I personally liked the old channels better then XM. I found that more often then not when I want to listen to music, I could never find any thing on XM that’s good.

I guess its good that they have the XM now but couldn't they have done some thing like dish network did when they brought on Sirius they kept all there old music channel and added the Sirius.

-Pete

XM over Music Choice any day.

All I know is that it has the potential to generate a couple hundred 1 hour service calls to update MX-remotes and IntelliPads with Music station presets on them.

Tip of the day: Have your clients pick out their favorite stations a few days in advance so they're sure they like what they've chosen. Takes the edge off an already long day.

Sirius is the way to go.....oh the topic, XM is marginally better than M.C.

My favorite are the Xantech Smart pads from a few years ago, if you don't have the original file you are S.O.L. Unless someone has a way to export the original file from the pad to your computer in a state other than a backup file. 12 zones 12 KP's, 2 sat boxes 1 CD changer 1 tuner...I'm loving Directv.

I've had a couple clients say they could not find an XM station quite like the one they liked with music choice. I'd agree.

XM and M.C. are not useful as their playlists feature music that isn't popular. Maybe it results in lower payments to ASCAP/BMI. Don't know. Don't care.

Sirius rocks in so many ways. With or without Stern.

totally agree love my sirius. im a stern fan, but i'de own it even if he was'nt on it. great music period. every genre covered.

I think it boils down to your age and what style of music you like.

XM Deep Tracks: A great channel that concentrates on 60's, 70's, some 80's and 90's music that focuses on deep albumn tracks that were nto played on teh radio (in those days). Primarliy Classic Rock but not the Classic rock that has been burned out on the radio for the last 25 years.

So you won't hear Elton' John's Bennie & the Jets but you might hear "Burn Down the Mission", You probably won't hear Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" but you might hear "Speed King", etc.

And tyou will hear tracks from Spirit, Moby Grape, Love, The Kinks, Van Morrison, Cactus, and others that you have not heard ins quite some time.

XM The Loft: A great acoustic folk rock channel that plays music with an attitude and is all over the map in style and track selections.

XM The Joint: A great reggae channel that plays both newer style reggae as well as some of the older and ground breaking reggae.

XM Music Lab: A great channel that mixes prog rock (of all periods) with today's jam bands (Phish, Widespread Panic, Dead, D Matthews, etc..)

Listening to these (and more) XM stations will expose you to music (of that repective genre) that you might not have heard before (or at least may not have heard many times before). If you pine for the music that you may have heard over and over (during its day) then yes, XM may not be for you. They feel the exisitng FM Radio stations have that covered.

I have nothing against Sirius but I don't feel it is better than XM (at least as far as selection of music goes).

For the record, I am 48 and grew up exposed and loving everything from Miles Davis to Johnny Cash to The Beatles to Dave Clark Five to Wagner to Nancy Wilson to Tom Jones to Frank Sinatra to Grieg to Bill Monroe to Hank Williams Sr. to Arron Copeland to Robert Johnson to Irving Berlin to Gentle Giant to Fairport Convention to Nick Drake to Rogers and Hammerstien to Syd Barret to Muddy Waters to Bob Marley and so on... I get all of that and more on XM (and I'm sure Sirius would give me most of that too, but I don't agree that Sirius is "better" than XM - at least for a more cerebral ride into musicology!

I have got both of them (Sirrus in Daytona & XM in LA), prefer Sirrus.
It is hard to find what you are looking for with XM (what the hell is Lucy, Fred & Ethel?).
And I likes MC better than XM,
Not a Stern fan either.

The biggest peeve I have is the sound quality. If I didn't know any better (and I probably don't), I say XM uses 96kbps.

It's awful compared to Music Choice

Sirius need a true punk rock channel.
XM's "fungus" is far far far far better than Sirrus's Faction. IMHO

Well clearly I have started something here! Even thought I had no intention of making Sirius part of the topic it was bound to come up. I am not a Stern fan and having herd a lot of both systems, I like Sirius better.

I have to agree with "Brentm" If you don’t know what all the stations are (like "FP Crazy" does) its very difficult to navigate XM and even when I think I found a station I may like they play crap I have never herd of. I guess you can argue that it’s a little more creative than say listing to the same old stuff but I like some eclectic stuff (Like Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Steve Vai) but I rarely hear music I like.

The biggest problem is figuring out if what I am looking for will be going on the station I stop on.

-Peter

The playlist on XM is larger than MC. Due to the way I write my modules it takes longer to find out what the client wants than to change the channel numbers in the macro and the names on a touch panel. I, too, am 48 with diverse musical tastes. At the moment there is no off air music station for me to listen to save WFMU or WBGO in NY. That's the largest market in the world. I never listened to MC. I listen to XM a lot though I do agree that their nomenclature leaves a lot to be desired. I suppose they thought it cute to call a station Ethel. Listening to XM is a lot like being a client who's a music lover and discovering artists of whom you were unaware. I cannot comment on Serius--and I do miss Stern-- but I do prefer XM to MC though I do think there is a discernable difference in sound qualtiy in favor of MC. I like the fact that it's edgier; that it will introduce me to music that while popular I may be unfamiliar. If I hear "Stairway to Heaven" or "Bubba O'Riley" one more time.........................

More interesting is that I have had zero calls to change the channels on any system and I have tons. Which may give an indication of how popular MC was with my client base.

I will also state that the way the label their stations in their data steam sucks as well. Select Traffic and Weather and it will come up New York ( as I asked for NY traffic and weather ). Think I might know that? They may need to distinguish on their guide between the 30 or so markets they carry weather and traffic information but it ought to show up as Traffic and wealther and not the location. OK, traffic channel's not on satellite but it does annoy me that it's this way on my XM in house.

Alan

I am an avid listener to music through DTV. Probably gets 25% of the total DTV use. I liked the true commercial free aspect of the MC, but there seems to be a higher degree of passion involved with the XM. I ONLY listen to the classic jazz (860 mc, 850 XM) through the DTV despite listening to everything from the Ramones to Les Savvy Fav to Coltraine. The jazz stations just seem to do a better job. No matter what you prefer, we are all missing out, due to compression when compared to LP's and CD's.