pbking Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 I am new to satelite radio in general, and just installed my F90 along with the pioneer GEX-P920XM (XM Module). I get reception, I have service, I can surf the channels, but the sound quality is more than lacking. It's not hissing or popping, but it just sounds like it is comming out of an old 1920's radio. My ipod, disc, and FM stations sound GREAT, and I am more than a little dissapointed with the XM quality. Could this be something I hooked up wrong, or am I missing something completely? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bashed1 Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 First thing I'd check is your antenna placement - XM antenna needs to be on the outside of the car, mounted flat on a metal surface of the car. XM signals are weaker than GPS; XM antenna will not pick up signals well if it's anywhere inside the car. If antenna placement is per the above, next I'd check the routing and condition of the antenna wire itself - the wire should not be crimped in any place, and make sure there's no tears in the insulation. One of these areas is the likely source of your problem - XM reception should be clear and strong (as long as your antenna has an unobstructed view of the sky). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skicrave Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Sounds like everything is functioning correctly, you're just not impressed by the sound quality of XM. It takes a lot of compression to get that much bandwidth through narrow frequency spectrum they have, so quality suffers. I'm like you, I have XM, but can hardly stand to listen to it because it sounds so bad in comparison to a CD (or even an iPod). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pbking Posted August 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 I have moved the antena around a bit, but the sound did not get any better. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I thought that since XM was a digital transmission, either you get signal or you don't, not you get "some signal" and that can affect sound quality. Though, like I said earlier, I am new to satelite radio. I am afraid however that the sound quality is just...lackluster in general. Can anyone else shed some light on this, in particular their XM (or Sirius for that matter) sound quality vs. FM radio quality? I know my FM quality is MUCH better than my XM. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bashed1 Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 I have moved the antena around a bit, but the sound did not get any better. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I thought that since XM was a digital transmission, either you get signal or you don't, not you get "some signal" and that can affect sound quality. Though, like I said earlier, I am new to satelite radio. I am afraid however that the sound quality is just...lackluster in general. Can anyone else shed some light on this, in particular their XM (or Sirius for that matter) sound quality vs. FM radio quality? I know my FM quality is MUCH better than my XM. I believe you're correct - you either get sound or no sound with XM with no discernable difference in quality (unless signal is lost, then you get immediate dropout - but you know when that happens). With my suggestions in earlier post, I was just making sure your antenna and wire were positioned OK to receive the signal - if your antenna and wiring are all OK and XM still doesn't sound good to you then best thing you can do is probably just cancel your XM subscription and stick with the other AV sources that you like. I'm very happy with XM (on both my AVIC-D3 and F90BT units) and find it to be superior sound quality to other sources on either unit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gortok Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 I believe it hinges more on WHERE you are. Hills and valleys, thick trees or other signals could be responsible for sound quality...or lack thereof... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skicrave Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Nope, either you have signal or you don't, even with terrestrial repeaters. So if he's hearing audio, that's not the problem. Like I said, both services (XM and Sirius) have to use a ton of compression to get their streams down to a manageable size. Some people claimed that Sirius sounds better, but I've never noticed much of a difference. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kudron Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Are you using your stock speakers? When I put my D3 in my Envoy, the stock speakers sounded good, but when I upgraded to Infinity speakers, XM sounds great. When I upgraded to the F90, XM sounds equally impressive. As for the compression, my old ears can't really tell the difference. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pbking Posted August 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2008 Thanks for the input everyone. I did upgrade my speakers with external amps the same time that I installed my F90. I am using Alpine XPro components in front and back with a 4x100 Alpine PDX amp along with a PDX 1x1000 amp pushing 2 10" Elemental Designs subs, all in an extended cab F150 (Sorry for the brag, but to me this is a pretty awesome system). Every other source sounds amazing, i was just a little dissapointed that the XM sound sounded so much...flatter...than the regular FM sound. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
user587548 Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 I've got the f90 with the XM and also getting very poor quality sound compared to FM and CD/DVD audio. When I change to the XM source I am getting speaker air "noise" then the music is at a lower volume. When I turn up the volume the noise goes with it. It sounds like turning up stereo sound when no audio is actually playing, but in this case there is both. I figure its the XM module and not the head unit? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gjas18 Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 My XM sounds crystal clear..... Could it be a bad IP-Bus cable or maybe even interference from something running along side the cable or a bad ground on the xm module? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ryan420 Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 i had the same problem with gex 10 and i turned out to be a bad cable out of the box replaced it wuth another one i had around and works great now Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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