To XM or Not to XM

jay3903

How does the group feel about XM on your 2 channel rig? I am in the process of upgrading my stuff and currently I have an XM ready receiver and I'm looking at going to a pre amp. I seem to listen to XM about as much as I listen to CD's. Is XM worth it (quality) when moving to a higher quality of audio gear?

Thanks for all your help

engtaz

If you are listening to it a lot then yes.

Shizelbs

I personally find the quality of XM to be pretty bad on many stations. Bad as in, still very good, but no way in hell would I ever believe it was CD quality.

Jack1576

My receiver is XM compatible as well, and I've subscribed for the past 3 months. Despite their claims there's no way it's CD quality sound. Also, there's definitely a difference in sound quality between channels.

That said, it's a great way to expand your library. You really can find anything you could ever want to hear.

Serendipity

It's not really "CD-quality" sound like they claim, but XM is a great way to find new artists and the like.

Avalon

I would agree whole-heartedly with the previous posters. If your system is of good quality, you'll notice a difference right away. It's no where close to CD quality on the channels I frequent. I was afraid of this when I was researching and decided to go with the XRT-12. It has the reputation as being the best XM tuner on the market. Besides that it has a digital out, so you can incorporate an external DAC if you fancy experimenting with the sound. I have yet to try it with a DAC, but maybe I should. I will however keep subscribing because of the commercial free aspect and the outstanding play list.

Serendipity

One more thing to keep in mind: XM sound quality varies a lot depending on the quality of your system AND the quality of the XM receiver/tuner.

I used to listen to XM Radio with a Samsung portable XM receiver, and the quality wasn't very good. Then I tried the XM Radio Online on my laptop and got better sound quality than the portable. So the tuner matters too.

steveinaz

XM's programming is very cool, but the quality lacks. As stated by others, it's not CD quality. A well tuned FM station sounds better, IMO. XM's treble sounds "veiled" and flat--like someone is standing in front of your speaker. The soundstage is very flat as well. Some stations sound better than others, but overall it's sound is not as good as I was expecting.

I even tried running my Polk Xrt-12 thru my Benchmark DAC; there was a slight improvement, but not much--still veiled in the highs and a lifeless soundstage. Having said that, XM, to me, sounds better thru a lower-end system. For instance, on my patio system (Yamaha receiver/Energy C-3 speakers) it sounds real good, but still not as good as CD's on the same system.

PolkThug

XM quality is like 160Mbps MP3's. In their battle to have the highest number of stations, quality takes a hit, IMO.

Serendipity

PolkThug wrote: »

XM quality is like 160Mbps MP3's. In their battle to have the highest number of stations, quality takes a hit, IMO.

More like 128kbps MP3's. Well at least for the rock channels.

jay3903

Thanks for the help. I think I will go with the XRt 12. Looking at one on Ebay.

Mike682

I agree with the others. The sound is not cd quality, but the content is impressive.

schwarcw

If you don't like the sound quality from your XM. Buy a low power, quality FM transmitter. Broadcast your XM over a clear channel FM frequency into your Marantz 10b or McIntosh MR-67 tubed tuner. Don't laugh, there are plenty of folks doing it. You can build a high quality low power FM tansmitter for very little money and enjoy XM over the magical sound of a legendary tube tuner. The improvement in sound quality is pronounced.

If you don't have a couple of large laying around for the Marantz 10B, buy a less expensive Scott or Fisher tube tuner. Some of those are very underrated and can be had for a couple of Franklins. Russ sells a few here several times a year.

The SS Sansui's (717) or a Kenwood KT-8300 are also very nice for very little money.

gdpeck

Mike682 wrote: »

I agree with the others. The sound is not cd quality, but the content is impressive.

My experience with XM has been in rental cars that have had the service so take this for what it's worth. A few weeks ago I was driving to dinner, and was listening to Deep Tracks. They started playing Rush 2112, one of my favorite albums. It appeared that they were going to play the whole album, or at least side one. My excitement, quickly diminished however when I started to hear compression artifacts, no dynamics, etc. I can always tell when something is compressed at a very low bitrate (128KB/s mp3 for example), by listening to cymbal hits. At low bitrates they will have a very "squishy" warbly sound to them. That is what I heard on Deep Tracks that night, and I actually stopped listening to that channel because it sounded so bad.

On the other hand, the jazz channel I listened to, Real Jazz IIRC sounded fine.