# XM Radio w/Digital output?



## jtullite (Aug 3, 2002)

Newbie question: I'm thinking of purchasing an XM radio setup for home use. One of the main features I'm looking for is some type of digital audio output on the reciever -- either coaxial or optical. Do any XM recievers have this feature? I've been unable to find any mention of it on the models I've looked at.


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## alv (Aug 13, 2002)

I don't think any audio receivers handle the XM format so the point is moot.


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## RJS1111111 (Mar 23, 2002)

> _Originally posted by alv _
> *I don't think any audio receivers handle the XM format so the point is moot. *


XM format? Whazzat?

Are you saying that it is encoded in a way that is intended specifically for analog output only?


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## alv (Aug 13, 2002)

No just that XM encodes there signal in some way that I don't know and that it is not PCM.


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## Mike Walker (Oct 22, 2002)

WRONG Satellite Breath (alv). "XM Format" does use a lossy compression algorithm, but so does Dolby Digital, DTS, ATRAC, MP3, MP2, Real Audio, Windows Media, etc. This matters not a whit! The radio decodes the encoded bitstream back to pcm before decoding. This must take place, because (with the exception of the new, and still rare DSD "direct stream digital" converters), ALL digital to analog converters "speak" but one language...pcm (pulse code modulation, whether 16, 20, or 24 bits). In other words, in order to be converted into analog audio which we can hear, a compressed audio signal must first be "decompressed" into pcm. So a digital output on an XM radio would output PCM, just as a digital output on a minidisc deck or mp3 player (example: Archos Jukebox Recorder) outputs PCM!


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

Hey Mike, Welcome to SatRadioTalk.COM / DBSTalk.COM :hi:

Silly question but are you the same Mike Walker of the "Mike Walker Game" fame from the Howard Stern Show and the National Enquirer?

Anyways nice to have you here.


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## Wyoming_Companion (Sep 17, 2002)

> _Originally posted by alv _
> *I don't think any audio receivers handle the XM format so the point is moot. *


To people new to XM...my Sony Plug & Play came with cabling that takes the XM signal from the XM receiver to RCA inputs so that XM can be heard via audio receivers.

This thread must refer to something else (mini plug to RCA jacks is NOT digital), but XM radio can be sent to your home audio receiver.


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