Digital Home talks to Sirius XM about the merger - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

hugh · 2011-06-21, 05:14 PM

Perhaps knowing that Digital Home readers need to be the first to know, I received a phone call today from the man who runs customer service at the newly merged company, Al MacNevin. Al and I spent about a half hour on the phone and I asked him all the questions that I’m sure that all or our members who are Sirius Canada or XM Canada subscribers want to know.

I had a good conversation for about 30 minutes with Al. Quite interesting.

audacity · 2011-06-21, 05:19 PM

I'm curious if Sirius/XM will upgrade their bitrate which, according to Wikipedia is 4 to 64 kilobits-per-second (i.e. horrible) to something more tolerable for a pay service.

hugh · 2011-06-21, 06:03 PM

No. I asked about this. Apparently, sound quality is not an issue with customers. Sirius asks its customers why they are leaving and sound quality is not even in the top five reasons.

He was genuinely surprised when I asked the question.

Snake785 · 2011-06-21, 08:00 PM

That is very disappointing. If sound quality really isn't in the top 5, then there is no way we'll see an improvement.

timlocke · 2011-06-22, 05:51 AM

My car is noisy enough that I wouldn't notice an improvement in quality. Also the music I listen to, older pop and rock, was not exactly produced with hi-fi quality in the first place.

The business about the Best of channels. Would anyone in the CRTC or wherever notice if we just got the US 'Best of' channels or does someone somewhere actually monitor the stuff?

hugh · 2011-06-22, 07:52 AM

I doubt anyone in the CRTC would monitor but terrestrial competitors and consumers would.

MarcP · 2011-06-22, 10:43 AM

I'm curious about the top-5 reasons why people are leaving them.

hugh · 2011-06-22, 11:36 AM

Didn't ask but they did say the primary reason was a reduction in driving.

Most people listen in the car. When they stop being in the car a lot they can't rationalize the monthly cost.

bgclarke · 2011-06-22, 12:47 PM

When we had a car that had factory XM, we listened all the time.

Our current car does not have factory XM and I didn't want to hook up one of my radios.

We found we were not listening to it as much inside, plus had signal issues, so we cancelled.

notsure · 2011-06-22, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hugh

Didn't ask but they did say the primary reason was a reduction in driving.

Most people listen in the car. When they stop being in the car a lot they can't rationalize the monthly cost.

This is the number one reason I didn't renew... couldn't justify the cost vs. commute length.

If we had to drive cross country again we would get it for a month or two.

AFF · 2011-06-22, 02:45 PM

I only put about 7000kms per year on the truck and don't have any issue with paying for Sirius. I guess it could be because we only have two stations here. A top 40 and a Country station. As for the sound quality, I have a an Alpine system in the truck and I find the quality is just fine. It's FM basicly, what do you expect? Funny people have no problem spending $5 for a coffee that lasts 5 minutes put complain about $6 a month. Go figure.

audacity · 2011-06-22, 02:59 PM

It's funny how people like to rip on 128kbps MP3s as being "low quality", yet Sirius/XM don't get scolded when their best bitrate is half that of these "low quality" MP3s.

Its similar to another group that loves "high quality vinyl records" and somehow believe that they sound better than 128kbps MP3s, even though the THD for vinyl is demonstrably worse than MP3s.

I don't think I'll ever subscribe the Sirius or XM because I have a smartphone, and I'm not amused by Howard Stern's "base humor".

nufan · 2011-06-22, 04:04 PM

I'm glad the iOS app update is a priority, I do hope they live up to that comment and release the new app soon, and hopefully the updated iPad app at the same time.

ssbtech · 2011-06-22, 06:41 PM

I find the Sirius SQ to be awful. I can only listen to it for so long before my ears begin to hurt from the compression.

If I was to unsubscribe, SQ would be my primary reason.

What I wish they would do is offer new dual-tuner radios. Ones that pick up Sirius and XM signals.

Move all the talk/sports crap to one and put all the music on the other. That way they can increase the bandwidth available for music and improve the SQ.

But it sounds like that won't be happening.

hugh · 2011-06-22, 06:43 PM

Quote:

What I wish they would do is offer new dual-tuner radios. Ones that pick up Sirius and XM signals

As noted in the link, coming in the holiday season.

2011-06-21, 05:14 PM	#1
hugh Member #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 47,492	Digital Home talks to Sirius XM about the merger Perhaps knowing that Digital Home readers need to be the first to know, I received a phone call today from the man who runs customer service at the newly merged company, Al MacNevin. Al and I spent about a half hour on the phone and I asked him all the questions that I’m sure that all or our members who are Sirius Canada or XM Canada subscribers want to know. I had a good conversation for about 30 minutes with Al. Quite interesting. __________________ As of January 2012, I am no longer the owner of the Digital Home website. If you have questions about the operation of the site, please contact VSAdmin. For personal inquiries contact me at the Hugh Thompson website.

2011-06-21, 06:03 PM	#3
hugh Member #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 47,492	No. I asked about this. Apparently, sound quality is not an issue with customers. Sirius asks its customers why they are leaving and sound quality is not even in the top five reasons. He was genuinely surprised when I asked the question. __________________ As of January 2012, I am no longer the owner of the Digital Home website. If you have questions about the operation of the site, please contact VSAdmin. For personal inquiries contact me at the Hugh Thompson website.

2011-06-22, 07:52 AM	#6
hugh Member #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 47,492	I doubt anyone in the CRTC would monitor but terrestrial competitors and consumers would. __________________ As of January 2012, I am no longer the owner of the Digital Home website. If you have questions about the operation of the site, please contact VSAdmin. For personal inquiries contact me at the Hugh Thompson website.

2011-06-22, 11:36 AM	#8
hugh Member #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 47,492	Didn't ask but they did say the primary reason was a reduction in driving. Most people listen in the car. When they stop being in the car a lot they can't rationalize the monthly cost. __________________ As of January 2012, I am no longer the owner of the Digital Home website. If you have questions about the operation of the site, please contact VSAdmin. For personal inquiries contact me at the Hugh Thompson website.

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2011-06-21, 05:19 PM	#2
audacity Veteran Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: 127.0.0.1 Posts: 1,810	I'm curious if Sirius/XM will upgrade their bitrate which, according to Wikipedia is 4 to 64 kilobits-per-second (i.e. horrible) to something more tolerable for a pay service.

2011-06-21, 08:00 PM	#4
Snake785 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Pickering, ON - Rogers Digital Posts: 97	That is very disappointing. If sound quality really isn't in the top 5, then there is no way we'll see an improvement.

2011-06-22, 05:51 AM	#5
timlocke Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Guelph Posts: 549	My car is noisy enough that I wouldn't notice an improvement in quality. Also the music I listen to, older pop and rock, was not exactly produced with hi-fi quality in the first place. The business about the Best of channels. Would anyone in the CRTC or wherever notice if we just got the US 'Best of' channels or does someone somewhere actually monitor the stuff?

2011-06-22, 10:43 AM	#7
MarcP Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Airdrie, AB Posts: 3,819	I'm curious about the top-5 reasons why people are leaving them.

2011-06-22, 12:47 PM	#9
bgclarke Veteran Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Nepean, Ontario Posts: 1,606	When we had a car that had factory XM, we listened all the time. Our current car does not have factory XM and I didn't want to hook up one of my radios. We found we were not listening to it as much inside, plus had signal issues, so we cancelled.

2011-06-22, 02:45 PM	#11
AFF Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 671	I only put about 7000kms per year on the truck and don't have any issue with paying for Sirius. I guess it could be because we only have two stations here. A top 40 and a Country station. As for the sound quality, I have a an Alpine system in the truck and I find the quality is just fine. It's FM basicly, what do you expect? Funny people have no problem spending $5 for a coffee that lasts 5 minutes put complain about $6 a month. Go figure.

2011-06-22, 02:59 PM	#12
audacity Veteran Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: 127.0.0.1 Posts: 1,810	It's funny how people like to rip on 128kbps MP3s as being "low quality", yet Sirius/XM don't get scolded when their best bitrate is half that of these "low quality" MP3s. Its similar to another group that loves "high quality vinyl records" and somehow believe that they sound better than 128kbps MP3s, even though the THD for vinyl is demonstrably worse than MP3s. I don't think I'll ever subscribe the Sirius or XM because I have a smartphone, and I'm not amused by Howard Stern's "base humor".

2011-06-22, 04:04 PM	#13
nufan Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 97	I'm glad the iOS app update is a priority, I do hope they live up to that comment and release the new app soon, and hopefully the updated iPad app at the same time.

2011-06-22, 06:41 PM	#14
ssbtech Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 491	I find the Sirius SQ to be awful. I can only listen to it for so long before my ears begin to hurt from the compression. If I was to unsubscribe, SQ would be my primary reason. What I wish they would do is offer new dual-tuner radios. Ones that pick up Sirius and XM signals. Move all the talk/sports crap to one and put all the music on the other. That way they can increase the bandwidth available for music and improve the SQ. But it sounds like that won't be happening.