mpr2007

I spent time with my service advisor and we found that the poor sound was only really noticeable on some channels. Like 6, 7, 8, etc. Some of the Jazz channels sounded better. We tried a couple of cars in the lot and noticed the same thing. I can say a 2008 Infiniti I had did not seem to have the same problem. But it's so noticeable here - I canceled my subscription. I have to wonder if Sirius has recently compressed more channels to get extra bandwidth for other purposes?

fintail

I've noticed channel 6 sounds very tinny lately, too. Higher numbered channels sound better. I wonder if it is a Sirius thing.

samkimg

I find my satellite reception in my 2010 E350 MB is worse than my 2010 Lexus RX450h. I lose reception as soon as I pull into my garage and the RX can pull in strong reception there. Also when we drive under bridges, my MB will sometimes lose service, but almost never in the RX. I'm guessing the RX has a better receiver with more buffer memory.

mpr2007

Sounds like this is old news with Sirius... Link to an audio forum ~November 2012 below:

http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/sh...Number=1019554

Snippet from the forum thread above:
"I just talked to the guy I know from Sirius. He confirms what you all have said. He says they have a finite bandwidth and that they have the proprietary control to dish out different amounts of bandwidth to each channel. That was their key thing they had over XM. He said that they allocate the most bandwidth to the classical channels to make them sound good, but that leaves little for everything else. And now they have crammed in to many channels to try and get more customers. Now that I think about it, the classical channels do sound pretty good."

So - It sounds like I made the right decision (for me) in canceling the service.

pdjv

I've turned off Logic 7 surround and maybe my old ears can't notice the difference, but the Sirius channels I listen to (4, 5, 67, 56, 58, 76...) in my 2011 E550 sound just as good as music from a CD or my iPod.

Satellite transmission is subject to limitations (bandwidth, atmospheric interference, line of sight...) and the content can be affected by technical problems in the studios where the programs are produced.

rufmb

Unless you have some HD option, satellite sucks for sound quality. Just drop a good old CD in sometime and see the difference. I was getting used to dropping quality of audio in the car - including FM-HD until I recently popped in an old Dire Straits CD - what brilliance

BenzE350

Yes, the issue is probably with your old ears. Music on CD is far superior to any Sirius satellite stations.

BenzE350

I have Sirius satellite on my Audi A7 and Volvo S60. The sound quality su*ks on both - it is not an isolated Mercedes issue.

Sirius broadcasts with limited bandwidth because it is cheaper. Marketing suggests that 90% of people would rather have 100's of crappy channels versus fewer quality channels.

Put a good quality CD in your car and listen to the difference in sound. If you can't hear any difference you have poor hearing - or just don't care for quality sound.

cleankutazn

^^^^true...I can't stand sirius because of the horrible sound quality. I always thought why would people pay for this crap. It's a step above am but lower than fm.

onlyonejon

So to conclude. Sirius is crap! I pay for two cars but thinking of canceling as I cannot believe they push out audio at such a bad level of sound. Even an untrained (non deaf ear) wouldn't stand for it. Talk radio is even worse.

pdjv

I'll grant you that the sound is a bit "thinner" - that it lacks the dynamic range you might get from a CD or other media format (iPod...), but Sirius sounds as good as HD FM on the Harman-Kardon premium audio system in my 2011 E550. Not sure it's worth the cost, but Sirius programming is nowhere near as annoying as most commercial FM stations.

dean.golding1

Same problem here. I just got a 2014 E350 and the Siruis sounds horrible. Sounds underwater or like it has a guitar chorus pedal running through it. Sounded fine in the 2013 E350 so I'm guessing it is a hardware issue. I also have a 2013 Dodge Ram truck with Sirius and it sounds great.

fintail

I get the "underwater" feeling on some news talk channels, or especially on the 60s channel, which sounds about as good as the one speaker Becker Europa in my fintail. The other channels I listen to, mostly "first wave", "lithium", "80s", and "electric area" sound much better.

Dema

Satellite reception can't be good or bad, it is about digital. The problem is that XM manages too many channels and needs to compress music badly. They do selectively different compression for different channels so it is why it is acceptable for one channel and not for other. If you are about radio that the best quality will be coming from HD radio. Recently I got rid of my MP3 collection switching completely to 24/192. I listen to them using Bluetooth streaming which also has certain frequencies and dynamic range limitation, but it is still better than XM. Unfortunately MB HU unit doesn't know how to play 24/192 files, otherwise I would record the to DVD and listen to from there.