Iphone+Internet Radio=Farewell Satellite radio
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 618
From: Rhode Island
I just went through this exact same thing! I have 3 Sirius radios, which cost a fortune. I recently bought a Blackberry Storm, have Pandora uploaded on it and it's as good if not better than a paid service. When a rep. called me from Sirius radio to ask my input in regards to my subscription cancellation, I simply told them that their service is obsolete!
4th Gear Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,190
From: Florida
I only have sirius XM until my free trial runs out. it sounds absolutely horrible, pandora on my iphone sounds 10 times better. in fact all the streaming apps on my iphone sound better than the satellite radio does.
between the cost and the company dicking people around I'll never give them a dime. you've got people out there with lifetime memberships who can't use their new iphone app without paying extra and it doesn't include all the channels. that's a dick move on the company's part. between the cost and the horrible quality I'll never pay for the service.
between the cost and the company dicking people around I'll never give them a dime. you've got people out there with lifetime memberships who can't use their new iphone app without paying extra and it doesn't include all the channels. that's a dick move on the company's part. between the cost and the horrible quality I'll never pay for the service.
Thread Starter
1st Gear Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 58
From: San Fernando Valley, CA
I only have sirius XM until my free trial runs out. it sounds absolutely horrible, pandora on my iphone sounds 10 times better. in fact all the streaming apps on my iphone sound better than the satellite radio does.
between the cost and the company dicking people around I'll never give them a dime. you've got people out there with lifetime memberships who can't use their new iphone app without paying extra and it doesn't include all the channels. that's a dick move on the company's part. between the cost and the horrible quality I'll never pay for the service.
between the cost and the company dicking people around I'll never give them a dime. you've got people out there with lifetime memberships who can't use their new iphone app without paying extra and it doesn't include all the channels. that's a dick move on the company's part. between the cost and the horrible quality I'll never pay for the service.
I guess what I was originally trying to say was if I started all over and needed to make a decision on further upgrading my listening experience in the Stang, here are my options...
- Sirius satellite radio : http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...IUS+SC-C1.html $133.99 & Sirius Everything Monthly service $ 12.95/month
- Iphone : 16G 3G Iphone $ 149.00 & Internet service $ 30.00/month
The monthly charge for the internet on the Iphone is more than double the price of Sirius, but I can only listen to Sirius in my car and 1 computer of my choice. I can take the Iphone anywhere and listen to Pandora, or whatever else I chose to in my Stang or @ the gym etc.
I believe you could even use the Shaker auxiliary port to listen to the Iphone internet radio. It works perfect on my girlfriends 2009 Mazda 6 auxiliary port.
4th Gear Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,190
From: Florida
I'm in the audio industry and the quality of Sirius XM is not good all, a 128kbps MP3 blows away satellite radio, and 128 isn't all that great. I usually make my MP3's 192kbps or higher and then it's not too bad.
XM used to be good back in the day, not CD quality but good enough. the problem is they've added hundreds of channels and they only have the same bandwidth they started with so channels had to be compressed to much lower than they were originally. a handful of channels aren't compressed as much and sound better but it's still not great.
I can hear the audio compression on just about every channel, especially on the highs. little to cymbals on the rocks stations and you'll hear the compression, it's sounds swirly and cut off. unless you think it sounds good, then don't listen close, I don't want to spoil it for you
the talk and comedy stations are compressed even more, the people sound all robotic.
bottom line, pandora sounds better and is free. a couple other streaming iphone apps are free and sound better too. so between all the free apps, my pre-loaded MP3's on my iPhone, and the stereo input jack on the shaker 500 system, I'm not renewing Sirius.
for me to get it the quality would have to be better and the cost of the service be cheaper. my last car used XM for live traffic and weather with satellite and doppler radar, that was awesome, but they charge too much for that and I only used it while it was free.
yeah the iphone charges you for the internet but I have that all the time anyway and it doesn't need line of sight to get it's signal like satellite does. look at it the other way and sirius is $13 a month and you only get music. iphone internet is $30 a month and you get tons more than just music. that $139 and $13 a month for your sirius player is most likely on top of your cell phone since everyone has a cell phone so you're not saving as much. plus why carry one more thing around when you don't have to. you can also get pandora on windows mobile phones and blackberrys where you can get the internet cheaper than on the iphone so if you only want the phone for pandora that's the way to go.
XM used to be good back in the day, not CD quality but good enough. the problem is they've added hundreds of channels and they only have the same bandwidth they started with so channels had to be compressed to much lower than they were originally. a handful of channels aren't compressed as much and sound better but it's still not great.
I can hear the audio compression on just about every channel, especially on the highs. little to cymbals on the rocks stations and you'll hear the compression, it's sounds swirly and cut off. unless you think it sounds good, then don't listen close, I don't want to spoil it for you
the talk and comedy stations are compressed even more, the people sound all robotic.bottom line, pandora sounds better and is free. a couple other streaming iphone apps are free and sound better too. so between all the free apps, my pre-loaded MP3's on my iPhone, and the stereo input jack on the shaker 500 system, I'm not renewing Sirius.
for me to get it the quality would have to be better and the cost of the service be cheaper. my last car used XM for live traffic and weather with satellite and doppler radar, that was awesome, but they charge too much for that and I only used it while it was free.
yeah the iphone charges you for the internet but I have that all the time anyway and it doesn't need line of sight to get it's signal like satellite does. look at it the other way and sirius is $13 a month and you only get music. iphone internet is $30 a month and you get tons more than just music. that $139 and $13 a month for your sirius player is most likely on top of your cell phone since everyone has a cell phone so you're not saving as much. plus why carry one more thing around when you don't have to. you can also get pandora on windows mobile phones and blackberrys where you can get the internet cheaper than on the iphone so if you only want the phone for pandora that's the way to go.
Last edited by candymanjl; Jul 1, 2009 at 05:56 PM.
Thread Starter
1st Gear Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 58
From: San Fernando Valley, CA
I'm in the audio industry and the quality of Sirius XM is not good all, a 128kbps MP3 blows away satellite radio, and 128 isn't all that great. I usually make my MP3's 192kbps or higher and then it's not too bad.
XM used to be good back in the day, not CD quality but good enough. the problem is they've added hundreds of channels and they only have the same bandwidth they started with so channels had to be compressed to much lower than they were originally. a handful of channels aren't compressed as much and sound better but it's still not great.
I can hear the audio compression on just about every channel, especially on the highs. little to cymbals on the rocks stations and you'll hear the compression, it's sounds swirly and cut off. unless you think it sounds good, then don't listen close, I don't want to spoil it for you the talk and comedy stations are compressed even more, the people sound all robotic.
bottom line, pandora sounds better and is free. a couple other streaming iphone apps are free and sound better too. so between all the free apps, my pre-loaded MP3's on my iPhone, and the stereo input jack on the shaker 500 system, I'm not renewing Sirius.
for me to get it the quality would have to be better and the cost of the service be cheaper. my last car used XM for live traffic and weather with satellite and doppler radar, that was awesome, but they charge too much for that and I only used it while it was free.
yeah the iphone charges you for the internet but I have that all the time anyway and it doesn't need line of sight to get it's signal like satellite does. look at it the other way and sirius is $13 a month and you only get music. iphone internet is $30 a month and you get tons more than just music. that $139 and $13 a month for your sirius player is most likely on top of your cell phone since everyone has a cell phone so you're not saving as much. plus why carry one more thing around when you don't have to. you can also get pandora on windows mobile phones and blackberrys where you can get the internet cheaper than on the iphone so if you only want the phone for pandora that's the way to go.
XM used to be good back in the day, not CD quality but good enough. the problem is they've added hundreds of channels and they only have the same bandwidth they started with so channels had to be compressed to much lower than they were originally. a handful of channels aren't compressed as much and sound better but it's still not great.
I can hear the audio compression on just about every channel, especially on the highs. little to cymbals on the rocks stations and you'll hear the compression, it's sounds swirly and cut off. unless you think it sounds good, then don't listen close, I don't want to spoil it for you
the talk and comedy stations are compressed even more, the people sound all robotic.bottom line, pandora sounds better and is free. a couple other streaming iphone apps are free and sound better too. so between all the free apps, my pre-loaded MP3's on my iPhone, and the stereo input jack on the shaker 500 system, I'm not renewing Sirius.
for me to get it the quality would have to be better and the cost of the service be cheaper. my last car used XM for live traffic and weather with satellite and doppler radar, that was awesome, but they charge too much for that and I only used it while it was free.
yeah the iphone charges you for the internet but I have that all the time anyway and it doesn't need line of sight to get it's signal like satellite does. look at it the other way and sirius is $13 a month and you only get music. iphone internet is $30 a month and you get tons more than just music. that $139 and $13 a month for your sirius player is most likely on top of your cell phone since everyone has a cell phone so you're not saving as much. plus why carry one more thing around when you don't have to. you can also get pandora on windows mobile phones and blackberrys where you can get the internet cheaper than on the iphone so if you only want the phone for pandora that's the way to go.
It's good to know the real difference in sound quality between the two as well. Never really noticed it until now, maybe because I haven't been listening much to Sirius as of late.
