Browsing...
11/05/2008
The blob video hits the half-a-million mark.
>> Link
10/03/2008
The prosperity gospel and foreclosures.
>> Link
09/03/2008
Go watch it…Now!
>> Link
Latest Photos
Since we are planning on moving down to Midlothian, I will have a 40+ minute commute to work. So I decided to buy a satellite radio to avoid the the horrible selection of radio stations here in Dallas. I went with Sirius because of musical tastes. It seemed to have more indie rock stations with a better selection of electronic music as well. Neither XM or Sirius seemed to have a good underground hip-hop station unfortunately, only that radio pop-hop.
But I got my radio the other night and plugged it into the car. I activated my subscription and off I went. And I was shocked. It sounded horrible. The quality sounded like a poorly encoded MP3. So I got on the web to do a little more research, and supposedly the streaming rates are only around 48k, 64k at the high end. Talk radio doesn’t sound too bad because it’s easier to compress, but it’s still not the best. Overall, it’s better than AM but worse than FM and no where close to being CD Quality.
And so I don’t know if I should cancel and take the iPod route or just deal with it. Listening to the same songs on my iPod gets old after awhile. I like to hear new stuff and that’s why Satellite Radio is so attractive. But I don’t know if I can put up with the quality. I am so disappointed right now.
And what’s funny is that “HD” Radio is starting to be broadcast in Dallas now. First off, there really is no such thing as high definition radio. It’s only a term to lure consumers in that are familiar with HDTV. And second, supposedly “HD” radio will only stream at 92k…Some good ole analog FM stations will still sound better than “HD” radio. With all of the technology we have these days, we are moving backward instead of forward.
danoman says...
Jul 12, 02:18 PM
Matticus. That’s really strange you had a bad experience with it. Phil’s been a XM user for quite a while, although with his iPod he turned the subscription off – but Phil and I were always amazed at the sound quality. There were only a couple spots of flaky transmission, but overall just quality sound – with a rich full sound being broadcast from his speakers. I never thought it sounded worse than radio or even the iPod… interesting…
Matt says...
Jul 12, 02:27 PM
I’ve heard people say that XM is better than Sirius quality wise…and I’ve heard others say the opposite. But when researching it, both still stream relatively low, although XM uses a form of aac and Sirius uses pac I think. I wonder too if it’s because I have a portable player and not an in dash receiver. My parents XM didn’t sound too bad. But I’ve read about folks saying the quality still sucks with in dash receivers.
brian warren says...
Jul 12, 04:49 PM
I’ve heard Sirius, and it sounded good in my dad’s car. Apparently your mileage may vary though, and that stinks.
My suggestion – take the money you woulda spent on the satellite radio and subscribe to eMusic. Tons of great music there – lots of indie selection. It’s 9.99/month and I’m totally hooked. I’ll send you an invite – you get 25 free songs just for checkin it out. And the songs are all clean DRM-free MP3s.
The other option for getting new content regularly is to sign up for some good music podcasts. CBC Radio 3 has a lot of good music, as does the 3hive.com podcast. Lots of good indie stuff.
martin says...
Jul 13, 11:23 PM
matt, i’ve had a sirius dash receiver for about a year now, it came with my jeep. although i listen to it a lot, i made up my mind a long time ago that when my free subscription is up, i’m gone. its nice that there are no commercials and they do play music that i would never hear on good ole frequency modulation; HOWEVER, every once in a while i do pop in a CD or switch to regular radio and i am amazed at the difference in quality. my ears perk up when they hear the purer sound. also, i am yet to find a trusty “martin” station. i like channel 30 a lot of the time, but sometimes that channel gets into a terrible rut where all they play are bands that write 3 chord sappy songs. i hope you’re able to figure something out, and if not, remember that silence is golden.