First off, I'm an XM listener. I started w/ a free Tao XM2go receiver and free subscription. I kept the subscription going because I like some of the R&B stations but mostly listen to XM Comedy on 150. The kids use Radio Disney once in a while.

The whole lineup changed the other day and I'm not sure how much I like it. Granted, change is hard. XM Comedy was mixed with Raw Dog and it seems to me that there's even MORE commercials which drives me crazy. Fortunately, I use my XM2go to record 5 hours and just skip the commercials but now I have to skip more often. I do like the fact that I now have access to all the NBA games. It also appears that my range has improved slightly.

However, my biggest gripe is the sound quality. I tried to listen to a few stations that I haven't had before. The compression is AWFUL, some stations sound like it's coming through a tin can. It's worse on talk radio. Have others noticed this too?

Or maybe the Sirius listeners have the same complaint about XM.

I've got a 3-month XM trial in the new van, but it's due to end in another couple of weeks or so. I'm not likely to renew because on ongoing sound quality issues...

From an old post of mine.....

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Just an opinion regarding XM.....

I was a HUGE fan of XM several years ago....touting how great it was to friends and family, etc... But once they started their "number of channels" war with Sirius...dividing up their FCC-alotted bandwidth into smaller and smaller (and more and more compressed) chunks.... I've given up on them completely because of poor sound quality. XM doesn't even sound as good in my car as it used to, and with the Polk reference tuner on my Axioms, it sounded horrible. It was a big issue for me, as I felt I invested $$$ in equipment only to have them lower the quality from the the level that I signed up for...and invested in...

More info at XMFan.com.
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I've had XM radio since it became available in Canada. I've always thought that the sound quality wasn't as good as free radio. They advertise it as commercial free which it isn't in my opinion. It does have fewer commercials though than free radio which is a plus. I only listen to XM radio in my car because at home is sounds like crap.

I might pay for radio if it was completely commercial-free and radio talent free. (moderately safe for work - viewer discretion is advised for the young and weak of heart, an actual local "jock")

Bren R.

BrenR, I consider the radio talent as a commercial (some more annoying than others). One of the redeeming features for me is on long road trips where I can just turn on the radio and forget about it (don't have to do a radio search during a drive).
Mel N.

Gotta agree with Mel on that.

I haven't had any long trips of late to listen to XM music, so it's mostly the Comedy channels. Not only are ads annoying, but XMs self-promos of what's on other channels and listening to long DJ spiels between comedians is annoying as hell!

Now, you kids get off my lawn!