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My latest truck accessory

Z71

By Z71
in Hobbies, Tech & Outdoors

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Z71 Enthusiast

Z71

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Even though it's my latest accessory, I have had it for awhile now. and I Love it. Since it was installed, I have yet to listen to a FM station.

 

I love the Comedy channel - I probably listen to that more then anything else, then the NASCAR channel.

Z71 Enthusiast

Z71

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I'm still looking for the Head Unit that I like. I want a flip/tilt out screen that I can plug my laptop into and use the flip/tilt screen as my monitor. I want the setup to display the GPS Topo software while I am 4-Wheeling. With my laptop open it tends to bounce around too much and slid off of the set. LOL

deruch Enthusiast

deruch

Posted
Posted

I have been thinking about adding XM to my trailblazer.  Is your unit the FM Modulated unit?  With my trailblazer I cant change out the head unit without losing the onstar features and chimes...ect.  ???

 

I was wonding how the FM unit sounds and how easy the installation is.

chevyhd Enthusiast

chevyhd

Posted
Posted

I put in XM through the Pioneer 9300 head unit (Direct connection, not FM modulation). The sound is pretty good, not quite CD quality, but it is better than FM. To my ear, the music sounds noticibly compressed. It sometimes sounds similar to a 96 - 128 kb/s mp3 would. I understand XM is using compression based on MPEG 4 , and its even less bandwidth than most MP3 music, maybe half the bitrate? Anyway, there is a high frequency distortion that can get annoying, some songs it really stands out.

 

I happened to have a CD with me the day after I installed it and they played the same song on XM. I did some A/B testing and you can tell the CD from XM, the CD sound has an overall more open and dynamic sound.

 

But there really isn't any comparison. Access to 100 channels, half without commercials, no static, works nationwide. I don't like commercial radio so it was well worth the cost ($200 for the decoder and antenna)

 

I stuck a Terk SR2 antenna on the back glass, same position side-to-side as the Onstar antenna. So now I've got 3 antennas... I'm not a fan of antennas but I figure once I lift it you won't notice them as much. :D

 

side.jpg

 

And as far as the Onstar, mine is still hooked up. I got a unit that switches the radio to mute and lets the onstar play through the stock speakers. Works perfect, cost $80 (autotoys.com search for onstar).  :music:

Dihappy Enthusiast

Dihappy

Posted
Posted

Hmm, i hope its not 96kb's.

 

I listen and encode quite a few MP3's, and XM doesnt sound that low to me.

 

It sounds quite good as i can hear very nice low and high frequencies in XM's audio.

Z71 Enthusiast

Z71

Posted
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They call it FM Modulated (at least I have heard it being called FM Modulated) but it's directly connected to the antennea jack on the back of your stock radio. They insert a Y-Adapter so your antennea plugs in still.

 

I had to buy some kind of special GM adapter in order for it to fit correctly (shrug).

 

To me it sounds a lot better than FM and near CD quality.

 

The only problems that I have had is that there is a dense populated radio tower in the middle of town and when I get near it, I start to hear some static on the radio. This may be just the type of unit I have, I'm not sure. The other problem I see is kind of weird... I can still get a good signal in parking garages and never drop out but there is one Casino that when I get near one side of the building... the signal drops. Seems kind of weird that this happens when I can still get a signal in parking garages.

 

I wanted to mount my antennea on the driver side back window but the power slider window opens in that direction and the glass would hit the inside mount. So I had to mount it on the passenger side rear window. Kind of pain because I have to walk around the truck to drop the antennea before I go through the car wash.

 

All in all - I'm extremely happy with it and am thinking about installing a second unit in my other truck and in my Girlfriends car.

chevyhd Enthusiast

chevyhd

Posted
Posted

I've read that XM music channels are 64kb/s, I found references to this a couple places on the web (check out this article). Overall XM broadcasts 4.0Mb/s, that figures to 40kb/s if they divide equally into 100 channels, but most of the talk/news channels are alocated to use less bandwidth. It isn't the same compression as MP3, so the quality is much better given the same bitrate. The XM compression methods are supposedly being incorporated into MPEG-4. MP3 is pretty old technology.

 

There is good dynamic range (way better than FM), and overall the quality is good. It's just that high frequency distortion that makes certain songs, or certain passages in songs sound bad to me (examples: cymbal-heavy heavy metal such as AC/DC, certain acoustic music and instrumentals, classical music, some techno/electronica), but most pop music, rock, punk, alternative sounds great and you can hardly notice the difference. Like I said, the sound has a certain MP3-ness to it due to the compression.

 

If you FM modulate it (that does mean you plug in the antenna jack) it will lose dynamic range, and you'll pick up some noise, and possible interferance like Z71 found.

 

For signal, XM uses two satellites, as well as ground repeaters in urban areas. If your antenna loses direct view of the sky for a few seconds where there isn't a repeater, the signal may drop. I've only had mine drop twice in the 6 days since I installed it.

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