After almost six years of listening to satellite radio, I gave it up and returned to regular old terrestrial radio earlier this year. If you want to know the reasons, read Why I Am Not Renewing My Sirius XM Radio Subscription. How am I holding up?
Here were the channels I most listened to on XM Radio and my new substitute.
| XM Radio Channel | Seattle Solution |
|---|---|
| XMU 43 - Indie Rock | 90.3 FM |
| BPM 81 | 89.5 FM |
| Real Jazz 70 | 88.5 FM (when NPR isn't on) |
| Soul Town 60 | MP3s |
| 1970s Pop | 104.5 FM (partially) and MP3s |
| Opie & Anthony, Ron & Fez | Podcasts |
For the most part, I am pleased with the substitutes. KEXP 90.3 FM is a great station and as a result I listen to more indie rock these days. My biggest shock turned out not to be programming, but sound quality. I miss the higher quality sound of satellite radio. I am strongly considering getting HD Radio. Going from XM to FM is like going from FM to AM.
Note that this post is not an endorsement of XM Radio. They are a bunch of criminals. Read the 40+ comments on Filing Fraud Charges Against XM Radio before you sign up and hand them your credit card number.
Nick
Jun 7, 2010 — 10:42 am
Just as long as you realize that HD radio isn’t necessarily higher quality. 🙂 Yes, it’s digital, but the ways in which it is generally use result in a sound quality roughly equal to regular FM radio.
MAS
Jun 7, 2010 — 10:52 am
I reviewed the WIKI. If I read it correctly, the HD technology allows for higher quality, but it is up to the station to determine that level.
“Stations may eventually go all-digital, thus allowing as many as three full-power channels and four low-power channels (seven total). As defined by iBiquity these channels could be sub-divided into CD-quality (100 kbit/s), FM-quality (25-50 kbit/s), AM-quality (12 kbit/s), or Talk-quality (5 kbit/s) channels. Alternatively, they could broadcast one single channel at 300 kbit/s.”
Most of my current FM problems are less to do with fidelity, but more about signal dropping. Micro-second fades to static. Worse than San Diego.
I’m probably just better off with MP3s, which I believe was your position 6 years ago. 😉
Zack
Jun 7, 2010 — 4:33 pm
My vote is for records. 🙂 Also you should consider working 91.3 into your rotation; community radio is awesome!
MAS
Jun 7, 2010 — 4:36 pm
I tried records, but the needle kept jumping when I drove up Queen Anne Ave. 😉 I’ll give 91.3 a listen.