lupinia
Premium
join:2004-08-24
Harrisonburg, VA
| reply to pike
Re: Get ready...
Good, I'm tired of seeing all these analog units for sale. Hopefully I can save up for a new Pioneer hardwired unit before they're discontinued, my old one is getting, well, old, I got it from the Crutchfield here the day it came out. 
I currently have one of the original Sony portables sitting on my desk, and it would sound much better if I could run it through SPDIF or even optical. In addition to the reduced processing power of the standalone unit, it's also easy to layer music over my games, and I can even mute WAVE and still get my satellite feed [hugs his SP Audigy]
I've been a fan of XM ever since they came out, but crap like this is a tad unsettling. |
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djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
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1 edit | reply to lupinia
I love my SAT radio ... don't get me wrong, but XM and Sirius sound quality is awful. It's probably not even as good as a 128kbps mp3. They also employ dynamic range compression ontop of the heavy digital compression in order to keep the audio level normalized for typical car audio use. The amount of loss caused by going through a line input on your sound card is going to be extremely negligible compared to the digital and dynamic compression that goes on before it even reaches your computer.
--
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pike
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-01
Cleveland, OH
clubs:
·Vonage
 ·AT&T Midwest
| reply to lupinia
said by lupinia  :
The PCR is digital
Well, not exactly. While the service is digitally broadcast the XMPCR and most current receivers are equipped with standard analog ouputs.
There are some retailers selling modified receivers with TOSLINK outputs (such as www.myradiostore.com), including the XMPCR. There is also a Polk Audio home receiver that will be released shortly with digital out.
-Mike |
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lupinia
Premium
join:2004-08-24
Harrisonburg, VA
| reply to roamer1
You also lose the clarity of digital input. The PCR is digital, the new portable units they're pushing are analog, and if you have a high-end speaker system (like I have in my car and computer), you can really tell the difference.
They better offer 256kbps or higher for the online service. |
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roamer1
sticking it out at you
join:2001-03-24
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
| reply to krobar
said by krobar :
had I known about the xm pcr prior to them pulling it I would have been very interested, being able to listen to music while playing a game online and not have it interfere with my speeds OR use up a lot of resources (ala some mp3 players)
If all you want to do is listen to music, it's easy enough to hook a regular XM (or Sirius, or DirecTV...) receiver to a sound card. All you lose is the "seamless" control from the PC.
-SC
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