Satellite Radio - Does It Offer Superior Content And Quality?

| Saturday, June 11, 2011
By Edward French


Unlike terrestrial radio broadcasts, satellite radio offers a better sound quality and this leads to the rise in its popularity. Although the content may not include everything you'd like to hear, there are distinct advantages to satellite radio.

Satellites are used by a satellite radio in order to deliver radio programs to subscribers. Broadcasted from Earth based stations to communicational satellites is the radio signal and this signal will be redirected to satellite radio receivers. Broadcasted to a much larger area than traditional terrestrial radio antennas is the radio signal.

You can compare the sound quality of satellite radio to that of a CD. Just like cable TV, satellite radio has to be paid for but it is affordable enough for it to be considered a worthwhile expense. The superior broadcast quality is the reason why many people have switched to satellite radio.

Satellite radio is digital, which means that there are no sound interferences, hissing or other disturbances. One way to describe the sound on satellite radio is crystal clear and the stronger accurate bass will be appreciated by bass lovers. Coupled with more robust mid range sounds and crystal clear high range sounds, most satellite radio subscribers will tell you that the quality is extremely close to that of a CD. Also, satellite radio is not susceptible to sound problems that are caused by poor weather.

The content is the second factor that converts people to satellite radio. The major players in satellite radio sought exclusivity for some transmissions even though originally considered quite extraordinary and these elevated them above analog radio stations that often share content such as sports broadcasts. More than 100 programs that vary in content from jazz, rock, rap, as well as classical music is what satellite radio services provides its subscribers. With satellite radio, exclusive sports programs, educational and cultural shows, news and talk-shows are also being offered.

Very few of their channels retransmitting terrestrial programming is another benefit that is being offered by satellite radio. Most of their music channels are created in house, and best of all, satellite radio has no advertising. This lack of interruption from endless commercials appeals to many subscribers.

If you want a satellite radio at home or in the car, then you will need to subscribe to one of the satellite radio broadcasts and buy a receiver as well. Receivers can cost $300 to $500, and monthly subscriptions are usually under $20 a month. While this is not out of reach for many, it does mean that subscribers expect a certain level of content and broadcast quality. Unlike the terrestrial radio stations, many would feel that paying for radio service would mean that the broadcasters will be likely to maintain and improve those standards. Paying a little for a better service is something most people would do.




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Satellite Radio: Its Quality, Content And Availability

| Wednesday, June 8, 2011
By Owen Jones


Satellite radio has certainly taken off. It is extremely popular for two or three main reasons such as quality, content and availability. In the perspective of satellite radio, quality refers to the quality of sound that is capable of being reproduced by the equipment because of the signal; content refers to the types of programmes being broadcast by the various radio channels or stations and availability refers to the footprint or coverage of the satellite, that is how much area of land receives the signal from the satellite.

All these comparisons are made with terrestrial radio broadcasts of course. For example, we all know that standard AM or FM stations differ greatly in quality, the content can be heavily interspersed with advertising, jingles and mindless chatter and coverage is usually only on a extremely localized basis.

The two big players in the American satellite radio market are of course Sirius and XM and each one is trying to out do the other in these three fields

Typically, satellite radio produces a quality of sound which is similar to CD quality. This is extremely high, especially if you use good quality equipment to replay the signal received. If you merely replay satellite radio through tinny, old, blown speakers, then you will hardly benefit from this boost in quality at all.

Quality, content and coverage have all played a role in increasing the popularity of satellite radio, but it is probably content which has played the greatest part.

You may be wondering why anyone would want to pay for subscription radio, when there is so much free radio around. It is a fair question, but in fact, similarities can be made with cable TV and broadcast television. Why do people pay for that? Is it the sound quality? Or the content? Or what? A lot of cable TV is drivel too. Sports coverage, perhaps.

At least the preponderance of satellite radio is free of commercials. That has to be worth a few dollars a month and it is in fact a large selling point. Many people cite the lack of commercials as one of their foremost reasons for moving to satellite radio.

It is likely that all big league sports games will move to subscription only over the next few years. This will inevitably be carried out with the use of satellite radio. American football, soccer, baseball, basketball will all either get their own nationwide channels or be bundled with other channels

People are bored with with the amount of advertising on AM and FM radio, but at the end of the day, the main reason whether to get satellite radio or not for most people rests on content not even so much on the quality of the sound. If sport is taken off terrestrial radio and only available on satellite radio, then people, particularly men, will switch to satellite radio, which is exactly what happened with cable and satellite television.




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FM Car Modulator Alternatives

| Tuesday, June 7, 2011
By James M. Boersma


There are many misconceptions when it comes to the performance of a wired FM car modulator. An FM car modulator, commonly used to play MP3 audio on a car radio, converts audio signals into RF signals and sends them to the car's FM radio. Because of this process, FM modulators are only able to produce FM quality sound; not CD quality sound as some people believe.

The drawbacks of a modulator start with the fact that a modulator is permanently installed in your vehicle. This creates obvious problems if it breaks, stops working, or if you want to sell the car. In order to avoid any headaches over instillation and uninstallation, you may want to consider an alternative to the FM car modulator.

So what are the alternatives?

The quickest and cheapest alternative would be to buy a cassette adapter - assuming your car has a tape deck. It is very simple to use and produces average sound quality. The performance can go south pretty quickly however, as these adapters are generally made pretty cheaply. If you're looking for a cheap fix then these will work fine, but beware that you may find yourself replacing them quite often.

A more permanent fix would be to go with a wireless transmitter. Some people call these wireless modulators, but either way they are a great option for playing your iPod in the car. One thing to avoid however is a cheap transmitter. You'll see several poor quality units out there that cost between $10 and $30. These will not give you the audio quality that you're looking for. There will be considerable interference because of their weak signal.

It's important to note that there are high quality transmitters that vastly outperform most generic transmitters. High quality transmitters produce a very strong signal that will effectively cut out most, if not all, interference. The audio quality of a quality transmitter will be as good, if not better, than an FM car modulator.

An FM transmitter will also provide a consumer with the following benefits:

1. Installation and setup is a breeze. No manuals or prior knowledge required.

2. An almost unlimited amount of uses because it is compatible with just about any audio source you can think of.

3. A quality FM transmitter is not constrained to just a few frequencies to transmit on. Quality units are able to transmit on the entire public FM band.

4. Stereo and mono settings, preset frequencies that allow you to easily switch between favorites, microphone compatibility, volume and mute control, manual on/off switch and automatic gain control.

5. A variety of charging options, ranging from USB, wall adapter, cigarette lighter, or even battery.

6. Ability to transmit audio approximately 150 feet (near the maximum allowed by the FCC) - allowing for excellent sounding audio and essentially no interference.

When you factor in all of these advantages, an FM Car Modulator just can't compete with an FM transmitter. High quality FM transmitters will enable the user to control their music in a number of situations, without sacrificing their audio quality. In addition, because these devices are portable and so versatile, they provide the user with unlimited options. As a result, a high quality FM transmitter will provide a user with the most bang for their buck, making it an invaluable commodity as use increases.




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