# Opinions wanted



## 4DThinker (Dec 17, 2006)

I just bought a new receiver that has a jack for an XM antenna is XM ready. Of course I'll need the antenna and to subscribe.

I don't listen to much radio as it is. Can you name the most compelling reason you've subsribed to XM? What do you get there that you don't get via FM or AM or the CXM channels on DirecTV?

Thanks!


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

What you get over AM/FM? More variety, many niche formats, expanded playlists, no commercials on 69 music stations, limited DJ interruption, more freedom. I’ve discovered more music in the past 4 years by listening to XM them in nearly 20 years of listening to crap radio. I’m a hard rock and heavy metal guy and now I listen to smooth jazz, southern gospel, electronica and many other formats thanks to XM. 

What you gain over XM on DirecTV? Sports fan? With XM you'll get every NHL and MLB game (home team feed only, both teams feeds during playoffs) along with dedicated talk channels for each sport, MLB Home Plate and NHL Home Ice. XM also has the PGA Tour, IRL, BCS and ACC, PAC 10 and Big 10 NCAA play by play. You also get syndicated talk content, Coast To Coast, Lex & Terry, Leo Laporte, Fox News & Talk, ABC News Talk, and others. 

If you have DirecTV you’ll basically be gaining sports and talk. I’m always listening to music and having XM on DirecTV did play a very minute role in helping me make the decision to go back to cable. I love XM, I love Sirius, but I also love Music Choice. When D* got XM, my listening choices were reduced, since I already had XM.


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## 4DThinker (Dec 17, 2006)

Thanks, Steve. I just wish I had more time to listen to music/XM. In town no drive last more than 3-4 minutes. At home I don't even think of tuning to the DirecTV XM channels. Talk radio is mostly my interest, except that many of the shows that moved to XM because of their (offensive) content are not what I'm interested in.

It seems I just simply may not be a prime XM subscriber candidate. My new receiver had that option, but that's not why I bought it. Just thought I should check it out.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

> Talk radio is mostly my interest


I, also, am a talk radio fan (along with the music channels). I live in an area where I can receive only two AM talk stations over the air. One of those switches to music from the '40's/'50's after about 3:00PM, making AM (the only outlet for talk radio here) pretty much worthless. I got XM to replace both the AM and FM bands. There is a wide variety of talk available from nearly any perspective if talk is what you want. Ditto for the music, with no commercials. Gopher it.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

I see I have the same home theater receiver as you, or at least I did and I will. Last year I originally ordered the DG800 for $400, but when the DG1000 ($800) came out I just had to have that as it does XMHD, that was worth the $400 price difference to me alone. Even though I don't listen to the XMHD stations. So I canceled the order for the DG800 and I got the DG1000 but before I even got a chance to get it out of the box I found out it was recalled due to problems with the HDMI switching. The guy I ordered it from works at a local HT shop and got it for me at cost ($695) after I returned the unit he started jerking me around so I Just got back from Best Buy now, ordered it there for $731 including tax, they were sold out but it’s on order and I’ll have it Friday. I have the XM Passport antenna and kit, even have it activated, but never used it yet.


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## BobbySteelz (May 24, 2007)

I listen to hip hop music, and the incessant commercials combined with terrible playlists of terrestrial hip hop and R&B stations pushed me right into the lap of XM.


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## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)

Richard King said:


> I, also, am a talk radio fan (along with the music channels). I live in an area where I can receive only two AM talk stations over the air. One of those switches to music from the '40's/'50's after about 3:00PM, making AM (the only outlet for talk radio here) pretty much worthless. I got XM to replace both the AM and FM bands. There is a wide variety of talk available from nearly any perspective if talk is what you want. Ditto for the music, with no commercials. Gopher it.


I love the ads where the guy calls the local station and ask where to send his money blah blah blah. 
I listen to several talk shows that are not carried here in Phoenix and some that are. The reason I listen to them on XM rather than the local affiliate is that they are carried on a tape delayed basis during DST. A talk show loses something when listening on tape delay. I guess it loses the spontaneity of hearing it live and being able to call in and respond to what you have heard.

I also love to listen to the music channels as well. Among the many "theme" shows I listen to on XM I love "The Strip" on '50s on 5. They play all the acts that were in 'Vegas in the "Rat Pack" era.


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## 4DThinker (Dec 17, 2006)

OK then. If XM would set me up for a free trial for say 3-months ( I'm a college professor with the summer off) then I might give it a listen.

Steve, you're gonna love the DG1000. You can rename each input so the front display shows what is connected. My HDMI-1 input, for example, now says "DirecTV" when selected. You can also name the radio tuner presets. The only thing they shoulda included was radio data service. I have that feature in my car and love it! The HDMI switching works flawlessly on mine. It's also very quick to decode changes in the audio input. My old Sony receiver would take up to 5 painful seconds of silence to figure out an input change. With the DirecTV HD receiver just changing from HD channels to SD channels changes the audio stream, so that old receiver was getting very tiresome.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

When I got XM I bot my receiver for $39 and it came with 3 months free and a 6 month total committment (3 months free plus 3 months paid). Not a bad deal.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

I have my DG1000 hooked up sort of. I have the SACD player and XM hooked up, I'll have my video components connected via component for the time being as I need to pick up some HDMI cables. I absolutely love having XM integrated into the receiver rather than a plug and play unit. I still have my SkyFi 2 active for the time shifting and the FM mod, so I can continue to listen to XM on my alarm clock on 107.9. My with my old Philips receiver you could rename your sources and AM/FM stations as well, don't listen to AM/FM anymore so it doesn't matter. I didn't have an AM antenna or FM loop antenna connected to my Philips receiver, but still could faintly pick up a few stations, this Sony is great, I can't pick up the slightest thing on terrestrial radio and that’s how it will stay. Hopefully in a few years when I replace this thing, Sony will be like Onkyo, integrated XM AND Sirius. 

Sound quality is better all around this way (versus PNP) too.


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## pez2002 (Dec 13, 2002)

Here is his receiver Nice pick steve http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8028234&st=DG1000+&type=product&id=1157067573576

hey steve what kind of speakers are you using ????


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

My crappy Philips ones.  I know Sony speakers are considered garbage, but in a few months I pick up the 7.1 set for $550. My room is not properly set up for high end audio, and unless I knock a few walls down or get rid of my bed, it will never be, I just want something decent.

4DThinker, if you listen to XM Pops or Fine Tuning on XM on DirecTV, you may want to give XM a try. The DG1000 can decode Neural 5.1, and those two channels sound awesome. I don't even like this type of music and I'm listening. Personally I'd switch XM Pops for Watercolors, which sounds pretty damn good as well.


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## autumnghost (Feb 10, 2007)

4DThinker said:


> I just bought a new receiver that has a jack for an XM antenna is XM ready. Of course I'll need the antenna and to subscribe.
> 
> I don't listen to much radio as it is. Can you name the most compelling reason you've subsribed to XM? What do you get there that you don't get via FM or AM or the CXM channels on DirecTV?
> 
> Thanks!


One word. Plenty. Subbing to the XM service with a standalone receiver is the ultimate in audio. Anything that could possibly interest me is on there. Not to mention traffic and weather, which aren't on DirecTv. To really get into XM, you have to be somewhat of a music afficianado. Personally, I've listened to music almost daily since age 5. Fm used to be my zenith, then XM came along. Offering music without interruption in many categories spells out pure heaven to me. All for about the price of a pizza a month. But I still didn't hear my request of "Haunted" by "Poe" on XM 54. This is an amazing song, and with so much music available on XM, they must have played it while I slept. There is just so much stuff to listen to!


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

What is this AM FM thing of which some of you speak? 

With XM, local radio broadcasting, whatever that is, no 
longer exists for me.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Nick said:


> What is this AM FM thing of which some of you speak?
> 
> With XM, local radio broadcasting, whatever that is, no
> longer exists for me.


+1 :up: :up:


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## n-spring (Mar 6, 2007)

4DThinker said:


> I just wish I had more time to listen to music/XM. In town no drive last more than 3-4 minutes. At home I don't even think of tuning to the DirecTV XM channels. Talk radio is mostly my interest, except that many of the shows that moved to XM because of their (offensive) content are not what I'm interested in.
> 
> It seems I just simply may not be a prime XM subscriber candidate. My new receiver had that option, but that's not why I bought it. Just thought I should check it out.


XM also offers most channels to subscribers via the Internet. With a decent broadband connection, you can stream the channels through your PC. The audio quality is pretty dang good.


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## MrHorspwer (Jun 13, 2007)

> But I still didn't hear my request of "Haunted" by "Poe" on XM 54.


No joke, I heard this song this past Friday, July 20th on Lucy... sometime between 6:45 and 7:00 AM EDT. I was just pulling into my local 7-11 before work to pick up my morning Vitamin Water.

Here's another reason I'm sticking with XM: A Prairie Home Companion. The nearest NPR station broadcasts from quite a ways away and reception is sketchy at best. I even went so far as to buy a high buck FM antenna in an attempt to better pull in the signal for Saturday evenings. No luck. I found out that Sirius was broadcasting PHC and nearly switched on the spot.

I'm glad I waited a few weeks because XM started broadcasting it on XM133. So long as I can get Garrison Keillor streamed crystal clear into my living room via satellite, I'll be with XM.


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## xde18 (Oct 22, 2007)

Because I heard it before at a gas station and then I figured out they have it on Directv and the internet and now its all I listin to


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## reddice (Feb 18, 2003)

Never hear it in local stores. All they have here playing is crappy FM radio playing 106.7 Lite FM everywhere. When I talk to people they say paying for radio is a ripoff. I think it is worth every penny for XM to get away from the commercial wasteland of FM radio. 

However radio I will pay for no commercials on the music stations which is the only thing I listen too. Don't care one bit about sports or talk, just music.

Pay for radio. It is worth it. You can listen to 20 XM stations on AOL Radio for free or you can try the trial on XMRO to see if you like it before you buy a radio and commit to it.


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## keysjom (Aug 25, 2003)

People who listen to XM on DirecTV are missing out on some of the other great channels offered. XM Radio is amazingly awesome and worth every penny.


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