Boy did the sound quality ever take a hit though

[Dark Star]

I kind of expected a bit of a dip in SQ until they get things worked out. Right now though 46 is almost unlistenable, the decades stations sound far more compressed. Some stations sound significantly better than others but it seems as a whole the quality definitely went down.

Anyone else notice this?

 

[microbob]

Classic Vinyl sounds like it has took a reduction in audio quality. I hope they will improve the bit rate or introduce a better codec at a later date.

 

[awfulwaffle]

The channels I normally listen to sound just fine. Sound quality drops when the Best of XM sports come on and they have to use those channels apparently. Atleast that's what I have heard goes on. I have noticed some times in the day it is much worse than at other times.

 

[DAB]

I can't really say that I've noticed a dramatic sound difference. I was on the road about 2 hours this morning checking out the various channels and everything sounds great to me. Then again I am talking on the XM side, not the Sirius side, not sure which you guys are referring too.

 

[Grüpsaar]

I agree, It doesn't sound awful to me on some of the channels I frequent, but there are some days where its worse than others.

 

[awfulwaffle]

I was referring to Sirius side. Channels sound good in my opinion, but there are portions of the day where all channels I frequent do take a hit, and someone mentioned it's from the XM sports on our side now. Could be true, who knows. Sounds like a likely scenario.

Does anyone know a count if they cut back any channels from before the update? I haven't counted before/after numbers.

 

[limegrass69]

Some channels sound a bit better, others a bit worse, others the same. But that seems to be a daily/hourly thing, IMHO.

 

[Dark Star]

I'm talking from the XM side of things and for a while Classic Vinyl was nearly unlistenable. It appears to have gotten a bit better, but I've noticed a sound quality dip nearly across the spectrum. 202 has sounded compressed all day (and I listen to that station more than all of 'em).

I have noticed Grateful Dead Radio and Radio Margaritaville getting a bit better too. I'd love to see them introduce a new codec or increase the bit rate at some point in the future.

 

[awfulwaffle]

I'm talking from the XM side of things and for a while Classic Vinyl was nearly unlistenable. It appears to have gotten a bit better, but I've noticed a sound quality dip nearly across the spectrum. 202 has sounded compressed all day (and I listen to that station more than all of 'em).

I have noticed Grateful Dead Radio and Radio Margaritaville getting a bit better too. I'd love to see them introduce a new codec or increase the bit rate at some point in the future.

Isn't 202 the virus? Why do talk channels need to sound good. Get over it.

 

[limegrass69]

The SQ on Howard's channels is excellent. It's probably justified given the popularity of those channels. Who knows...it may be in his contract for all we know. It's jarring going from 100/101 to another talk station, however.

 

[jwt873]

I thought it was just me, but I have noticed that some of the channels are a bit 'flatter' today.

 

[limegrass69]

I thought it was just me, but I have noticed that some of the channels are a bit 'flatter' today.

That's a good way to put it. Some of them sound "thumpy" to me. The processing/codec on Sirius has always wreaked havoc with the high end. Coffee House and the Classical stations were always among the better sounding stations to my ears.

 

[SatRadioRules]

Maybe the lowered the SQ to make it harder to hear the repeats.

My wife listened to the Ethel replacement today and said she heard the new NIN song twice...she was in the car for times today, each for 10 minutes.

I've had Slacker on all day...great SQ, no repeats. I'll flip XM on today on the drive home and check out what used to be Top Tracks....I feel like I'm smelling the milk when I know it's gone bad...

 

[Dark Star]

Isn't 202 the virus? Why do talk channels need to sound good. Get over it.

Hey dick, rise above your third grade comprehension and see that I was talking mainly about the music stations.

And yeah, the do sound a bit "flatter" today. I've noticed that too.

 

[awfulwaffle]

Hey dick, rise above your third grade comprehension and see that I was talking mainly about the music stations.

And yeah, the do sound a bit "flatter" today. I've noticed that too.

Yes and I responded to music channels. But I'm a sirius subscriber, so I don't really care what your sound quality problem is on the XM side. But yes, you did mention 202 also. And that is a talk channel, why would you need great sound quality on a talk station.

Simply responded to what you posted. K thanks.

 

[Dark Star]

why would you need great sound quality on a talk station.

Like Howard Stern's stations, 202 is a high profile talk station/selling point for the XM side. Plus when 202 first hit XM it was on a separate pay tier. So the audio quality should've been better from the onset. I was using 202 as an example that the audio quality across the board, to varying degrees, took a hit today.

 

[ClubSteeler]

Don't assume that today's SQ will be typical.

During times of change, you often see degredation. Bitrates, I believe are dynamic, and allocated as needed. I have a theory, that during channel changes, they need to allocate every single channel.

Right now you listening to what it would sound like if every single sports channel was being used for play by play.

If I am right, once all of the updates are done, you'll see the dynamic allocation change. It might sound flat on a Sunday when there are 20 NFL broadcasts plus a bunch of basketball and hockey games, but it'll sound better again on Monday.

The overall number of Music and Talk channels is roughly the same before and after the update, so I think you'll see the "normal" sound quality back in the near future. The longest I ever heard the "muddy" SQ was a couple of weeks.

 

[magicjellybeans]

oh but

Don't assume that today's SQ will be typical.

During times of change, you often see degredation. Bitrates, I believe are dynamic, and allocated as needed. I have a theory, that during channel changes, they need to allocate every single channel.

Right now you listening to what it would sound like if every single sports channel was being used for play by play.

If I am right, once all of the updates are done, you'll see the dynamic allocation change. It might sound flat on a Sunday when there are 20 NFL broadcasts plus a bunch of basketball and hockey games, but it'll sound better again on Monday.

The overall number of Music and Talk channels is roughly the same before and after the update, so I think you'll see the "normal" sound quality back in the near future. The longest I ever heard the "muddy" SQ was a couple of weeks.

http://www.digitalradiocentral.com/images/smilies/hah.gif
Mel cant shine S_______!
They stretched the bandwidth too thin ,face it.

 

[DAB]

Also just another tidbit of info, but all these XM tuners that have the color display with the pretty wallpaper and icon graphics are being upgraded and that takes bandwidth. Granted not a lot, but you figure with all these tuners upgrading, that has to be impacting the system a bit. I've also seen some folks saying that the updaing of the graphics have been very, very slow, which indicates that part will eventually level off. Usually they replace a graphic or background here and there. Well last night all my channel icons were replaced, and several wallpapers were added and or replaced. It took nearly 4 hours for this process to complete. Multiple that times all those tuners and you get my point. I think the SQ will improve once the system settled down from all the changes.

On the Sirius side the bandwidth is dynamically allocated to channels, so that sometimes takes several days to settled out.

However, with all that said, the fact is there are too many channels and the bandwidth is stretched to its max on both sides.

 

[YankeeXDev]

I got a stiletto 2 and in my car it seemed like some channels were blasting and then others were so horrible I had to turn up my car stereo louder. Some stations have good SQ and others just plain suck.