[LarryK1000]

OK, I've had the new 330 for just a little less than a week.

I have to tell you, the sound on Sirius is pretty bad. When I go to FM or even an MP3 CD, the sound is incredible.

And, I've been listening to the classical stations that have the least compression. Very bad.

I have an XM MyFi Portable Receiver and, I have to say, even with the FM Built In Transmitter and the Cassette Tape Adapter, the sound on XM is superb.

It is like night and day.

I am not BMW Bashing here, I'm just giving my opinion. And, if I get totally frustrated with the Sirius sound, I'm going to re-activate my XM unit at the end of my first year of Sirius and use the AUX INPUT and just use XM.

L

[bsjd00]

I agree that the sound quality of Sirius leaves a lot to be desired. But when you say that the classical stations have the least compression, what do you mean?

It's been rumored that Sirius allocates quality (more bandwidth for higher quality) to more popular stations. So, classical and jazz stations on Sirius, for example, would actually be more compressed and thus not sound as good as a rock station, for example.

[LarryK1000]

I don't know about Sirius, but I understand that XM compresses less on more critical music, such as classical music and compresses heavily on talk stations and the traffic reports.

I don't know if Sirius uses the same system.

L

[foofighter]

^^^i'd have to agree w/ that. Hell our odyssey has xm and my RRS has sirius and there's a big difference in sound quality especially w/ talk radio on xm

[ward]

no problems with the sound quality here......

[Tommyvee]

Hopefully this will help down the road.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060608/siriu...lite.html?.v=1

[goIrish]

I've never had an issue with sound either... I really don't get what people are talking about

[ZuerstBMW]

Mind sounds great as well.

[Golfguyjax]

Originally Posted by bsjd00

It's been rumored that Sirius allocates quality (more bandwidth for higher quality) to more popular stations. So, classical and jazz stations on Sirius, for example, would actually be more compressed and thus not sound as good as a rock station, for example.

That is correct. Both Sirius and XM have different compression rates for different channels. Sometimes it is done by the popularity of a particular channel, but mostly it is a business decision. Many channels on Sat radio, just like Sat TV, are owned and operated independently of the network that broadcasts them. When they sign a contract with the carrier (i.e. Sirius or XM) they usually negotiate the amount of bandwidth allocated as part of their contract. This has been done in television for years. If you have DirecTV or Dish Network, you will notice that ESPN usually looks much better than a station like the Travel Channel. This is because ESPN pays for a bigger slice of the total bandwidth so their signal looks better. Same applies to Sat Radio.