Why Satellite Radio Sounds Mushy

Ever switch sources in your car and feel the sound collapse as soon as you tap over to satellite? We pull back the curtain on why Sirius XM can feel flat and “blanketed,” tracing the problem to low bitrates, legacy codecs, and a hard ceiling on satellite bandwidth that forces tough choices. You’ll hear clear comparisons—48 kbps music channels and even lower talk channels versus 320 kbps streaming and lossless options—and what those numbers mean for stereo width, transient detail, and vocal clarity.

We walk through the tech without the jargon trap: how psychoacoustic encoding decides what to throw away, why the merger ballooned channel count but not spectrum, and how that pushed bitrates down even further. Then we look at the escape hatches. The Sirius XM app can climb to 256 kbps and relieve some pressure, but services built for fidelity still have the edge. Meanwhile, FM and HD Radio remain sleepers in this conversation: with a decent tuner and sane processing, they deliver cleaner stereo, more air, and less fatigue than the satellite feed many people default to on road trips.

From there, we shift to what actually matters for both creators and listeners. Most people don’t notice subtle artifacts unless they A/B sources back to back, which is why convenience keeps winning. But if you care about sound—or you’re building a brand around it—you can own the chain. We share practical steps for producers and broadcasters to protect dynamics, pick smarter encoders, and set bitrates that don’t sand off the highs. For listeners, we offer a simple testing routine and clear guidance on when to pick satellite, HD, or streaming so your setup fits the moment rather than fights it.

If you’re ready to hear more and settle for less mush, tap follow and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Share this episode with the audio nerd in your life and tell us your car A/B test results—what source wins for you, and why?

Send me a text message with your thoughts, questions, or feedback

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Fully Modulated is not affiliated with or endorsed by any station, media company, or network. All opinions are solely my own.

Episode Transcript

Tyler (00:23):
Hey, thanks for tuning in to fully modulated.
So let's talk about something abunch of folks noticed, but uh
even more folks just kind ofaccept.
Sirius XM's audio quality.
Have you ever wondered why it'skind of mushy compared to FM,

(00:46):
HD radio, or just streamingsomething on your phone?
You're not imagining it.
Quick heads up though, beforewe get started, I'm not tied to
Sirius XM or any uh bigbroadcaster or radio company for
that matter.
This is just a uh deep dive foranyone who really listens very

(01:07):
intently on the radioprogramming that they're
ingesting into their earholes.
Anyway, this episode iscovering why satellite radio
sounds so compressed, why thebusiness doesn't really care,
and whether regular listenerseven notice or care.

(01:29):
Here's the scene.
You hop into the car, flip onSirius XM.
Maybe you're excited to hear anew album, a talk show,
whatever.
And instead everything kindasounds warped.

(01:50):
And uh, you know, kind ofsounds like it's wrapped up in a
wet blanket.
Voices sound squashed, themusic feels tight, and you start
missing all the little sparklesyou get when compared to FM or
HD radio or streaming.
So what gives?

(02:11):
Are we just audio snobs?
Or is there something legitgoing on under the hood?
Let's break it down from thetech side and the listener's
experience.
So here's some numbers to chewon.
Sirius XM's typical musicchannel clocks in around 48

(02:35):
kilobits per second.
Their chal their uh talkchannels sometimes drop as low
as 16 kilobits per second.
Compare that to Spotify at 320kilobits per second.
Apple Music's lossless is evenhigher, obviously, and regular
old CDs at a whopping 1411kilobits per second.

(03:01):
It's almost like satelliteradio is intentionally squeezing
out the flavor because theyhave a way they have way too
much stuff to fit into littletiny space.
Why?
Well, it all comes down tocompression.
Sirius XM uses closed codex,proprietary codex, pack for

(03:30):
Sirius, AAC for XM.
Both are built onpsychoacoustics, so they're
trying to outsmart your ear.
They they think they know whatyou won't miss, and just trash
it to save space.

(03:51):
At the right settings, nobodynotices, but push it a little
too far, and all the detailfolks love about good sound,
it's gone.
And I can tell you, as someonewho spent years listening for

(04:11):
these changes, it jumps rightout at me instantly.
Music feels dry, stereonarrows, and voices pick up a
little grit, in my opinion,almost sounds worse than AM
quality nowadays.
But here's the real kicker.

(04:31):
Sirius XM isn't making mostdecisions for the Sonic
experience.
They're playing the numbersgame.
It's about channel quantity,exclusives, and endless choices.
Audio quality is basically ahobby tier in their priority.

(04:53):
Then there's the bandwidthlock.
Sirius XM only gets maybe 25megahertz for all their
satellite channels.
At encryption, errorcorrection, and overhead
together.
Basically, every channel isfighting for a you know a little
sliver of that pie.
When Sirius and XM merged, thechannel count exploded, but the

(05:19):
the spectrum didn't.
It stayed the same.
They ended up having to lowerbit rates even further just to
keep the variety up.
So you've switched fromsatellite to the Sirius XM app.
Yeah, the difference is clear,isn't it?
On the app, you can get up to256 kilobits if you crank up the

(05:44):
settings.
It's better, way lesscompressed, but compared to
Spotify or Apple Music, eventhose numbers fall short.
Those services focus on soundand have a nearly unlimited
bandwidth to play with.
Sirius XM is stuck in thesatellite era.

(06:05):
So while streaming helps, itdoesn't fix everything.
And honestly, at one of my lastjobs, management capped our
station streams at 64 kilobitsper second MP3 to quote unquote
save money.
It was brutal, especially ongood gear.

(06:26):
Saving on bandwidth basicallysaved pennies at the cost of
making our music our musicchannels sound cheap.
And don't sleep on regular FMor even HD radio with a halfway
decent tuner.
FM blows past Sirius XMsatellite mushy sound any day.

(06:48):
And HD radio, though stillcompressed, usually around 96
kilobits per second on the mainchannel using the HDC codic,
still sounds way cleaner thanksto more modern codics.
You get proper stereo, betterdepth, and real air in the

(07:09):
sound.
Plus, here's the big deal forradio folks.
You have control.
On traditional broadcast andmodern streaming, you set the
audio chain.
So if you actually care, youcan make your product sound
phenomenal.
With newer streaming options,you can go even further.

(07:31):
That's your edge againstsatellite.
And that typical just goodenough streaming.
Here's the twist.
For most listeners, unless yougo between sources back to back,
they don't hear the difference.
Engineers, producers, programdirectors, audio geeks, we

(07:55):
notice the cracked highs, thecrunched stereo or muffled
vocals right away.
But most people just want theirfavorite show or music
uninterrupted.
I hang out on re you know,these Reddit audio threads and
radio forms.
There's always a split.
Audiophiles and pros say SiriusXM is garbage.

(08:19):
I stick to FM or streaming.
Regular folks, they kind ofshrug.
Convenience and no dropouts winthe game every time.
In science backs this up.
Most folks only notice audioflaws when they're extreme.
If distortion isn't slappingthem right in the face, habit

(08:41):
and convenience rule.
That's why Sirius XM is finewith sticking with quote unquote
good enough.
It's not for the pickylisteners like us.
It's for the crowd that wantsoptions.
If you want better, you have towork for it.
Or just tune somewhere else.

(09:03):
So what is what does all thismean?
If you actually care aboutsound quality, own your chain,
FM, HD, and modern streaming,let you do that.
Set the bar higher for yourselfand your listeners.
Don't settle for just goodenough.
Because people do notice, evenif it's only a few at first,

(09:27):
they stick around for stationsand brands that do things right.
So I want to do a quick littlerecap.
Sirius XM compresses likecrazy.
Quantity over quality.
The app, eh, it's a littlebetter, but still not the best.

(09:48):
FMHD radio are in a wholedifferent league.
Because local engineers cancontrol the sound.
Most folks don't notice unlessit's really bad, or unless you
show them, point it out.
Audio nerds, we always notice.

(10:08):
But business isn't built aroundthem.
Thanks for spending the driveor the morning with Fully
Modulated.
If you want to help the showgrow, follow, rate, and review
the show on Apple Podcasts andSpotify.
Tell a friend, share it with aradio nerd, or, you know, you
can always shoot me a note atTyler at Fulymodulated.com.

(10:31):
Follow Fully Modulated onFacebook or Fully Modulated Pod
on Instagram.
Keep pushing for better audioquality, better stories, and
smarter radio.
This is Fully Modulated.
Powering down for now.
Catch you next time.
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