What's better, if you like 70's and 80's music, alternative/new wave music ? One has the NFL, the other has 'everything else', and I don't care about motorsports on the radio.
I prefer XM and mostly listen to 80s, Chill, Fred and several others. (XM Chill is more electronic new wave, Fred is one of their alternative stations). Had both XM and Sirius for a while and found XM's programming easier to navigate. I also found Sirius, at least on their 80s and Chill channels, repeats the same songs over and over. XM has more variety on those channels. Also, being a hockey fan I like the year-round NHL coverage. I think you can hear free samples on XM's website or at least check out playlists to get an idea of what each station plays. Actually, I should also mention the two are merging so the programming might change down the road.
Neither. I use HD radio. Radio has been free for over 100 years so I'm not about to start paying for xm or sirius, especially when it offers nothing over hd.
Sirius radio for me. The 70's and 80's channels have really good DJ's like Barry Williams(Greg Brady), and alot of the MTV hosts from the 80's. The classic rock is also really good.
That's just it. Regular radio here sux, there is ONE halfway decent station, ALL of the others have gone country, hip-hop, talk radio, or spanish-speaking. The 'ONE halfway decent' one plays the SAME stuff over and over, for weeks on end it seems. You listen to it for 3 hours, and you're good for 2-3 weeks, unless you like replays every 3-4 hours. I need to find which alternative station on satellite would play Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Firehose, Meat Puppets, X, Henry Rollins, Talking Heads, down to Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, etc.
Why choose. In about a year, the merger will go through, and you can choose from both, pay for what you like, on one receiver. Personally I want NFL, NHL, MLB, Nascar, and a few other stations from both.
I have XM because it came with my Acura TL. I like it a lot, although I leave it on Fox news and Bloomberg. Occasionally (on the days I can stand hearing electronic music) I'll tune to dance channel 82 and every once in a while hear one of my songs or remixes on there. That's a cool feeling. The 80s channel can be a little sappy at time. Squizz is a fave if I'm listening to music. Also like the old school R+B channel, it's in the 60's range somewhere. I cannot remember the channel for Squizz. RMX
Neither here as well. I don't have HD radio, just the same ol' AM/FM channels. Really only one FM channel I listen to. And I can always find something on AM. I refuse to pay for radio, if it becomes standard and it's either pay or not have radio....I'll provide my own music. I have heard a little of both, didn't care for either.
I would go for Sirius...then again I'm partial as I was sponsorded by them quite a few years ago. I did "sell out" and go to XM for many years after that, but came back to Sirius...
I have had XM for a few years and I have to say it has changed the way I listen to music. I used to carry CDs in the car, or hook up an ipod. I know just listen to my XM channels. When I get into a rental that doesn't have it, well its painful. Static, commercials, DJ's, commercials. Finding a station, etc. When I am the road I can be sure that I will have something to listen to the whole way. There are parts of Florida that are near nothing, have nothing to listen to, or worse than that....country. I no longer carry discs in my cars and when I want a good laugh I put on XMComedy 150. Radio is not worth it, even if its free. Satellite is the best thing my wife and I subscribe to. My .02 t.
One thing I noticed with the satellite stations is they are not 24 hrs on one theme: one type of music is on a channel from, say 9 to 12, and a different one may then be on from 12 to 6, etc. I know truckers view satellite radio as a godsend... Are both companies' totally commercial-free ? Someone told me there was 'a couple' of channels that aired ads...
Let's face it clear channel destroyed radio in this country. The "classic" rock station in Miami now has their morning show from 6a - noon. They play the same songs over and over again. I always thought that Led Zeplin composed more than 2 songs. It's Sirius for me.
Mostly commercial free, although I found people "talk" a little more on Sirius. That being said, I've had XM (2003-2005), Sirius (2006-2007), and for three months now, XM again (as a result of trading vehicles) and I have to say that the playlists are 100% better on Sirius. The music and comedy are more current throughout the range of channels. I also liked the sports coverage a lot better. After the merger I hope XM moves more towards the Sirius content. I listen to 70's, 80's, Jazz, Country, Raw and Blue Collar Comedy, News, Traffic, Weather, and College Football. If anything, the content on XM has gotten worse over the last few years (or maybe that it's just that the novelty factor has worn off). XM used to have the "Toe Jam" on Channel 8 on Sunday nights, which was awesome, but I don't think it's on there anymore. My three month free period for XM just expired and I haven't reactivated it. A friend of mine just put an aftermarket Sirius unit in his car on my recommendation and he loves it. Just my .02
6AM-Noon! The "modern" rock station morning show I listen to is from 6am-10am. They do a fairly good job of playing different songs everyday. Outside of the recording company standard must play X song X times a day. But I listen to them for the talk aspect, not the music. They talk twice as much as music is played.
The merger is still proceeding AFAIK, I found these links on XM's site: http://www.xmradio.com/merger/promise.xmc http://www.xmradio.com/merger/news.xmc Whichever service you sign up for now, you're making a definite improvement over regular radio. I also have an HD radio, while the quality of music sound is good, the quality of music conent is sometimes lacking IMO (at least in Detroit). As for regular radio, there's three or four music stations worth listening to here and two of them are Canadian...go figure. XM does have commercials on a couple music stations as well as the news stations; on the display they are identified with "cm". The vast majority don't have commercials. Hope this helps.
What equipement do you have or have used that you really like/dislike? I'm looking for a unit that my g/f can use in her car and at work. Recommendations appreciated
ABSOLUTELY ! They bought the FCC, and now a kid with a 200mw transmitter in his bedroom can get busted for playing music, and learning electronics, it's terrible !
If this thread had been posted 2 years ago when I got it, I'd have said Sirius. But I can't stand it now. I have the Starmate. It cuts out every time I drive under an overpass! It cuts out every time there's a few tree branches above my car. It cuts out when I drive by tall buildings. And it cuts in and out for no damn reason when I drive through Burbank on the 134. I'm thinking of switching to XM because I heard that they not only shoot the signal down from space, but also from towers like regular radio. This would eliminate most of my problems.
I'm an audiophile, so I have an Alpine IVA-D310 head unit with XM tuner in my car and the Polk XRt12 tuner at home. Something like the XM Roady (search Amazon) is portable and will work in the car and at home so long as you purchase the correct additional components. I'll let the Sirius fans comment on their preferred listening device(s)...
"I refuse to pay for radio." LOL! That, is a matter of perspective. If you enjoy commercials, annoying morning shows, and non-stop self promotion, then, yes, it is free. Personally, I like to "spend" my time listening to music and will pay a bit to not have to suffer through the crap that passes for free radio. I've had Sirius for about three years and enjoy the programming. I can't say if it is better than XM, but I do know I'll never go back to regular radio.