XM or Sirius Radio?

Me too

Michael

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Jim Weir wrote:

I've asked Gail to post you a response by email.

Any chance you could post her reply here, too? I am very interested in
reading her research.

--
Peter







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XM has a much broader selection of music, and they play it. Over 2
million tracks in their library, versus 500,000 for Sirius. Sirius
has the NFL games though. I have both and find the sound quality for
XM to be superior and the playlists are much deeper. Sirius has had a
lot of complaints about repetition, and I pretty much agree with it.

XM also has much better hardware. They are at least 18 months ahead
(or more) in their chipsets. Unless one wants to listen to NFL games,
I would choose XM. I think some younger people may prefer some of the
music on Sirius, though -- I can't listen to it, personally.

XM also has much better hardware. They are at least 18 months ahead
(or more) in their chipsets. Unless one wants to listen to NFL games,
I would choose XM. I think some younger people may prefer some of the
music on Sirius, though -- I can't listen to it, personally.

Doesn't Sirius also have NPR?

That plus the NFL could be a deciding factor for me.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Here is from Gail...

**************************
First my disclaimer: I'm not without my agenda. I have and love XM.

Yes, that's the Delphi SkyFi in the ad you referenced. Jim and I have a
Delphi Roady in the car (which could be adapted to the airplane) and I have
an XM PCR at my desk -- I listen anywhere from 1 to 6 hours a day I guess. I
also use the PCR (PC Radio) to record programs for later listening (personal
use only). That can also be done with the Roady -- in fact you could use the
line out to any recording device (there is a line level adjustment).

That said, here is a good link to an article by someone who has had both.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/satellite/page2.html

I would add that I think the music sounds great on XM, but I'm not an
audiophile nor to I have expensive speakers, etc. Both services are
continually improving their compression algorithms. XM uses AAC Plus. I
don't know what Sirius uses.

I like the deep playlists on XM. I also enjoy the fact that the BBC feed is
the World Service and not just the news. Note that unless something has
changed, the NPR feed on Sirius (XM doesn't not offer NPR) does not include
some of the flagship shows -- All Things Considered for example. I don't
miss NPR at all. Also Sirius has more sports, but remember they pre-empt
other programs on various "streams" (the same thing XM calls channels).

One big thing is the price -- $9.99 a month for XM vs $12.99 a month for
Sirius. Many tout the Sirius lifetime subcription that will be withdrawn in
August, but remember that this is for the lifetime of the receiver, not your
lifetime -- makes a difference. Both have family plans and multi-year plans.
Read the fine print and it all becomes clear.

We traveled to NC and back from CA on XM and that was before they eliminated
the commercials on all the music channels. It was such a blessing. We only
had a few brief dropouts on I-40 through the Appalachian Mountains and on
I-80 through the Sierra -- brief means less than 15 seconds.

XM Traffic and Weather for the metro areas they cover is very nice, too.

If you want to read the current gripes or praises of current listeners go
to:

http://www.xm411.com/phpbb/index.php

http://www.xmfan.com

http://www.siriusbackstage.com/

And of course both services have a lot of info at their respective sites:

http://www.xmradio.com

http://www.siriusradio.com/

One more very important note about XM, and I can't speak for Sirius since
I'm not a Sirius sub, but XM has not screwed up the billing at all -- they
have been great. When I called Listener Care to add the second receiver on
the Family Plan they were fast, courteous and accurate :-) No outtages or
other problems either.

It's been great and I never want to have to rely on terrestrial radio again.

Gail

Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
...
I really like the one you see advertised on TV, where the guy pops the
little XM receiver (which appears to be about the size of a cassette
tape) out of his car and brings it into his home boom-box.

That's the one I have, the Sky-Fi. The Roady is a little smaller but you
don't want that one, it has several issues.



It would be slick to have something like that in the plane! Anyone got
anything like it?

Wouldn't be without it.

Newps wrote:
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
...
I really like the one you see advertised on TV, where the guy pops
the little XM receiver (which appears to be about the size of a
cassette tape) out of his car and brings it into his home boom-box.

That's the one I have, the Sky-Fi. The Roady is a little smaller but
you don't want that one, it has several issues.

Just curious. What issues with the Roady are you referring to? We've had
one since December and have no issues, not even sitting right next to our
Garmin 295 if that is the issue you are alluding to (early on there were
reports of problems with the Roady when next to a GPS unit, but it was found
to be an installation issue, not a problem with the Roady). The Roady is
sturdy, reliable, and sounds great with decent speakers (IOW -- sounds
better in the Miata with the Bose Audio than in the Bronco with speakers
that need replacing).

For the price, the Roady can't be beat. The whole SkyFi system is neat and
just may be the best for Jay's application, but the Roady is a neat little
unit and shouldn't be dismissed by anyone without more explicit information.


TIA,

Gail

"Gail Allinson" wrote in message
...
Newps wrote:
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
...
I really like the one you see advertised on TV, where the guy pops
the little XM receiver (which appears to be about the size of a
cassette tape) out of his car and brings it into his home boom-box.

That's the one I have, the Sky-Fi. The Roady is a little smaller but
you don't want that one, it has several issues.

Just curious. What issues with the Roady are you referring to? We've had
one since December and have no issues, not even sitting right next to our
Garmin 295 if that is the issue you are alluding to (early on there were
reports of problems with the Roady when next to a GPS unit, but it was
found
to be an installation issue, not a problem with the Roady). The Roady is
sturdy, reliable, and sounds great with decent speakers (IOW -- sounds
better in the Miata with the Bose Audio than in the Bronco with speakers
that need replacing).

XM Radio has had many extensive threads on the Cessna Pilots Assoc website.
There have been many GPS issues, although I didn'y pay attention and see if
it was certain models or what the deal is. It doesn't affect my two GPS's
so I glossed over it. The Roady has some or all connections that hook up to
the radio itself, so if you want to move the radio to your car you have to
unplug cables. The Sky-Fi is a much cleaner setup. The radio goes into a
tray. The tray gets attached to where ever you want to mount it. The
Sky-Fi slides into the tray and all connections are made to the tray and not
to the radio. There have been numerous issues with the audio level being
too low with the Roady. Hardly any issues with the Sky-Fi.

Newps wrote:
snippage

XM Radio has had many extensive threads on the Cessna Pilots Assoc
website. There have been many GPS issues, although I didn't pay
attention and see if it was certain models or what the deal is. It
doesn't affect my two GPS's so I glossed over it.

An external antenna on the GPS solves any problems that I have heard of.

The Roady has some
or all connections that hook up to the radio itself, so if you want
to move the radio to your car you have to unplug cables.

Very true and that can be a weak point if handled roughly.

The Sky-Fi
is a much cleaner setup. The radio goes into a tray. The tray gets
attached to where ever you want to mount it. The Sky-Fi slides into
the tray and all connections are made to the tray and not to the
radio. There have been numerous issues with the audio level being
too low with the Roady. Hardly any issues with the Sky-Fi.

Thanks for the clarification. That's a good and IMHO a valid point and one
of the considerations when deciding to go with a Roady or a SkyFi.

Gail

There have been numerous issues with the audio level being
too low with the Roady.

P.S. Missed that -- There is a line level adjustment on the Roady if that's
any help, but since I've not yet tried the Roady in the airplane I can't
speak with authority -- line level is great at the default, 5, for good
speakers but I had to lower it to 3 so that cruddy speakers didn't buzz.

Gail

I've had a Delphi Roady in the airplane for about 6 months, plugs directly
into the Garmin 340 audio panel aux input. I have no issues with it. It
works great and I use it at home with a wireless headset. XM has everything
I want to listen to.
--
Mark Manes
WC5I
T310Q N28409



"Newps" wrote in message
news

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
...
I really like the one you see advertised on TV, where the guy pops the
little XM receiver (which appears to be about the size of a cassette
tape) out of his car and brings it into his home boom-box.

That's the one I have, the Sky-Fi. The Roady is a little smaller but you
don't want that one, it has several issues.



It would be slick to have something like that in the plane! Anyone got
anything like it?

Wouldn't be without it.