Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Randy, who notes:
One thing that has gone under the radar here is that several Grace Radio models, in addition to being impacted by the Reciva shutdown, can’t stream SiriusXM as of March 31st.
Grace Radio posted the following announcement about this here:
SiriusXM on all Legacy radios stopped working on March 31st. This is the final date for this action which was originally planned to occur last year.
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- Radios with model numbers that start with ‘GDI-WHA’ will not be affected.
- Radios with model numbers that start with ‘GDI-IR” will be affected.
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We apologize for the interruption in your service, and wish we were allowed to upgrade the old platform.
Regards,
Greg Fadul
Grace Digital
CEO
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[Note from SiriusXM]
Thank you for listening to SiriusXM. We appreciate your loyalty. It has come to our attention that you may be streaming SiriusXM at home using a Grace device. On March 31 we enhanced our streaming service and consequently your streaming player may not be able support the new SiriusXM feed. If you are unable to get SiriusXM at home after March 31 on your current equipment we recommend the following options. Upgrade to a newer model.
If you are still able to listen to SiriusXM on your current equipment after March 31, then you can ignore this issue. Rest assured, this has no effect on your account and the billing of your SiriusXM subscription package. This also has no effect on listening to SiriusXM by satellite.
If you have any questions, please call us at 1-888-601-6296.
We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for being a loyal SiriusXM listener.
I was hoping that SiriusXM would still work on my model – it’s the only component style Internet radio (GDI-IRDT200) that Grace made that fits in my audio system rack and I’ve used it a lot to listen to SiriusXM’s streaming service. But, it looks like it’s a brick now.
Thank you for sharing this, Randy.
Yes, this now explains why my “legacy” Grace Digital radio no longer plays SiriusXM. Last week, I noticed that it would no longer accept my SiriusXM username and password.
I’m guessing some of the iHeartRadio functionality may still work on my unit, but that remains to be seen (I rarely use that particular service).
I’m sure Grace Digital is experiencing a very serious hit to their reputation. As I understand the situation, the rug was pulled out from underneath them. They (nor C.Crane) had any warning that Reciva (or, rather, Qualcomm now) would pull the plug on the aggregator service. I can also tell by the announcement that they weren’t expecting SiriusXM to “enhance” their streaming service in a way that would disable SiriusXM on older units.
I still haven’t received a firm confirmation yet, but it does look more likely that Reciva radios may use a token system to routinely verify compatible products. If this turns out to be true, there may be no way to stop Reciva units from becoming bricks.
I have two legacy Grace Digital Receivers; The Mondo and the Encore. Both radios have silenced on SiriusXM. Although not directly Grace Digital’s fault that Reciva is shutting down, I would think there should be a class action lawsuit started. People paid good money for their Internet Radios and Grace Digital should have made their radios able to be switched to various aggrigators via a software update in the event this was to happen. Nobody should be stuck with a good working internet radio that has now become a brick due to somebody’s fault on the provider end. This isn’t right and someone should be held accontable.
I’ve recently acquired an Etón E1 XM. I wish Etón included NOAA or Airband instead. I don’t like the idea of paying to listen to the radio anyway.
Are you hearing Sirius/XM on the E-1,you do need an XM antenna for that,The E-1 has a feature on the display to help you properly aim the XM ant. for best reception.The special ant. for XM is about $ 20.00 from Audiovox
I should add that if the E-1 is in good shape internally,you have yourself a fine radio,real fine.Add a good external ant.,if you can and you will see & hear its quality. The E-1 is not too shabby with reception on the telescopic whip but becomes very unstable standing up with the whip fully extended.So with some kind of board or plastic and velcro you can make a stable platform.Life’s a trade-off, so no weather freq. that’s the way it goes,C.C. Crane has a small inexpensive AM/FM/Weather radio good on reception and batteries at a reasonable price,I have one.Cood Luck,Julio
Problem with anything dependent on technology is that it needs to remain popular enough to justify supporting it. For any number of reasons, from a changing “standard”, bankruptcies, competitive take-overs, technology breakthroughs, etc., we are all now vulnerable to our equipment becoming obsolete. In this sense, new technology is not necessarily “cheaper” (which is usually one of the main selling points to adopt something supposedly “better”). An FM stereo receiver from 40 years ago still works but for how much longer? New digital “standards” (a “standard” is NOT supposed to change in one’s lifetime) threaten the budgets of hard working people to try to keep up with supposed unchanging “standards”. Maybe “humans” will become obsolete, too, (that seems to be the long term trend, as technology takes over Everything) as we continually make short-term decisions based on what computers force on us compared to our long standing human morals and values? Hence my Opposition to Very diverse subjects like: people demanding that Brother Stair be taken off the air, the latest $35 HAM radio license fee, and now a corporation that abjectly refuses to compensate buyers of an internet radio that they bought in good faith to be there for them and be dependable. Just my two cents worth (which isn’t worth much these days)…
Well said Tom, UNFORTUNATELY ! Sony has been doing that for years,with apps, being removed from the expensive model that you purchased as it gets older and newer models of their TV’s,blu-ray players have that app avaiable again,or so it seems ! I’m pretty sure that they are not alone in this form of planned obsolescence.
XM stopped working on my Sony Bravia KDL-55W802A TV also. I was looping the audio from the TV to my Denon receiver. Sure, I will replace my TV just as XM suggests.
I’m in the same boat Zack,on my Sony XBR-55X900B which I bought in 2015 with the front facing speakers.I had a all access Sirius/XM a on my TV and an account but no longer does the app work on my TV
I have “Smart TVs” as well, but obsolescence is the risk with them.
Of note, it looks like SiriusXM is available via Roku. The base model Roku starts around $30, or sometimes even less when on sale.
https://www.siriusxm.com/ways-to-listen/roku
I was wondering why mine stopped getting XM. Hopefully it will keep my presets from Recvia.
I now have 5 Grace radios that are worthless…so be it. Will never purchase another!! We were warned over a year ago so now I have only two late model walnut Grace radios that work (ones with the twin antennas on rear). Those and Amazon products will keep me going.
I was an enthusiastic early adopter of wifi standalone streaming radios. No more. My Grace unit is the latest addition to my brick collection. These things should come with a warning label for planned obsolescence.
Fortunately, one can access most all streaming radio on a phone, smart speaker or computer.
I can understand why streaming receivers were once popular. but, since the advent of smart devices, I have no idea why anyone would purchase one, especially considering the built in obsolescence that depends on on factors out of our control. I have an iphone, ipad, pc, laptop, Amazon Echo and an Echo Dot. Any and all of these can receive everything a streaming radio will and just as easily. With all the viable alternatives available, it appears to be a total waste of money to buy a radio style streaming device.
I agree, Steve. I had one of the Grace legacy receivers that ran on Reciva. Grace offered me a coupon to purchase a new receiver, but I still can’t justify the price. My Echo Dot works just fine and gets updates all the time. Sound quality isn’t great, but pair it with a decent Bluetooth speaker and it’s a no-brainer.
Hardware Internet streaming radios fulfilled a need at a particular time when apps and Bluetooth didn’t really work that well, particularly if you wanted to integrate streaming audio into a home theater or component stereo setup.
I’ve transitioned away from using my Grace Internet streaming tuner to using a Yamaha MusicCast pre-amp (the WXC-50) that’s basically a hub for streaming audio, Bluetooth, and various analogue and digital inputs. And it handles high definition audio.
https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio_visual/wireless_streaming_amplifiers/wxc-50/index.html
The good thing about it is that it’s basically a “dumb” box and the app can be easily upgraded. The down-side is that you have to use your phone or tablet to control most of the functions on it, which is a hassle if you’re using a more traditional universal remote to control everything else in your setup.
I got the MusicCast about a year ago after Grace went through an update with SiriusXM on my component tuner and thinking about how old the device is getting. I thought it stood a chance of getting bricked. I’m not interested in upgrading to one of the current Grace models because they just don’t fit in my component stereo rack.
However, I still found myself using the Grace – it’s easy (or was easy) to just walk up to the rack, turn it on and use the rudimentary display and controls to go to a streaming pre-set or SiriusXM station. Now, I have to rummage around for my phone and go through a few menus to just get some music.
Randy is your MusicCast app still working with SiriusXM? I am having issues. This always seems to be the case with Sirius. First my LogicTech Radio, then my Digital Grace, and now my MusicCast. A call to Sirius didn’t help, they told me they didn’t support issues with Yahama’s MusicCast.