What Xm/Sirius device is best for CF?

WuNgUn · 03-24-2008, 05:57 PM

Currently, CF supports XMPCR, XMDirect and SiriusSC-C1 adapters...

What are the pro and cons of each of these?
Is XM better than Sirius?

Habious · 03-24-2008, 08:16 PM

Opinions differ but, I prefer Sirius programming over XM.

I like good ol' Rock-n-Roll. Sirius has stations like Classic Vinyl, Classic Rewind, The Vault, BuzzSaw (newer classic rock), Hair Nation (all the 80's hair-metal bands)...plus the usual 70's, 80's, 90's stations. The 80's station plays really great 80's songs (if you're into that). If you are into the 80's stuff, you'll know just about every song. They have 4 of the 5 original MTV VJ's on as DJ's (JJ Jackson passed away several years ago) so, they're really good.

Sirius has Howard Stern (if you're into that) and Marta Stewart (if you swing that way), NASCar and NFL radio.

In contrast, XM has Major League Baseball, NHL, PGA tour, Oprah, and Sean Hannity

I've never found a decent "hard rock" station on XM. The 80's stations plays some really obscure stuff. I mean, they'll play a song from one of the many 80's one-hit-wonder bands but,....it's not the hit!! I mean, in my opinion, if you're going to play a song by A Flock of Seagulls, it needs to be "I Ran"...if you're going to play a song from A-ha, it needs to be "Take On Me". But, it's music so, opinions differ greatly...that's just mine.

As for hardware, I have the SC-C1 with the MJS interface. Could not be happier with it. stupid-easy installation and setup and works seamlessly with CentraFuse 1.47. The only minor surprise I had when I got it was that it requires a separate ground and +12V. I assumed that it would get power from the USB but, it doesn't. Maybe all of the other Satellite Radio interfaces require this too. Could be a current-draw issue that makes them unable to get power from the USB.

CentraFuse handles the Satellite Radio very well...with only a few minor glitches. 1.48 is supposed to resolve quite a few of them (the Satellite Radio plug-in doesn't seem to like Hibernation with Windows so, you can't use the Hibernate feature if you want the Satellite radio to work when it wakes up....I'm hoping this is resolved with 1.48) and, I've reported a minor issue with the song titles not always updating but, smeesman (the contact for the Satellite Radio plug-in) has found the software glitch and assures me that it's fixed in 1.48. But, let me be clear, it's a VERY minor deal.

I listen to Sirius every time I get in the car. I listen to it more than I listen to my mp3's.

Hope this helps.

WuNgUn · 03-24-2008, 08:51 PM

Thanks for your input Hab...appreciated!
You mentioned MJS interface? Can you explain this a little more...
Is the SC-C1 just the reciever? It doesn't plug into the USB port directly?
I'm assuming the MJS in the 'go-between'...where do I get one?
Thanks again!

Habious · 03-24-2008, 11:04 PM

The SC-C1 is just a generic Sirius receiver. It's designed to plug into a "Sirius-ready" head-unit. The MJS interface takes that and converts it to USB.

The main site is http://www.rush2112.net/

The URL directly to the Sirius interface box is http://www.rush2112.net/mkportal/mod...products_id=35

I got my SC-C1 from http://www.crutchfield.com

Here's the link directly to the SC-C1 on Crutchfield.com but, they currently show it as out-of-stock http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...=sc-c1&tp=6953

I know that it's available elsewhere...and probably cheaper than Crutchfield but, at the time, they had it in stock...plus I know them and trust them.

Hope this info helps. Let me know if you've got any other questions. I'm a BIG Sirius fan and love to push it on others! lol

kmp14 · 03-25-2008, 04:14 PM

One minor addition. I prefer Sirius also, but from what has been said, XM has slightly better sound quality. I don't know if this is true...

Habious · 03-26-2008, 10:53 AM

Now, that's interesting. I haven't ever heard that tidbit of info. kmp14, do you have any sources for that?

I know that the Sirius quality is very good. If you run an FM modulator or are using a "basic" stock stereo, it sounds as good as any other source. However, if you step things up with using direct auxiliary inputs to your stereo and the stereo is of higher-than-average quality, you start to hear the limitations of the compression algorithm they use. CD's sound the best... mp3's are a close second...Sirius does sound inferior to mp3's but, leaps and bounds above the best FM.

Would be interesting to do a side-by-side comparison of XM versus Sirius but, I've never seen a car with both! You'd also need to talk XM and Sirius into playing the same song as the same time so you could switch back and forth! My dad's Honda Accord has XM and it sounds good. But, while the Accord factory stereo isn't too bad, it doesn't compare to the Mark Levinson system in my Lexus.

midiwall · 03-26-2008, 07:04 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by WuNgUn

Currently, CF supports XMPCR, XMDirect and SiriusSC-C1 adapters...

XMPCR isn't made anymore, XMDirect is an easy plug-in (though the online vendors rip you off for the cable required - build it yourself if you can solder) and other folks have commented on the Sirius setup.

Quote: Originally Posted by kmp14

One minor addition. I prefer Sirius also, but from what has been said, XM has slightly better sound quality. I don't know if this is true...

Depends on the station. Both providers are lacking for bandwidth on the sats and as a result, compress the heck out of (and vary the encoding bitrate of) all the stations. The Electronica stations seem to be the best (i.e., they use the highest bitrate/least compression) and the talk stations (comedy, news, sportscasts) are the worst. The choices make since if you think about 'em, but it sucks overall.

The rock stations are "ok", the country stations are worse than that, the classical stations are about on par with the country stations.

The real issue (to me) is the quality of the _programming_. I've been an XM subscriber since 2003 and their programming has really declined over the years. The rock stations seem to be in a 2 hour loop. The Electronica stations are pretty stale, and the news stations are riddled with commercials.

Sirius's programming has dropped off as well, but they're better off than XM.

Also, the XM/Sirius merger has been approved, so the question of "who's programming is better?" will soon become "when will I be able to get a multi-sat receiver?".

mitchjs · 04-03-2008, 01:19 PM

hehehaha

people who have XM, say they heard Sirius sound quality is better
and people who have Sirius, say XM sounds better

I got both

they BOTH SUCK!!!!

HD Radio is the only one that sounds good!!
and im not sure HD Radio is the answer, but you cant agrue its sound quality!!!

XM for sports/talk, sirius for sports/talk and MP3s for music
thats the way to go

mitch

rgarjr · 04-03-2008, 03:21 PM

Well people dont get satellite radio for their sound but for their content and ability to receive the service in almost all North America.