# What bird am I on



## elliot (Jan 29, 2019)

My new car came with a SiriusXM radio. Long ago I was an XM radio sunscriber because at that time XM had much better audio quality and audio a compression algorithm that made XM sound better than Sirius. With this new radio am I getting the Sirius signal or the XM signal? I see that they still have both Sirius and XM satellites in orbit each using their own technology. I cant get any clear answer from their FAQ. They say there are three kinds of radios, XM, Sirius and SiriusXM, but dont answer what the last one actually is using.

Thx.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

does the receiver have Info button or Menu's info item ?


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## elliot (Jan 29, 2019)

P Smith said:


> does the receiver have Info button or Menu's info item ?


I will have to look. Just getting used to this new car.


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## gjrhine (May 16, 2002)

It's all the same good quality signal now anyway.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

gjrhine said:


> It's all the same good quality signal now anyway.


As compared to the excellent quality of the past?

As for the question posed, one could look through the channel listings - there are a few differences between what is carried on each service. Or you should be able to find out via the SiriusXM web site.


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## elliot (Jan 29, 2019)

Well I wonder if they still use the AAC+ on the XM Birds and whatever they were using on Sirius birds. In the past the AAC+ sounded much better. Less swish and more range. I fear by now they are using the same codec on all streams and its is the one Sirius used to use.


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## SamC (Jan 20, 2003)

If you go to the website the first thing is a pop up asking for the brand and year of your car, which will generate which of the legacy brands' radio is in it. 

The other easy way is to look for the PGA golf channel, it is 92 on XM and 208 on Sirius.


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## elliot (Jan 29, 2019)

I put in my VIN# and it told me the packages I could subscribe to but not which service it is.


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## John79605 (Feb 10, 2007)

elliot said:


> I put in my VIN# and it told me the packages I could subscribe to but not which service it is.


On Sirius radios the preview channel is 184. On XM radios it is channel 1.
On Sirius radios the ID is 12 digits all numerals. On XM radios the ID is 8 digits alphmeric.


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## zaxcom (May 21, 2008)

XM it is!


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## gjrhine (May 16, 2002)

James Long said:


> As compared to the excellent quality of the past?


If you think so. I don't really understand your question but would agree as good or better.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

gjrhine said:


> It's all the same good quality signal now anyway.


No, it they aren't all the same. Most are good quality, a few are excellent, and some are poor quality. Listening to Radio Margaritaville while driving to work this AM and some of it sounded like night-time AM.


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## gjrhine (May 16, 2002)

trh said:


> No, it they aren't all the same. Most are good quality, a few are excellent, and some are poor quality. Listening to Radio Margaritaville while driving to work this AM and some of it sounded like night-time AM.


Something confusing about "quality of the past?"


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Satellite Radio has less bits than I use for ripping my own CDs to MP3s.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

scooper said:


> Satellite Radio has less bits than I use for ripping my own CDs to MP3s.


Can you provide the values ? Then we could follow the comparison


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Even my older ones (160 Kbps) or ones that I got from other people (128 kbps) sound better.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

do you know what are sat radio bitrates ?


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

P Smith said:


> do you know what are sat radio bitrates ?


Covered in another thread. Simple search will find your answer.


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## gjrhine (May 16, 2002)

P Smith said:


> Can you provide the values ? Then we could follow the comparison


No he can not but here is a clue - learn about variable bit rates and modern compression algorithms.


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## cypherx (Aug 27, 2010)

VoLTE between two cell phones sounds clearer than SXM. I primarily use the SXM iPhone app via Apple CarPlay. The quality is much better and there are many more channels than what my car can tune into.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

I will say that Dish Sirius XM DOES sound pretty good, good bit rate.


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