02, 2008 6:10 pm

I have XM. Got a receiver and a subscription for my 17th birthday. Really good, no-commercial music stations, and I love listening to Opie and Anthony AKA "The ViRUS" on XM202 every day I come home from school and/or work. Really entertaining, and it's much better than terrestrial radio here in the YYC area.

Cheers,
Nik

AGC525 · Sun Mar 02, 2008 6:48 pm

I was always a person who thought it was absolutely rediculous to "pay" to listen to the radio and routinely made fun of my friends with satellite radio for it. I bought a new Chevy Colorado a few months ago, and got the free 3 month deal from XM. It only took a few days and I realized the difference. Aside from Pittsburgh radio being horrible, it was day and night from everything from no commercials to the clarity. Most of my friends have Sirius, and we have it at work, and I kinda like that better but instead of the hassle of switching out recievers, I kept XM. My free trial expired a few days ago, and being a little tight on cash I thought I would wait a few weeks and subscribe. That lasted about 48 hours, and I sprung for it. I never thought I would have a use for so many channels, but it's nice having that much choice when your in the mood for whatever type of music. The traffic channel has helped out, too. And like others have said, it's nice going on a 5-6 hour road trip and not changing the channel!

My .02....

jetblueguy22 · Sun Mar 02, 2008 6:51 pm

I have Sirius. I have DirecTv and they have Xm on it and its horrible. So it made it easy to pick Sirius. I like the classic rewind channel. And the nascar channel is pretty cool.
Blue

zanl188 · Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:16 pm

I have Sirius here, both in the truck and in the house. Bought it originally for the superior reception as I live in a semi-rural area, kept it for the variety. I like 70s, 80s, 90s, and E-Street channels in the car and at home I'll tune in Radio Classics, Standards, NPR, and BBC World Service.

One downside: No local news, events, or weather Sad

. I got one of those alerting weather radios as we have no civil defense sirens here, but still... I expect as the technology evolves we will get some type of local content on sat radio...

iflyatldl · Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:31 pm

Quoting ZANL188 (Reply 38):
One downside: No local news, events, or weather . I got one of those alerting weather radios as we have no civil defense sirens here, but still... I expect as the technology evolves we will get some type of local content on sat radio...

Depending on where you are....there are stations that start around channel 135 that give you the traffic and weather from the Weather Channel for specific city pairs like/Atlanta/Miami, Baltimore/Washington, Boston/New York etc. I like it because you can get Canadian news, and living in ATL, that's hard to come by.

zanl188 · Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:44 pm

Quoting Iflyatldl (Reply 39):
Depending on where you are....there are stations that start around channel 135 that give you the traffic and weather from the Weather Channel for specific city pairs like/Atlanta/Miami, Baltimore/Washington, Boston/New York etc. I like it because you can get Canadian news, and living in ATL, that's hard to come by.

Well like I said I'm semi-rural here... I get those channels but the closest market to me is either MIA or ATL - pretty much useless for local content. I fully expect in a few years to having something like a local "crawler" across the bottom of the LCD that could post scores, local weather/news, etc...

CaptainJon · Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:12 am

Quoting ArmitageShanks (Reply 33):
each getting 3 months free once I did so.

I was only offered one month. Unfortunately, all I hear from them nowadays is on KROCK.

sccutler · Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:21 am

I have had a Sirius receiver for a while, have been very pleased with selection and quality, most especially the Pure Jazz channel (72?).

Likely to change to XM soon, as I am going to be subscribing to XM WX for in-plane weather, and no need to pay two different satellite providers.

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