We have a '12 MCS with HK. Got a good deal turning on the sat radio, but have to say the sound quality is pretty bad. Still under warranty, might take it in and complain. How do yours sound?

 

Is it distorted or just flat? As far as SQ goes satellite radio is by far the worst, the bit rate is extremely low...

 

Flat, like it's missing all the highs and lows. I did read somewhere that the signal is highly compressed. Just wanted to see what others thought of theirs..

 

Ya that sounds normal then. I read somewhere that it's like 50kbps, where as even a very compressed mp3 is still like 128kbps. I used to have Sirius, but I let it expire after a year and switched to Pandora One. You can tailor the stations to you and it streams at 192kbps, which while still not that great actually sounds fairly decent. It uses data on my phone but I have unlimited data, if you had a cap then Pandora might not work for you...

 

Ya, I've already tried that. Works well in town, but we take long road trips. Got tried of the long time outs, is one of the reasons I turned on the sat radio. Guess we'll just have to live with it.

 

Yea that is one convenience to Sirius, works as long as you have a clear view of the sky! Wish there was some way to get better sound out of it though...

 

I have an aftermarket XM radio unit mounted in my MINI. While I enjoy listening to it, I concur that the sound quality is pretty bad compared to other sources. Like you say, the highs and the lows are weak at best and the sound is just not very full.

 

I just picked up a used 2011 MCS - same issue. I have a friend who has a 2008 Honda Accord and his Sirius sounds amazing; crystal clear.

If anyone has a suggestion or a solution, please let me know. I've been searching NAM and the interwebz trying to find out how to improve the sound quality. There is a ton of hissing/muffle sounding audio. Annoying.

 

XM for years has had SLIGHTLY better sound....slightly more bandwidth....
But the feeds are MUCH more highly compressed than we are NOW accustomed too...back in the pre-merger days, xm had better music selections, but sirrius had Howard Stern....
remember....it is OLD technology.....and with Smartphone tech, it is likly would not be started in this day and age....heck...with the $$$$ issues XM/Sirrius have been having...not sure they will be around much longer....
Last time I canceled....it took me 30 minutes of transfers saying "cancel NOW!!"...and they they said ok...then charged my Credicard (which the number had changed...the sent ME A BILL MARKED OVERDUE!!!
I would not DEAL WITH THESE JERKS unless you LOVE COMCAST>>>
after providing them with the name of the agent i canceled with and made it stink, they cancled the bill...then sent me an offer for $4.99 for 6 month....with auto renew at FULL PRICE!!
While I have a XM installed in my car (through the OEM head) I would suggest there are better options for most....heck, the TALK stations were IMO the BEST use for sat radio due too low quality audio...and MOST of them were discontumued to save $$ since the music can be run by computer....

 

I'm just curious, has anyone tried a different antenna than the stock one? I'm going to order a stubby for my MCS... Just thinking a replacement may help the terrible sound quality.

 

I could be wrong, but I don't think the sat radio uses that antenna. The sat radio antenna is in the base part of the antenna. Hope I'm making sense here..

 

Well, I think is understand what your saying. Any idea if I can buy an alternative to pipe in the satellite? I really like the diversity... Just not the quality lol

 

I hear, wish we could improve it. I think Zippy nailed the problem in post #9 above. Interesting about your comment that it sounded good in a Honda. I had an '04 Honda Accord with factory sat radio. It sounded better than my mini, but Honda factory sat radio used XM.

 

I have a feeling this is just something I'm going to live with or without for that matter.

My buddy accord is amazingly clear... It's disappointing to say the least.

 

My understanding is that the connection for the sat radio antenna is underneath the passenger seat, under the carpet. It may be possible to purchase an aftermarket antenna and run the cable there to swap the connection. I'm not sure anyone makes a "better" antenna though. I don't think that would be the weak point though.

 

Zippy did nail it.. to be honest I love the HD radio stations way better. The sound quality is just awesome. Im more about sound quality though

 

That's good to know. Any idea on a way to improve signal or sound quality?


Our local radio stations play all the same 7 songs... The randomness of the satellite radio is nice. I do want a better sound quality for sure, that's part of my issue

 

the sat radio signal is digital ... a "better" antenna will not improve the sound ... you either receive it or you don't

while xm/sirius is one company, they still operate two independant and incompatible networks ... xm has more bandwidth per channel than sirius but both sound like an old am transistor radio compared to fm and the hd fm is in another league all together

most stations on sirius are on a 45 minute loop ... when my free year was up i let it go ... i listen to 99% hd fm ... as a bonus, most of the hd2 and hd3 stations have almost no advertising due to lack of market penetration ... as time moves on that will probably change but now it is wonderfull

 

Thanks for the input... After my trial is up, I will most certainly not renew. The tinny, muffled, crappy sound is just not worth the cost

 

its amazing that satellite radio is even around still. my wife has it in her car, its amazing you can have 100+ channels that all play nothing but **** 95% of the time. i just use my phone for everything nowadays, when i lose a data connection or it starts stuttering i just put on the stored music on a shuffle or album or something. i am really, really picky about what i actually listen to, even if its on a crappy stereo. i'd rather listen to good music on a crappy stereo or no music at all than crappy music on the best stereo ever...

 

What is your data usage for streaming? I'm not on unlimited anymore. I'm thinking that this is the way to go.

 

i'm on an unlimited plan, or its at least really high. my wife's company pays for her phone bill, and i'm piggybacked on her plan as a second phone, so its not too bad. i'll be cancelling her sat radio pretty soon, if i'm gonna pay for something on a month by month basis, i'd rather it was Pandora ONE so we can both share the same channels (and you can listen on soo many devices). still, after 3 years of listening to pandora i haven't gotten sick of the occasional commercials yet. i gave up on FM YEARS ago, the whole ratio of chat/commericals to songs i ACTUALLY want to hear is pretty horrible. i hate talk radio too, i'm on sales calls all day; the last thing i want to hear in the car is more talking. pandora is so nice, once you figure how to thumbs up/down songs, add variety to certain stations. for instance, one of my favorite stations is pink floyd with ennio morricone and jack bruce added for a little variety...plus when you thumbup or bookmark a song its saved to your profile and you can go back down the road and download the ones you really can't live without.