what's the difference between Sirrius and XM Radio?

[rnmcd]

Are they both just satellite radio, just different companies. Like comparing Dish Network to DirecTV?

 

[Red Dawn]

The most important difference is that Clear Channel as a stake in XM Radio which makes Sirius the right choice

 

[aphex]

Each has different programming, so go with the one that suits you best.

Besides each of them having 60-70 commercial free music stations there are some differences when it comes to the other programs they offer;

Sirius - NFL, NHL, Howard Stern (in Jan 2006)
XM - MLB, Nascar, Opie & Anthony

Both seem to have college sports as well, but i believe XM may have the edge in that dept.

As for sound quality, thats a toss up because everyone will have a different setup, but they are very comparable. XM uses a set amount of bandwidth per channel so the talk and music channels have the same general quality (although the amount of compression varies), while Sirius can vary the bandwith per channel, giving higher fidelity to the music stations and less to the talk (which dont need it). What's the result? Ehh, not much IMO, its hard to really notice a profound difference.

One last thing to keep in mind is price. Sirius is $12.99/mo and XM is $9.99/mo, but it gets confusing. With the $12.99 on Sirius, you get all the channels they offer, web streaming of all the music channels on your computer, and 1-3 months free if you prepay a year. On XM, $9.99 gets you most of the channels, but if you want O&A or Playboy radio you have to pay an additional monthly fee (O&A - $1.99, Playboy - $2.99). Also with XM, if you want web streaming its an additional $3.99/mo.

Whew.... Personally i went with Sirius because they seem to have more offers from time to time than XM does, and their programming is excellent. Just last week i picked up the Sirius XACT plug and play unit for free when i prepaid a year of service (w/ 1 month free).

Check out these sites for more info;

http://www.xmfan.com
http://www.siriusbackstage.com

 

[sohcrates]

xm uses 2 geostationary satellites while sirius uses multiple lower orbit satellites

 

[Nightfall]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
The most important difference is that Clear Channel as a stake in XM Radio which makes Sirius the right choice

What a bunch of FUD. If I am not mistaken, Clear Channel holds a VERY small percentage of stake. I also have heard in the past that Clear Channel has sold most of their stake in it as well.

I think both XM and Sirius are both excellent choices. I have XM now, but after Sirius got NHL I was tempted to move to it. I do like Opie and Anthony though.

 

[dartworth]

I signed up for XM yesterday...🙂

 

[Shawn]

XM here. Sound quality is wonderful!

 

[beatle]

I have XM and it's great. I do notice encoding artifacts on it, however. I ruled out Sirius for the only reason that none of their addon tuners would fit in my vehicle and JVC has never released their complementary tuner for my headunit.

 

[FoBoT]

sounds like XM might be better for me due to MLB

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
The most important difference is that Clear Channel as a stake in XM Radio which makes Sirius the right choice

clear channel owns less the 20% and has no controlling intrest in XM, so that is a moot point

the only real difference is that Sirrius costs more

they both offer very similar programming, certian sports or talk shows might pull you either way, i couldent care less about thoes, i have XM the music quality is great, very rarley do i here compression artifacts, every now and then something will be tagged wrong and say its a song that it is not, however a friend of mine has sirrius and teh same things happen there

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
The most important difference is that Clear Channel as a stake in XM Radio which makes Sirius the right choice

clear channel owns less the 20% and has no controlling intrest in XM, so that is a moot point

the only real difference is that Sirrius costs more

not if you're boycotting the devil (Clear channel) it isn't.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
The most important difference is that Clear Channel as a stake in XM Radio which makes Sirius the right choice

clear channel owns less the 20% and has no controlling intrest in XM, so that is a moot point

the only real difference is that Sirrius costs more

not if you're boycotting the devil (Clear channel) it isn't.

If the devil is not an issue, which sounds better?

Also, is there a difference between audio quality of receivers? What sounds good on a decent home theatre?