XM or Sirius Radio [MRG] - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Raekwon · 10-22-2008, 03:39 PM

Which is a better purchase. I have heard Sirius and thought they were really good but I'm looking for some input. let me know.

ken0042 · 10-22-2008, 04:03 PM

I was on Sirius, left due to a customer service issue. Radio would take 10-15 minutes to get a stable signal (terrestrial repeater appeared to fight the satellite feed.) They were willing to give me a new radio, but sign a contract. I told them I would accept, on the condition that if this didn't work, they could have their radio back and no contract. They kept saying they'd get back to me, but never did.

Currently on XM, and the biggest issue is how often the signal drops out. Unklike Sirius' satellites that are moving relative to the earth's surface, XM is in synchonous orbit. So being at the equator, if you are near any 2 story buildings or trees that high you will lose signal. (For example, driving beside a store along 130 ave SE.)

Other things:
- Look at sports content. XM has hockey, Sirius has football.
- Comedy; I really miss the Blue Collar channel on Sirius. XM has their "uncensored" comedy like Sirius, but sometimes it's good to hear something that may be NC-17 instead of "R" rated content.
- Sound quality seemed to be slightly better on Sirius. Keep in mind the music will not be in stereo, and is like a 64 kbps or lower MP3. Digital does not mean "CD quality."
- XM seems to be better for not having as much repetition.
- XM has dedicated channels for sports, Sirius maps them wherever they want. So once when looking for a particular game, I eventually found it on the Christian Channel. So surfing the entire dial meant having to pull over to look at 120 channels instead of being able to find it on the 10 normal slots.

Overall, I would judge Sirius as better. But if you are on the highway a lot and want to catch more NHL- XM would be the better choice. I found I almost never listened to football on Sirius as the games are mostly on Sundays; when I'm home.

GreenTeaFrapp · 10-22-2008, 05:38 PM

Now that they've merged in the US, the best option is Sirius from the US. Get it and you can add on a Best of XM package that includes the NHL station.

cKy · 10-23-2008, 10:48 AM

I have my Sirius attached directly to the deck, instead of those ######ed boxes people glue to the windshield, and the quality is WAYYYYY better. I would recommend it for anyone who actually uses their Sirius alot (and ofcourse if the deck can handle it). As for the OP's question.. never used XM Radio, but i have had Sirius for 3 years, and I have no complaints (cept them switching the Punk Channel to AC/DC radio.. s)

stang · 10-23-2008, 10:55 AM

I have Xm and I like the Sports on it.
However we have the Delphi Myfi... and the thing is horrible. I took 1 back, and am having problems with the replacment, and my sister in law is having the same issues.

Mayer · 12-06-2008, 11:42 AM

So I'm wanting one of these for Christmas as I drive for a living, but I'm really unsure of which is better.

I saw that on XM you can get any NHL game, which is great seeing as how if I'm not home I have no way of hearing or seeing Canucks games.

Does anyone have either of these and want to shed some light?

Jagger · 12-06-2008, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mayer

So I'm wanting one of these for Christmas as I drive for a living, but I'm really unsure of which is better.

I saw that on XM you can get any NHL game, which is great seeing as how if I'm not home I have no way of hearing or seeing Canucks games.

Does anyone have either of these and want to shed some light?

Quick answer. Only have a sec.

I have XM and have listened to Sirius on computer and in rentals. Both are good. Since they amalgamated there are Sirius stations on XM and vice-versa most likely.

As you stated the NHL is on XM. If this is a must for you then it's a no brainer. Either way you really can't go wrong.

rubecube · 12-06-2008, 11:54 AM

I personally prefer Sirius for music and XM for sports.

Temporary_User · 12-06-2008, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mayer

I saw that on XM you can get any NHL game, which is great seeing as how if I'm not home I have no way of hearing or seeing Canucks games.

If that is the case, I would opt for Sirius. Save yourself the misery of having to listen to a Canucks game.

DementedReality · 12-06-2008, 12:07 PM

well now that Playboy radio is on both, go with XM.

Kipper is King · 12-06-2008, 12:14 PM

I have XM, and I'm pretty happy with it. The NHL coverage is awesome, and the music really is enjoyable as well.

Smyth's Skate · 12-06-2008, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DementedReality

well now that Playboy radio is on both, go with XM.

Playboy Radio????? That would be like trying to watch a porn when you are blind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GreenTeaFrapp · 12-06-2008, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubecube

I personally prefer Sirius for music and XM for sports.

There is no difference in the music so why do you prefer Sirius?

XM has the NHL channel which makes it superior in my opinion.

If you want it all, get a US subscription and you can get everything from both providers.

Sainters7 · 12-06-2008, 07:54 PM

Depends on what you like. Since you're on an NHL board I'm sure XM's NHL coverage would be attractive for you. For me I prefer Sirius, because of its NFL coverage. When I was deciding what I wanted, I figured that if I wanted to hear some of the best quality NHL talk in the world I could just trun on my local AM sports radio, whereas NFL talk is basically non-existent(lets face it, local Canadian sportsradio channels are basically glorified hockey channels), so for me its worth it alone for the NFL coverage. But if I was just into hockey I probably woulda went XM.

Slava · 12-06-2008, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smyth's Skate

Playboy Radio????? That would be like trying to watch a porn when you are blind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Playboy radio is not 1/2 as exciting as you might hope (although I'm not too sure how exciting radio can be to begin with, but I digress!). I think that I've listened once or something and it was basically a lot of truckers calling in an saying how they love the host and would really like to _____________ (fill in the blank) with her.

Pretty lame...although I'm not sure what I was expecting.

Nage Waza · 12-07-2008, 10:02 AM

Honestly, Sirius blows XM away. This is not even close. I have Sirius hard wired in my car (don't go the FM route, ever). It is crisp and clear, and RARELY drops out. On my drive to work, there are three spots where I get a second of interference.
The truth is that I listen to the Howard Stern network, which is what makes Satellite so great. Go Sirius and try it, I am totally addicted.
As for the NHL network, I wouldn't listen to it. I have am radio for local hockey talk, and then the internet for the rest. There are MANY sports stations on both systems, but you can currently only listen to games on XM. But on the net you can listen to all the flames games on qr77.
I bought a pioneer deck, the Sirius box that goes under the hood, and have an ipod cable attached to the back of the deck (the real cable, not the headphone cable). That is the way to go for sure.

Slava · 12-07-2008, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

Honestly, Sirius blows XM away. This is not even close. I have Sirius hard wired in my car (don't go the FM route, ever). It is crisp and clear, and RARELY drops out. On my drive to work, there are three spots where I get a second of interference.
The truth is that I listen to the Howard Stern network, which is what makes Satellite so great. Go Sirius and try it, I am totally addicted.
As for the NHL network, I wouldn't listen to it. I have am radio for local hockey talk, and then the internet for the rest. There are MANY sports stations on both systems, but you can currently only listen to games on XM. But on the net you can listen to all the flames games on qr77.
I bought a pioneer deck, the Sirius box that goes under the hood, and have an ipod cable attached to the back of the deck (the real cable, not the headphone cable). That is the way to go for sure.

I agree with you 100% here. I didn't buy Sirius for Howard Stern, but I'm completely addicted now, and just listen to Flames games on the Fan anyway. When Sirius did have hockey a few years ago I would just end up listening to Peter Maher anyway, so there is no difference to me.

One question though about the hard wiring job you did; does that mean that you don't have an FM transmitter to worry about? Mine is hard-wired in, but I still have to use that, and can never find a decent frequency. Any ideas there would be greatly, greatly appreciated!

Nage Waza · 12-08-2008, 04:47 PM

I don't use any FM transmittor, it is completely hard wired. The sounds never cuts out, unless there are sattelite connection issues. If you are hard wired, then you should not be using FM, unless the guy did not complete the job. You see no external unit, it is totally built into my CD player (and the unit that sits under the hood). There is a little dish on the roof of my car.

burn_baby_burn · 12-08-2008, 04:59 PM

Whichever one you go with, only get a one year subscription. Satellite Radio is in big trouble financially. They have $1 Billion in dept payments due next quarter and their stock is down to 16 cents. A bad economy can't be good for sales either. Will it survive? I hope so, but I'm not willing to shell out more than one a one year subscription in case it goes belly up this coming year.

Engine09 · 12-08-2008, 11:20 PM

I forgot how great it was to be on the road and have all those NHL channels with play by play and scores on the display. I'm a big Stern fan but if you will use the NHL channels then go XM. Opie & Anthony are over there also, I've grown to really appreciate their show, great stuff.

I sure hope that satellite radio does not fold, I can't imagine listing to FM radio again. Either way I probably never will.