My review of the XM Roady XT

[Oscar]

I recently purchased the XM Roady XT on Thursday August 3 for use in my
late model pickup. This was my first venture into Sat radio.

I like the small size of the unit and installation was pretty easy. The
antennae wire is thin which makes it easy to hide in the weather
stripping. Operation of the unit is pretty intuitive too, not hard to
figure out.

The only down side is the fidelity. I originally planned to use the
output jack on the Roady to plug into the aux jack on my factory head
unit. It sounded so bad and had such low output that it was not an
option. I then decided to use FM modulation as it would be easier to
setup versus a direct FM connection. This method yields sound quality
that is just a notch above AM, yes, that bad.

I've done more research and it seems that the SkyFi2 has better sound
quality coming from the output jack. I'm going to return the Roady and
pickup a SkyFi2 and see how much better (if any) it sounds.

[John Smith]

"Oscar" <oscar@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:jFqCg.3256$%j7.3157@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net...
>I recently purchased the XM Roady XT on Thursday August 3 for use in my
>late model pickup. This was my first venture into Sat radio.
>
> I like the small size of the unit and installation was pretty easy. The
> antennae wire is thin which makes it easy to hide in the weather
> stripping. Operation of the unit is pretty intuitive too, not hard to
> figure out.
>
> The only down side is the fidelity. I originally planned to use the
> output jack on the Roady to plug into the aux jack on my factory head
> unit. It sounded so bad and had such low output that it was not an
> option. I then decided to use FM modulation as it would be easier to
> setup versus a direct FM connection. This method yields sound quality
> that is just a notch above AM, yes, that bad.
>
> I've done more research and it seems that the SkyFi2 has better sound
> quality coming from the output jack. I'm going to return the Roady and
> pickup a SkyFi2 and see how much better (if any) it sounds.

I have a Pioneer GEX-FM903XM in my truck. It is an older unit and the
display is not as nice is the later units but it has worked very well, and
the sound quality is pretty good. It uses an antenna modulator. It sounds
at least as good as a CD when driving down the road. Not as good as a CD
when there is no road noise. Always as good as an FM station.

--
If I could not go to heaven but with a [political] party, I would not go
there at all.
--Thomas Jefferson



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[Kimba W. Lion]

On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 19:26:07 GMT, Oscar <oscar@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>I've done more research and it seems that the SkyFi2 has better sound
>quality coming from the output jack. I'm going to return the Roady and
>pickup a SkyFi2 and see how much better (if any) it sounds.

Good luck to you. I have a Pioneer AirWare, and when I add up the limited
frequency response, swishes and other artifacts of digital compression, I
would put most of the music channels below what AM radio is capable of.
And the voice only channels often sound like a Speak And Spell (a 1970s
talking toy).

Of course, analog AM radio itself has been degraded these days far below
what it is capable of. In realistic terms, I would say you shouldn't
expect anything near FM quality from a satellite radio unless you listen
to one of the classical channels.

So the question becomes whether the content is worth listening to in spite
of the degraded audio. So far, I haven't found it too bad at background
levels or in the car. With headphones, it gets very fatiguing.






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[David]

On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 19:26:07 GMT, Oscar <oscar@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>I recently purchased the XM Roady XT on Thursday August 3 for use in my
>late model pickup. This was my first venture into Sat radio.
>
>I like the small size of the unit and installation was pretty easy. The
>antennae wire is thin which makes it easy to hide in the weather
>stripping. Operation of the unit is pretty intuitive too, not hard to
>figure out.
>
>The only down side is the fidelity. I originally planned to use the
>output jack on the Roady to plug into the aux jack on my factory head
>unit. It sounded so bad and had such low output that it was not an
>option. I then decided to use FM modulation as it would be easier to
>setup versus a direct FM connection. This method yields sound quality
>that is just a notch above AM, yes, that bad.
>
>I've done more research and it seems that the SkyFi2 has better sound
>quality coming from the output jack. I'm going to return the Roady and
>pickup a SkyFi2 and see how much better (if any) it sounds.

It won't help the crappy sound. That is a management decision to put
so many channels up that the sound quality suffers.

There is a setup menu page where you can increase the output
volume.

[takeshi.kovachs@gmail.com]

David is correct. There is an option in the radio to increase the
output of the player. It will actually go pretty loud. Direct
connecting will give you better sound quality than using the FM mod.

David wrote:
> On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 19:26:07 GMT, Oscar <oscar@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> >I recently purchased the XM Roady XT on Thursday August 3 for use in my
> >late model pickup. This was my first venture into Sat radio.
> >
> >I like the small size of the unit and installation was pretty easy. The
> >antennae wire is thin which makes it easy to hide in the weather
> >stripping. Operation of the unit is pretty intuitive too, not hard to
> >figure out.
> >
> >The only down side is the fidelity. I originally planned to use the
> >output jack on the Roady to plug into the aux jack on my factory head
> >unit. It sounded so bad and had such low output that it was not an
> >option. I then decided to use FM modulation as it would be easier to
> >setup versus a direct FM connection. This method yields sound quality
> >that is just a notch above AM, yes, that bad.
> >
> >I've done more research and it seems that the SkyFi2 has better sound
> >quality coming from the output jack. I'm going to return the Roady and
> >pickup a SkyFi2 and see how much better (if any) it sounds.
>
> It won't help the crappy sound. That is a management decision to put
> so many channels up that the sound quality suffers.
>
> There is a setup menu page where you can increase the output
> volume.

[Lowdown in Lodi]

XM's sound quality is not as good as CD; but if your receiver is working
correctly and set up correctly, it will be better than AM, FM, or Sirius --
with the possible exception of some of the unimportant talk channels, which
XM compresses highly.

Sounds like you need to adjust the output level. We have an XT around here
and works great, both when directly connected and through the wireless FM
(although, you cannot use wireless FM and expect great sound quality).

[Larry Fine]

On 9-Aug-2006, Oscar <oscar@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> The only down side is the fidelity. I originally planned to use the
> output jack on the Roady to plug into the aux jack on my factory head
> unit. It sounded so bad and had such low output that it was not an
> option.

Did you try turning off the FM transmitter? I tried that with my SkyFi2 and
it sounds great.

L.F.