Well I was one of the folks that was looking forward to this change. I say this because I had had DMX for a time on cable here. (it changed to MC about 4 years ago) The sound quality was consistently good on ALL channels (as good as Music Choice) & the titles always worked properly. (they were even in clear QAM, so my HDTV could pick them up as well & they even sounded better than through the digital converter) However, I guess I didn't take into account just how badly D* could have totally botched this whole thing up!
First of all, it's as if D* didn't do ANY testing of converting over to this new service. If they had, they should have uncovered many of these problems before Tuesday, so that the conversion should have been almost seamless.
The pi$$-poor, VERY over-compressed audio quality is definitely on D*'s end, as well as all the song title problems they are having. Again, since DMX never had these kind of problems before, it can't be on DMX's end. Honestly, some of these channels are simply just too painful to listen too!
It's also bogus that D* decided to put some of these channels on 119 - considering how little bandwidth those few extra audio channels use, there really is no valid reason for them not all to be on 101. (I have a slimline 5, so it's not a problem for me, but it's still bogus you need it for mainstream music - I could maybe see putting the Spanish music on 119, but NOT something like H&H!) And the fact that channels such as Holidays & Happenings is NOT only on 119, but appears to be ONLY available to Premier subs, is another slap in the face!
At least I DO have Music Choice, which I got after loosing it on D*. It only costs me $1.50 for the digital box, so it's no big deal keeping it - it's cheap for having another music alternative.
Between NO more HD additions & the continued loss of VS, this music mess irritated me enough to actually call D* & express my displeasure with this crappy new service. (I very rarely call D*) I also removed HD Xtra, to also express my displeasure at the lack of ANY new HD. I also asked when my contract runs out from my last upgrade, which is not until this October - I went on record that after this music fiasco, that if there is not some marked improvement on the HD count, that I do have other options. (which I actually do) AT&T just dropped 2 V-RADs in my neighborhood, & Comcast just sent out World of More letters, which means they will probably have our HD considerably beefed up before the end of this year. The CSR said he had not had ANY other complaints about the music change, but would note it on my account. He also tried to offer me the outstanding BARGAIN of the year - FREE Cinemax for a few months if I bought HBO - even the both of them together still ain't worth $15 extra/month, & certainly NOT with only 2 HD feeds! (sorry, but a west feed of both channels is NOT cutting it for extra HD premiums!)
So for me, it's going to be the make or break year for D* - I've run out of patience...
BTW, I'm a TC+ sub, so here's the channels I am NOT authorized for:
815, 865, 873, 877, 881, 882, & 884.
I have some receivers on a slimline 5 & others on a 101 only dish, so I can also tell which are on 119 - my list lines up with what Jason posted on the previous page.
Funny thing is, did anyone else notice that D* IS broadcasting 9570 & 9571 from 101. (& not 119 like the rest in the 9500's) They could have moved them to 119 & used that bandwidth for 2 of the others to be on 101 instead.
