Sirius digital sq? Get serious!
06-18-2006, 04:37 PM
#1
Sirius digital sq? Get serious!
Well - I bit the bullet and bought the Sirius set-up with direct feed to my Eclipse 5425 (I think that is the model). I was expecting near CD sound quality or at least something that sounded noticeably better than FM radio. So far, I am disapointed with the SQ and I might just take the Sirius out and sell it. The most noticable sq problems so far:
1. Compressed audio means loss of high frequencies - when I listen to a well recorded tune with nice high hats or something (like Dire Straights "Sultans of Swing") on Sirius then put the CD in to compare... WOW, the CB truly blows the Sirius away - not even close. The Sirius sounds like it is coming through on a digital cell phone. Almost no clarity and a major loss in high frequencies;
2. Bass is boosted in a similar way to radio so, if you get Sirius, hopefully you have a deck that has separate EQ settings for satellite feed and you can tone it down a bit;
3. Voices also sound like they are coming through a digital cell phone with that wavy distorted tone;
4. MY FM RADIO SOUNDS BETTER!!
I am not slamming the satellite radio overall other than the SQ issues above. The commercial-free music is great and I get lots of programming to choose from (great for a road trip) so the sat radio is not all bad - but because I am an SQ nut I find I rarely use it. I'll sell it unless my wife makes us keep it
.
1. Compressed audio means loss of high frequencies - when I listen to a well recorded tune with nice high hats or something (like Dire Straights "Sultans of Swing") on Sirius then put the CD in to compare... WOW, the CB truly blows the Sirius away - not even close. The Sirius sounds like it is coming through on a digital cell phone. Almost no clarity and a major loss in high frequencies;
2. Bass is boosted in a similar way to radio so, if you get Sirius, hopefully you have a deck that has separate EQ settings for satellite feed and you can tone it down a bit;
3. Voices also sound like they are coming through a digital cell phone with that wavy distorted tone;
4. MY FM RADIO SOUNDS BETTER!!
I am not slamming the satellite radio overall other than the SQ issues above. The commercial-free music is great and I get lots of programming to choose from (great for a road trip) so the sat radio is not all bad - but because I am an SQ nut I find I rarely use it. I'll sell it unless my wife makes us keep it
.
Last edited by fatty matty; 06-18-2006 at 04:40 PM.
06-18-2006, 05:01 PM
#2
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 91
(GrizZz here, wife's PC)
Yep, I installed a Sirius tuner, SIR-KEN1 onto my system just on Tuesday. It's hard-wired through a changer cord.
And my opinion of the SQ is about the same as yours... Like an old, bad Real Media internet stream. Regular FM has better SQ.
On the plus side, reception is SO much better than FM. My van has lousy FM reception, always has. Not bad if you're sitting still and take the time to park it in the exact right inch you need, but if you're driving, it's pretty damn annoying. The Sirius has excellent reception, I've only had it drop for a split second a couple times now, and it never fades in/out or gets fuzZzy or anything like that. The selection can't be beat - I love listening to stations and music that I don't really know, and writing down the ones that I really like so I can get 'em on cd. And it being able to work out at my cabin, all weekend without having to change a cd...... Oh MAN THAT'S GONNA BE GREAT!
After playing with the EQ's and re-adjusting the SRS filters, I've got the SQ almost acceptable again. Not really to my standards, but should be more than good enough for daily, and cabin, use.
And I figured the ol' lady could use the internet version at home. But of course, that's only at sirius.com, not siriuscanada.ca... I wrote them and they said that yes, they're working on getting an internet version up in the future. Didn't give me an ETA though, even to the point of saying "can't even give you an ETA". And no, you can't use your Canuck account on the US website.
BUT, and that's a very big BUT, I'm having hardware issues too
Without explaining it all over again here, I'll just paste in (minus some phone numbers at the bottom) the letter I've sent off, for you guys to read:
To: Kenwood Canada � Customer Support
CC: Sirius Canada � Customer Support (FYI)
CC: ARA Auto Accessories (Auth. Kenwood Dealer) � Rod, Electronics Technician
From: Bob Dean � All Start Batteries, Starters, Alternators
Re: KDC-X979 & Sirius SIR-KEN1 hardware malfunction
June 06 2006
Hello,
I bought a Sirius tuner, SIR-KEN1, the other day, to plug into my Head Unit, a Kenwood KDC-X979.
After installing the hardware, and activating it at www.siriuscanada.ca , the tuner downloaded the stations, started working, and all was fine. However, then the next morning I ran into a problem, and my technician and I were hoping you�ve run into the problem before, and can tell us what�s wrong.
I can switch the HU to Standby, CD, or any other mode, but still powered up with the face on, and then switch back to Sirius, the operations perform fine. But, if I shut the system off, wait 10 seconds or 10 hours or any length of time, and then power up again, the Sirius tuner seems to �lose its brain�. The display shows the last Sirius numbered channel I was on, and nothing but �Waiting� in the two text lines. I then cannot switch channels at all, or get the Sirius ESN# to display on the HU, or the tuner to do anything. I have left it on for over an hour like this, thinking maybe it just needed to relearn, but it didn�t.
To get it working again, I must power the system down, unplug the data cord to the tuner, power the system up (so it realizes there is no tuner), power down again, plug the data cord in again, and power up again. Then it all operates as if nothing had happened at all, the tuner is still programmed with full channels, and will resume on whatever channel it was that I had left it on, and operate properly, until the next time I shut the power off again.
Rod (my tech) and I trouble-shooted the problem further, by hooking up a cd changer to the system to make sure there is constant power coming from the HU when it is off. There is - the changer worked fine, even when the Sirius tuner was currently malfunctioning, and we were able to eject the changer cartridge with the system powered down. We then took the tuner into their showroom and tried it on a HU in their display board. It worked fine, powering up on the same channel that we had left it on on my own system, and we could not get it to malfunction.
So this all tells us that something must be awry in my KDC-X979. Have you guys run into this problem before?
Thank-You,
Bob Dean,
All Start.
Yep, I installed a Sirius tuner, SIR-KEN1 onto my system just on Tuesday. It's hard-wired through a changer cord.
And my opinion of the SQ is about the same as yours... Like an old, bad Real Media internet stream. Regular FM has better SQ.
On the plus side, reception is SO much better than FM. My van has lousy FM reception, always has. Not bad if you're sitting still and take the time to park it in the exact right inch you need, but if you're driving, it's pretty damn annoying. The Sirius has excellent reception, I've only had it drop for a split second a couple times now, and it never fades in/out or gets fuzZzy or anything like that. The selection can't be beat - I love listening to stations and music that I don't really know, and writing down the ones that I really like so I can get 'em on cd. And it being able to work out at my cabin, all weekend without having to change a cd...... Oh MAN THAT'S GONNA BE GREAT!
After playing with the EQ's and re-adjusting the SRS filters, I've got the SQ almost acceptable again. Not really to my standards, but should be more than good enough for daily, and cabin, use.
And I figured the ol' lady could use the internet version at home. But of course, that's only at sirius.com, not siriuscanada.ca... I wrote them and they said that yes, they're working on getting an internet version up in the future. Didn't give me an ETA though, even to the point of saying "can't even give you an ETA". And no, you can't use your Canuck account on the US website.
BUT, and that's a very big BUT, I'm having hardware issues too
Without explaining it all over again here, I'll just paste in (minus some phone numbers at the bottom) the letter I've sent off, for you guys to read:
To: Kenwood Canada � Customer Support
CC: Sirius Canada � Customer Support (FYI)
CC: ARA Auto Accessories (Auth. Kenwood Dealer) � Rod, Electronics Technician
From: Bob Dean � All Start Batteries, Starters, Alternators
Re: KDC-X979 & Sirius SIR-KEN1 hardware malfunction
June 06 2006
Hello,
I bought a Sirius tuner, SIR-KEN1, the other day, to plug into my Head Unit, a Kenwood KDC-X979.
After installing the hardware, and activating it at www.siriuscanada.ca , the tuner downloaded the stations, started working, and all was fine. However, then the next morning I ran into a problem, and my technician and I were hoping you�ve run into the problem before, and can tell us what�s wrong.
I can switch the HU to Standby, CD, or any other mode, but still powered up with the face on, and then switch back to Sirius, the operations perform fine. But, if I shut the system off, wait 10 seconds or 10 hours or any length of time, and then power up again, the Sirius tuner seems to �lose its brain�. The display shows the last Sirius numbered channel I was on, and nothing but �Waiting� in the two text lines. I then cannot switch channels at all, or get the Sirius ESN# to display on the HU, or the tuner to do anything. I have left it on for over an hour like this, thinking maybe it just needed to relearn, but it didn�t.
To get it working again, I must power the system down, unplug the data cord to the tuner, power the system up (so it realizes there is no tuner), power down again, plug the data cord in again, and power up again. Then it all operates as if nothing had happened at all, the tuner is still programmed with full channels, and will resume on whatever channel it was that I had left it on, and operate properly, until the next time I shut the power off again.
Rod (my tech) and I trouble-shooted the problem further, by hooking up a cd changer to the system to make sure there is constant power coming from the HU when it is off. There is - the changer worked fine, even when the Sirius tuner was currently malfunctioning, and we were able to eject the changer cartridge with the system powered down. We then took the tuner into their showroom and tried it on a HU in their display board. It worked fine, powering up on the same channel that we had left it on on my own system, and we could not get it to malfunction.
So this all tells us that something must be awry in my KDC-X979. Have you guys run into this problem before?
Thank-You,
Bob Dean,
All Start.
06-18-2006, 09:51 PM
#3
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 151
I have a sirius Kenwood SSR-TP902CX tuner in my car and it sounds like ***. I first heard sirius on Dish Network that is hooked up to my house amp and it sounds fine, But in the car it's as flat as a stipper's breasts. To make it suck even a bigger hole then it already does, the Canadian side doesn't have the Rolling Stones Channel.
06-19-2006, 06:44 AM
#5
I have an XM unit connected to an alpine 9811. Use the aux input, as it is much better than the FM transmitter. But still, SQ is not as good as a strong FM radio station.
My Alpine has MX media Expander that also improves the compressed XM.
First, in Montreal there are not alot of radio station choices, plus I drive a lot to Toronto and Boston and there are also not many stations along the way.
It is unfortunate that they have wonderfull technology but decided to dumb down the sound quality. That is what you get with a generation of people raised on MP3 and boom boxes.
My Alpine has MX media Expander that also improves the compressed XM.
First, in Montreal there are not alot of radio station choices, plus I drive a lot to Toronto and Boston and there are also not many stations along the way.
It is unfortunate that they have wonderfull technology but decided to dumb down the sound quality. That is what you get with a generation of people raised on MP3 and boom boxes.
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