Horrendous Sirius XM Audio Quality in Uconnect

[michail]

I don't want this to turn into a "don't pay for Sirius thread" but I have to say this Sirius unit is the worst sounding one I've ever had. I've been running factory Sirius head units for the past 14 years. So I know what they sound like.

Even listening to Howard 100, that's driving me a little crazy as they all sound different.

I was blaming the Alpine setup until I played Spotify. The Alpine system isn't too bad!

Is it perhaps a lack of compression adjustment? Did Sirius add more compression at the same time I picked up my JLUe?

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[Chupacabra]

I've had SXM since 2001, been through the good and the bad sound periods. I have the 7" standard audio in mine, but to me it sounds as good as it did in my other recent vehicles. Not as good as streaming from wired connection on my phone, but not "horrendous" either. I am mostly a heavy metal kind of guy so maybe the crappier sound quality isn't as apparent

I know the talk stations can get very "tinny" sounding but typically that wasn't an issue with Howard as it's their crown jewel station.

 

[michail]

Yeah, that's why it surprised me on H100. Unless I was listening to an early pandemic show.

Also driving a 4xe, so it may just be easier to hear the poor sound quality now, lol.

 

[dougywarren]

I noticed the Sirius XM quality is bad in my 4Xe too. Sounds like a slight metallic ringing coming out of the dash speakers when I’m listening to it. Spotify through CarPlay sounds great

 

[AnebuR]

As far as I know, they broadcast at lower than 96kbps for music, but way lower for talk channels. They use a codec that supposedly makes up for the low bit rate a bit. But as we all know first hand, it's still garbage.

 

[Jkjones1]

I agree it sounds awful. I have found if you play it through the app it sounds much better (assuming your subscription allows)

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