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XM Audio Quality

Discussion in 'Prius c Audio and Electronics' started by CSpotRun, Apr 17, 2013.

  1. CSpotRun

    CSpotRun New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2013
    1
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    We are most of the way through our 3 month trial and have been hugely un-impressed. The audio quality is horrible when using XM. It reminds of me a 64 or 96 Kbps MP3 from Napster more than a decade ago. You can really tell a difference between other inputs (say, a USB flash drive with high quality files) and XM. I'm not necessarily expecting the most superb quality, but jeez, this is just plain BAD!

    My wife went in for our 5,000 mile maintenance and when she asked, they told her that it was because we were too far away from Jacksonville, FL. I'm assuming they were referring to terrestrial repeaters, which from what I read, we are WAY out of range of and would have no impact on my signal over 3 hours away.

    Is this at all normal? Anyone else notice this problem?

    Thanks!
     
    #1 CSpotRun, Apr 17, 2013
  2. Laserdan

    Laserdan Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2013
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    Location:
    Mebane, North Carolina
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    II
    We also had a trial of XM (not on our Prius C but on our Ford Flex) and were unimpressed as well with the quality of the sound.
     
    #2 Laserdan, Apr 17, 2013
  3. danvee

    danvee Blizzard Brigadier

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2010
    326
    53
    38
    Location:
    New Jersey
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Compressed and 'bassy' would be my description...
     
    #3 danvee, Apr 17, 2013
    bitch ima prius c likes this.
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,647
    38,201
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Maybe because we're further north, and the signal is coming on more of a slant, in the year we had XM I started thinking of it as the "sing along" service: every highrise, tree, whatever, the sound would drop out, and it was fill-in-the-blanks by singing along time. Much to frequently.

    I'd had to change credit card numbers sometime prior to contacting them about cancelling, and I really think that was a big factor in getting me out of their clutches.
     
    #4 Mendel Leisk, Apr 17, 2013
  5. SinisterSpatula

    SinisterSpatula Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2012
    42
    7
    0
    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    Yes, the audio quality is highly compressed, it's so they can squeeze more channels onto the signal that is beamed down from the satellites. I've gotten used to it and don't notice it anymore, and if I really like the song and want to hear it in the best quality, I'll buy it on my phone and play it over bluetooth. I really wish they would consolidate the sirius and the xm satellites and dedicate more bandwidth to the music channels. We pay a good penny to listen, would it really kill them to up the quality a little?
     
    #5 SinisterSpatula, Apr 24, 2013
  6. Oldwolf

    Oldwolf Prius Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2011
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    Location:
    NC
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Four
    Channel 53 sounds fantastic if you like the style of music.
     
    #6 Oldwolf, Apr 28, 2013
  7. c-lover

    c-lover New Member

    Joined:
    May 15, 2013
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    Location:
    A couch in the north-western hinterlands
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius c
    Model:
    N/A
    I was an XM customer before their merger with Sirius. IMO the merger marked the downfall of the service, both in signal quality and programming. I cancelled 4 (yes, 4!) service contracts. And boy, getting them off your back is about as frustrating as things can be. They can't afford to lose a single customer, as they have been existing on a financial tight-wire for years now.
     
    #7 c-lover, May 15, 2013
  8. 1911Tex

    1911Tex Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2013
    57
    17
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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    You are used to the HD quality of most of your FM stations.....no HD from XM; or if so, poor.
     
    #8 1911Tex, May 29, 2013
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