Well, I verified that the M-M DB-9 adapter I was using to connect my empeg cable to my XM receiver is straight-through. I'm pretty sure the cable going to the empeg is straight-through as well, but testing it would require about half an hour of dash reconstruction to reach the back of the sled. To double-check, I guess I could use a null-modem cable to "re-cross" the pins back again and see if that works, but I don't have enough gender-changing adaptors to make that adventure possible right now.