2. misc-audio
  3. 1239468780

Recording XM/Sirius Live broadcasts

I was lucky enough to catch the start of Ann Hampton Callaway at Dizzy's last night on XM/Sirius. I get the feed through my Direct TV connection. I missed the start but recorded the bulk of the concert on my Crown CX844. This was not a live recording but a broadcast of a taped concert. My recording was really good as the signal is processed through my dac. The sound quality was better than the best cd's and vinyl.

The concert is being rebroadcast on Sunday and there is a Live at Lincoln Center concert tonight that I will tape. I use quantegy GP9 which works great on my RTR's.

Seems like Sirius on Direct TV upgraded their signal since the capital infusion took place. For a while there the sound quality suffered but now I think I will start recording these concerts. Live music is the best and when captured on a good RTR there's nothing better.
wavetrader
wavetrader OP
260 posts
 
Mumbles,

Now check to see what kind of Coax cable you have running to your HD receiver. If it is the stock crap that's provided with the receiver,replace it with a good aftermarket video cable. I use a Monster 3 type (don't laugh),you will gain depth.

Not all the Sirius channels are the same quality though. The Jazz and Classical and a few others seem to have a higher quality signal.

Now tonight listen to the live broadcast and Sundays broadcast and compare.

This was one of the reasons I got back into RTR's in a big way. The sattelite feed should be a boon to those who can record.

Cheers
mumbles
83 posts
 
Wavetrader,
I just switched from cable to DTV after reading here about better bandwidth available from satellite than from cable. So I have the latest receiver ect. And the installer told me the double, hd cable he used was better than the standard stuff, It is 99.9 oxygen free copper. Was this the case with the cable you replaced? I will look into monster 3 to receiver.
Im using silver rca's out for audio and stock dtv hdmi cable for video.
wavetrader OP
260 posts
 
Mumbles any cable should be a improvement over a stock cable. When I was trying different cables for the HD receiver connection the monster 2 was alot better then stock and the 3 was a big improvement over the 2 series. More depth,detail and dynamics.

The Callaway concert last night I was clearly able to hear the crowd much more so than say these recordings: Eva Cassidy Live at Blues Alley,Jazz at the Pawnshop and Stan Getz Serendipity. The difference is night and day as far as ambient retreival,detail and dynamics.

If some have been at the Met opera HD showings they use a sattelite feed,So the quality could be far and away better if they(Dish,DTV) use the increased bandwith when they broadcast. The startup of HD FM has got to up the anty I would think for DTV and Dish, I would hope so.
wavetrader OP
260 posts
 
Finthen,

It's always nice to hear that others share the same opinion. I hope Sirius/XM continue to improve the service.

Cheers,
Wave
mumbles
83 posts
 
Well I tuned into the Ann Hampton Callaway at Dizzy's Saturday night, XM dtv channel 850.
It was an enjoyable live performance, had that small club feel, but left me wondering what someone like Eva Cassidy would have done with Stevie Nick's Landslide song.
Overall I liked it, thanks for the tip.

I also learned that I cannot record any XM stations with my dtv hd receiver.
And it bothered me that XM was sounding close to as good as my rig,especially considering I am not upsampling.
So I swapped out my powerchord on the PrimaLuna8 with a silver CrystalClearCable one and it made a huge difference in sound quality. Then I balanced the cdplayer on Dali speakers spikes and it improved dynamics even more.
So I guess my other equipment can be optimised more to widen the gap. Wonder if the dtv hd receiver can be modded.
But no doubt XM is sounding better than it used to.
More to discover