Customer Reviews

SIRIUS Starmate 4 SIRIUS satellite radio with car accessories

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am a musician and have been running sound boards for over 10 years. I say that to try and qualify myself as having at least a decent ear for sound quality. I am a new subscriber to satellite radio and had hoped since it was a digital signal that the sound would be good, if not great. Mine has been neither. I can only speak for my unit, Starmate 4. I tried to avoid any static from the FM tranmitter so I wired it in to my receiver from the get-go. Many songs sound like a poor quality stream over the Internet, while some other songs on the same channel don't sound as bad. Typically the sounds is similar to a 98 kb/s rip or less on your computer. Hope your experience is better than mine.

I get great sound out of my device. I agree with the other reviewer, I think the bad reception is in their installation. I haven't hear an audible hiss at all. I haven't had any issues with this device at all and recommend it to everyone.

I've been a Sirius subscriber since Howard Stern made the move! I've had a Sirius Starmate Replay 3 for a about a year, and loved it! Anyways, it was time to buy another one, to devote to my car. The Starmate 4 unit is ALMOST identical to the Starmate 3, as far as features go. But, Siruis did a complete rehaul of the way the unit plugs in...apprently they are implenting a 'Universal' plug for their units, which is good in the long run, but kinda stunk because I had to purchase a new Home Kit, becuase the plugs for the Starmate 3 didn't work on the Starmate 4.

One last bummer....I seem to get worse reception with the Starmate 4 -- MORESO when another car, who apprently has another satellite radio in it, Sirius or XM, drives by me, my radio seems to pick up THEIR reception, and not my unit!! It can definately be irratating....but, oh well ;)

In the end, the Starmate 4 is a good unit, and will be good until the next round of new radios are released!

I'm not sure why all the negative reviews, I get CD quality sound from my Starmate 4 in most driving conditions. I also use it in the Sirius SUBX1 boombox with great sound. Maybe they have quality control issues or maybe the installation is the source of the bad reviews. I have the FM Direct Adapter and a rooftop antenna and experience no static unless the sky is obstructed by something substantial. I have recommended them to several friends and one is getting his own after hearing the Starmate4/SUBX1 combination. It has a nice screen and feature set. The 30 presets are more than enough for me since music was my major reason for buying the Sirius service. I'm very happy with mine.

I have 2 units, the sportster and an original starmate. They both have a wide FM transmitter range and excellent audio quality. The starmate had a screen issue so I got a replacement from Sirius - a starmate 4. Unbearable white noise made me wonder if this was a refurb. I called Sirius again and got another S4. The audio, while still having white noise, was not as bad. However, the FM transmitter range is about 2 feet. Yes, 2 feet, I only wish I was exaggerating. Now I have to call again and see what Sirius can do and exactly how they can stand behind this product. Very frustrating.

I bought this as a 2nd Sirius radio and its really bad.

The audio from this radio has a very audible white noise hiss which make the audio experience very poor. I am returning my radio for a refund, and might choose a different model. Also, tThe FM transmitter is next to worthless on this radio. The other radio that I own (the Sirius Sportster) has much better audio, and the FM transmitter works well. There are reports from other owners that they have the same issue with the FM transmitter on this model. I have not read anything about audio issues from other owners though, so its possible that I just received a bad unit.

I purchased a starmate 4 and got the car kit for it. It was purchased as a second radio, I have a older sportster that works excellent. Then purchased a new car and decided to use the starmate 4 for the new car
the sound quality was unbearable from the FM transmitter. Every radio station was bleeding in on it worst part is I was on a 6 hour trip. FM transmitter is worthless, I'm looking for a new FM transmitter adaptable to the starmate 4 or if I don't I'm trashing the piece of junk.

Buyer beware of advertised rebates. I purchased this unit during the holiday season intending to cash in on the $50 rebate that was shown (and linked to) on Amazon. After activating within the required time and submitting for the rebate I was informed that Amazon.com was not an eligible retailer for the rebate. This was stated in the fine print of the rebate, so ultimately it was my fault, however the blatant advertising of an unobtainable rebate by Amazon was severely misleading. Be sure to read the fine print....