gadgetman1

Too bad they don’t have a-la-carte choices. I love Rock Bar. I also used to listen to Turbo, but that channel is now gone for whatever reason. I also like the George Carlin channel. We looked at our last SXM bill & they are charging fees for copyrights now! I think we may end up dumping both satellite accounts as my wife only drives less than 10 mins to work instead of 1.5 hours.

Mike728

XM(Sirius) subscription prices have more than tripled since I first subscribed. However, the biggest reason I cancelled the account in my car was for horrible sound quality. While their on-line quality keeps improving, their OTA quality has tanked. No competition equals poor service. I was sad to see them merge.

gregjhonda

I agree that the sound quality is quite horrible. Funny thing is that the Mark Levinson system enhances it to the point where it ALMOST doesn't sound compressed. It's not always apparent right away but after and hour or so the sound becomes very tiring/fatiguing to the ears. Apple music is my main music source now with occasional thumb drives encoded at 320kbps. Thanks for all the info above!

Mike728

I have the exact opposite experience. The ML has speakers that are frequency specific via band-pass circuits. With the limited bandwidth available, this enhances the compressed sound.

I agree that 320kbps MP3's sound good, though. Have you tried XM's streaming option? It's supposedly also 320kbps in a strong data signal environment. I find it acceptable, but not as good as Pandora on high bitrate setting.

mikemu30

Rack rate which nobody pays. Haggle enough and you'll get it for $7 or $8 monthly.

Mike728

Still not worth it for how bad the sound quality is. Streaming is cheaper anyway.

gregjhonda

One of the big problems with satellite radio is that like satellite TV and cable, they are pushing channels instead of content. I don't want to buy channels of fixed content most of which I don't use, I just want to select the content that I want to view and hear in real time. After using Apple Music and selecting the exact artists, albums or songs I want to hear on the fly, I no longer can tolerate being spoon fed a stream of songs that someone else selects on a channel . Same for video. I don't want to pay for the AMC channel, I just want The Walking Dead and will pay for it ala carte. The whole concept of fixed channels is extremely outdated but services like cable and satellite don't have the bandwidth to stream individual user content in real time.

gadgetman1

You mentioned here about someone else selecting the programming on satellite radio. One of the things that’s making me want to cut off this service is the actual programming. I thought I would enjoy the Groove channel, but half of the songs they play, I don’t remember hearing. Disco was big when I was in school & I listened a lot! I started thinking about the “extra fees” they are throwing in that include copyright fees. I’m thinking not all these channels are playing their mainstream genre because they have to pay the copyrights. They are charging us, but not passing on the music we are paying for. Ever wonder why they seem to have a cloud of secrecy when it comes to what vehicle gets what platform & why some channels are “online only” & other vehicles can get those “online only” channels as a regular subscription? I’m fairly convinced they are ripping us off. I also haggled with SXM & got them down to $5/mo, but it’s just not worth it every time renewal comes around. Someone mentioned above that no competition equals poor quality. I think they were 100% correct! Unfortunately, I don’t see any formidable competition on the horizon. Some of the major radio broadcasters are not doing well at all.

How does one one compose a complete music library at 320 kbps? I use iTunes, but I don’t think every recording is at 320 kbps. I could be wrong, so I’m open to any suggestions. Thanks for the excellent feedback thus far!

mikemu30

Anyone recall the days when cars came with AM radio only and one speaker?

gadgetman1

I had a 1970 Plymouth Fury III convertible with an AM/FM radio & optional rear seat speaker (in the center section of the monstrous back seat).

ggebhardt

Those were the days. I do remember the AM radio. The above is a nice interior from the past, indeed!

I had a red and black Plymouth Satellite convertible, no ac but it did have push buttons for the transmission!

The motor and tranny were bullet proof!

mikemu30

My dad had a 71 Fury - not so bullet proof from what I recall. The radiator used to overheat frequently.

Mike728

I have over 1,000 CD's that I ripped myself using iTunes. I actually did it 2x, since I originally ripped at 128kbps back in the early days of MP3. The second time I used 256k, which is pretty much discernible from 320k. There's an option in iTunes to set the quality for ripping. I have never bought any music through iTunes, though, if that's how you obtained your library.

gadgetman1

I was afraid of that. 99% of my music is off of iTunes. I have one or two CDs burned into it. What bit rate is iTunes set for? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that anywhere & I think they are considered MP4 files, right? It would be great if I could burn a 64 GB USB instead of farting around with this silly not-so-satellite radio.

gadgetman1

I had the rather anemic 318 cid V-8. I never had any cooling issues, but I sure didn’t have any power in that freak’n land yacht. It had torsion bar suspension & it would literally wallow down the road, just like a boat in choppy water. I moved up from the Plymouth to a 1983 Pontiac Grand Prix LJ with a sunroof & AM/FM/Cassette. It had those horrible 4X10 speakers on the rear deck & crappy 3” speakers in the dash. I replaced the entire sound system with Blaupunt. I wish I had never sold that car! It was a true personal luxury cruising car.