Tnorling

Between FM, USB, CD, and XM, the XM sound quality lags behind. Anyone else, or is it just me? I have an Alpine custom system in another vehicle and it's XM signal sounds fabulous.

Eppieguy

XM in the GX sucks in comparison to my last Tahoe and my current Corvette. Reception is horrible compared to those vehicles as well. I know it's a Lexus issue since my mothers ES and my company GS are just as bad.

Koz

All the other formats are better in any vehicle!

Koz

nsaldanh

XM is terrible as they really compress it to get all those channels. It's probably equivalent to 64K streaming audio, maybe worse.

SaniDel

I won't speak to quality ... my 63 year-old ears probably can't tell the difference, especially with tinnitus ... but I can speak to the issue of reception. My wife and I just completed a 1,200 mile road trip from Delaware to Sanibel, listening to XM most of the way. We do not recall any instance of bad reception ... unless you count the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel!

What exactly is 'horrible' about the reception in your vehicle? Presumably, anywhere in North America, which is the 'footprint' of XM, reception should be the same. Perhaps in the 'canyons' of major cities the reception suffers and certainly in tunnels, but why else is our experience so different?
Regards,

SaniDel

Eppieguy

Well, not sure what the issue is but it constantly goes out, even on the highway passing under a 2 lane underpass at 70 MPH it cuts out briefly. It does the same on my mothers 09 ES. Gets very annoying. I have had XM in my GM vehicles since 99 and while it has cut out from time to time it has never been as bad as it is in my GX or my mother ES. Maybe it's just the area we are in, she lives in NH and me in NJ but as I said it was much better in my Tahoe's and is better in my Corvette.

SaniDel

Thanks for the details. We drove under many underpasses, bridges and other large structures on our recent road trip and didn't experienced this.

However, in the summer when the trees are thick with leaves this will happen on narrow roads where the trees form a canopy and block the view of the sky. It usually lasts only for a few seconds, but it is annoying. You would think that large concrete and steel structures would be the problem, not trees and leaves!

Regards,

SaniDel

tazdevl

Even with Mark Levinson in our 2010 RX and 2011 GX, the audio quality for XM is poor. Pre-merger Sirius used to sound better.

I do agree that Lexus reception is lacking compared to other vehicles. Not sure if it is due to the antenna position, sensitivity, etc... but my 2007 Acura MDX, 2008 Infiniti FX45, 2009 Infiniti EX35 used to get much better reception, even in parking garages. Both our Lexi cut off briefly going under 4 lane overpasses.

SiriusXM

Hi there -

If you have any issues with your XM radio, feel free to reach out to us here or send us an email with your contact info to sxm_help@siriusxm.com and we'll be more than happy to troubleshoot with you.

Thanks,
SiriusXM Digital Care Team

tazdevl

There is nothing to troubleshoot. Your product is flawed, its quality/value are questionable and I suspect Lexus' antenna configuration/equipment leaves something to be desired too.

psukhu

Like the other post said, compression is one reason for poor quality on XM. Also, certain parts of the sound spectrum are not transmitted to also save on bandwidth. (extreme highs and lows) Some XM stations sound better since they can dedicate more bandwidth to certain channels. News and Talk stations will have worse quality by design so more bandwidth can be given to music stations. You can really hear the difference if you compare to a CD in any car.

The technology should get better in time as faster chips will allow for better compression. For now I'm just glad we have it and the traffic info is great.

SaniDel

The advantages of satellite radio (nationwide coverage, channel selection, traffic and weather updates) overwhelm any slight degradation of music quality due to compression. On a recent 1,200 mile road trip to Florida we listened to Channel 4 non-stop ... traditional Christmas music recorded in the 40's, 50's and 60's ... some of which was monaural and much was recorded analog. Who cares if it was compressed!
Regards,

SaniDel


Rant Warning: Quality vehicle audio is a "fool's errand" as the listening environment is compromised by wind and road noise. The GX 460 is amazingly quiet for a truck, but no vehicle is silent. If you want a quality audio experience ... stay home or listen with headphones. Rant Off ...