XM Radio is totally taking its ball and going home over TimeTrax

While not directly TiVo related, recently on a few threads here mentioning the radio features of networked appliances and Microsoft's Media Center, we've talked about how great it'd be to get a "tivo for radio."

Everyone has their favorite radio shows, but we've all got our own schedules that rarely allow us to catch them. Well, someone heeded our call and made a program called TimeTrax that schedules recordings off your PC-based XM satellite radio and saves them as MP3s you can listen to later.

So let's look at this for a second. XM radio is a subscription-based satellite radio network that runs $9.95 per month. There are several types of receivers but one of the cheapest is a USB-based unit that works on Macs and PCs, costing around $50. Simply put, folks that get XM radio are big fans of radio.

XM radio is fairly well scheduled, with daily talk programs, super hip DJs on music channels, and various bits of esoteric comedy and news programs. I myself tried it out for about 5 months earlier this year. I originally got it to hear some BBC and Air America, but quickly found myself spending more time enjoying the various jazz and alternative stations. In addition to talkshows, the music channels are superb, almost seeming like a college station where all the DJs are way into their kinds of music and the boring corporate stuff is nowhere to be heard. Eventually I gave it up when I couldn't always be around to catch various comedy and talk shows on time.

TimeTrax not only lets you schedule recordings, but you can have it search for keywords like bands you like and people you want to hear on shows. Basically, it gives big time radio fans a powerful tool to let them enjoy their radio even more. So what did XM radio do when they found out?

They decided to stop selling the USB-XM radio hardware altogether. They claim piracy, but if someone's paying $10 a month just to save a few MP3s, I seriously doubt they are redistributing it to thousands of folks that would otherwise be XM customers (unless someone can show me an XM radio archive somewhere of all these pirated MP3s). XM shouldn't be pulling devices off the market that get them new subscribers (duh, the units are inoperable without a subscription), they should have bought the TimeTrax product and incorporated it into their PC control software, which did allow you to set alarms when your shows were on (you still had to actually sit in front of the computer and listen to them though).

XM dropped the ball, picked it up, and is now taking it home instead of giving their most loyal customers a chance to further enjoy their subscriptions on their own time. But at least for me, there's now an upside. I can take my $40 XM radio PCR unit and sell it on eBay for upwards of $400.

Comments

[Stumpy]

Does anyone know if XM is going to screw existing subscribers and owners and stop the music feeds to those of us who already own the devices and pay our $10/mo?

If they do, that'd well and truly suck.

[Kevin Smokler]

All fine and dandy if you are an XM subscriber. But if you're not, are you screwed? Aparently Griffin Technology, which creates peripherals for macs, has got something coming out called Radio Shark which allows you to both turn your laptop into a radio but lets you record programs as well.

[Matt Haughey]

Yeah, Kevin, but the radio shark has been in the "coming soon" phase for over a year now. I don't know if it'll ever see the light of day.

[jbelkin]

well, the search feature is nice if you definitely want to tape a bunch of stuff but on the Mac, all you need is a converter to audio 1/8" plug. this will work on any XM/Siruis device with an audio out. Simply plug into mac. Launch the FREE & included SOUND STUDIO software and record everything. Sound Studio even lets you edit. There are dozens of other audio choices if the free Sound Studio does not fit your needs. If anything, RCA to 1/8 is lot more "normal" than USB.

[Josh]

jbelkin, for that matter, with an RCA to audio 1/8" plug you can record content off ANY audio player, not just an XM/Sirius device. You're basically playing the music and recording it as it plays. There's an inherent degradation of audio quality in that process, not to mention loss of metadata (ie: ID tags.)

The digital extraction of the original data is where it's at for the true technophiles.

[paul]

One thing that's missing from the discussion is XM's broadcast quality. It's not all that great in my quiet office; I'd say it sounds like a 96kbps MP3. There's a perceptible quality difference between songs you hear on XM and the same songs ripped from CD or even bought from the iTunes store. In the car, it's not so bad, but you probably wouldn't want to use XM recordings as the basis of your 3733t music library.

[Norm Gregory]

Not only are the XM PCR/TimeTrax recordings not as pristine as ripping CD but given the programming techniques of the various channels the starts and endings of the songs are not very tidy.

I have recorded hundreds of songs with XM PCR and TimeTracks and I would say audio freaks will be less than satistified with the MP3s.

[Nathan]

Did anyone mention Replay Radio? This is basically Tivo for internet radio. It has a program guide you can search by key word and allows you to rip to mp3 and cut them into any size track you want. Replay-radio.com

[imagex]

We grabed the ball back, http://news.com.com/Car+computer+hobbyists+hack+XM+Radio/2100-1027_3-5410250.html?tag=nefd.top

[XMlover]

Somebody made another alternative for XMPCR. Check it out
http://xmxp.com/viewtopic.php?t=647&sid=462bd71c62459c74a271943f582ffc94

[huron77]

has anyone come up with a similar device for DirecTV? there is a dataport on the back of my receiver that's gotta be used for something....

[Cruzinthegalaxie]

The dataport on the back of the directv receiver is a analog modem port to hook into a phone line. Directv units use this to dial in to their number and order pay-per-view as well as download other info for the channel data and such.

Now the low speed data port is another story. This can be connected to a serial port on a computer to have it change channels. This is what I do with my RCA box connected to my mythv. I crafted a serial cable to connect the small phone connector to the serial port. Then I use a perl script to send the channel change codes. I don't think it can be used for much else.

cruzinthegalaxie
http://www.411bliss.com

[Todd Lokken]

Something maybe that interests only me: On the R15, it appears as though you can record XM radio stations. Directv has this blocked on Tivo units.

[kevin]

I never like the sound quality of XM Radio? for whatever reason it sounded more like AM radio ? I had it hitched to my PC. Recently I was able to connect to my main computer (Mac), still the sound sucked. So I got the radioSHARK about 3 weeks ago. I was desperate to move away from the isolation of a predictable itune playlist and back to being part of a local community of connectedness that only radio can convey. I live in the middle of a big radio market in Boston - the SHARK has awesome reception. The SHARK compared to XMPCR is hands down a better method of music delivery. I have 3 XMPCR - I sold one on craiglist for $350 ?

I got a cool utility program called Audio Hijack Pro that will record music from any conservable component (itunes, shark and xm)

My itunes songs library is getting out of control - 578 songs / 2.59 GB. I dedicated a portion of my work server to nothing but MP3's. So Im back to radio again and enjoying it !!!

Just some insight

[XM Radio]

This is a good article about XM Satellite Radio and is very informative.
http://www.1-satellite-tv-facts.com/Satellite-Radio.html