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XM Satellite Radio
- Thread starter MasonM
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Oh, I agree completely. Plus, bad things start to happen when someone has a monopoly.MasonM said:
Mason,
Yes it is great to have choices. I enjoyed XM for the time I was with them, but ultimately, because Sirius has the NFL package and I can listen to all the Chiefs games while I'm driving, that sold the deal for me. After switching over, I also discovered that their classic rock & blues channels have insane programming choices. I felt their lineup to be overall, much more complete that XM's. I also like Stern, so that was an added bonus.
To me, the coolest thing about satellite radio is being able to hear new bands up & coming that you'd never in a million years have heard on regular terrestrial radio.
Yes it is great to have choices. I enjoyed XM for the time I was with them, but ultimately, because Sirius has the NFL package and I can listen to all the Chiefs games while I'm driving, that sold the deal for me. After switching over, I also discovered that their classic rock & blues channels have insane programming choices. I felt their lineup to be overall, much more complete that XM's. I also like Stern, so that was an added bonus.
To me, the coolest thing about satellite radio is being able to hear new bands up & coming that you'd never in a million years have heard on regular terrestrial radio.
Okay, some more. XM vs. Sirus. Alright, alright. I know, it's like saying what's better, Trumper or Castle Forbes. You can get fifty different LEGITIMATE takes on this. I'll try to narrow it down some.
The last few years I have really started listening to a variety of music. I used to be 95% country fan but if you've listened to it lately(really the last ten years)it's about as "country" as Britney Spears. I'm not a honkytonk twang fan per se, nor the bluegrass stuff. At least not when they sing. The instrumental parts are nice. I do like the "cosmopolitan country" of the early to mid 60's a la Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Eddie Arnold(the stuff with the symphony orchestra as background), David Houston, and some others. Very smooth stuff. I also like the more eclectic stuff like Buck Owens(I know what you're thinking but listen to some of his stuff from the mid 60's albums, almost Beatles on some of it), Dwight Yoakum, The Mavericks, Gary Allen, and Junior Brown. Lately I have come to LOVE classical music. I hated this stuff when younger but I really like it now. Especially the chamber, strings, and baroque music. Great stuff. I truly love Irish music and sadly, neither of the two services offer much of this. I'm not a huge NPR fan but do catch The Thistle and Shamrock on Sundays preceded by a local show called Trail Mix that does an hour of Irish too.
So, I guess I'm asking you guys who have similar listening habits, what's your take on the two services? I currently get Sirius channels as part of my DishNetwork subscription but hardly ever catch myself listening to them. I DO listen to Dish's own CD channel 972 "light classical". Their description is this; An artful blend of chamber and small orchestral pieces from the Baroque and Romantic periods". I love this channel and listen to it regularly. The three Sirius classical channels don't seem to have this mix. How abou XM? Of course all these services have a "classic country" channel but it's usually just a constant loop of Hank Sr., George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Porter Wagoner. Mostly twang/honktonk and not too much of some of the people who really "filled in" country music back in the 50's and 60's. People like David Houston, Faron Young, and some others. There is another Dish CD channel called "new country" that I avoided for years because I thought it would be a bunch of Garth wannabes. Wrongo! It's a channel for new acts and people who are not playing the bubble gum top 40 stuff. Groups like BR549, the Derailers and a whole bunch I don't even know. Pretty good groups. I think this is Dish channel 950. It has contemporary sounds too but done a good bit better than radio fare. Okay, sorry for hijacking Mason's thread but I guess it's kind of on topic. BTW, I'd prefer to just use the Dish Cd channels in the car and forget about another subscription but my extension cord isn't long enough and the reciever keeps getting unplugged as I leave the driveway.
Regards, Todd
The last few years I have really started listening to a variety of music. I used to be 95% country fan but if you've listened to it lately(really the last ten years)it's about as "country" as Britney Spears. I'm not a honkytonk twang fan per se, nor the bluegrass stuff. At least not when they sing. The instrumental parts are nice. I do like the "cosmopolitan country" of the early to mid 60's a la Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Eddie Arnold(the stuff with the symphony orchestra as background), David Houston, and some others. Very smooth stuff. I also like the more eclectic stuff like Buck Owens(I know what you're thinking but listen to some of his stuff from the mid 60's albums, almost Beatles on some of it), Dwight Yoakum, The Mavericks, Gary Allen, and Junior Brown. Lately I have come to LOVE classical music. I hated this stuff when younger but I really like it now. Especially the chamber, strings, and baroque music. Great stuff. I truly love Irish music and sadly, neither of the two services offer much of this. I'm not a huge NPR fan but do catch The Thistle and Shamrock on Sundays preceded by a local show called Trail Mix that does an hour of Irish too.
So, I guess I'm asking you guys who have similar listening habits, what's your take on the two services? I currently get Sirius channels as part of my DishNetwork subscription but hardly ever catch myself listening to them. I DO listen to Dish's own CD channel 972 "light classical". Their description is this; An artful blend of chamber and small orchestral pieces from the Baroque and Romantic periods". I love this channel and listen to it regularly. The three Sirius classical channels don't seem to have this mix. How abou XM? Of course all these services have a "classic country" channel but it's usually just a constant loop of Hank Sr., George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Porter Wagoner. Mostly twang/honktonk and not too much of some of the people who really "filled in" country music back in the 50's and 60's. People like David Houston, Faron Young, and some others. There is another Dish CD channel called "new country" that I avoided for years because I thought it would be a bunch of Garth wannabes. Wrongo! It's a channel for new acts and people who are not playing the bubble gum top 40 stuff. Groups like BR549, the Derailers and a whole bunch I don't even know. Pretty good groups. I think this is Dish channel 950. It has contemporary sounds too but done a good bit better than radio fare. Okay, sorry for hijacking Mason's thread but I guess it's kind of on topic. BTW, I'd prefer to just use the Dish Cd channels in the car and forget about another subscription but my extension cord isn't long enough and the reciever keeps getting unplugged as I leave the driveway.
Regards, Todd
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People have different tastes and one service or the other is going to satisfy them. I am personally all for having choices which is one reason I prefer Linux to Windows for example.Phog Allen said:
I would say that the best way to decide on a service would be to visit their websites and check out their channel lineups, read what's offered, and decide which one best meets your needs/tastes.
I really enjoy the XM classical stations as one or two of them play a good mix.
And don't worry with regard to hijacking this or any other thread that I start. I enjoy the fact that a discussion thread can often take on a life of it's own and be dynamic.
Mason,
I hope I didn't come across and trying to "put down" XM or your choice in the two providers. Please don't think that. I was just explaining why I chose Sirius. In the end, it's what you enjoy the most and I'm happy you've found the one you like. By the way, a hearty thank you goes out to our truckers across the country. They make life livable for us all.
Just wanted to clear that up.
I hope I didn't come across and trying to "put down" XM or your choice in the two providers. Please don't think that. I was just explaining why I chose Sirius. In the end, it's what you enjoy the most and I'm happy you've found the one you like. By the way, a hearty thank you goes out to our truckers across the country. They make life livable for us all.
Just wanted to clear that up.
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Thanks Mason. I did some searching around XM's site and found that under the country offerings there is XM channel 15 called The Village. They list the Chieftans as one of their offerings so that is a plus and is so far, the only reference I can find on either of the satellite services that even mentions Celtic music. There are artists like Dillon listed so it's pretty varied. I'm in no way one of those retro/eco/John Denver/folk types but this does at least give a bit of hope to a Celtic music listener. BTW, there is a site called xmfan.com that has a bulletin board with all sorts of topics. One theme I see over and over there is that XM has much deeper playlists than Sirius. Quite a few converts to XM who were complaining of hearing the same song several times a DAY on Sirius. I know not if this is true. As I said, I haven't explored the Sirius stuff on DishNet much at all. Time to do some homework. Also, I know the subscription fees are $12.95 for either service but could someone please tell about how much it's costing them with all the taxes and fees included? I am constantly amazed and highly chagrined every time I open the phone bill and there is about 30% rate of taxes and fees. Ridiculous. I was just wondering if, since sat rad is not a utility, if it was as ridiculous. Thanks.
Regards, Todd
Regards, Todd
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I had XM for a while and then switched to Sirius. I switched well before Stern though. The main reason being that Sirius has 2 NPR channels that I really enjoy. I have not listened to them all that much since Stern moved to Sirius though. I was never a fan of him on FM but find myself enjoying listening to him on Sirius.
I work in a smaller town that has a University Radio station, a country station and a mix station. Sattellite was a must and I bought it almost as soon as it came out.
There are a couple things that I have noticed between the two services:
I thought XM had a better mix channel than Sirius. Other than that they were pretty equal in my opinion (well besides the NPR channels).
XM has a stronger signal. I was able to place the antenna on the top of my cube and get a signal, with sirius I had to get the antenna outside of the building to get a signal.
I have a plug and play unit with an adapter in the house, one in the car and a boombox on my desk at work.
It will be insteresting to see how things play out in the future.
Matt
I work in a smaller town that has a University Radio station, a country station and a mix station. Sattellite was a must and I bought it almost as soon as it came out.
There are a couple things that I have noticed between the two services:
I thought XM had a better mix channel than Sirius. Other than that they were pretty equal in my opinion (well besides the NPR channels).
XM has a stronger signal. I was able to place the antenna on the top of my cube and get a signal, with sirius I had to get the antenna outside of the building to get a signal.
I have a plug and play unit with an adapter in the house, one in the car and a boombox on my desk at work.
It will be insteresting to see how things play out in the future.
Matt
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I keep looking into the satellite radio deal, but with my luck the second I buy into it, the Chinese government will torch the satellites with their lasers and I will have wasted my money.
"sharks, with frickin laser beams" 
While I'm a proponent of competition, I really wish Sirius and XM would get together just to combine programming... the way it stands now, I would be a Sirius suscriber to ge the NFL coverage, but XM also has good sports contracts... for Sirius, I think scoring the NFL deal was a huge coup.
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