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HomePod 2 homepods + Apple Tv

I

ipodssss

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 31, 2017
61
36
Middle Earth
Hi guys

Not sure if there is a thread but I’m bacially wondering if anyone else has 2 or more HomePods set up with the Apple TV?
I currently have 1 and the Apple TV and wanted to get a 2nd HomePod for stereo anyway but was curious if you can watch movies in stereo from iTunes and how you found the quality?

Thanks
 
My 2nd HomePod just got delivered. I just got it out of the box and I’m doing the update now. I’ll let you know. It’s gonna be awhile. The download is 2.7GB.
 
ipodssss said:
Hi guys

Not sure if there is a thread but I’m bacially wondering if anyone else has 2 or more HomePods set up with the Apple TV?
I currently have 1 and the Apple TV and wanted to get a 2nd HomePod for stereo anyway but was curious if you can watch movies in stereo from iTunes and how you found the quality?

Thanks
Click to expand...
I’ve got a pair in stereo and watch iTunes via Apple TV and I’m very happy with the sound. The amount of bass is very surprising
 
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Sorry I got forgot to come back. It took me awhile to get the placement right. And I might still need to tweak it. It has nothing to do with the HomePods themselves, my room is just odd. With that said though, it sounds really awesome. One sounded good. Two are better! You still have all of the same limitations as you have with one HomePod when using it with an tv, but I’m glad I got a second one. I watched Seal Team last night and the gunfire sounded so cool! And the base really thumps!
 
Last edited:
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Got Apple TV set up with Two homepods and a Sonos Beam. Makes for a good experience though sometimes there can be a bit of lag with volume between the two which is easily fixed at the time. There is a clear difference when I have one switched off. Expensive set up and not sure how it would compare to a 2.1 sound system. I am though satisfied with the set up as it is.
 
Same set up in my game room. Mind you I already have a Bose soundbar hooked up to that TV, but always end up preferring the 2xHomePod set up to the Bose Sound.
Sound is surprisingly deep, but at the same time doesn't sacrifice mids and highs.
The only inconvenient thing is some Apple TV apps for networks that have commercial breaks built into the stream - the output switches to the HDMI or the default TV output and then pauses whatever you're watching (apps like TBS, SyFy, Fox). Doesn't happen on movies or episodes directly from iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime.
 
I have two in a stereo pair with Apple TV in my living room and it sounds AMAZING. Like the sound is inside your head. Everyone comments on how good it sounds when watching TV/Movies.
 
MistrSynistr said:
I have two in a stereo pair with Apple TV in my living room and it sounds AMAZING. Like the sound is inside your head. Everyone comments on how good it sounds when watching TV/Movies.
Click to expand...

Is it possible to default the output from  TV -> Homepods?

Or do you have to change the output each time you turn it on?

When I tried this a long while back, it was the latter, so gave up!
 
My opinion. While 2 HomePods in stereo sound good however you will generally be better off exploring different options with the caveats being your specific use case.

In a living room (or wherever) for example you can build a system better for film and tv using a receiver that can decode near anything, surround channel separation, works with devices other than the AppleTV, can be equalized for a listening position (not omnidirectional), crossovers, sub that can produce sub bass with a larger woofer and be placed behind the listening position, physical inputs, etc etc.

In the situation where you are in a room that already has 2 HomePods you use for music AND a TV that you only use the AppleTV on AND you are currently using the TV's built in speakers then yes definitely use the HomePods.

While I would recommend the HomePod to most anyone I wouldn't recommend it to someone that was looking for a TV and movie audio.

Consider this, the HomePod is specially engineered for music first and foremost. The HomePod uses horn loaded tweeters to move a lot of air across the room filling a space, it makes the source of the audio (the HomePod) hard to distinguish which is great for music. However film, especially with surround is sending audio to specific channels so the source can be identified as a direction (a car flying past you, an explosions shock wave going through you and echoing behind you, etc).

While I love my HomePods (stereo) that sit near my living room TV however for the TV I use a Yamaha receiver with middle of the road satellites and subs. Honestly (flame suit on) once equalized I feel my Vizio wireless 5.1 in my guest bedroom does better than my HomePods down mixing.

Again this is just my opinion your milage may vary.
 
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se99jmk said:
Is it possible to default the output from  TV -> Homepods?

Or do you have to change the output each time you turn it on?

When I tried this a long while back, it was the latter, so gave up!
Click to expand...

Since a few months ago it’s possible to set up permanently the HomePod as an audio output of the Apple TV. Don’t worry.
 
JBaby said:
Sorry I got forgot to come back. It took me awhile to get the placement right. And I might still need to tweak it. It has nothing to do with the HomePods themselves, my room is just odd. With that said though, it sounds really awesome. One sounded good. Two are better! You still have all of the same limitations as you have with one HomePod when using it with an tv, but I’m glad I got a second one. I watched Seal Team last night and the gunfire sounded so cool! And the base really thumps!
Click to expand...
Just to repeat a past discovery, when using a stereo pair for tv, if your seating position is outside of the sweet spot, you can anchor the sound to tv screen by simply moving the furthest HomePod from you forward a few inches, works great
[doublepost=1553612369][/doublepost]
se99jmk said:
Is it possible to default the output from  TV -> Homepods?

Or do you have to change the output each time you turn it on?

When I tried this a long while back, it was the latter, so gave up!
Click to expand...
It’s still the same I think but weirdly sometimes it will still be connected to appletv the next day, I hope one day it will remember, pain but at least there is a shortcut on remote, I find it mostly painful because I’ll go to youtubetv before I realize I am not connected and then required to exit the app before I can even access the short cut
 
Mercury7 said:
Just to repeat a past discovery, when using a stereo pair for tv, if your seating position is outside of the sweet spot, you can anchor the sound to tv screen by simply moving the furthest HomePod from you forward a few inches, works great
Click to expand...
Yep! I used your trick a few weeks ago. I, also, spread them out more. The sound has been perfect!

Mercury7 said:
It’s still the same I think but weirdly sometimes it will still be connected to appletv the next day, I hope one day it will remember, pain but at least there is a shortcut on remote, I find it mostly painful because I’ll go to youtubetv before I realize I am not connected and then required to exit the app before I can even access the short cut
Click to expand...
YouTube is the worst. I hate when I forget to connect my HomePods before launching YouTube.
 
I’m really glad the speaker tip helped you, perhaps most will figure it out but it seemed so anti intuitive I just try to get the word out. I think I would be 100% satisfied if they would allow a hard connect to appletv, surely the engineers know this is a major issue
 
Mercury7 said:
Not really sure why you would post that misinformation
Click to expand...

If I setup my HomePod as an audio source and I turn off the Apple TV, the moment that I turn on it again it is still paired. I thing that feature came with the 11.4.
 
firewire9000 said:
If I setup my HomePod as an audio source and I turn off the Apple TV, the moment that I turn on it again it is still paired. I thing that feature came with the 11.4.
Click to expand...
Since there does seem to be differences in “features” people have experienced, I don’t doubt you however many many people in this forum and elsewhere will attest random behavior of whether or not it holds a lock to appletv, most of the time I will have to assign it, this morning I didn’t , pretty weird
[doublepost=1553899103][/doublepost]
Mercury7 said:
Since there does seem to be differences in “features” people have experienced, I don’t doubt you however many many people in this forum and elsewhere will attest random behavior of whether or not it holds a lock to appletv, most of the time I will have to assign it, this morning I didn’t , pretty weird
Click to expand...
Btw I don’t actually turn off my appletv, I turn off my tv and exit what ever app I have running and let it go to sleep, so maybe that is a difference from what your doing
 
cynics said:
My opinion. While 2 HomePods in stereo sound good however you will generally be better off exploring different options with the caveats being your specific use case.
Click to expand...

Yeah the amount of amazement with the HomePod sound depends on where you are coming from. I have a 3 inch anker cube that simply amazes me with the sound quality from that small package. Very nice.

I also have a Yamaha sound bar for one TV and, in the media room man cave, a pair of snells mated to a large subwoofer and a couple satelites. The HomePod sounds great for music, much better with a stereo pair, but there is no comparison to the sound bar or full setup. TV suround is another dimention altogether. It is amazing that such good sound can come out of that small of a HomePod package, and they are better than similar speakers, but the sound is a bit muddled to me or colored in the process. Its like how BOSE colors sound to make their speakers seem to sound better, but the HomePod is not that bad. Now if you didn't come from a top notch audio system, you wouldn’t notice. Sound is one of those preference things with a wide gammit of opinions.

But yes, to me a stereo pair of HomePods sound significantly better than one for any audio material.
 
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ColdCase said:
Yeah the amount of amazement with the HomePod sound depends on where you are coming from. I have a 3 inch anker cube that simply amazes me with the sound quality from that small package. Very nice.

I also have a Yamaha sound bar for one TV and, in the media room man cave, a pair of snells mated to a large subwoofer and a couple satelites. The HomePod sounds great for music, much better with a stereo pair, but there is no comparison to the sound bar or full setup. TV suround is another dimention altogether. It is amazing that such good sound can come out of that small of a HomePod package, and they are better than similar speakers, but the sound is a bit muddled to me or colored in the process. Its like how BOSE colors sound to make their speakers seem to sound better, but the HomePod is not that bad. Now if you didn't come from a top notch audio system, you wouldn’t notice. Sound is one of those preference things with a wide gammit of opinions.

But yes, to me a stereo pair of HomePods sound significantly better than one for any audio material.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1554326044][/doublepost]I tend to disagree but it is subjective, the homepods have been proven in test to be about as reference and non colored as you can get, but let’s face it, some users prefer colors, mostly warm, loved my nht 2.9s but they were slightly bright. Anyway, my main point is homepods are so good that they are mostly limited by source, a bad mix is very apparent while a good one excels, I recommended people play the prophets song by queen the other day, great stereo engineering on that song and makes you realize just how great the homepods are. I prefer them over all of the multi thousand dollar set ups I have had over the years
 
Hi everyone. I am using this set up after I got the HomePods for Christmas but am thinking about taking them back and just getting a soundbar. The sound is great it just requires too much babysitting, too many times it doesn't do what i want and since we always use the apple TV for all music and never use the Siri HomePod function it just seems my use is not ideal. Anyone have any suggestions before I send them back?
 
jimbobb24 said:
Hi everyone. I am using this set up after I got the HomePods for Christmas but am thinking about taking them back and just getting a soundbar. The sound is great it just requires too much babysitting, too many times it doesn't do what i want and since we always use the apple TV for all music and never use the Siri HomePod function it just seems my use is not ideal. Anyone have any suggestions before I send them back?
Click to expand...

Send them back. They’re great if you already have them, but a sound bar replacement they are not. As you say they are fiddly. And there’s no point in having a HomePod at all if you aren’t going use Siri.
 
You may want to audition the sound bar, you probably will need to add a very good ($$) subwoofer to get better sound than the home pods, if thats important to you. Speaker/pod placement can make a difference. My HomePods are not quirky, but then I have a iTunes server set up and usually use them to play music playlists there via siri requests, and get the weather and the ball game times/scores. My cat likes to touch the top to turn music on for herself and friends.... Its easier for her than turning on the AppleTV and siri doesn't seem to understand the meow language.... :)
 
ColdCase said:
You may want to audition the sound bar, you probably will need to add a very good ($$) subwoofer to get better sound than the home pods, if thats important to you. Speaker/pod placement can make a difference. My HomePods are not quirky, but then I have a iTunes server set up and usually use them to play music playlists there via siri requests, and get the weather and the ball game times/scores. My cat likes to touch the top to turn music on for herself and friends.... Its easier for her than turning on the AppleTV and siri doesn't seem to understand the meow language.... :)
Click to expand...

A sound bar is going to have a center channel for dialogue that the HomePod doesn’t. A Sonos Beam sounds very good even without the wireless subwoofer. HomePods are quirky with tv because they have to be selected to often. It’s not a big deal to me but I can see why others would be annoyed with it. I’m especially annoyed by having to do it every time I watch YouTube. If it weren’t for YouTube I would only need to reconnect after a phone call.
 
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