Sirius or XM?

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Are these the only two 'players'?

What would you say I should go for? I've been in steady work now for over six months, so I'm enjoying a feeling (however misplaced) of relative prosperity.

As I channel-surfed my way through the barren wastes of FM here in Vero Beach, FL I decided that the time had come....

I like most genres of music (including 'elevator jazz' - see that other topic

), and, though I'm not a huge country music fan, I'd like to be able to hear Tommy White on the Opry from time to time.

I'd appreciate your input on the pros and cons of each service - thanks.

RR
PS: Oh, and what is the initial outlay? Is it more expensive to be able to listen at home as well as in the car?

[This message was edited by Roger Rettig on 13 October 2006 at 07:52 AM.]

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

Slightly off topic: you should know that if you get your TV signal from DirecTV (satellite) you get XM radio included. That won't help you in your car but it sounds good at home. Here in Los Angeles, DirecTV is under $50 per month and is better than cable TV.

Ben Elder · From: La Crescenta, California, USA

When I got XM two years ago (the one thing I ever wanted to be an early-adopter of, but couldn't justify the cost for three years), I was very excited but the thrill has worn off considerably. The only thing keeping me going is that, as you say, the alternative is so much bleaker. And that's in LA, the WORST commercial radio market in the world and one of the best public radio markets. I work for a company that the CEO of Sirius presided over before moving to satellite radio. No amount of desperation or musical passion could ever make me fork over even a lousy dollar to any organization that he might stand to profit from personally. (Darn right I refuse to mention his name.)

That said, you're not going to hear the Opry on EITHER service. XM never had it and, from recent reports here lately, Sirius has dropped WSM. XM has Willie's Place (ne Hank's Place; probably destined to be Garth's Place, he said with trademark cynicism) which is pretty good; likewise a bluegrass channel and Folk Village, which is where I hear the most songs I like. (Only complaint: it needs to subdivide to split off the '60s Folk Scare material, droning Celtic stuff (Steeleye Span can stay) and self-absorbed singer-songwriters whose apparent refusal to condescend to a major chord is an article of religion.)

The contemporary and mainstream country channels are...contemporary and mainstream. I didn't go there before and I don't go there now either. I keep one called America on the presets because of "Legends"--Bill Anderson's interviews with stars with some history, as opposed to merely outsized recent SoundScan numbers from the Wal-Mart checkout computers. X-Country (that's "Cross"-COuntry and short for XM-Country) is the alleged alt-country channel, but it bears such scant resemblance to what I read about in "No Depression" Magazine that it's my second-greatest disappointment. It should be great, but it's very grunge-y and overdriven. And, to use one of mom's expressions, the Country "went through it on stilts."

By far the biggest disappointment is the '60s Channel--virutally all boss-jock retrospections or recreations (and who cares which). From July of 1962--75% of the decade in question--I was an aware (and from '66 on, progressive) listener (and we're talking Oklahoma, where we were not allowed to hear "Society's Child" by Janis Ian) and I do not recognize what rises up out of my speakers from XM 6 ("60s on 6") to box my ears. To listen to XM, you'd believe the 60s never happened in San Francisco or England. There was only the one planetary continent--Pangaea/Motown/Brill Building.

The Loft (intelligent acoustic pop/rock) hits every 13th song or so, as does Deep Tracks (classic album rock) about a third as often, but I'd given up on rock pretty well by the 70s, so XM 7 isn't even a preset for me--never mind 80s, 90s or contemporary pop/rock fare-to-poor. I'm not the one to comment on the (endless, seemingly) series of soul, Espanol, hip-hop, electronica, dance and jazz.

Nor do I indulge any of the talk outlets--left, right or center--except XMPR. And Bob Edwards is a wonder. Not only did NPR callously disregard and dismiss one of their two finest talents (Susan Stamberg--semi-retired?--is the other) but they virtually never let him do what is his glory: long-form interviews of 30 or 60 minutes, as on XM.

Sirius is strong with NPR (as I am via local affiliates), while XM has a lot of PRI shows (which I understand Sirius just dropped). Major League Baseball and NHL---yawn--big time XM yawn. At least Sirius (I think) has the NFL. XM has NASCAR and lots of ESPNFOXsportstalk if you're having trouble sleeping.

To XM's credit, its Drama channel (?) carries a lot of vintage Bob and Ray--certainly artifacts of my parents' generation, but still more cerebral and funny than the vast majority of icons of my own or my kid's eras.

Bottom line: satellite radio is virtually all there is for me (and I say this as a public-radio voluneer show host for nearly two decades), but the luster and early promise has worn off. It's pretty much the lowest common deniminator wherever you go.

If you drive an older car with a cassette deck, the cassette adapter is best for hooking up an inexpensive outboard receiver like one of the (XM) Roady series. An FM transmitter is problematic in places like LA where every other frequency is assigned and all the rest have distorted signals that bleed through from outlying areas. With rebate, a new Roady XT is $60. This includes a car kit. If you want to listen at home, you'll need an AC adapter and home antenna (home kit) to connect to a stereo or powered speaker system. Lots of stuff is available on eBay. The old Roady 2 was being closed out a year or so ago and when I needed a new car antenna, I just bought the whole closeout Roady2 rig for $30...and ended up using the Roady2 receiver as well. The antenna (magnetic base) either runs around he interior and oustide to the roof unless you spend hours hiding it under the dash, trunk and carpeting. There are also installed systems for more money.

[This message was edited by Ben Elder on 13 October 2006 at 01:03 PM.]

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Stephen Gregory · Posted 13 Oct 2006 12:44 pm

XM is by far the better of the two. I have both but, definitely not renewing Sirius. The country choices on Sirius are a joke.

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Well, we're commited to cable TV here - it's part of our condo fee every month, and I'm not going to pay out a penny more than I need to for 'entertainment'. As far as the TV's concerned, only Turner Classic Movies and Public TV are worth spending any time with (apart from whenever the Major golf tournaments are on - that's a different matter...)

Thanks for your reply, Ben - you made me laugh!

My Lincoln's not that old, but it has a cassette-deck on the dash and CD-changer in the trunk - I have all bases covered.

I wonder how long I'd have to commit to so I can see if I want to keep it. In the end, I'm happiest with what I want to put on (when I load the CD deck), but it'd be nice to get some random music with the possibility of the occasional nice surprise. I was skipping through the local stations today and EVERY CHANNEL was running a commercial!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I always thought that the principal behind cable-TV was that our subscriptions were going to pay for it, so there would be no adverts - what went wrong? Surely the moment they started generating their own revenue, they should have stopped charging us?

'Naive in Naples'

(I appreciate the input - thanks, all.

RR)

Lem Smith · From: Long Beach, MS

Roger,
I have XM myself, and love it. If you'd like to get a an idea of some of the stations you can hear on it, you can try it online, free for a three day period. http://xmro.xmradio.com/xstream/index.jsp

However, the online version doesn't have all the channels that the regular satelite service does, but it should at least give you an idea.

Also, according to their FAQ's, the satelite service is a subscription and can be cancelled at anytime, and is not a contract.

Hope this helps.

Lem

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