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When you buy a new car that has SiriusXM radio in it.

I

inachu

Platinum Member
So how do I get my account info from them if I wanted to buy another radio to listen to it from my account?
 
IIRC, you go to the site, create an account in your name, and add the ESN of your current radio.

That will be your account.

You can then add other radios via their ESN.
 
Just remember you pay extra for additional radios. It's not worth it anymore IMO. I should have cancelled last summer but terrestrial radio is just so bad.

<--- 9 year XM subscriber.
 
I got an XM setup in my car but the reception constantly cuts out as I drive so never bought a subscription.
 
I really want to like SiriusXM, but the fidelity is horrible even to my old, damaged ears. Is their bandwidth really in such short supply that they have to compress everything so horribly? how about dropping some unpopular channels and offering high fidelity instead? Probably because nobody gives a crap about how stuff sounds anymore. Who cares if it sounds like an antique pocket radio as long as there are 200 channels of crap to listen to.
 
Glad I'm not the only one that thinks it sounds horrible. Plus the play lists are very limited.

A few years ago I told them the sound quality sucks hence I didn't want to renew it. Talk about playing dumb...you mean the reception isn't good? Did you have your dealer check the radio? LOL
 
crashtech said:
I really want to like SiriusXM, but the fidelity is horrible even to my old, damaged ears. Is their bandwidth really in such short supply that they have to compress everything so horribly? how about dropping some unpopular channels and offering high fidelity instead? Probably because nobody gives a crap about how stuff sounds anymore. Who cares if it sounds like an antique pocket radio as long as there are 200 channels of crap to listen to.
Click to expand...

Well many are used to 128 mp3's over blutooth too. However cars are horrible environments and to get good sound takes a lot of work/money which starts at the source which takes a lot of space.

At least cars today have better audio systems in them than ever before, they are EQ'ed to death though.
 
inachu said:
So how do I get my account info from them if I wanted to buy another radio to listen to it from my account?
Click to expand...

The cheapest way is probably to add an internet account and listen online. I use my tablet with the SiriusXM app to listen at home and work (wifi at home and I use my phone as a mobile hotspot for listening at work). It's like $2.99 extra a month which is practically nothing. I can connect the tablet to a stereo if I want amplification. I listen in the garage or the family room. Easy to add music to any party or just for background listening.
 
crashtech said:
I really want to like SiriusXM, but the fidelity is horrible even to my old, damaged ears. Is their bandwidth really in such short supply that they have to compress everything so horribly? how about dropping some unpopular channels and offering high fidelity instead? Probably because nobody gives a crap about how stuff sounds anymore. Who cares if it sounds like an antique pocket radio as long as there are 200 channels of crap to listen to.
Click to expand...

My ears are like that also.
When you call them just demand the XM radio hardware as XM carries more fidelity and is not as compressed and the music has more warmth to it.

Comparing XM to Sirius XM Mis a clear winner by far.
 
HeXen said:
I got an XM setup in my car but the reception constantly cuts out as I drive so never bought a subscription.
Click to expand...

Reminds me a bit of AM radio, that will cut out when you'd go into a tunnel, or (in the old days) even under an overpass, sometimes. God help you, with satellite radio, if you have overhead freeways you have to drive under, for any length of time. 🙄

I had an XM radio in my 2009 Sonata, which I gave to my sister last summer. Kept the radio in my name, and every time I get a mailing with the whole "your XM radio will be turned on for 2 weeks" thing, I let her know, in case she wants to listen to it. I never much cared for XM, as it seemed to start out with a lot of music and only the occasional station break for identification, then they hired DJ's that talk too much, and play ads for their other stations. Definitely NOT worth even $5/month, IMHO.

Quite honestly, though, the ONLY time I found it to be worth a damn was when I'd drive cross country. Now I have a Jeep with a line-in, and an MP3 player and cord in the glove box, and I don't have to pay someone to listen to the music I want to listen to, as well as the dumb ads they do for their own stations. :thumbsup:
 
I've had it for nearly a year now, initially a trial then a promo for another 6 months. I never thought I'd want it honestly. At this point I don't want to give it up so I'll renew at a basic rate in a couple months. The quality is admittedly crap at times, hoping the online will be better, but for what I listen to there's just no substitute in my area. Could probably use my phone to stream, but I hate having to deal with that every time I get in my car.

I wish they would push out higher quality streams, I'd pay a slight premium for that.

I ended up having to call them to activate my radio as it didn't recognize the ESN by default. Meant I had to wait on the phone for a long time, but made the 6hr road trip through nowhere much better!
 
crashtech said:
I really want to like SiriusXM, but the fidelity is horrible even to my old, damaged ears. Is their bandwidth really in such short supply that they have to compress everything so horribly? how about dropping some unpopular channels and offering high fidelity instead? Probably because nobody gives a crap about how stuff sounds anymore. Who cares if it sounds like an antique pocket radio as long as there are 200 channels of crap to listen to.
Click to expand...


I had 6 months of SiriusXM when I purchased my car, but it didn't take 6 months to know SiriusXM sucks. The audio quality is dreadful and is only barely passable for just talk -- listening to music is painful.

I have to wonder if the business model presumes that younger buyers, who've grown up with lower quality mp3 music, will tolerate the low quality -- I know I don't!

The reason the quality is so bad is because the total bandwidth is carved up into too many channels and it is therefore overly compressed. I just don't get how they think music that sounds like you have water in your ears is somehow worth paying for.


Brian
 
crashtech said:
I really want to like SiriusXM, but the fidelity is horrible even to my old, damaged ears. Is their bandwidth really in such short supply that they have to compress everything so horribly? how about dropping some unpopular channels and offering high fidelity instead? Probably because nobody gives a crap about how stuff sounds anymore. Who cares if it sounds like an antique pocket radio as long as there are 200 channels of crap to listen to.
Click to expand...

they actually send the same stream, independently, 3 times per channel so that if you go under a bridge, you don't immediately lose the connection.

not to mention if they were using AAC, Ogg, Opus, or some other compression standard that exhibits analog falloff, it wouldn't sound like crap. For example, this is ogg @ ~80kbps VBR. Is it noticeably not lossless? But does it sound artifacty and bad and do the artifacts hurt my ears after 30 minutes like MP3?
 
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Sirius sold my info to extended warranty companies and I typically get 3-5 calls a week regarding a car I haven't owned in a year and a half. I refuse to use them in my new car.
 
marvdmartian said:
Reminds me a bit of AM radio, that will cut out when you'd go into a tunnel, or (in the old days) even under an overpass, sometimes. God help you, with satellite radio, if you have overhead freeways you have to drive under, for any length of time. 🙄

I had an XM radio in my 2009 Sonata, which I gave to my sister last summer. Kept the radio in my name, and every time I get a mailing with the whole "your XM radio will be turned on for 2 weeks" thing, I let her know, in case she wants to listen to it. I never much cared for XM, as it seemed to start out with a lot of music and only the occasional station break for identification, then they hired DJ's that talk too much, and play ads for their other stations. Definitely NOT worth even $5/month, IMHO.

Quite honestly, though, the ONLY time I found it to be worth a damn was when I'd drive cross country. Now I have a Jeep with a line-in, and an MP3 player and cord in the glove box, and I don't have to pay someone to listen to the music I want to listen to, as well as the dumb ads they do for their own stations. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

It cuts out if I drive next to trees or tall buildings. Sometimes cutting out for over a dozen seconds. Has nothing to do with just overpass's and far worse than AM cutting out. Although not offering much better sound quality imo.
 
HeXen said:
It cuts out if I drive next to trees or tall buildings. Sometimes cutting out for over a dozen seconds. Has nothing to do with just overpass's and far worse than AM cutting out. Although not offering much better sound quality imo.
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Have you contacted them about these big dead zones? They generally have terrestrial broadcasts in areas with lots of big buildings that would block out the signal and if you have buildings big enough and dense enough for things to cut out for a a quarter of a minute, it's probably a market they might care to improve.
 
HeXen said:
It cuts out if I drive next to trees or tall buildings. Sometimes cutting out for over a dozen seconds. Has nothing to do with just overpass's and far worse than AM cutting out. Although not offering much better sound quality imo.
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There's something wrong then, imo.

Mine rarely cuts out at all. When it does, it's very short and I think it's interference.

I have to be under something for a while before the buffer runs out.

I can make it through most tunnels without missing a beat.

Mine is the factory radio in a 2008 Jeep GC.
 
LTC8K6 said:
There's something wrong then, imo.

Mine rarely cuts out at all. When it does, it's very short and I think it's interference.

I have to be under something for a while before the buffer runs out.

I can make it through most tunnels without missing a beat.

Mine is the factory radio in a 2008 Jeep GC.
Click to expand...

I've had this problem as well in my Chevy Cruze, and with a standalone SiriusXM radio. Every time something obstructs your view of the sky like tree limbs or a highway overpass, the signal cuts out for a few seconds.
 
I have often wondered why sat antennas are not on the left side of the vehicle in the US. That would put them more towards the middle of the road and farther away from side obstructions.

Depending on how long I have been listening to the channel, I can replay up to the last 30 minutes of the Sirius broadcast, because it's loaded in the buffer. When I change the channel, the buffer has to reload again.
 
crashtech said:
I really want to like SiriusXM, but the fidelity is horrible even to my old, damaged ears. Is their bandwidth really in such short supply that they have to compress everything so horribly? how about dropping some unpopular channels and offering high fidelity instead? Probably because nobody gives a crap about how stuff sounds anymore. Who cares if it sounds like an antique pocket radio as long as there are 200 channels of crap to listen to.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised at how bad the quality actually is. Granted its better than typical/traditional radio but it really is a noticeable compression. Not a fan of music on their system when I can bluetooth my phone. I am a fan of some of their news stations though, and i like stand-up. So I paid for it.
 
Honestly, I find satellite radio to be quite a bit worse that most clear FM signals in my area. Most noticeable (again, to my rather undiscerning ears) is the seeming lack of dynamic range. I guess that is what you get when you have an audio stream that is essentially compressed twice, once for disc space and once more to conserve broadcast bandwidth.
 
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