Thanks for the heads up I'll check it out tonight. jazz station?
Now that you mention it, Ive been really disappointed with the xm channels on DTV, and so hardly ever surf that direction. The XM channels sounded like crap compared to my cheap Yamaha T-33 tuner with no antenna.
But your right, this morning xm does sound better. Is it XM or are we just more relaxed and more ready to listen on the weekend mornings?
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Mumbles,
On the DTV its channel 850,on XM it's 70 I beleive. My dac upsamples the signal now which it did not do for a period of time. Last nights broadcast was super, really glad to see Sirius/XM team up with the owner of DTV. Now only if they can have the same stations as Dish.Geesh you would think now that DTV owns Sirius that someone would wake up!
My system to listen to the sattelite consists of a Hughes HD reciever and I use a Nordost optical cable and a quality video cable from the coax connection all fed to my dac. On everyday listening most stations produce a close to CD quality if not as good. The live broadcasts are a step up,just fun to listen to. |
My recording was really good as the signal is processed through my dac. The sound quality was better than the best cd's and vinyl. Thanks for an excuse to have a lazy Saturday morning testing this theory. I've got 3 cd spinners, a tuner and XM channels on dtv-hd dvr gear all running at the same time to a ConradJohnson Met1 6 channel preamp. With a flick of the cj remote I switch between sources.. and Im gonna have to agree the line is getting blurry they all sound amazing. The hd-dvr recordings look and sound really good, XM now waaay better, but my tuner is richer and the spinners, Primaluna8, Pioneer Bluray fd-05, Denon 5900 sacd all seem to have more depth. Not real good at describing what I hear, but I know what I like and DTV thru my CJs ARM into 5.1 is now a contender. |
Agreed!
Dish Network subscriber here which has carried Sirius for years, at some low rate bit rate, which never passed my listening tests. Treble was tiring, and just a mess overall...
However, on a whim I recently decided to give it a whirl again, optical I/C, upsampled from 20/48 to 24/384 thru my CambridgeAudio - 740c thru the Meier Corda Opera headamp AKG-701s, Beyerdynamics DT-990('05e)'s, and/or Denons AH-D2000s and I was shocked to find, indeed this signal is as good and betters some of my CDs. Shocked I tell ya, although very pleasntly so, as you might imagine readers, or know by experience (OP)!
I mention my assortment of referance headphones,as being most suceptible to a nasty signal; But even the 990s with their very extended treble sing very nicely indeed on cymbal brushes thru to articulate lower octives too, etc.
Just wanted to confirm your findings for the readership, 'cause their skeptical first readings now need to be tested before typing that with which I too agreed with from previous experience.
Quite unbelievable, but it's true. Sirius/XM upsampled is very good listening now!
Enjoy the tunes ~ |
Mumbles,
Now check to see what kind of Coax cable you have running to your HD receiver. If it is the stock crap that's provided with the receiver,replace it with a good aftermarket video cable. I use a Monster 3 type (don't laugh),you will gain depth.
Not all the Sirius channels are the same quality though. The Jazz and Classical and a few others seem to have a higher quality signal.
Now tonight listen to the live broadcast and Sundays broadcast and compare.
This was one of the reasons I got back into RTR's in a big way. The sattelite feed should be a boon to those who can record.
Cheers |
Wavetrader,
I just switched from cable to DTV after reading here about better bandwidth available from satellite than from cable. So I have the latest receiver ect. And the installer told me the double, hd cable he used was better than the standard stuff, It is 99.9 oxygen free copper. Was this the case with the cable you replaced? I will look into monster 3 to receiver.
Im using silver rca's out for audio and stock dtv hdmi cable for video. |
Mumbles any cable should be a improvement over a stock cable. When I was trying different cables for the HD receiver connection the monster 2 was alot better then stock and the 3 was a big improvement over the 2 series. More depth,detail and dynamics.
The Callaway concert last night I was clearly able to hear the crowd much more so than say these recordings: Eva Cassidy Live at Blues Alley,Jazz at the Pawnshop and Stan Getz Serendipity. The difference is night and day as far as ambient retreival,detail and dynamics.
If some have been at the Met opera HD showings they use a sattelite feed,So the quality could be far and away better if they(Dish,DTV) use the increased bandwith when they broadcast. The startup of HD FM has got to up the anty I would think for DTV and Dish, I would hope so. |
Finthen,
It's always nice to hear that others share the same opinion. I hope Sirius/XM continue to improve the service.
Cheers,
Wave |
Well I tuned into the Ann Hampton Callaway at Dizzy's Saturday night, XM dtv channel 850.
It was an enjoyable live performance, had that small club feel, but left me wondering what someone like Eva Cassidy would have done with Stevie Nick's Landslide song.
Overall I liked it, thanks for the tip.
I also learned that I cannot record any XM stations with my dtv hd receiver.
And it bothered me that XM was sounding close to as good as my rig,especially considering I am not upsampling.
So I swapped out my powerchord on the PrimaLuna8 with a silver CrystalClearCable one and it made a huge difference in sound quality. Then I balanced the cdplayer on Dali speakers spikes and it improved dynamics even more.
So I guess my other equipment can be optimised more to widen the gap. Wonder if the dtv hd receiver can be modded.
But no doubt XM is sounding better than it used to. |
Mumbles,
Glad you liked it. I looked at my Hughes receiver and felt that it would not be worth it to upgrade.
I use my tube dac and the sound is very good.
As far as I can tell XM will start to produce "live" concerts towards the end of May.
I was thinking of subscribing to Sirius directly for the opera broadcasts but I haven't heard of any feedback on the quality.
I do like the Wynton Marsalis broadcasts very much.
recording these is way cool as they seem to sound even better. Now if the price of tape would drop and quantegy got back in business that would be great indeed.
Any RTR users out there that are recording these broadcasts? Just wondering. |
Im so sorry for hijacking your thread Wavetrader, completely missed the RTR context, thought you were talking about dvr recording.
Man, that's quite a system you have there, no less than 4 real to reals?
I had a Teac many,,many years ago, yours look like professional studio recorders. Imagine demand for tape is low so price is high.
I can understand how upsampling an XM broadcast thru a DAC could help sound, but how does RTR playback improve on sound? |
"I can understand how upsampling an XM broadcast thru a DAC could help sound, but how does RTR playback improve on sound?"
Good question...some say the larger bandwith that tape provides. I just like the subtle coloration that my RTR's impart on the recording. The Crowns are closer to neutral than my Ampex and of course the tube Ampexs are known for that phatt tube sound.
This new Crown I have has been recapped so it will be interesting when recording the XM live brodcasts in May,to see how it performs. Anyway with those big meters and reels going,who cares...lol. |
