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HomePod Anyone else thinks that a couple of stereo paired homepods are not really that loud?

B/D

B/D

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 30, 2016
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I have always had two units paired in stereo, bought them with an Apple 4K in March 2019. Overall, they sound fantastic, crisp, clean, dynamic, impressive bass and detailed highs, no distortion whatsoever even at full volume.

Amazing for their price, features and form factor.

There are times, though (more often that I would like to admit), that I find myself wanting more volume than the maximum allowed, both in Apple Music and when watching movies and tv shows with the Apple TV (but specially when streaming AM)

Some content is loud, powerful and dynamic, and fills my room nicely, other is suprisingly quiet even at full volume. I know thats the nature of the beast, and I applaud Apple for trying to preserve dynamic range and creators intentions... its simply that sometimes the volume is not enough.

Granted, my living room is fairly big. Don´t get me wrong, the homepods sound great, but sometimes I want more raw power.

I wonder if its an issue with apple music specifically. Some recordings are just too quiet. I also have this issue with my Airpods 2. And yes, my hearing is fine.

I briefly toyed with the idea of purchasing two sonos five (much more powerful than the homepods, although i think the homepods sound slightly better overall, just quieter), but I would lose the advantages of the apple ecosystem integration and they are considerably more expensive (and bigger) than a pair of homepods.

Also, I wouldn´t have virtualized 5.1, 7.1 and atmos now with the apple tv 4K, a feature with which I am pleasantly surprised.

What do you think, guys?
 
It’s hard to know what you consider loud enough, how large is your living room, what is the source, and so forth.

I have HomePods in several rooms and am satisfied with the sound quality and volume, but my home theater speakers are larger and ultimately more satisfying (and louder, if that is desired) for movies, surround sound, etc.

In the past, conventional thinking would be that larger speakers are needed for greater volume. Our current technology has somehow led to speakers that defy those expectations, but I think there are still practical limitations.
 
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Phil77354 said:
It’s hard to know what you consider loud enough, how large is your living room, what is the source, and so forth.

I have HomePods in several rooms and am satisfied with the sound quality and volume, but my home theater speakers are larger and ultimately more satisfying (and louder, if that is desired) for movies, surround sound, etc.

In the past, conventional thinking would be that larger speakers are needed for greater volume. Our current technology has somehow led to speakers that defy those expectations, but I think there are still practical limitations.
Click to expand...
"In the past, conventional thinking would be that larger speakers are needed for greater volume. Our current technology has somehow led to speakers that defy those expectations, but I think there are still practical limitations."

No, not really. Because, you know. Physics!
 
I think it’s about accepting what they are. If you need more sound then you need a true sound system that’s appropriate for your room. Mine are in a bedroom and I play them with my door shut. They are loud. I rarely turn them up above 50% now. I’m not certain that they would be appropriate for my living room. It’s a very large open concept room. The TV in there is hooked up to a Sonos Beam and it sounds too low for the room. This is part of the why the Fam crams into my bedroom on movie nights.

However, some of this is dependent upon the apps you’re using. VICE plays all of their shows super low, so I always have to crank up the volume.
 
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JBaby said:
I think it’s about accepting what they are. If you need more sound then you need a true sound system that’s appropriate for your room. Mine are in a bedroom and I play them with my door shut. They are loud. I rarely turn them up above 50% now. I’m not certain that they would be appropriate for my living room. It’s a very large open concept room. The TV in there is hooked up to a Sonos Beam and it sounds too low for the room. This is part of the why the Fam crams into my bedroom on movie nights.

However, some of this is dependent upon the apps you’re using. VICE plays all of their shows super low, so I always have to crank up the volume.
Click to expand...


Yes, i will rephrase. They CAN be very loud, but there are a lot of recordings of apple music that are too quiet even at max volume. Its strange. For example, if I play Michael Jackson thriller they are vibrant and thunderous at max volume.


However Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells or the original broadway cast recording of Oliver! are a LOT quieter at max volume, too quiet in fact.

In fact I find Apple Music wildly inconsistent volume wise.

Using them with the apple tv has improved a lot with 14.2. Louder volume, more dynamics, better soundscape and soundstage.


I guess my question would be... could apple increase the volume limit (via a software update) on the Homepod without making it distorted or muddy?.

Even when compared with others speakers in their category... the amazon echo studio is louder than the homepod. Sounds quite worse, but is louder.
 
Phil77354 said:
It’s hard to know what you consider loud enough, how large is your living room, what is the source, and so forth.

I have HomePods in several rooms and am satisfied with the sound quality and volume, but my home theater speakers are larger and ultimately more satisfying (and louder, if that is desired) for movies, surround sound, etc.

In the past, conventional thinking would be that larger speakers are needed for greater volume. Our current technology has somehow led to speakers that defy those expectations, but I think there are still practical limitations.
Click to expand...

Completely agree.
 
Sources are AM music streaming (directly from the HP) and Apple TV apps. Nothing else. Sound quality is fantastic, just missing a bit of raw power.
 
B/D said:
Yes, i will rephrase. They CAN be very loud, but there are a lot of recordings of apple music that are too quiet even at max volume. Its strange. For example, if I play Michael Jackson thriller they are vibrant and thunderous at max volume.


However Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells or the original broadway cast recording of Oliver! are a LOT quieter at max volume, too quiet in fact.

In fact I find Apple Music wildly inconsistent volume wise.

Using them with the apple tv has improved a lot with 14.2. Louder volume, more dynamics, better soundscape and soundstage.


I guess my question would be... could apple increase the volume limit (via a software update) on the Homepod without making it distorted or muddy?.

Even when compared with others speakers in their category... the amazon echo studio is louder than the homepod. Sounds quite worse, but is louder.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but is this product of the files  has been given? I’m just not experiencing this the way you are. Music sounds perfectly fine to me at any volume I play it. Some songs are louder than others but that’s always been the case. Music/HomePods didn’t create this phenomenon.
 
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JBaby said:
Maybe, but is this product of the files  has been given? I’m just not experiencing this the way you are. Music sounds perfectly fine to me at any volume I play it. Some songs are louder than others but that’s always been the case. Music/HomePods didn’t create this phenomenon.
Click to expand...

Fair enough.
 
B/D said:
Yes, i will rephrase. They CAN be very loud, but there are a lot of recordings of apple music that are too quiet even at max volume. Its strange. For example, if I play Michael Jackson thriller they are vibrant and thunderous at max volume.


However Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells or the original broadway cast recording of Oliver! are a LOT quieter at max volume, too quiet in fact.

In fact I find Apple Music wildly inconsistent volume wise.

Using them with the apple tv has improved a lot with 14.2. Louder volume, more dynamics, better soundscape and soundstage.


I guess my question would be... could apple increase the volume limit (via a software update) on the Homepod without making it distorted or muddy?.

Even when compared with others speakers in their category... the amazon echo studio is louder than the homepod. Sounds quite worse, but is louder.
Click to expand...

This seems like more of an original audio file problem. The original Beatles releases (for example) don‘t sound as good or as loud as the more recent remasters. I find this is a particular problem with older recordings that haven’t gotten an update, so it’s not an Apple Music issue (have had this problem with specific CDs too).
 
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