Sirius Premium Internet Radio - Sound Quality Superior to Satellite Radio

[HottWeelz]

Could that explain why I think Startplayr sounds better than the sirius sites player?

Is that a hardware based Sirius Internet stream player? If it is, then I'd say most likely, you hit the nail on the head.


SSF:

Your welcome, I learned that Info the hard way with the whole "radio station stuff" so I try to shy my listeners away from the "Flash Player" even though the "Flash Player" is the most universal for everyone.

[imromo24]

Its not a wifi hardware player, but forgive me if im wrong, it isn't browser based, ie it plays with firefox and we closed.

It only sounds slightly better but better at least.

[HottWeelz]

This?

http://starplayr.com/ourproducts.html


Yes, it will potentially sound better because it's just a native application written in whatever language. So it appears to be taking the raw stream, provided by Sirius, and NOT forwarding it through a "Flash Player"

It's probably more "win-ampish" but proprietary to Sirius' format. This all makes sense (to me) why you would hear a noticable difference from Sirius' normal web based player.

[imromo24]

Thanks! 8-9-10 (needed 10 characters to post)

[Noob]

Just want to clarify, so the public is not misled, that "yes" Sirius Internet Radio is GREAT and Superior to many others, I'm a subscriber myself.

However, 128k is NOT CD -Quality... not is it close to CD Quality.

For technical sakes, 320k is CD Quality. 128k is more like FM Quality.

128 kbps isn't like FM quality. When MP3s first came out, all the tunes on the net were 128 kbps/sec. Even now, I struggle between 128 and 160 kbps (industry norm on iTunes) when burning/transferring mp3s onto my mp3 player. I can't really hear the difference. To go for 320 kbps, imo, is overkill and takes up too much storage and definitely bandwidth. However, this $3/month charge is one additional add-on that's costing the subscribers more. All these little costs add up. Sirius/XM should 've always had 128 kbps for their music channels. It's just now they're testing the waters with different , and some may say, desperate ways of getting more money from their subscribers to keep their sinking ship afloat.

[janstett]

Thanks,

The untrained ear would be lucky because if you listened to the 320k difference vs 128k with a really good pair of Bose earphones, you would forever be able to hear the differences, even on cheap $1.99 head phones.

It's like you're ruined forever LOL. But now we are digressing to a different subject and I've yet to introduce myself!

Yeah, I'm sitting here obsessing over my HTPC ripping lossless DVD-Audio in 5.1 channels at 24-bit/96kHz.

The 128k stream is better and tolerable, but certainly not CD quality, and have you heard how badly XM is compressed lately?

[Noob]

I called Sirius the other day and I was told that for an additional $3/month, you can stream audio at 168 Kbps in comparison to their standard 84 Kbps.

[gkarmie]

wow noob, thanks. i didnt know that

[Noob]

gkarmie, sorry to get your hopes up. the person at Sirius I was talking to you was an idiot. After confirming from different sources, the max rate is 128 kbps via INTERNET only. You can't get the 128 kbps in car, but only if you listen through the internet...kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?