I bought my truck brand new, so it came with a three month trial. It took me only a few days to figure out that free was still too high a price. For me, XM just isn't worth it.

The fidelity is terrible. The dynamic range compression is horrible, especially on classical and jazz music. When the first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" piano sonata is louder than the third, something is terribly wrong.

There are ads all over the place, though they are probably not as intrusive as regular commercial radio. Out of more than 100 channels there are only two or three that have content I am interested in.

So I never got a paid subscription, and even a way to game the system is not enough to get me back.

Bill Gee

 

The car I had prior to the frontier came with a free trial. It was useless. Would cut out all the time. After the free trial was up they started hounding me with phone calls and emails about re-upping with a subscription (not even sure how they got my number/email.. from the dealership I guess...). Maybe it was ok a decade ago, but with cellphones I can easily access whatever radio I want online anyway, not to mention play my own music off it...

 

I took advantage of the $30 for 6 months deal after my free 3 months...then decided I didn't use it enough to continue. After reading all the complaints of calls/emails/etc..., I decided to preemptively end my relationship with them at least 1 month in advance. They put me on their no-call list and I unsubscribed email-wise. The result was no calls, and just a few emails that ended w/in one week. Now I get an occasional piece of snail mail w/ the same 6-months/$30 offer.

I only listen to local radio = talk & sports, as well as MY iPod music, an occasional CD.
No FM music for me ~> the ads & hype drive me nuts.

 

I guess the worthiness of SiriusXM is all a matter of perspective and usage. About 3-4 times a year, I head home (Alabama) from DC which makes for a very, very long time sitting in any car. You may be right about the fidelity issues, and it's true, I wish it were far, far cheaper, but I do appreciate being able to keep the same stations everywhere I go.

I could hook up my iPhone/iPod to run music, but most mp3s are pretty lackluster fidelity-wise anyway. I could drag along dozens and dozens of actual CDs, but who needs the hassle, and FM radio isn't much better for fidelity, so... For me, It'll do.

Wayne

 

Yea, matter of perspective. In some areas it's the quality of the service too though. Where I live it cuts out constantly, even parked in the open the service would drop, a complaint i've heard from several friends who had the trial. Guess my part of the world doesnt have good coverage for it.

Low bitrate mp3s do sound a bit off. Definitely noticeable on good headphones or sound system. I think there is .flac support on phones these days, but the files size isnt worth the trade off of slight step up in audio quality (not in my mind anyway, when you're trying to fit things on the limited storage of a phone)

You can listen to a lot of radio stations online on your phone (even small local ones). There are apps that let you search/save favorites/manage lists. It uses very little phone data. Depending on your phone data plan you might be able to save a little going that route instead of paying xm. Although xm has the convenience of having it on the dash...

 

^^^This! I've been a Sirius subscriber since 2005. A lifetime subscription is currently associated with the receiver in my Frontier. I also have a portable unit in my Cobalt, month to month on that. For trips it can't be beat. Recently tried streaming music and using GPS at the same time from my phone, a 2014 Moto X in an Otter Box Defender case, the phone was plugged into the 12v outlet. Noticed that after a little more than an hour of this that the phone was very warm to the touch. This is a deal breaker. Very rarely have a problem with reception, only time I've noticed any issues is traveling a heavily tree lined two lane highway. The fidelity or lack of is not a major issue. The ability to keep one station on a trip is. Those that don't want it, no one is forcing you to keep it. No logic in putting it down. Don't like it, use something else, it's that simple.