XM Radio

[ClockworkOrange]

Anybody subscribe to XM Satellite Radio? If so, what are your favorite channels/least favorite? Likes/Dislikes in general.

[hockeynut]

Greetings,

I was given an XM for Father's Day last year and by August had purchased a second receiver for the other car/house. I am hooked! It seems silly at first to pay for radio but then you realize how truely awful broadcast radio is (no offence to those in the business). Commercial free 24-7 depending on the station that you are listening to, CD or better quality sound, Coast to Coast coverage and all of that for less than a CD per month.

My favorite stations: Mix, The Starbucks Station, Highway 16 on occasion, Bluesville, and then any of the 80's stations for a trip down memory lane. Having the NHL on there is an added bonus.

[zoom6zoom]

Well, I'd listen to the uncensored comedy channel even if one of the hosts wasn't a friend of mine. 151 and 153 are good too. I find myself listening to the 70's channel quite a bit.

Since you can program in alerts for your favorite artists or songs, I find myself switching quite a bit.

[newportstorm]

Topic came up on another beer board recently. Some people raised good points:

-How soon before advertising muscles its way in? Wasn't cable TV supposed to relieve us of the ad barrage (20+ minutes out of every hour)? Hardly.

-Will rates continue to rise as they have with cable, where some subscribers pay upwards of $50-60, without premium channels?

I'm still content with radio, burning my own CDs, etc. for now.

Cheers!

[Cloakndagger]

Who will win XM or Serious? Freddy or Jason? King Kong or Godzilla, Beta or VHS, 8 track or Cassette?

[GooseIslandFan]

I have Sirius and love it. I havent listened to old fashioned radio since I put it in my car. Its so great to not have to listen to a lot of commericals. Even the stations that do have commercials on them, the breaks are so short you dont even notice. And terrestrial radio will never have the vaviety that Sirius and XM offer.

[zoom6zoom]

Actually, no, cable TV was never pushed as being commercial free. XM does have advertising on some of their channels, but has from the start, and it's pretty much limited to the talk and news channels.

With their subscriber base growing at levels that exceed their expectations, I don't see them having to change their business model soon.

On the other hand, Sirius just tied up a huge portion of their operating capital with the Stern deal. If I'd been one of their subscribers, I'd have left.

[HarkJohnny]

Ethel, Lucy, The Loft. I get it with my DirectTV.

[Payson]

I love XM. Ethel, Lucy, Fred. It's especially nice when driving! For what it's worth, I dont/wont subscribe to cable because of the exorbitant cost but I'll gladly pay for XM. Every day I hear something I'd long since forgotten about. I'm on a "World Party" kick now. I used to love them, never replaced the tape with a CD, now they're out of print. :mad:

[ClockworkOrange]

My favorites are: Ethel, Fred, Lucy, Squizz, The Rhyme, XM Comedy. I never thought I would pay for my music like this, but since being a subscriber for over a year now, I'm hooked. It's not a bad deal if you sign up and pre pay for several years at once.

[chazwicke]

Which is better, XM or Serius?

[ClockworkOrange]

I have three friends that get both services and they all agree that XM is better.

[zoom6zoom]

I'll admit a bias towards XM. Having said that, until recently, the quality of the hardware for Sirius was lacking, their new S50 receiver has a great display but is still a bit awkward in size. In this area, you'll get a more consistent signal with XM (more terrestrial repeaters). And I'm told one complaint of Siruis subscribers is that their playlists aren't as deep.

If you're a baseball fan, XM is the only choice. Sirius has NFL, but who the hell listens to football on the radio? Both have a fairly good selection of college sports.

[HarkJohnny]

Originally posted by Payson
I love XM. Ethel, Lucy, Fred. It's especially nice when driving! For what it's worth, I dont/wont subscribe to cable because of the exorbitant cost but I'll gladly pay for XM.

eh, yeah.. it's $55 a mo for the middle teir with local channels... but I also have a TiVo (best invention ever) and a second box. So really, I can record two shows at once, watch a recorded show, and another live show in the other room. Works great when a ballgame is on and the wife want's to watch The Snachelor™ or some other lame reality TV.

and i have a hard time paying for the stand-alone service when my iPod has some 8000 songs on it and i can get free streaming radio on the computer all day long.

[chazwicke]

So is the consenses that XM is better than Sirius?

[ClockworkOrange]

So is the consenses that XM is better than Sirius?

In my opinion, yes, but then again, I'm a little biased since I'm an XM subscriber.

[GooseIslandFan]

I am a biased sirius subscriber so I say it is the best. If I was an XM subscriber I would be very pissed that they just gave Oprah $55 million to do 30 minutes of radio a week for less than a year, and even then she is just going to be on the phone. Not trying to start a flame war, I just hate Oprah.

[hockeynut]

Chaz,

I checked out both before signing up and the way that I saw it was that it depended on what you want. I think both will offer you a trial on-line so check them out. If you are a music fanatic then XM seems to have a better selection and more variety. I think the big kick for Sirius right now is Stern.

I am an XM subscriber but I tried to be open minded when looking at both. I prefer the hardware that is available for XM over Sirius for both the reciever and the antenna for the car. They are both smaller and seem to be more user friendly but that can just be personal preference.

If you want more info, PM me and I will try to help you out.

[Payson]

and i have a hard time paying for the stand-alone service when my iPod has some 8000 songs on it and i can get free streaming radio on the computer all day long.

That makes good sense. I gravitate towards the XM because I lack the iPod and a decent PC soundsystem. Sounds like you get the same type of variety via a slighty different format. I'm brewing 15 gallons of IIPA tomorrow and the XM will take center stage to entertain our brew club attendees! :D My biggest complaint is when people that are unfamiliar with it become smitten and start channel surfing!

[ClockworkOrange]

I have a few thousand CD's (I stopped counting long ago) and since I've gotten XM, I hardly ever have the urge to play them. On XM, I always find something to listen to because my musical interests are so broad.

[SoxyinMO]

Originally posted by zoom6zoom
If you're a baseball fan, XM is the only choice. Sirius has NFL, but who the hell listens to football on the radio? Both have a fairly good selection of college sports.

That's what is pushing me towards XM, even though a friend owns stock in Sirius and I like their little dog symbol. I would LOVE to be able to listen to MY games any where.

[Beermaker]

I am a sirius sub too. I love it. The hair band stations are better. Oprah is a whor* and Howard Stern rules. What else is there? Classsic 80's metal, uncensored HS while brewing. And I pay quarterly, so I pay like $11 a month. Hell I used to spend $50 a month on Copenhagen. XM is ok, more and more home theater stations are XM ready, but I think most all Satellite TV companies carry all the Sirius stations dont they? I know Direct TV does. I have not seen XM on TV yet, prolly out there, I dont know. And NASCAR...........WOOHOO.

[ClockworkOrange]

XM replaced the Music Choice channels on DirecTV offering 50-72 channels depending on your subscription level.

Sirius is on Dish Network offering 60-65 channels.

[Beermaker]

Then I have the dish network. Couldnt remember which one.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by ClockworkOrange
I have a few thousand CD's (I stopped counting long ago)

I'm in the same situation. And a few thousand albums to boot. I also have a 4 gig Ipod that my employees gave me with a plug and play speaker system but I have not used it. I stopped listening to music stations long ago because of the irrritating DJs or commercials. I usually listen to CDs in the car or talk radio but those guys are also outrageous and irritating. I HATE Howard Stern and that is enough for me to choose XM. I think Sirius gambled on him as XM has with Oprah. I am neither a frat boy, construction worker nor adolescent punk. I guess the Ipod would be best because I can choose what songs I want to hear. However I do like the music only channels on my cable systems too. Cox cable at home and Comcast at the beach. When I'm at the beach I sometimes listen to the oldies station as it is generally feel good music. 50s, 60s, 70s. But I like most types of music.

[unkle bik]

Deep Tracks, 151 comedy

[Beefsteak]

Originally posted by chazwicke
I'm in the same situation. And a few thousand albums to boot. I also have a 4 gig Ipod that my employees gave me with a plug and play speaker system but I have not used it. I stopped listening to music stations long ago because of the irrritating DJs or commercials. I usually listen to CDs in the car or talk radio but those guys are also outrageous and irritating. I HATE Howard Stern and that is enough for me to choose XM. I think Sirius gambled on him as XM has with Oprah. I am neither a frat boy, construction worker nor adolescent punk. I guess the Ipod would be best because I can choose what songs I want to hear. However I do like the music only channels on my cable systems too. Cox cable at home and Comcast at the beach. When I'm at the beach I sometimes listen to the oldies station as it is generally feel good music. 50s, 60s, 70s. But I like most types of music.
If you have thousands of CD's, and only a 4gig iPod, I think you'd better upgrade.

As for me, I don't really know much about XM but have had Sirius for over a year now. I absolutely love it. I'll never listen to terrestrial radio again.

I love Left of Center, First Wave, Jam On, BBC Radio, Raw Dog, Howard 100 among others....

[Fly Creek]

I spent a good amount of time in the car in very isolated places (cell service is rare). I think satellite radio is the greatest.

I went with Sirius. IMO, as for the music, XM and Sirius are equal - they are both excellent! I chose Sirius simply for the NFL broadcasts over XM's baseball.

Even when I'm not in the mood for tunes, it's fun to surf the various talk and news shows. It's amazing how the ESPN talk show prattle helps cure the boredom of a 90-minute drive. Also it's kind of amusing to bounce back and forth between the right-wing and left-wing talk channels - now I'm completely convinced that the president is the nicest, meanest, smartest, dumbest, most honest, biggest crook, benevolent and tyrranical leader ever! I'm not a Howard fan - to each his own, I guess.

[corkybstewart]

Since I work in the remote oilfields of west Texas and Southeast New Mexico I needed a satellite radio to stay in touch with the real world. I went with Sirius becasue I can listen to all the NFL games most college football, and the NBA and NHL. My wife can't drive to work without hers-she only listens to the blues channel. But for me the real difference between the 2 is the sports.
And Howard Stern and Oprah are both whores.

[unkle bik]

Anybody have any reception tips?

I live in an area with a gazillion FM stations.
Almost all the open frequencies for XM are used, or have bleed over.

[chazwicke]

I found this web station yesterday. It has some great,.. er.. I mean groovy stuff. I've been listening non stop.

http://hosting2.anumina.com/moews501850/whats_playing.php

[zoom6zoom]

Originally posted by unkle bik
Anybody have any reception tips?

I live in an area with a gazillion FM stations.
Almost all the open frequencies for XM are used, or have bleed over.

If you have auxiliary inputs available, that's the best way to go. Most of the older FM modulator units, and the older units with built in modulators, only have 3 or 4 frequencies to choose from. The newer units can actually choose almost any frequency on the dial to broadcast to.


If anyone's looking to get into XM I have some equipment that I'd be willing to trade (what ya got? Cornies, kegging equip, beer?) I have a SkiFi (not the SkiFi2) with both the car and home kits. I don't know what the SkiFi is worth these days, but the home and car kits still retail at 50 bucks each. I've also got a hard-wireable FM modulator kit (never used) available (the newer units use lighter plug units which are weaker). I was going to ebay all this stuff but figure I'll see what offers I might get here. Unit works fine, just needs to be reactivated - I got a MiFi unit and this one's been sitting in the closet since.

[GooseIslandFan]

You have a few options to improve your Satelite reception. Do you have a factory or after market head unit in your car? If your head unit has an auxiliary jack in the back, you can connect a RCA cable directly from the Satelite unit into the back of the head unit. This will totally bypass the fm modulator and you will get cd quality sound. If you dont have an rca jack, you can get what is called a wired fm modulator.

http://www.thesiriusstore.com/sirius-wired-modulator-relay-p-118.html

You plug this into the back of your stereo and your cars antenna plugs into it. When you turn on your satelite unit, it disables your cars antenna and provides a wired route for the satelite signal directly into your stereo with out interference. It is almost cd quality.

If you go to crutchfield.com, you can check and see if any adapters are necessary. Hope this helps.

[Erin W]

"...I HATE Howard Stern and that is enough for me to choose XM..."

I'll drink to that!

[unkle bik]

Just installed an FM modualtor this weekend for my XM radio.
Only about 1/2 hour's worth of fiddling and now there is great reception.

[GooseIslandFan]

Apparently, XM is desperate to hold on to subscribers so they are refusing to let people get rid of their subscriptions. They will however let you pay as little as $3 a month if you complain about the service or say you want to end your subscription. Gotta wonder how long that will last.

[zoom6zoom]

Where are you hearing this? All the numbers I see are still trending up.

[unkle bik]

Originally posted by GooseIslandFan
Apparently, XM is desperate to hold on to subscribers so they are refusing to let people get rid of their subscriptions. They will however let you pay as little as $3 a month if you complain about the service or say you want to end your subscription. Gotta wonder how long that will last.
How about posting the link where you got this "information"?

[GooseIslandFan]

Perhaps I should have chosen my wording a bit more carefully, I didnt mean to imply that people were jumping ship like crazy. Several callers into the Howard Stern show said that they attempted to cancel their subscriptions and were offered incentives to keep their subscription. One guy was sent a brand new receiver and had his subscription rate lowered to $3 a month. I in no way meant to imply that this was corporate policy. Just thought that it was in interesting practice.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by GooseIslandFan
Several callers into the Howard Stern show said .

Consider the source.;)

Just Kidding!

But, I'm no fan of Stern.

[Jake]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Fly Creek
[B]I spent a good amount of time in the car in very isolated places (cell service is rare). I think satellite radio is the greatest.

I went with Sirius. IMO, as for the music, XM and Sirius are equal - they are both excellent! I chose Sirius simply for the NFL broadcasts over XM's baseball.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm in my vehicle 5 1/2 hours a day, 5 days a week. I like baseball so XM would be my choice.

Has anyone heard the advertisement campaign on commercial radio against satellite radio? One commercial that I heard today was a baseball game and the announcer was doing the play by play. It goes like this- "A long drive down the right field line is it going to stay fair? It is...... then you get disconnected and a voice says: "Please deposit $.25 for the next 3 minutes". Then an announcer says- "Radio, somethings were just meant to be free".

[animal]

I get some of the XM stations though my Winamp. It'd be great if the Winamp XM included The Boneyard, Fungus, and Squizz, and if XM still had Liquid Metal.
________
LovelyWendie (http://www.lovelywendie99.com/)

[animal]

I've read what some of the people here have said about Howard Stern, and they're entitled to those opinions. Me, however- I gotta say that I admire someone that's had the balls to say publicly, over National radio, what he and so many of us think, and not care what anyone else says about him. I don't always appove of everything he says or does, but I'll take Howie over the likes of Bob and Tom or Mancow Muller anyday.
________
Huge Tits Webcams (http://www.girlcamfriend.com/webcam/big-tits/)

[zoom6zoom]

Originally posted by animal
I get some of the XM stations though my Winamp. It'd be great if the Winamp XM included The Boneyard, Fungus, and Squizz, and if XM still had Liquid Metal.

Liquid Metal is returning on April 17th, due to popular demand. Nice to know they listen to their subscribers!

[ClockworkOrange]

XM is removing 4 channels from their lineup, probably to free up some bandwidth for the new channels. The four channels are: The Torch (31), Music Lab (51), The Flow (61), and Luna (95). These channels will be XM Online only. It's nice to see Liquid Metal coming back (April 17th). XM is adding these new commercial free channels to their lineup in order to fill in for the ones that Clear Channel controls since those channels will now have commercials on them.

[chazwicke]

Clear Channel is the part of the evil empire.

sponsors of corporate rock and country.

[animal]

Originally posted by zoom6zoom
Liquid Metal is returning on April 17th, due to popular demand. Nice to know they listen to their subscribers! EXCELLENT!
________
GENERAL INSURANCE FORUM (http://www.insurance-forums.org/general-insurance/)

[animal]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Clear Channel is the part of the evil empire.

sponsors of corporate rock and country. Chaz, truer words have NEVER been, and will NEVER be said, written, OR posted!!!! I'll never forgive them for what they did to Howard. Even if one doesn't like Howard, nobody can deny that KKKlear Channel has basically turned terrestial radio to crap, playing the same song every 30 minutes and about 10 miniutes of commercials for every 2 minutes of actual programming.
________
PAXIL CLASSACTION (http://www.classactionsettlements.org/lawsuit/paxil/)

[ClockworkOrange]

Cheers to the last three posts!

[unkle bik]

Originally posted by animal
KKKlear Channel has basically turned terrestial radio to crap, playing the same song every 30 minutes and about 10 miniutes of commercials for every 2 minutes of actual programming.
I'll chime in as well. Most radio stations have the selection of a barroom jukebox. Except the barroom one gets changed out every few years.

Thank God for Xm and college radio.

[chazwicke]

And the internet. I listen to this station all the time:


http://hosting2.anumina.com/moews501850/whats_playing.php

[bigdrinka]

Sirius subscriber and fan, myself.

Since Howard and crew have taken to the air I find that every day, within seconds of turning it on I am laughing histarically.

It definately brightens my day.

[animal]

I'm definitely gonna get a free XM trial after the 17th when Liquid Metal returns- probably the weekend of the 23rd, which is my 43rd birthday.
________
Arizona Medical Marijuana Dispensary (http://arizona.dispensaries.org/)

[animal]

I'm doing a free online trial of XM this weekend, which by the way is my 43rd birthday(This Sunday). And I'm DEFINITELY tuned into LIQUID METAL!!!! YEAHHHHHHHHH BABY!!!!!
________
Zx14 Vs Hayabusa (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_bike_is_quicker_kawasaki_zx_-14_or_suzuki_hayabusa)

[hops99]

I'll never forgive them for what they did to Howard.



No matter what people might think of Stern these days, I still recall how frickin' hilarious (and cutting edge, I might add) he was back in the mid-80's. He was still at WNBC, and I was a teenager growing up an hour north of NYC - I'd listen every chance I could after school (back then he was the afternoon guy). That no-talent ass-clown Don Imus was the morning guy.

For the record, I'm with you guys on Clear Channel. They've become WAY too political, and I refuse to advertise with them anymore.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by animal
I'm doing a free online trial of XM this weekend, which by the way is my 43rd birthday(This Sunday). And I'm DEFINITELY tuned into LIQUID METAL!!!! YEAHHHHHHHHH BABY!!!!!

Happy Birthday! What are you gonna drink to celebrate?