The Howard Stern Show

[Jesse James]

The thing with the music channels that doesn't bother me, and honestly I see it as advantageous for my tastes really, is that I'm not a huge music buff...  I like what I like, but I don't delve into it a lot.  I've heard the same things about XM/Sirius though Jared so your opinion pretty much solidifies the things I've heard too but just never really known about... 

For me that is ok though because, as I said, I'm just not that into music to really want to hear the obscurity in all genres of music...  The "hits of" are fine for me for the most part...  I hear some stuff I know I didn't hear on the local radio stations too on some of the Sirius channels so I am sure I'm still getting something better than regular radio, but I think if there was tons of obscure music I'm not sure I'd be happy...  Flipping channels more and more.

The gift of Satellite is one of my favorite X-Mas gifts in a long time...  I had wanted it but wasn't gonna shell the money out for the hook-up simply because I didn't think it was something I'd need, but as the time came for Stern to go I was sorta griping more and more and got one then as a gift...  I'm happy I griped and got one.

I gotta do some streaming of the show now that I can...  I am the kind that is lazy about new features on stuff and just don't look into them...  I have to take advantage of everything that's offered though I think.  Get off my duff on it.

[Nicklab]

As far as audio quality, they're both not so hot if you're a serious music enthusiast, IMO. XM is better and like Nick mentioned, will allocate more bandwidth to channels when necessary. They all still sound pretty tinny to me, though, when I listen at home. Sirius sounds just awful at home. I believe the highest bandwidth they allocate is 96k per second.

That's the setting I use on my VOIP phone.   

Audio quality is eventually going to matter a lot more to satellite radio subscribers.  Why?  Well, competition is on the way.  Terrestrial stations are delving into HD radio now.  I don't know the ins and outs of the technology, but it sounds like the stations are broadcasting multiple, narrower bandwidth digital signals.  But now you need a radio capable of tuning these stations.  This technology is in it's infancy right now, and it's going to take a major push by both broadcasters and consumer electronics companies for it to take off.

And then there's surround sound radio.  This is starting to take off in Europe and Korea, and you're actually receiving a Dolby 5.1 signal with your radio.  The end result is surround sound quality in your car!  But again, it all depends on what the market can bear.

[Jesse James]

For those who haven't been into checking out Satellite Radio because of cost or those who just are curious about it a little, Sirius is having a free trial of Satellite for the next couple days via the net...  You can check it out
RIGHT FRIGGIN' HERE to sign up.

A couple friends of mine are going to check it out because they've been on the fence about it...  It's been worth every penny I've paid for it though, I must say so it may be something you guys want to listen to, to see what's up with the service and stuff.  It comes through well online too, I listen to it at home like this and leave my radio in my car most of the time now actually.

[Matt]

Any new developments in the world of satellite radio lately?

[BillCable]

They're merging.  SiriusXM.

[Matt]

No ****?

[evenflow]

Thats been the word for some time, not sure how or when its going to happen though.

[BillCable]

The merger was just approved in the last day or so by the US government.

[Matt]

What a serendipitous thread-bump this was!

[Phrubruh]

Almost....planned.