Satellite Radio, Sirius or XM?

Question

What do people like better, Sirius or XM? And why? Where will you use it?

Sirius offers NFL, NBA, Howard Stern, OutQ and UK Soccer.

XM offers MLB, Hockey, Fox Sports and Sporting News Radio and more talk stations than Sirius along with (what I think) is better selection of music (XM goes deeper). XM also has a station called "Cinemagic" which plays nothing but movie soundtracks from movies (really cool).

Now the tricky part is where you're going to use it. In the car, both will give you good reception, Sirius a bit better in inner cities as Sirius has 3 moving sats that are higher in the sky. XM has 3 geo-sync SATS that do not move. HOME use, XM is a easy, just point it to the south and most times you can keep the antenna indoors. Sirius must face north towards North Dakota and 90% of the time the antenna must be outdoors up as high as possible (unless Sirius has a Terrestrial tower in your city, then indoors will work).

Keep in mind you can have 1 receiver (for either XM or Sirius) and move it use it in your car then take it into the house with you.

Plus I forgot to add XM has Opie & Anthony (Howards competation) and Ron and Fez.

SO which is it? Or are you like me who has both XM and Sirius?

My take is one is not better than the other. Both have good and bad points. I know people who wanted Sirius at home, but just could not install the antenna outside to get steady reception (with SIrius moving sats you may get a signal then it will drop out for a hour or so then come back on again). And I know people who paid satellite installers to put up an antenna (TERK SIR-6 along with TERN 50 foot cable) high outside their house to get Sirius.

Here is where Sirius needs improvement. So many home users can't get reception where XM is a snap, again due to the Sirius Sats.
You can download a free Satellite tracker:
http://www.stoff.pl
Download, then click OTHER COMM
click Sirius XM

I tend to think of (in terms of music) as Sirius as the flashy new "hipp" guy, with all the latest music, and XM as the "geeky" guy who has all the music and tunes that go much deeper than Sirius. I read somewhere that XM outnumbers Sirius in number of songs owned over Sirius.

Plus I love the Cinemagic station XM has!

Then again, Sirius has Jay Thomas (funny talk guy) and naturally Howard Steren. And in the gay community OutQ is very popular (Derek and Romaine are great hosts).

I ALWAYS thought to myself "why would anyone pay to listen to the radio?" This until a family member purchased a new SUV with XM radio in it. From where I was hooked! It's so much better listening to radio with no commercials. And XM has Cinemagic!

Answer 1

Yeah, um, I've never bothered with all the technical stuff, but SIRIUS is still a WAY better radio provider than XM. SIRIUS has WAY better stations than XM. XM is a joke!

Answer 2

XM Satellites sit over the equator.

Sirius moves in a figure 8 over N & S America. Each company has 3 satellites in orbit. In theory Sirius would give you a better signal since the angle is higher during times it is over the USA, however in reality Sirius is not good for a home for the very same reason. With XM you point the antenna at the same point and leave it and forget it.

However, none of the above make that much difference because of the number of “repeaters.” What are repeaters… they are called terrestrial repeaters. They are simply small radio stations on the ground and located at places that have weak signals.

XM has 800 of these and Sirius has 200. In theory XM is better at repeaters because they only have to cover areas that drop out. With Sirius the drop outs are always changing since their satellites are always moving. Sirius is trying to add more repeaters this year, 2006

However, you want to know about the real world. The real world has 80% to do with where you live and where you are going to listen to the radio.

If you live in a city with a lot of tall buildings (very tall, like NYC) you are going to be listening to repeaters most of the time anyway instead of the actual satellite above. So it has to do with the repeaters set up in your city.

As a general rule more people complain about Sirius reception across the nation. However, I’ve heard both arguments where one never drops out and the other always drops out. Two people will be arguing both sides and the only difference is where they are located.

Here’s what you need to do… don’t ask the salesmen at the stores. Ask friends and other people that have satellite radios. Find ones that are doing what you want to do… if you are only going to use it in the car ask people that only use it in the car.

There are 3 places these radios are used:

1) Car
2) Home
3) Hip

Hip or mobile is not all that great. XM has the best receivers for these and they will go all 3 places. It will never be as good as FM on your hip, UNLESS, you are in a city with a heavy about of repeaters.

It probably will come down to programming. If you love Howard Stern then there is no decision… if you “think” you would like to listen to him sometimes, then ask yourself if he was on the FM dial would you go to the trouble of tuning him in. I think it is silly to select based on “one” show. However, if you are a Stern nut or a particular sports fan, absolutely go for the radio that offers the most programming in that area.

Also, I think it is sort of questionable to pick one over the other for music since iPods have become so popular. If you have an iPod you probably have all the music programming than you would ever need. XM is the only one to offer a radio that behaves a lot like an iPod but it is not up to the standards as iPods.

I know that people think it is stupid to pay for programming but here is the real world. Everyone gets “hooked” once they have one. Just like cigarettes, you buy a car with XM or Sirius with the free programming and before it is over you are hooked. There is no way out of it, and they very reason they put it in new vehicles.

I might also mention that while Sirius satellites move all the time and the XM’s stays at the equator. Almost all radio satellites, government, commercial, stay on the equator. Sirius intends to launch their next (2009, I think) satellite to be parked next to the XM at the equator. Apparently they found moving satellites were not the best solution.

There isn’t a way to get a “super” radio that will overcome a poor signal location. Most people report an outside car antenna works better than any antennae in the home.

As far as your concern about music offered… as just one week ago XM singed an agreement with ASCAP with is the larger holder of music titles (7 million) and 250,000 songwriters. So now they all the music anyone would ever need… at lest in my opinion.

Let me tell you what a friend told me that was a hippie in the 70’s. You and the entire world has heard the 70’s music over and over again. And the ones that were around back then has heard it thousands of times over. He told me, “I’ve heard songs from the 70’s that I’ve never heard before.”

Like I said, I think iPod is the way to go for music but if you just want to carry one radio device then that’s not a solution. I guarantee you that in another two years iPods will have XM or Sirius just as a ‘part.’

Answer 3

I don't have a satellite Radio yet, but when I do get one soon, I will definatly get Sirius, because it is more hip, and plays music that is a lot more popular than what XM plays. I would never get XM.

Answer 4

I like Sirius because I can take it from my car and into my house....but I get XM on my computer. I like the programs on Sirius better though.

Answer 5

Both. As a sports fan, I would need both. Why?

-MLB and NHL games, MLB Home Plate, Fox Sports Radio, and Sporting News Radio is available only on XM

-NFL, NBA games, SIRIUS NFL Radio, and NASCAR (effective in 2007) are available only on SIRIUS.

I would use them in both my house and my car.

Answer 6

Sirius, it's the newest hip and latest thing

Answer 7

Regular FM works pretty well in my car...NPR all the way!! Wooo Hoooo!

Answer 8

Neither one. I refuse to be a sucker. why the hell should i have to pay to hear music or the news?