I have read somewhere that both XM and Sirius transmit in mp3 format, so the sound is already downsampled and compressed.
XM/Sirius transmissions are seriously compressed (probably nothing like MP3 format, but maybe, I don't know). The quality is nowhere close to CD (which is uncompressed).
XM/Sirius transmissions are seriously compressed (probably nothing like MP3 format, but maybe, I don't know). The quality is nowhere close to CD (which is uncompressed).
In my 07 GX, the XM sounds better than any FM station. Even in my old 06 GX which had Sirius, FM always sounded worse than Sirius. That's the way it should be.
In my 07 GX, the XM sounds better than any FM station. Even in my old 06 GX which had Sirius, FM always sounded worse than Sirius. That's the way it should be.
I believe the actual implmentation of the system can have a lot to do with the sound quality. The XM in my wife's MDX is far worse than FM (on par with AM almost) and the Sirius in my BMW is close to FM but not quite as good.
Either way, people should not believe that XM or Sirius will approach CD sound quality - the music is just too compressed (so they can get more channels) to sound good (note that some stations are compressed more than others).
I believe the actual implmentation of the system can have a lot to do with the sound quality. The XM in my wife's MDX is far worse than FM (on par with AM almost) and the Sirius in my BMW is close to FM but not quite as good.
Either way, people should not believe that XM or Sirius will approach CD sound quality - the music is just too compressed (so they can get more channels) to sound good (note that some stations are compressed more than others).
So annoying. I can't stand this world of bad sounding music. I want DVD-A or better; larger files and as much sound deviation as the ears can handle.
Bah...
__________________ 2008 Porsche Cayenne GTS Silver PDCC Full Leather almost every option
2007 Lexus GS 450h Silver/Black leather SOLD
2007 Lexus GsX-R 1K Orange/Black
2005 Lexus GX 470 6500K HID fogs, 3M complete
I believe the actual implmentation of the system can have a lot to do with the sound quality. The XM in my wife's MDX is far worse than FM (on par with AM almost) and the Sirius in my BMW is close to FM but not quite as good.
Either way, people should not believe that XM or Sirius will approach CD sound quality - the music is just too compressed (so they can get more channels) to sound good (note that some stations are compressed more than others).
Doug is right. XM uses MPEG2 HE-AAC audio coding with bitrates in the 32-56kbps range (my guesstimate--may be even higher or lower depending on the program) which means it can never approach CD quality when listening to any decent playback system. HD radio uses the same codec but CAN use as high as 96 kbps, which does sound pretty good for radio. But when they switch to multicast mode, that 96 kbps pie is sliced up to carry 2 or 3 streams instead of 1, dropping the main bitrate to maybe 64 or 48 kbps.
I'm with Jace. Bah on all that. So I just received my VAIS iPOD adaptor--today's installation project, and will load my iPod from my CDs directly as WAVs--no compression. If space gets tight I will use Apple lossless to double the effective capacity.
Superior Sound Quality XM succeeds because of its superior digital sound technology, unparalleled signal coverage, proven chipset technology and outstanding programming. The technologies that define XM Satellite Radio sound quality have been auditioned and endorsed by leading audio experts from around the world.
The superior XM sound quality experience in the car and home begins in XM's Digital Broadcast Center, where it creates and integrates its more than 170 state-of-the-art audio channels.
The Best Sound Quality Technologies: XM searched the world for the best sound quality technologies and found them in customized CT-aacPlus audio encoding with Neural Audio optimization, which provides superior sound quality remarkably close to Compact Disc.
The key to XM's outstanding sound quality is CT-aacPlus, a third-generation audio encoding technology. CT-aacPlus is the combination of Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), a highly efficient global standard combining the work of the world's foremost experts on perceptual audio encoding -- AT&T, Dolby, Fraunhofer, and Sony - with Coding Technologies' revolutionary Spectral Band Replication (SBRTM) technology.
Neural Audio created a customized version of its process for XM, designed to enhance CT-aacPlus results by optimizing temporal and spectral elements prior to encoding, improving soundstage clarity, and increasing intelligibility. The unique combination of CT-aacPlus and Neural Audio algorithms enable XM to deliver a consistent, superior sound experience.
In addition, Neural Audio's "stereo transcoder" algorithm preserves the imaging and spatiality of stereo and surround-sound content that XM broadcasts. So XM customers with matrix-style surround sound equipment, including Dolby technology, can receive a full surround sound experience.
Independent Tests Find
XM's Sound Quality
Superior Two independent, side-by-side tests have been performed on satellite radio sound, both recently: one by Bob Ludwig, the world's most renowned mastering engineer and audio quality expert, and the other by Sound & Vision, the largest audio enthusiast publication in the world. Both of these evaluators said unambiguously that XM had far superior sound quality.
In May 2002, Ludwig declared XM to have superior sound quality after an in-depth, side-by-side evaluation of the two satellite radio services conducted at his world-famous Gateway Mastering Studios. Ludwig, who has mastered countless gold and platinum records for many of the world's top musical artists, including Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Madonna, k.d. lang, and Creed, performed comprehensive comparisons among the original CD sources and broadcasts of the songs on XM and on its competitor Sirius Satellite Radio, all under laboratory conditions in his sound studios.
Ludwig said he consistently found the XM sound superior. "Overall, XM was more natural sounding and a much better music experience," he concluded.
These finding were mirrored in the July/August 2002 issue of Sound & Vision, after two days of road testing XM and its competitor in and around Denver, Colo. The Sound and Vision evaluation was performed by Senior Contributing Editor Ken C. Pohlmann, who teaches audio engineering at the University of Miami, and Contributor Leslie Shapiro, a recording engineer.
"At this stage of the game, XM sounds better than Sirius," Pohlmann and Shapiro said. "The bottom line: Sirius sound quality was inferior to XM's - to a significant degree we thought."
The road test results were corroborated by Sound & Vision Technical Editor David Ranada, who conducted an additional comparison in the magazine's offices to ensure that the results were attributed to the satellite signals and not the car electronics. Both XM and Sirius participated in and gave their full support to the magazine's tests.
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2007 AWD GS350 - Silver with Black interior.
after I've had the XM reciever installed and everything, I don't even know if I even want to subscribe if the sound quality is sub par to a cd even. Oh well.
I do completely enjoy the DVD-A's I have.. just can't find enough....
__________________ 2008 Porsche Cayenne GTS Silver PDCC Full Leather almost every option
2007 Lexus GS 450h Silver/Black leather SOLD
2007 Lexus GsX-R 1K Orange/Black
2005 Lexus GX 470 6500K HID fogs, 3M complete
I've got Sirius in my new Miata. So far it's not bad, but I don't know if the transmitted audio quality is that bad because a) the audio system is not all that, and b) who cares when the roof is down and you're tooling around!?
i have Sirius, my wife has XM...now i'm no Audiophile, but i CAN say, somewhat objectively (no ties to either company, paying for both!), that Sirius Content blows away everything XM has to offer...
Plus, with Sirius overtaking XM pretty steadily now, XM is now putting commercials on some of their formerly ad free music channels...something Sirius has sworn never to do, and thus far, kept to it....
Sirius also has far more high quality original content (note i added the qualifier 'high quality', knowing that some XM philes will tout their larger array of channels, and lineups, but come on...Opie and Anthony? an hour of Oprah a week? what gives!)...
so there's my two cents...i told my dealer, my GS 350 gets Sirius, or i'm not taking it. i even eliminated brands i was considering if there wasn't a factory installed Sirius option, or a better then most DIY sirius install/hack option.
I just picked up my car in N.J. and have been drving to Mpls for the last 2 days. I really love the XM Radio. As far as quality goes, I rate my Home Audio system a 9.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. It's a Single Ended tube system with Modified Altec/Klipschorn speakes!
Car Audio I rate the best as a 3 on a scale of 1-10. That said the DVD A's, CD's and FM and XM all range between 2.5 to 3. And yes I have the ML system. Car Audio is is limiting at best.
Are CDs better than XM? Yes, but XM can sound very good as far as car audio goes. It does seem to matter what genre you are listening to. XM does very well with Classical and Jazz, but most Rock sounds horrible. I don't blame that on XM radio as much as the recording. A lot of Rock recordings are so bad I can't listen to them on my Home system. Must use the car.
With that said, I did notice the ads on XM! - I hope they don't go away, I just signed up for 3 years.
What I really like is the ability to listen to lots of Jazz with the Song and Artist available for every tune. So, I kind of think of this as an adjunct to my home system to select new music. Also having stations set for the entire country is really great. No more searching for decent stations in Bible Belt country!
__________________
2007 AWD GS350 - Silver with Black interior.
I just picked up my car in N.J. and have been drving to Mpls for the last 2 days. I really love the XM Radio. As far as quality goes, I rate my Home Audio system a 9.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. It's a Single Ended tube system with Modified Altec/Klipschorn speakes!
Car Audio I rate the best as a 3 on a scale of 1-10. That said the DVD A's, CD's and FM and XM all range between 2.5 to 3. And yes I have the ML system. Car Audio is is limiting at best.
Are CDs better than XM? Yes, but XM can sound very good as far as car audio goes. It does seem to matter what genre you are listening to. XM does very well with Classical and Jazz, but most Rock sounds horrible. I don't blame that on XM radio as much as the recording. A lot of Rock recordings are so bad I can't listen to them on my Home system. Must use the car.
With that said, I did notice the ads on XM! - I hope they don't go away, I just signed up for 3 years.
What I really like is the ability to listen to lots of Jazz with the Song and Artist available for every tune. So, I kind of think of this as an adjunct to my home system to select new music. Also having stations set for the entire country is really great. No more searching for decent stations in Bible Belt country!
What color did you get? and post pics soon
__________________ 2007 GS350 RWDD.O.B. 11/06 Matador Red Mica /Cashmere ML/Nav/XM/ 18" five spoke rims Clear Bra (curently):
2006 GS300 AWD Matador Red Mica/Cashmere ML/Nav 20% tint pinstripe chrome 17" wheels (traded-in)
2000 Toyota Avalon XLS Loaded
1993 Ford Tempo it still runs wifes car
HD sound quality/ XM-Sirius sound quality
'07 GS350 AWD (MM/Black, premium package, non NAV/ML)
wifes car 
Linear Mode
