XM radio quality?

R

rileyb76

New member
Guys,
Do any of you have issues with your XM sounding bad? My wife has a 2011 SR5 and her XM sounds pretty bad. When I say bad, I mean like 64kbps or a badly ripped mp3 from the napster days.
I can't stand it. FM sounds much much better in that truck.

I wasn't sure if you guys noticed this too and if there was something we could do to improve the quality of her XM.
tia
 
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Yeah the Satellite radio never really has the quality of CD or FM radio. It's been the same issue in my Lexus since I got it. This isn't really a 4Runner problem.
 
rileyb76 said:
Guys,
Do any of you have issues with your XM sounding bad?
Click to expand...

Yes, but that's just because it's XM.

The bitrate of the satellite radio is about 64 kbps (+- about 20 kbps either way depending on congestion, etc.) and they use a lousy codec, too.

It sounds like a badly ripped mp3 because, basically, it is.

Plugging your phone into the truck's audio system is a much better solution.
 
I thought mine sounded ok, now I'll have to pay attention and listen to some music today. I think it's because I listen to a lot of comedy and the "f" bombs all sound the same.
 
mine comes in very low and the reception sucks unless I am in the wide open interstate. tress bridges etc make it cut in and out. utter shit if you ask me
 
Reception is good. But the sound is very compressed, and does vary from station to station in my experience. Over all, good for talk radio, not so good for music. I prefer FM broadcast sound quality.
 
My factory XM doesn't measure up to Sirius (now SiriusXM). I have a "plug and play" portable Sirius radio that I take from car to car and use in my shop. I use my Sirius radio in my TE and I sounds much better than the factory XM. Also, the signal almost never cuts out, say at a gas station under the canopy. At the same locations the XM signal cuts out. I "think" even though XM and Sirius merged to become SiriusXM, it's two separate sets of satellites.
 
My Factory XM always sounded better than FM radio or my portable Sirius or XM units. I was pleasantly surprised when I hopped in my brand new 2011 and turned it on.
Kind of surprised to hear that a portable unit gives better sound than an integrated factory unit. You must have done a very good job on the install.
 
XM sound quality is limited by the technology itself so it's mediocre in my experience as well. While XM sounds better than FM to me, it's nowhere near as good as music straight from an iPhone or even Spotify/Pandora via the USB. XM is convenient and commercial free but that's about it.
 
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Mine sucks too. FM/FMHD and CD sound way better.

Most likely XM does not broadcast in digital or HD is the reason why. Also make sure your sound settings are set properly for XM.
 
Agreed, it is not as good as a CD or Ipod as it is compressed and loses a bit of clarity. This is my 3rd vehicle I have had XM in and it does as well as the Hondas. I also live in the mountains and while some places it will not get a signal those are in the minority. I like it, I have it and I hate commercials. Channel 34, 36 and 37 for me.
 
Ol'Baditude said:
My Factory XM always sounded better than FM radio or my portable Sirius or XM units. I was pleasantly surprised when I hopped in my brand new 2011 and turned it on.
Kind of surprised to hear that a portable unit gives better sound than an integrated factory unit. You must have done a very good job on the install.
Click to expand...

Just trying to be clear. My 2cent opinion is that Sirius gear is better than XM gear, factory or portable. Some automakers use XM, some use Sirius. The install is straight forward other than figuring out a clean mount without a suction cup.
 
Not sure how the SR5 is set up but with the Limited/JBL you have to tune each audio function/option individually. I listen to Sirius 95% of the time so that's what I tuned first on my test drives. A few weeks into ownership I was wondering why the FM setting always sounded so crappy and sure enough I checked the audio settings/equalizer when I was on FM and everything was tuned to default. Fixed the problem. Again, I don't know if the SR5 sound system works this way.
 
Xm

I have owned several Toyota's including two 4Runners, and 3 Lexus vehicles. The XM sounds terrible compared to a good audio system in your vehicle playing other music systems.. One of my vehicles, a 2012 LEXUS LS460AWD with the Mark Levinson surround sound system with 19 speakers sounds terrific. When I purchased the car it came with the free 90 day XM. That was like an old portable radio compared to DVD music and music I put on Flash Drives. Even the factory radio sounds better than the XM. If it was always free I might have stuck with it for the variety, but no way would I pay for lousy sounding audio.
 
The only part of my XM service that sucks is the simple fact that I know all the playlist for the stations I listen to regularly. Not sure I'll renew when it's up at the end of the year. I'll miss O&A.
 
Terrestrial radio, no matter how good the signal over Sat., will never carry Howard Stern. (Nor could they afford.)
Soon enough we'll all have full internet radio anyway. Some already do.
 
as I have said before in TW forum I think, Sat radio is a dying service. when I have 3500+ songs on my phone and cell service, what is the point of sat radio.

I have no ad's on my personal playlist, better quality since I rip them myself.

now my very old music was ripped at VBR 96, then when I got newer music I went to 128, then even newer was at 192, then I finally started ripping at 245.

I haven't had time to go back an re-rip my old stuff to 245, as some of it was lost (read stolen) so I can never redo them.

with Pandora, rdio, etc internet stations, or my old stomping ground radio stations I can get on my cellphone for free I might add, why would I pay for a service that streams at best, a magnitude lower than my worst ripped quality music.
 
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