View Full Version : HD radio, SiriusXM, etc.
WickerBill
12-12-12, 08:59 AM
It is new car time for me, and one of the features of my ordered vehicle is that it comes with SirusXM satellite radio and HD radio, as well as a system that allows me to control phone apps like Pandora and Spotify via the car controls.
Being someone who barely has working FM in his current car, I'm a bit lost as to what HD radio is, what the benefits (perceived or real) are, etc. My wife has XM in her Saturn, so I kind of get that, but will the channel numbers all be the same on my car? Is the semi-crappy sound quality on her satellite radio just a function of the fact she has a semi-crappy car? Should I just cut through all that clutter and only do Pandora/Spotify?
As I understand it, HD radio is free but very limited; SiriusXM costs $10/mo after my trial runs out, and of course I pay (errr, my work pays) data rates for anything streamed off my phone. True?
chop456
12-12-12, 09:25 AM
As I understand it, HD radio is free but very limited; SiriusXM costs $10/mo after my trial runs out, and of course I pay (errr, my work pays) data rates for anything streamed off my phone. True?
1) Yes
2) No - They'll beg you to come back after the 3 free months with something like $90/yr. and no [re]activation fee.
3) Yes
Sirius/XM sound quality is fine, IMO. Pandora or iPod ->Bluetooth->car radio all sound about the same to me.
It is new car time for me, and one of the features of my ordered vehicle is that it comes with SirusXM satellite radio and HD radio, as well as a system that allows me to control phone apps like Pandora and Spotify via the car controls.
Being someone who barely has working FM in his current car, I'm a bit lost as to what HD radio is, what the benefits (perceived or real) are, etc. My wife has XM in her Saturn, so I kind of get that, but will the channel numbers all be the same on my car? Is the semi-crappy sound quality on her satellite radio just a function of the fact she has a semi-crappy car? Should I just cut through all that clutter and only do Pandora/Spotify?
As I understand it, HD radio is free but very limited; SiriusXM costs $10/mo after my trial runs out, and of course I pay (errr, my work pays) data rates for anything streamed off my phone. True?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio
My understanding is that it is like HD TV broadcasts, which have the same channel numbers, but the HD receiver can pick up the HD signal (much like an OTA HD TV receiver). I have no idea about the quality difference.
My take is that with HD you will have to endure the same commercials, etc. you have with analog broadcasts. With the others you will pay for a subscription for commercial-free service. I haven't activated Sirius in the Fusion, but I have a neighbor that has it and the quality is decent on the short trips I've taken with him. I usually stream Pandora via Bluetooth since I'm too cheap to pay for Spotify mobile. :gomer: Of course with Spotify you can select which tracks to play, and with Pandora you get what you get as with FM Radio (and Sirius for that matter). Of course Spotify and Pandora wil impact your data usage as well, but if work is picking up the tab, that's not an issue for you.
-Kevin
Not sure about HD radio - other than free if you have receiver.
LOVE my SiriusXM. Mine is an aftermarket install - meaning I wired in my own radios to both cars. Makes a huge difference compared to using the FM radio transmitter function. It sounds just as good as "regular radio" - which I rarely use. :yuck:
I wired in hook-ups for iPods and/or the iPhones. I've been streaming Pandora and playing my own tunes off them. Also, I use the iPods to play movies to the built in DVD screens. I hear no difference in the sound quality for my music - only limiting factor is the very rare buffering when I am driving in BFE.
I'd guess the bad sound is a function of the crappy speakers. Does regular radio sound better than SiriusXM in the same car?
I think they've been trying to standardize channel numbers for SiriusXM - no clue if that is done.
extramundane
12-12-12, 10:04 AM
I wired in hook-ups for iPods and/or the iPhones. I've been streaming Pandora and playing my own tunes off them. Also, I use the iPods to play movies to the built in DVD screens. I hear no difference in the sound quality for my music - only limiting factor is the very rare buffering when I am driving in BFE.
That's the sole reason I don't do more streaming from my iPhone or iPad in the car. Phone's AT&T and iPad's Verizon and I'm almost never outside the city or dense suburbs, yet I can count on both services to crap out regularly. :\
Does regular radio sound better than SiriusXM in the same car?
It doesn't for me, and I'm still using an FM transmitter for Sirius. Then again, the only 'regular' radio I ever listen to are a low-power station that sounds like AM even on the highest-end equipment and some news on the NPR station.
I think they've been trying to standardize channel numbers for SiriusXM - no clue if that is done.
There's been a lot of standardization but there are still differences.
cameraman
12-12-12, 01:19 PM
HD radio is nice (depending on what you are looking for) The NPR station here has a couple of side channels, one classical one an odd indie alt rock mix. Both entirely commercial free. Several of the commercial stations have it too, a country station will have a robo-rock feed. It is about a dozen sirius-like music feeds and it is free.
Rogue Leader
12-12-12, 02:19 PM
I'm a siriusxm subscriber since the early 2000's. Honestly its the only way to go, if you spend enough time in the car its so worth it. Continuous music, no commercials, new bands that don't always get mainstream airplay, every channel you could possibly want and variations on it, and Howard Stern!
If you call up and threaten to cancel they will ALWAYS cut you a deal as well.
Being someone who barely has working FM in his current car, I'm a bit lost as to what HD radio is, what the benefits (perceived or real) are, etc. My wife has XM in her Saturn, so I kind of get that, but will the channel numbers all be the same on my car? Is the semi-crappy sound quality on her satellite radio just a function of the fact she has a semi-crappy car? Should I just cut through all that clutter and only do Pandora/Spotify?
As I understand it, HD radio is free but very limited; SiriusXM costs $10/mo after my trial runs out, and of course I pay (errr, my work pays) data rates for anything streamed off my phone. True?
HD radio is the same stuff you get now in better quality with song info on the display. Some stations have one or two secondary channels in HD but I've never bothered to figure out how to tune them. In general I'm not a radio fan - satellite or otherwise.
I enjoy Pandora from time to time since it can be trained to your tastes, but for the most part I just want to put my Music on a thumb drive and plug it in.
I enjoy Pandora from time to time since it can be trained to your tastes
I am sure I read it here on OC from someone, but the recommendation was to be fairly ruthless in the dislikes on Pandora. In the long run, you get a much more listenable station. :thumbup:
I enjoy Pandora from time to time since it can be trained to your tastes, but for the most part I just want to put my Music on a thumb drive and plug it in.
I still get the odd Xmas song in the middle of my various Pandora channels, but otherwise Pandora rocks. I've been training it for over two years now, which has been about as effective as training our beagle mix hound. :saywhat:
The Fusion has a 10GB onboard HDD, so I can rip CDs in the car. It also sports a USB port, which has a 32GB flash drive plugged into it. :thumbup: ~4500 songs for my short 15 minute commutes. :gomer: Still trying to figure out how to upgrade the HDD, but I may be better off leaving it be. :) I just purchased an NAS RAID package from Newegg over gray, black, cyber weekend, which included the enclosure and 2 2TB HDDs for $289. :eek: And I only have 10GB in the car? :saywhat:
-Kevin
WickerBill
12-13-12, 09:36 AM
I am a chronic channel-changer. Favorite song ever but I'm not in the mood for it? Changed. So perhaps all of these choices will be a good thing, except when the wife is in the car. She hates the continual searching for the right music...
rosawendel
12-13-12, 07:34 PM
xm/sirius pricing varies... wildly. their standard pricing model is about 10-15 bucks a month. however, calling will almost always get you a better rate. There used to be a standard $79 a year rate that I tried to renew last year and they wouldn't do it, so i had them turn it off. Now we pay 30 bucks for six months for each radio. But you have to call them before the contract is up, or they'll auto-renew you.
We have factory radios - my wife's car has xm, mine has sirius. sound quality is in between am and fm, but the music selection itself makes it worth it. I hardly ever change channels from "the spectrum".
I was listening to pandora for a while, but over time, the musical variety tended to dwindle for me. now I l\isten to iheart radio, which is much better (or at least i haven't gotten sick of the selections yet).
DagoFast
12-13-12, 07:54 PM
I am a chronic channel-changer. Favorite song ever but I'm not in the mood for it? Changed. So perhaps all of these choices will be a good thing, except when the wife is in the car. She hates the continual searching for the right music...
Playlists can solve that. Then you can simply pick whichever type of music fits your mood. I personally plug in a USB memory stick with around 3000 songs and hit random. I usually like bouncing around different genre's vs. the same thing all the time. But there are times I'm in a certain mood for classical or jazz or ?
WickerBill
12-13-12, 09:51 PM
So in order of sound quality, low to high:
AM - Satellite - FM - MP3 - HDRadio - CD
?
cameraman
12-14-12, 12:06 AM
HD radio should = CD
Rogue Leader
12-14-12, 02:54 AM
So in order of sound quality, low to high:
AM - Satellite - FM - MP3 - HDRadio - CD
?
I don't know why people say Satellite is below FM, it by far is not. It about on par with MP3 (and by MP3 I don't mean the completely low bit rate crap, but something decent like what you'd get off iTunes). HIGH bit rate MP3 or better yet WMA files sound better than Satellite, and CD of course sounds best.
The only way Satellite would be worse than FM is using it through an FM transmitter because there is interference no matter how much you try to avoid it.
WickerBill
12-15-12, 09:15 PM
Unrelated new car question, because I don't want to start a new thread: what do new cars come with re: paint protection? Are they sealed, or just "fresh paint"? If the latter, does the "wait 60 days before waxing" rule apply?
Unrelated new car question, because I don't want to start a new thread: what do new cars come with re: paint protection? Are they sealed, or just "fresh paint"? If the latter, does the "wait 60 days before waxing" rule apply?
I don't think that's true with factory paint jobs these days. In fact, the dealer will probably offer you a $500 super wax package and offer to apply the first super ultra treatment for you before delivery.
I drove some stuff this weekend to start thinking about what comes next. Along with new stuff I wanted to try out some "premium" used stuff just to see if it would really net me anything on the fun to drive front. The answer is "maybe" but I couldn't help but notice that going back more than few years puts you back in the stone age as far as most OEM audio is concerned.
Rogue Leader
12-17-12, 01:51 PM
Unrelated new car question, because I don't want to start a new thread: what do new cars come with re: paint protection? Are they sealed, or just "fresh paint"? If the latter, does the "wait 60 days before waxing" rule apply?
Factory finishes are baked on as the cars are painted in pieces mostly. You can wax from day 1.
WickerBill
12-17-12, 11:03 PM
She arrived today.
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/598827_4395427960472_1116458882_n.jpg
** not my car, but an exact duplicate, down to the options. It has been nasty, gray, and raining all day in Indy, so maybe pictures tomorrow.
Gorgeous. I hope it drives as good as it looks.
** not my car, but an exact duplicate, down to the options. It has been nasty, gray, and raining all day in Indy, so maybe pictures tomorrow.
I wanted to wait for the '13s to hit the used market in a couple of years, but it was time to part with the Bimmer. I am seriously liking the '10 Fusion. Sync is a bit quirky, but I can live with it (playing Blister in the Sun when I ask for Barry White? :saywhat:). Solid build, solid ride, and I can turn the sound up to 11 w/o distortion (and it sounds excellent). :thumbup: :thumbup:
-Kevin
Speaking of Ford, I got to drive a Focus ST over the weekend. Unfortunately it left me a little cold. I was hoping for a rorty little hot hatch that encourages misbehavior. Instead, the ST is a great little sports sedan that happens to have a liftgate on the back.
Maybe I didn't get to push it hard enough to awaken the beast inside but I think it should give a few more hints that it's ready to play without pushing it beyond car salesman limits. Certainly the power is there even if the piped in engine note seems oddly artificial.
Then there's the dash. It's just so busy. I can overlook it on the center stack but the wheel is covered with buttons and the main instrument pod is dominated by the "information display" when it should be the tac and/or the speedometer that dominates in a sporting vehicle.
While all this means that it's probably not the right car for me that's no great criticism because I'm sure it's the right car for a lot of other people. I still think it looks great and it's an amazing deal for the money.
FWIW - my new truck :saywhat: :rolleyes: (buh-bye Honda Odyssey) has the "built-in" Sirius XM. I hear no difference between this and the set-up using the radio plugged into the AUX port. The speakers are WAY better, but the clarity seems no different.
WickerBill
06-23-15, 09:43 AM
If your SiriusXM is about to expire... call to cancel... be firm... the current best deal is six months for $25.
OffCamber - where people go to learn about smoking meat, to entertain nuanced worldviews, and get discounts.
chop456
06-24-15, 01:24 AM
Is that for the basic package or the plus? Last time I tried this, they wouldn't discount the higher tier, which is the only one I'd be interested in .
WickerBill
06-24-15, 07:02 AM
Is that for the basic package or the plus? Last time I tried this, they wouldn't discount the higher tier, which is the only one I'd be interested in .
I honestly have no idea, so it's probably basic package. I seem to get every channel with the exception of the ones I wouldn't want my kids to listen to (Playboy, etc)
This seems like a solid thread to start this discussion...
The Sirius radio in my Impreza has stopped working over the last 2 months. Still struggling to get that fixed. A separate issue!
So I've gone looking for other alternatives to what I have beyond my old iTunes/iPod library. Like many here, my taste is eclectic. Listening to local radio is brutal.
I've been doing Pandora Plus for quite a few years. I have a bunch of stations created. I always remember a tip I read here on OC to be ruthless (or something like that) in your :thumbdown::thumbup: for song selections. What I've created are stations that repeat my song likes for 45 minutes and then play stuff so disconnected from that genre that I have to change the station.
I am doing a trial of Apple Music. I like the ability to tell my Subaru to "play Warren Zevon's Tenderness on the Block" or "play REM's album Murmur" and off we go. It is great to play very specific music. But their stations are sort of crappy.
I've even tried of some of the radio station apps (TuneIn, SomaFM :thumbup:, myTunerRadio) and I've found some interesting stuff.
I've even found genre specific ones - I have Sorcerer Radio for my Disney music fix. Shout out to Dando riding Space Mountain up there somewhere.
What are you all doing by way of streaming services? Online music or radio apps?
You could stay with Sirius XM but use the app on your phone.
TravelGal
07-12-21, 01:00 PM
T
I have Sorcerer Radio for my Disney music fix. Shout out to Dando riding Space Mountain up there somewhere.
:cry: Thanks, dude. I'm pulling a dando by compulsively answering the thread. Even though I have nothing important to say about it.
Not much help from me. I just use a USB drive with all my music and I then use an automatic playlist generator to create playlists. I like the fact that I can listen to music as entire albums as well as singles.
:cry: Thanks, dude. I'm pulling a dando by compulsively answering the thread. Even though I have nothing important to say about it.
Must be the week for remembering our missing friends. The other night I got a bounce back from Cam's old email address for the automatic Happy Birthday message. Happy Birthday Cam, you are missed.
TravelGal
07-12-21, 07:41 PM
Must be the week for remembering our missing friends. The other night I got a bounce back from Cam's old email address for the automatic Happy Birthday message. Happy Birthday Cam, you are missed.
I can't tell you how often I think about Cam. and erock, and especially OddlyCalm. Miss those dudes. :(:(
Not much help from me. I just use a USB drive with all my music and I then use an automatic playlist generator to create playlists. I like the fact that I can listen to music as entire albums as well as singles.
I have my phone (still think of it as my music iPod) for my favorite stuff.
I've been looking for new music - or at least new to me.
Local Philly station WXPN (https://xpn.org/) has always been my go to place for new stuff. And I can take that with me everywhere nowadays on the apps.
I've thought about using my phone instead of a USB drive. I'm just too cheap to pay a premium for a phone with enough storage to carry all my music.
Funny that the ipod and other mp3 players were such a game changer for music when they arrived but their lifespan as a consumer product wasn't much more than a decade.
RaceGrrl
07-14-21, 05:40 PM
I use the Accuradio app on my tablet and listen to it on my PC at work. It has different genres of music all curated, not just on random play, and you can ban songs or artists and rate songs so you have a "five star" channel of music you prefer. I'm pretty happy with it although there are some commercials. Worth it to be able to skip artists I loathe.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.