Why does Sirius XM sound SOOO bad through my Sena 20s

This may be discussed elsewhere but 10 minutes of searching yielded no relevant results, please feel free to point me in the right direction.

I have 2016 R12RT with the BMW audio system paired up to a Sena 20S headset. When I play music from a USB Flash Drive through the audio system the sound quality is really quite good. When I switch over to Sirius the sound is pure crap - distorted, fuzzy, UN-listenable - even worse than the AM Radio.

I've turned off the Loudness (there don't seem to be any separate Bass/Treble controls on the system) on the Audio system and that helped a bit but, if this is the best sound I can get from Sirius there is no way I would ever sign up for it.

Is this due to Sirius compression issues, or is there some way that I can actually hear the music?

Thanks,
Ski

Look for a level output from your xm receiver.

This might not be relevant, but I think it may be a Sirius issue.

A little more than a year ago I bought a car that had integral Sirius included in the audio/nav system. I signed up for the free trial of Sirius and found it's sound to be quite lacking compared to plain old FM, and remember, in my car, both are going through the same audio-processing circuits. It was tinnier, thinner, and in some areas around my neighbourhood the reception was terrible. It didn't seem worth anywhere near what they were asking, so I didn't subscribe.

The_Veg said:

This might not be relevant, but I think it may be a Sirius issue.

A little more than a year ago I bought a car that had integral Sirius included in the audio/nav system. I signed up for the free trial of Sirius and found it's sound to be quite lacking compared to plain old FM, and remember, in my car, both are going through the same audio-processing circuits. It was tinnier, thinner, and in some areas around my neighbourhood the reception was terrible. It didn't seem worth anywhere near what they were asking, so I didn't subscribe.

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There are various amounts of compression across the sat radio channels that adds to that for sure. Some channels sound better than others.

The XM receiver is built in to the BMW Audio system that came on the bike and I find the system a bit lacking when it comes to sound adjustment. Loudness On or Off is the only setting I've found.

All of my sound sources (AM, USB stick, SiriusXM) come through the BMW Audio system and the USB stick sounds great so I have to believe the fault is not related to Bluetooth issues.

I'll certainly not pay or the Sirius subscription when it sounds so bad.

Just glad the trial is free, worth every penny.

Ski

Sounds awful on my bike as well. Sounds fantastic in my car on the same roads. Very dissapointing.

My shop just ordered a new stereo to see if that fixes it. The BMW helmet Bluetooth XM sounded bad as well.

dareguy said:

My shop just ordered a new stereo to see if that fixes it. The BMW helmet Bluetooth XM sounded bad as well.

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Pleas let us know how that works....

skibumwi said:

Pleas let us know how that works....

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Will di

I have used my custom ear phones and Sirius sounds as good as when I play my Ipod which is pretty darn good. Sometimes when I use just my custom ear plugs the sound is OK but nothing like with the ear speakers.

RT Sirius

dareguy said:

Will di[/QUOT

Well, I got my new Stereo unit yesterday. There was a vast improvement over the first one. The sound is much better, but still not as good as when I pair my SRC to my iphone directly. One of the things that the shop told me was, The volume of the speakers needs to be turned down, even though you are not using them as they will cause the bluetooth to distort. Always turn your bluetooth device on before turning on the bike.


So, there you have it,

BTW, does anyone make upgraded helmet speakers?

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