I have a 2017 CR-V Touring. Audio from iPhone SE using Apple Car Play sounds great with excellent base on most songs. SiriusXM is very good on some channels, but Car Play music is better. My music files are just AAC format.
I haven't had a chance to listed to anything from the Droid "yet" but I do have to agree with your comment on the XM sound quality. It does sound pretty good...
XM radio channels vary in quality as measured in bitrate. Some like classical have high bit rate and some like talk have low bit rates. Others vary widely between high and low. This is primarily a result of the merger of XM and Sirius and their attempts to jam more channels in.
To complicate things, some large cities have local XM simulcasts on a special FM band that the satellite radio uses when it can. This allows XM to work in some closed in places like parking garages or under bridges on a continuous basis as long as they are close to the land based transmitter. All XM radios also have a buffer, generally about four seconds, that allows the radio to continue when temporarily satellite outages occur while passing under obstructions anywhere.
All XM radios also have a buffer, generally about four seconds, that allows the radio to continue when temporarily satellite outages occur while passing under obstructions anywhere.
For what it's worth.. I listened to an AM radio station with HD (in stereo too!) .. The sound is amazing! Does anyone recall the "AM Stereo" from the 80's? HD AM radio is great!