Very good post, Sat does broadcast at a significantly lower bit rate than CD, and it is audibly noticeable.
The other factor is the source material of some of the stations. For example, when i listen to Fox sports on XM, they are using their national AM feed, so the quality of sound is even more degraded. It doesn't much matter to me on talk radio, since I'm not looking for fidelity, but it's still a downgrade.
Quote:
NYC-FJ-TRD previously said:
The fact that the "AM/SAT" button toggles between am & sat has nothing to do with an FM modulator or the audio quality. It's just a cosolidation of multi-function buttons by the designers.
The FJ's OEM radio is designed for XM...Toyota must utilize a "converter" when Sirius is installed (at the P.O.E.). Therefore it's a "port installed" option (vs factory or dealer). These converters, while offerring a direct audio connect to the head unit (NOT using an RF modulator), are somewhat problematic. Sometimes they don't power up and offer limited use of controls for the "head unit". Some of these limitations include only being able to adjust the volume from the steering wheel controls (not the channels) and significantly limited text display (name of channel, artist, title of song, composer field).
The audio system in the FJ Cruiser is fairly good (and offers good speaker placement). Since Satellite Radio tranmits each channel at a fairly low bit rate (only around 42 kbps), the in herent quality of satellite radio is not very good, and more noticible on higher quality audio systems. In some cases, RF modulated units can actually sound BETTER because the modulator can "mask" some of the unpleasant audio artifacts inherent in highly (data) compressed audio streams. Sirius also has a better satellite system in general, and offers significantly better sounding channels (especially music) than XM. Another alternative for FJ owners who want Sirius, is to buy an aftermarket radio, and use the MP3 player 1/8" jack to feed the head unit audio vs dial up the RF modulator on the FM radio.
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