Finally! Slacker in Canada

[DAB]

Not sure how good your WiFi stream to the car is but I like my headphones at work and both services sound good through them although Slacker is quite a bit louder than SIR. I need to really scroll back the volume to avoid going deaf. Again, WiFi 128k stream for both (I assume Slacker is 128k?).

I don't need Wifi in my car, I have 3G from AT&T and I am actually comparing Slacker 40kb ACC+ V2 to Sirius's 128kb streaming and I still think it sounds better. However SQ is a very subjective thing as I've said a million times before now. Too many factors such as radios, amps, speakers etc. I find that the SQ is just more full and better balanced overall.

Slacker on the computer is 128kb MP3 and though one would think they would sound the same to me ears they do not. Again SQ is subjective.

This is also the reason why so many have buffering issues with the Sirius XM application because Sirius didn't have enough sense to reduce the bitrate down using a better codec like ACC+ V2 which uses less bandwidth and thereby doesn't have the rebuffering issues. Yet maintains GREAT sound!

The good new is that Slacker is now available in Canada. Like in the US some will find it to be a much better alternative to sat radio for various reasons many of which I have spelled out over the many threads where this has been discussed. Some are happy with sat radio and even find the music acceptable and so for them Slacker would be less of a value. Also what equipment you have and where you want to go in the future also impacts this. Just like sat radio isn't for everybody, neither is Slacker or Pandora.

The good thing is that you now have a choice where as before you did not!

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

The good new is that Slacker is now available in Canada. Like in the US some will find it to be a much better alternative to sat radio for various reasons many of which I have spelled out over the many threads where this has been discussed. Some are happy with sat radio and even find the music acceptable and so for them Slacker would be less of a value. Also what equipment you have and where you want to go in the future also impacts this. Just like sat radio isn't for everybody, neither is Slacker or Pandora.

The good thing is that you now have a choice where as before you did not!

I am liking it and will likely milk the 30 days for sure. What I do after that ... who knows. But I am liking my own station. I still like Sirius XM as well. But not having to change a channel to get all of what one likes is a good thing.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

It also looks like I may be able to extend it to 37 days by selecting "Try it for Free" on the 30th day although if I can justify the $5 for just the music on the PC, I may not wait that long.

 

[DAB]

I am liking it and will likely milk the 30 days for sure. What I do after that ... who knows. But I am liking my own station. I still like Sirius XM as well. But not having to change a channel to get all of what one likes is a good thing.

Yeah I have a few Shuffle stations that I created with very deep hits list, these are my favorites because you can play them and very rarely hear a repeat.

It also looks like I may be able to extend it to 37 days by selecting "Try it for Free" on the 30th day although if I can justify the $5 for just the music on the PC, I may not wait that long.

Nice! Yeah I think you'll know soon enough rather this is something you'll want to add. Like I said for me it doesn't take the place of sat radio, but certainly gives me some alternatives and choices, that I like!

I don't know if the Canadian setup is different from the US. But right now there is a bug where you can't get a list of songs for each artist. This happened with an update the ran last night. I reported this bug earlier and they are away of it and working on fix. They are pretty good about fixing stuff like this pretty quickly. You guys may not be impacted as the system maybe different for Canada.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Yeah I have a few Shuffle stations that I created with very deep hits list, these are my favorites because you can play them and very rarely hear a repeat.



Nice! Yeah I think you'll know soon enough rather this is something you'll want to add. Like I said for me it doesn't take the place of sat radio, but certainly gives me some alternatives and choices, that I like!

I don't know if the Canadian setup is different from the US. But right now there is a bug where you can't get a list of songs for each artist. This happened with an update the ran last night. I reported this bug earlier and they are away of it and working on fix. They are pretty good about fixing stuff like this pretty quickly. You guys may not be impacted as the system maybe different for Canada.

I can only work on the artist level. I believe the song level comes with the Plus subscription (according to the docs). I am banning the songs I don't want as they come up.

I can tell you right now it is something I *want* to add. The only question is can I afford to add it or more correctly will the wife feel she can go on a $500 shopping spree because I bought something we didn't *need*.

 

[DAB]

I can only work on the artist level. I believe the song level comes with the Plus subscription (according to the docs). I am banning the songs I don't want as they come up.

I can tell you right now it is something I *want* to add. The only question is can I afford to add it or more correctly will the wife feel she can go on a $500 shopping spree because I bought something we didn't *need*.

Yeah I think the adding individual songs comes with the Plus. I went to add a song I heard this morning to one of my stations and this is when I dicovered the issue.

I am really strongly considering dropping my SIR Premium service because I am just not using it. I do listen to XM in the car though. Maybe if you ditch the SIR service and add this, your wife will see that it is just more or less a swap out. You made me laugh on that one though bro! hehehe !

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Yeah I think the adding individual songs comes with the Plus. I went to add a song I heard this morning to one of my stations and this is when I dicovered the issue.

I am really strongly considering dropping my SIR Premium service because I am just not using it. I do listen to XM in the car though. Maybe if you ditch the SIR service and add this, your wife will see that it is just more or less a swap out. You made me laugh on that one though bro! hehehe !

I could do that but I do listen to that through my TTR1. It would be $5 (maybe $4 if I do it in one shot) on the US credit card which may slip by unnoticed. I will sit on my hands for a bit as I tend to jump too quick sometimes (even though I tend to resist change).

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Well, appearantly my 30 day trial has expired (probably a check on user creation date or last access or something) so if I want it I need to upgrade.

 

[DAB]

I could do that but I do listen to that through my TTR1. It would be $5 (maybe $4 if I do it in one shot) on the US credit card which may slip by unnoticed. I will sit on my hands for a bit as I tend to jump too quick sometimes (even though I tend to resist change).

Oh Yeah I forgot you have the TTR1, so you need your SIR sub! Well I am sure you'll figure something out.

By the way they fixed the issue I reported above. So search by individual song is working again now. I also just tried it on a secondary account I have for the office it is on the free account. I can still search songs. Maybe this was not working earlier for you because of the bug. Try it again now. On the US side you can search and add up to 100 songs this way on a free account. So, you should be able too unless Canada is different.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Oh Yeah I forgot you have the TTR1, so you need your SIR sub! Well I am sure you'll figure something out.

By the way they fixed the issue I reported above. So search by individual song is working again now. I also just tried it on a secondary account I have for the office it is on the free account. I can still search songs. Maybe this was not working earlier for you because of the bug. Try it again now. On the US side you can search and add up to 100 songs this way on a free account. So, you should be able too unless Canada is different.

It looks 100% the same. I would love to try again but can't right now due to 30 days passing in 24 hours.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Oh Yeah I forgot you have the TTR1, so you need your SIR sub! Well I am sure you'll figure something out.

By the way they fixed the issue I reported above. So search by individual song is working again now. I also just tried it on a secondary account I have for the office it is on the free account. I can still search songs. Maybe this was not working earlier for you because of the bug. Try it again now. On the US side you can search and add up to 100 songs this way on a free account. So, you should be able too unless Canada is different.

I see the songs now -- am doing the 7 day free trial right now.

 

[DAB]

I see the songs now -- am doing the 7 day free trial right now.

So apparently the system is the same and the bug I reported was impacting you too.

In regards to your 30 days passing in 24. Didn't you use an existing account, this is likely why. Should have taken my advise and setup a new account.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

So apparently the system is the same and the bug I reported was impacting you too.

In regards to your 30 days passing in 24. Didn't you use an existing account, this is likely why. Should have taken my advise and setup a new account.

But I would have lost existing customizations I did last July.

I think their implementation is a bit wonky and certainly not the way I would have done it.
But I have 7 days to play.

 

[DAB]

But I would have lost existing customizations I did last July.

I think their implementation is a bit wonky and certainly not the way I would have done it.
But I have 7 days to play.

Well lets face it for the bulk of Canadians they woudn't already have an existing account, so they would get the full 30 days, then be able to do the 7 day trial if they had not subscribed by then.

I think 30 days is more than generous for a trial. What is wonky is why they didn't do the free service, but you wouldn't have stayed with that because of the commercials anyway. 24 hours and you were annoyed as hell! LOL

 

[xan_user]

IRBS- sorry missed your proxy Q. the proxies I use wont work for you, they make me appear outside of the US.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

IRBS- sorry missed your proxy Q. the proxies I use wont work for you, they make me appear outside of the US.

No probs. I did sign up to the Plus and am on the 1 week free preview. I would find it hard to not continue after. I have really enjoyed creating my own station (although it could be an ipod on shuffle -- aside from about 10% of the music I am hearing that I don't own or can't find).

I also found the standalone app and much prefer that to the browser. Will use the browser at work since I don't think I am allowed to install that app on my work computer.

 

[DAB]

I would find it hard to not continue after. I have really enjoyed creating my own station (although it could be an ipod on shuffle -- aside from about 10% of the music I am hearing that I don't own or can't find).

A trouble ticket is pending on 2 issues that have been discovered:

One is adding your own images to the stations isn't working.

Two is that those with Plus and Premium subs are not hearing the station jingles.

I would think both of these will be fixed.

I know having the radio ID jingles playing will break it up and make it seem less like an iPod. Though in reality to have access to that full library that you owned yourself would cost a hell of a lot more than $4.00 per month.

 

[xan_user]

I also found the standalone app and much prefer that to the browser

I will have to give that a look...

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

A trouble ticket is pending on 2 issues that have been discovered:

One is adding your own images to the stations isn't working.

Two is that those with Plus and Premium subs are not hearing the station jingles.

I would think both of these will be fixed.

I know having the radio ID jingles playing will break it up and make it seem less like an iPod. Though in reality to have access to that full library that you owned yourself would cost a hell of a lot more than $4.00 per month.

I was just thinking that that would be a nice customization to add station jingles. I assumed it was a feature rather than a bug.

There is a bug with station customizations. When I first created the station, I hearted artists I wanted even if they only had 1 or 2 songs. I am now adding songs as favourites and unhearting most of those artists. When I unheart an artist, the only way that will stick is to do a "Save" of the station at that point. I then have to restart the customization process which seems to be slower than it should be but probably something in the long run you don't do too often (after the 1st week or so) and therefore not optimized. But the not remebering the unhearting without a save is a bug.

 

[xan_user]

I actually love the lack of DJ on slacker.
And also like to have separation between songs, rather than cross fades.

My biggest complaint is that they wont do a very simple firmware update to g1(2) that alows for auto pause when usb power is removed. ie when I switch off ignition player should pause then go in standby if its not touched. Instead it just keeps playing songs (costing slacker $) till my battery dies (costing me $)