das2.7t

I have a couple of questions re: audio in the car. I am new to both Sirius and HD radio so I don't have much experience with either. When I play music thrugh AM, FM or iPxd (thru cable or bluetooth) sound quality is good. Nice, rich analog sound for radio and, depending on bit rate for music on the iPxd, just fine. When I switch to Sirius or one of the FM HD channels, the sound quality is poor. No crackling or static, they sound like they are coming through some really poor digital conversion. Almost like AM radio used to sound relative to stereo FM or like it is digital music saved at some really low bit rate like 64kbps. this is on all channels; music, talk, etc... So, my question is; is this a product of the technology or is there something else going on here?

tomk

I think something else is going on as my Sirus and FM/HD radio channels sound fine to me.

The G Man

Sirius' sound quality has always been a bit poor in my opinion, but the HD FM should sound pretty good. Keep in mind that IPod, HD FM and Sirius each have its own bass, treble and sound quality settings.

dcmetro

Agree wtih G Man. I know the quality of the music that I download and burn from CDs (320 kbps) is way better than Sirius/XM is providing. Infact, CD sound is also better than Sirius/XM in both of my cars as Sirius is almost CD but not as good.

I believe HD Radio should be good though as I've heard that it's better than Sirius..though I've have not had any personal experience with it.

I second the suggestion to check your audio settings...as they're all not common across sources (which is great) and are usually set in the middle for bass/treble when you get the car.

das2.7t

Thanks for the tips dcmetro, G Man and tomk. Adjusting the sound settings was the first thing I tried when I realized that they were individually configurable for each source. No joy though as it is not really a tone issue but rather a quality issue. I'll let the dealer have a listen next time I am up there and report back here with what they say.

PJRed2008

From other forums I've been in, Sirius and XM radio quality are always a topic of discussion, and almost always negative.

Blackz06

Alright stupid question here, how does one know you are listening to HD radio?

To answer your question Das, my FM and Sirius radio sounds pretty good. Nothing like you describe.

dcmetro

Personally I like Sirius more for it's traffic than music!

das2.7t

Thansk for the reply. I'll let the dealer repair shop figure it out.

If you have not enabled HD radio in MMI, you have to do that first. Once you do that, go to the sataion tuner and scroll to a station that has "HD" just to the right. Let the cursor rest on that for a moment and the HD substations will expand out underneath. Once they do, scroll to the one you want and click. You'll then hear what that subchannel is broadcasting.

Steve'sA6

I have been an XM subscriber since 2005. When satellite radio was first introduced, they used their spectrum to produce high quality audio. Over time, they instead increased the number of channels and the sound quality has greatly suffered. You no longer see marketing of the "near CD quality" sound. It is disappointing to me as the original concept of great sound and a good selection is way better than dozens of extra stations I'll never listen to. I find that HD FM is far better sound.