XM or Sirius?

[ALIENCOP]

I like Jazz, Classical, Salsa, news, comedy and excellent quality sound. Will XM or Sirius be better for me in my new Prius (do I have a choice?)

Thanx,

ALIENCOP

[Darken]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ALIENCOP @ Apr 26 2007, 01:36 AM) [snapback]430298[/snapback]</div>

I like Jazz, Classical, Salsa, news, comedy and excellent quality sound. Will XM or Sirius be better for me in my new Prius (do I have a choice?)

Thanx,

ALIENCOP
[/b]

You certainly do have a choice now that Toyota has finally released the Sirius tuner! (XM was already available) That's if you wanted a factory unit to interface with your existing Head Unit of course.

I personally feel XM is better for music choice and quality...however both have exclusive 'channels' and talk personalities which may appeal to you more. Check out the lineup or better yet give either a trial spin and see what suits you.

I believe both have limited trials where you can listen to channels on the web, I suggest you give both a try and see what might fit your listening style.

[aaf709]

Considering the talks about a merger between the two companies, this may be academic.

[Vagabond]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ALIENCOP @ Apr 25 2007, 10:36 PM) [snapback]430298[/snapback]</div>

I like Jazz, Classical, Salsa, news, comedy and excellent quality sound. Will XM or Sirius be better for me in my new Prius (do I have a choice?)

Thanx,

ALIENCOP
[/b]

Go online to their websites and you can listen to the music on each channel.

XM has a little better bit-rate (sound quality) on SOME of their bigger channels, but then you have to deal with their commercials as well.

I prefer the music of Sirius myself.

[JimboK]

I've been an XM subscriber for years, but never Sirius, so I can't give you a comparsion of either the technical or artistic quality of the music. I can tell you that I've been pleased with XM. Technically, The Vais Tech integrated unit I have puts out music that sounds as good as a CD in the car. I like jazz, and for jazz, XM offers several jazz and "jazz-like" channels: Real Jazz (classic), Watercolors (smooth jazz), Beyond Jazz (upbeat, contemporary, fusion), High Standards (Sinatra, big band, crooners), and Bluesville (self-explanatory).

My favorite XM station -- Fine Tuning -- plays a little jazz along with many other genres and music you're not likely to hear anywhere else. In succession you could hear Beethoven, the Beatles, BB King, and Bela Fleck.

All of XM's music channels are commercial-free.

[Skwyre7]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Apr 26 2007, 07:41 AM) [snapback]430377[/snapback]</div>

...In succession you could hear Beethoven, the Beatles, BB King, and Bela Fleck...
[/b]

Only artists that start with "B"? What kind of crazy station is that?

We went with Sirius because of NPR. As for music, I can always find something on that I want to hear.

[Vagabond]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Apr 26 2007, 04:41 AM) [snapback]430377[/snapback]</div>

I've been an XM subscriber for years, but never Sirius, so I can't give you a comparsion of either the technical or artistic quality of the music. I can tell you that I've been pleased with XM. Technically, The Vais Tech integrated unit I have puts out music that sounds as good as a CD in the car. I like jazz, and for jazz, XM offers several jazz and "jazz-like" channels: Real Jazz (classic), Watercolors (smooth jazz), Beyond Jazz (upbeat, contemporary, fusion), High Standards (Sinatra, big band, crooners), and Bluesville (self-explanatory).

My favorite XM station -- Fine Tuning -- plays a little jazz along with many other genres and music you're not likely to hear anywhere else. In succession you could hear Beethoven, the Beatles, BB King, and Bela Fleck.

All of XM's music channels are commercial-free.
[/b]

You're not likely to hear them on the channels you listen to, but....

In response to Galphin's e-mail, Jon Zellner, senior vice president/music programming for XM, Michelle Cartier, program director for XM's Top 20 on 20 station, Rick Stacy, program director for XM's 80s on 8 station, and PJ, an on-air personality on the XM's Flight 26 station replied with nearly identical e-mails stating that "ecause of their early investment in XM, radio broadcasting company Clear Channel Communications provides programming for four music channels (Nashville, Kiss, Mix, and Sunny). An arbitration panel recently ruled that Clear Channel has the right to include commercials on the music programming they provide XM. As a result, these channels have now started carrying a limited amount of commercials."

The XM e-mails also referred to "our commitment to commercial-free music" and reiterated that "XM has added new commercial-free, XM-created alternatives for each of the Clear Channel provided music channels. Subscribers will see no reduction in the total number of commercial-free music channels."

Music aside, this doesn't seem like the last word on XM's airing of commercials, which contributed 4.4 percent of revenue in the second quarter.

http://media.seekingalpha.com/article/15196

Oddly enough (or greedily), those make up the majority of the higher bit-rate channels at the high bit-rate.
http://www.xm411.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t...;view=next&

[JimboK]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Skwyre7 @ Apr 26 2007, 10:52 AM) [snapback]430478[/snapback]</div>

Only artists that start with "B"? What kind of crazy station is that? [/b]

Not a crazy station -- just a crazy attempt at an alliteration.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Apr 26 2007, 10:53 AM) [snapback]430481[/snapback]</div>

You're not likely to hear them on the channels you listen to, but....
[/b]

I stand corrected, thanks. A couple of years ago they made a big deal about taking all their music channels commercial-free. I hadn't heard that had changed. Of course, I would expect a little less fanfare with such a decision than the earlier one.

Since we're on that discussion, I'm sure both companies have to consider more commercials as one option for added revenue, especially if the merger doesn't pan out. Neither can continue to bleed red ink.

[adegiulio]

I prefer XM over Sirius. I feel that Sirius plays too many repeats. I also have better reception with XM than I do with Sirius. Given the choice for my new Prius, I am going with XM.

[faith2walk]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ALIENCOP @ Apr 26 2007, 01:36 AM) [snapback]430298[/snapback]</div>

I like Jazz, Classical, Salsa, news, comedy and excellent quality sound. Will XM or Sirius be better for me in my new Prius (do I have a choice?)

Thanx,

ALIENCOP [/b]

Rather than just give my opinion, here is a website for content:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Featu...rticleId=103686

and a side-by-side comparison of content

http://www.radiosatellite.org/

Also something to consider is this...Sirius claims to have superior sound quality thanks to their statistical multiplexing technology, which provides additional bandwidth across all SIRIUS streams. This is supposed to increase overall sound quality and resolution. There has been little feedback however, to verify whether or not this system really enhances sound quality to a noticeable degree. In addition, Sirius also claims to have 24 hour customer service - something XM radio has yet to fully achieve. Sirius has 2 NPR channels, for you NPR fans out there: NPR Now and NPR Talk.

Based on this info...I chose Sirius.