Author Topic: Sirius Radio Question  (Read 4680 times)

Bigfish8

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Sirius Radio Question
« on: March 18, 2008, 06:18:05 PM »
This may not be the proper area so I will ask the moderator to move it if needed.  I was listening to Sirius on my computer yesterday and noticed a new offer on the sign-in screen.  There was a new offering for "CD Quality Sound" for an additional $2.00/month over the basic subscription rate.  Has anyone tried this and if so is there an improvement in the sound quality?

Thanks,

Ken

Offline richidoo

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Re: Sirius Radio Question
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2008, 06:44:57 PM »
CD Quality usually means higher than normal sampling rate, but still compressed to hell to fit through the satellite. It might mean 128kbps or could be even higher if you actually have to pay an upcharged for it. mp3s of 128kbps quality are often called "CD Quality" as is digital terrestrial radio even though it could be 96kbps or even lower. As an accomplished audiophile you will still think it sounds like shit, especially if you play it on your main system Ken. It is fine for Howard Stern though! haha  You can hear what these severely compressed streams sound like listening to Squeezenetwork or live365, internet radio stations. Most of them are 96-128kbps.

In the car with road rumble and stock radio you may not notice it when driving.  The Sirius programming is the draw, not the audio quality.

Bigfish8

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Re: Sirius Radio Question
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2008, 07:10:14 PM »
Thanks Rich, I have been a long term Sirius subscriber and pretty much say locked onto the NFL Channel when driving.  Based on your comments I will forgo the extra $2.00 a month.

Ken

Offline richidoo

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Re: Sirius Radio Question
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2008, 08:04:03 PM »
I looked it up, it is upgrade to "128K." I couldn't find the normal sample rate listed, could be 64 or 96kbps probably. If you are stuck on NFL, you don;t stand to gain anything with higher res. It might be worthwhile if you were listening to music where any increase in resolution is easily audible. Let us know if you decide to upgrade later. Cool stuff!

Offline Carlman

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Re: Sirius Radio Question
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2008, 02:38:24 PM »
I don't listen to any talk radio at all on my Sirius radios because the sound is just way too digitized-sounding.  I have a hard time hearing what they say and much prefer traditional AM or FM for talk-stuff.

I think they squeeze the bandwidth on talk stations to give more to music.  If the extra money improved the talk-radio stations... I'd be interested.

I think that Sirius is going to merge with XM fairly soon so, I'll be interested to hear what's offered in that situation.

-C
I really enjoy listening to music.

Bigfish8

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Re: Sirius Radio Question
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2008, 05:45:28 PM »
I don't listen to any talk radio at all on my Sirius radios because the sound is just way too digitized-sounding.  I have a hard time hearing what they say and much prefer traditional AM or FM for talk-stuff.

I think they squeeze the bandwidth on talk stations to give more to music.  If the extra money improved the talk-radio stations... I'd be interested.

I think that Sirius is going to merge with XM fairly soon so, I'll be interested to hear what's offered in that situation.

-C

Carl:

I recently received an offer from Sirius that I could pay them more money and receive certain XM Stations.  It was a tiered offer with being able to receive the total offerings of XM and Sirius if I wanted to pay enough money.  I trashed it as the receiver stays locked on channel 124.

Ken

Offline Carlman

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Re: Sirius Radio Question
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2008, 06:06:19 AM »
Makes sense... I haven't seen any promos but I don't read the mail very often... I'll keep an eye out for these offers.  128 is better than 64...(or whatever it is now) and my wife wants XM anyway... so, maybe things are going to work out for us after all... :)
-C
I really enjoy listening to music.