XM Sometimes "Out of Phase"?

[Wind_River]

I'm REALLY out of my element here......

sometimes (only sometimes) when listening....the audio seems "out of phase".... the vocals are so far into the background that it sounds like kareoke.

But the next song will be fine. It's not EVERY song...which leads me to believe that it's NOT my system.

Is this a localized problem? Or is it possible that some of XM's equipment is "out of phase" (if that's the correct phrase -- I'm NOT a technical type.)

Just wondered if anyone else has experienced this.....

[gdiamond]

Yes, I've noticed it from time to time. Not too often, but it sounds like the technical people are making some adjustments. I've also noticed them playing around with their channel equalization and processing, too, over the past couple of months.

I think they're just tweaking things a bit.

[ghicken]

I've wondered about that myself. I wonder is the compression method can affect stereo channels. I mostly notice this from songs that had instruments or singers recorded in seperate channels. The recordings that blend the instruments better seem to be unnoticable, but I bet the same thing is occurring in those songs too.

[DesertRat]

[allchannels]

Isn't "phase" a term that relates to timing? Need some education here. I've never noticed a singer's voice, for example, being out of time (out of phase) with the instrumentation.

If we're talking about voices being sometimes "in the background" or "in the foreground" (compared to the musical instruments) to an unnantural degree -- well, I haven't noticed that, either. Maybe I'm just not paying attention. In any case, is the foreground/background phenomenon truly "phase?" Or is it something else?

[djbrad98]

if something is "out of phase"....it has a hollow, kinda "inside out" sound to it....which causes things in the center ...usually vocals...to cancel out,...leaving mostly echo...

a good example is the song Creque Ally...by the Mamas & the Papas.....the song...unless fixed by someone...is totaly out of phase

if you want to play around with this....swap one of the neg & positive wires on one of your stereo speakers....this will cause the "out of phase" effect as well

[DesertRat]

[bluuz]

I've noticed the same phenomenon in my truck, but on both the modulator and the tape adapter. I can understand the modulator causing the problem although not the tape adapter, which essentially is a direct, though imperfect connection to the amp. Some songs sound perfectly fine while in others the vocals or a particular instrument have that "out of phase" sound, or sometimes the vocals sound faint or what I'd call "thin." I don't know the science behind how XM encodes their music but perhaps this effect is some byproduct of the encoding process. It certainly seems to crop up in some songs and is not evident in other songs.

[biggles7268]

I've noticed this alot more often on the country stations than on the rock ones. (those are the main things i listen too)

I was wondering if it was from having different ppl encoding the cd's, theres always gonna be the one guy who doesn't know what he's doing after all.

[gilpdawg]

I notice this a lot on Liquid Metal, and on the heavier songs on the 'Yard and Squizz. I use the FM modulator in my truck, and I don't have a home setup yet, but I hope it sounds better in the house. Wish I had an aux input on my CD player.


Edit-fixed typo.

[DropZone]

This problem is obviously an issue as it has been reported by a number of people. XM doesn't seem to know anything about it, and local installers I've talked to say they've never heard a report of a problem in any install they've done. I have been trying to find as much information as possible on this and have read quite a bit on this forum, you mention that the problem occurs in your "truck". It wouldn't happen to be a Ford, would it?

For more info, check out this topic:
http://www.xmfan.com/viewtopic.php?t=2079

I hope we can get to the bottom of this.

[gilpdawg]

Well it's not really that much of an issue for me. I'm not sure if it is really even the unit's fault, or XM's for that matter, cause I listen to a lot of metal, and the new trend in metal is for production to sound muddy and shitty, and not crisp like I like it. (the new Craptallica, for example, sounds like ass) I noticed again listening to 42 today that a Hatebreed song sounded awful, but is it shitty production, or just a badly-ripped song? I need to check all my connections just in case.

[Unknown]

I have to agree with you on most Hatebreed material. Its just all produced kinda "muddy"... I thinkn that was their intended sound unless someone just screwed up royally. But yes, Hatebreed does sound crappier that alot of other stuff on XMLM.

And that is actually a very good point. The SQ is EXTREMELY dependent on the source material, and the way XM transmits it is pretty consistent, so look to that first as your culprit.

[geniph]

[QuicknDirty]

Windriver-

Are you using a Delphi unit? If so, with or without the FM mod?

QnD