Sirius XM Buying Pandora

lowrider57

Right On!  For my money, I still maintain the disposition that XM Radio is the better, stronger,  of the two Sat radio services. The merger did a dis-service to subscribers to be sure (sound quality-wise). To date, SXM has not been able to re-capture that glory. I started by XM Radio subscription back in 2005. I have paid for (2) "Lifetime" subscriptions, (1) under XM and the other after the initial merger in 2008, only to have been dropped during a computer upgrade, sat update in 2010.
Perhaps yet another merger via Pandora will yield a better pay-off (no pun) in sound quality to its core customers.   Happy Listening!

I stream Pandora in my car. Much better sound than Sirius or my car's FM radio. I had trouble with drop outs while driving when I tried Spotify.
For home streaming I plan to use Qobuz which is supposed to begin in the USA during the Rocky Mountain Audiofest which starts this Friday.


David Pritchard

Pandora streaming quality is mediocre at best in my MCIntosh based system.Added a music fidelity V90 DAC.Some improvement but still inferior to analog sources.

I do enjoy satellite radio in both of our cars.  A friend has one of those home-based receivers and the sound quality is really pitiful for serious listening, OK driving down the highway!

I hear that @jafant . I took a beating on their stock when they merged. Management manipulated the stock then looted the company. 

Another Sirius merger on the horizon.  Happy Listening!

I am truly glad to hear that you all feel that Sirius' sound quality is awful.  Low bit-rate MP3 (like 64K low) is a good analogy.  I've noticed that stations that have fewer listeners get lower bandwidth, and hence, poorer sound.  The Jazz stations are almost un-listenable, as is the Sixties channel.

SiriusXM sound quality is pitiful. Regular FM in the car is way better. SiriusXM has a few ads less, but still far from "no ads" and it costs to listen to it. This SiriusXM/Pandora deal seems like two companies with no bright future trying to become one company with bright future except it may not be easy to explain how and why. Many of SiriusXM subscribers are those who were forced an introductory service with a new car and, once that trial period expires and they decide not to continue with paid subscription, are stuck with a button they do not need for the remaining life of the car. And then, there are billing practices...

@gdnrbob, I agree their streaming quality is very low sound quality.  Maybe the combined SiriusXM and Pandora Company will offer uncompressed streaming options.   

And, maybe SiriusXM should also buy Tidal Steaming to give it some needed funds.  QoBuz is going to great competition to Tidal.  And, QoBuz offers 24-bit albums..   Interesting times.

Unfortunately, both have rather low fidelity.
When Sirius and XM combined, I hoped it would offer a wider music range, but it turned out to be the opposite.
I let my subscription expire years ago.
B

Thanks! for sharing-  Happy Listening!