XM sound quality on talk stations

[DWJ/JOM]

I flew to Orlando this week via AirTran, which offers a good number of XM channels on board. I was really happy to have it, though I would've preferred Sirius for content, but I did notice one thing: while the music channels sounded pretty good, the talk channels sounded very harsh and tinny, and dialogue almost sounded as though it had processed with a phase shifter. I know it wasn't the headphones...I bring my own Bose QC2s for travel...and besides, the music channels sounded acceptable. Was it the system aboard the aircraft? Or is this the same phenomenon I've read about elsewhere on this NG?

(P.S.: What's the deal with naming channels "Fred," "Ethel," and "Lucy?" Where the f*ck is "Ricky?")

[Veritas]

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 20:28:08 -0600, "DWJ/JOM" <nobody@nowhere.com>
wrote:

>I flew to Orlando this week via AirTran, which offers a good number of XM channels on board. I was really happy to have it, though I would've preferred Sirius for content, but I did notice one thing: while the music channels sounded pretty good, the talk channels sounded very harsh and tinny, and dialogue almost sounded as though it had processed with a phase shifter. I know it wasn't the headphones...I bring my own Bose QC2s for travel...and besides, the music channels sounded acceptable. Was it the s
ystem aboard the aircraft? Or is this the same phenomenon I've read about elsewhere on this NG?
>
>(P.S.: What's the deal with naming channels "Fred," "Ethel," and "Lucy?" Where the f*ck is "Ricky?")


XM gives music stations more bandwidth than talk, so the talk stations
don't sound nearly as good as the music, but they are still MUCH
better than the sub-AM quality of the talk staitons on the Dog.

[DWJ]

"Veritas" <noneofyourbusiness@hall.com> wrote in message
news:t18s129ug7t56eskn82ndjshug8r4htfdq@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 20:28:08 -0600, "DWJ/JOM" <nobody@nowhere.com>
> wrote:
>
>>I flew to Orlando this week via AirTran, which offers a good number of XM
>>channels on board. I was really happy to have it, though I would've
>>preferred Sirius for content, but I did notice one thing: while the music
>>channels sounded pretty good, the talk channels sounded very harsh and
>>tinny, and dialogue almost sounded as though it had processed with a phase
>>shifter. I know it wasn't the headphones...I bring my own Bose QC2s for
>>travel...and besides, the music channels sounded acceptable. Was it the
>>system aboard the aircraft? Or is this the same phenomenon I've read
>>about elsewhere on this NG?
>>
>>(P.S.: What's the deal with naming channels "Fred," "Ethel," and "Lucy?"
>>Where the f*ck is "Ricky?")
>
>
> XM gives music stations more bandwidth than talk, so the talk stations
> don't sound nearly as good as the music, but they are still MUCH
> better than the sub-AM quality of the talk staitons on the Dog.

Not in my experience. Through the same headphones, Sirius talk sounds much
smoother. IMHO XM talk is, for lack of a better word, metallic.

[David]

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 03:24:35 GMT, Veritas
<noneofyourbusiness@hall.com> wrote:

>On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 20:28:08 -0600, "DWJ/JOM" <nobody@nowhere.com>
>wrote:
>
>>I flew to Orlando this week via AirTran, which offers a good number of XM channels on board. I was really happy to have it, though I would've preferred Sirius for content, but I did notice one thing: while the music channels sounded pretty good, the talk channels sounded very harsh and tinny, and dialogue almost sounded as though it had processed with a phase shifter. I know it wasn't the headphones...I bring my own Bose QC2s for travel...and besides, the music channels sounded acceptable. Was it the
system aboard the aircraft? Or is this the same phenomenon I've read about elsewhere on this NG?
>>
>>(P.S.: What's the deal with naming channels "Fred," "Ethel," and "Lucy?" Where the f*ck is "Ricky?")
>
>
>XM gives music stations more bandwidth than talk, so the talk stations
>don't sound nearly as good as the music, but they are still MUCH
>better than the sub-AM quality of the talk staitons on the Dog.
Right. XM sounds like poop.