Sat radio sound quality questions....

[madsedan]

I have been enjoying the satellite radio option and will likely go another year when my trial runs out. BUT, there has always been a substantial difference in sound quality between regular FM and sat radio which I just wrote off to "that' the sacrifice you make" and it'll never sound as good as spotify streamed in the car, or as good as FM radio.

Until, I bought my wife a Honda Odyssey recently. We picked up a 2013 with XM radio and I was shocked to hear virtually no difference in sound quality between the FM radio and the XM radio station. And the XM radio sounds way better than it does in my '16 FiST.

Is there a weak link I could replace? A better antennae, something that'll bring the sound quality of the Sirius/XM to the level of a standard FM station?

 

[Kazz]

Thank you for making this post! I know satellite radio quality is MUCH better in other cars. I like a couple of the channels but can't stand what sounds like AM-quality sound. Can't wait to hear someone speak up on this. My complimentary subscription runs out in a few months and there is NO WAY I would pay for this sound quality - let alone at $180 for a year.

 

[enamelizer]

I am fully in the "would subscribe if it weren't for the terrible audio quality" camp.

I am actually surprised to hear XM sounds good, all I have ever heard is Sirius in various cars, and it has always sounded like lo-fi, muddled, over-compressed digital audio.

 

[madsedan]

I don't think its the fact that XM sounds better than Sirius/XM, I think its something to do with our cars. Either the sat antennae needs to be upgraded or its something the way the audio is set-up in the head unit.