SiriusXM sound is flat and, well, crappy

I listen to 90% talk on SiriusXM. If I want to listen to music, I plug in my phone.

 

I've found if you listen at odd hours the playlists are vastly different. I guess I'm also lucky in that my musical tastes span most genres. Makes it easy to find something. And the lack of commercials? Yes, please.

I'm glad someone else can't stand a lot of the DJs. There's a small group of them I refuse to listen to, but the rest I can tune out. Some of the ones I wouldn't listen to must have adjusted their voice processors because they don't grate on me like they used to. There's one dude that runs around the classic rock channels that I cannot stand. He thinks he's funny and tries to do all these cringe-worth segues. Just thinking about it makes me want to hide!

 

I have lifetime Sirius. And Apple Music.

Back around 2010-2014 I lived in a few different areas. Same story every time. Good rock station shut down and rebranded as top40 pop.

I’ve got Apple Music if I want better quality. And Sirius just to hear what’s new. Also not an audiophile.

 

Truth! I kept declining and declining, the most I got was six months free. Set a calendar reminder and cancel again.


Having the extra channels is cool but yeah, the sound is pre-HD and pre-streaming and that is why I don't make satellite radio another bill. It's fun when it's a free trial or their annual Memorial Day free weekend, or maybe if I drove it across the country. For my daily use? No.

 

XM in my truck sounds better than Bluetooth, CD, and FM. Good bass and nice crisp sound, no complaints at all here.

 

???

I cannot comprehend how that is even remotely possible.

 

Have no idea. Been listening to xm for over 4 years in my truck now, love it!

 

What stations are you listening to? I’ve noticed a difference in sound quality where the more mainstream stations sound better, most likely because they’re devoting more bandwidth to the more popular stations. Howard Stern and Hits 1 sound the best, followed by Country and Margaritaville, with the kids stations, jazz and classical coming in dead last. The talk stations and comedy are also down there in quality.

 

OP have you thought about the $250. kicker upgrade? Made a world of difference for me.

 

Never heard of a "kicker upgrade"; what is it?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/premium-audio-upgrade-for-less-than-250.510424/

 

Is this a question for me?

 

Question was for OP but anybody is free to answer especially if you’ve noticed the same thing.

 

Thanks @Mister Grey, I'll look into that. The issue here is I have no problem with the stock audio quality when listening to a quality source, the issue seems limited to satellite radio.

 

Satellite radio is pretty much dead. I used it for close to 15 years and then they wanted my subscription to go up to about $30 a month and I was like "umm, do what?" Now how you can stream apple music or Spotify I have no idea why anyone would pay for satellite radio. I love how satellite radio has commercials to tell you they are commercial free and commercials for other channels and for deals. I mean, I am paying to never hear someone say shit to me. Just music!
Of course as soon as I cancelled it from 4 vehicles and the mobile subscription they offered me a deal for about $6 a month but I am over it. Just get Spotify and stream your tunes or whatever you want to listen too. I also found that they have the worst DJ's on the planet and the stations I used to listen to would play the slowest shit right around my drive home. Anyway, I am done with that crap.

 

I listen to lithium, turbo, Octane, Ozzys boneyeard, classic vynil, BPM, bluesville, FLY, and rock the bells. They all sound identical to me. I do not listen to any talk shows.

 

I'd have to disagree. Satellite radio is far from dead as you can tell by their 34.5 million subscribers. Yes, you can stream music to your phone but only if you have cell service. Sirius works everywhere. Before the sat haters start going off I know it cuts out in tunnels or if you have a mountain blocking your SE view (for us in WA) but for my use, I'd rather rely on a sat than a cell signal. And....I pay $6 a month for SiriusXM. Not sure where the idea of $30/month came from. For me, it's worth $6 a month.

 

Out here in BumfukKansas it's soybean reports, local high school sports or screaming preachers so for $6 a month - .20 cents a day - I think it's pretty good and am happy with it.
But hey, life's too short to be unhappy about something so change it if you want/can.

 

I pay 9$ CAN a month, worth it to me.

 

If you have a playlist on spotify you do not have to worry about cell service. Dude, you pay whatever you want but when you are a customer for 15 years and have several accounts and they automatically up your bill 10 times the amount you typically pay and require you to call and negotiate every year and follow up by playing as many commercials for themselves as free radio. Yeah, fuck that.