Direct Tv music channels ans use in audio system

"but the sound quality is pretty bad - thin and lifeless..."

Given how much information "broadband" (CATV, sat, FIOS, etc) providers try to shove down the pipe, it's simply a case of 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag...no surprise.

Actually, FIOS does have the advantage in available bandwidth but that doesn't mean the content providers will make use of it. Those boxes are capable of close to 1G bandwidth if the service provider opens them up. CATV is limited by the time slicing that happens due to the conversion to/from RF. So 10 set top boxes hanging off the same network termination box in a neighborhood have to share time. It is amazing what they can do with the technology choices they made years ago. Sat is limited by the number of transceivers on each sat, which is why we crazy sat subscribers have a funky 5 lnb dish. That said most all of us who were developing GPON boxes have been re-tasked to the cable box space. Guess we know who is winning that war. ;-)

My fathers Direct sounds pretty good to be honest its very listenable for casual sessions. My TW cable Music Choice is also great maybe a touch better and I listen all the time.

fwiw my HRT MusicStreamer II sounds quite a bit better than DirecTV.

I say this only as a point of reference to those that have one...

Pal,
Your right about compression.
My 'HD' feeds of movies? probably little better than a properly upsampled DVD of the same movie.

EVERYTHING is compressed / stepped on.

The best feeds? News and live sports.