Anyone Using HomePods As Tv Sound System?

[papbot]

I had to replace a previous soundbar and chose to use a pair of new HomePods (not minis) + Apple TV. That had worked well for a while, but quite recently, I get what sounds like a motorboating or stuttering sound from the audio. Intermittently, the audio drops for a second, comes back, drops again, and on and on. That creates that stuttering. Video is unaffected. That does not occur when I’m using the ATV to view content, movies (Netflix, Disney+, etc.). I had initially thought it was specific channels that I receive through my Fios tv box, but I’ve had this occur on any number of channels and broadcasts. I thought maybe it’s due to the feed that Verizon gets that may be having an issue, but so far, switching the audio back to the tv speakers, this has not happened.

This is very sporadic and only lasts 15-20 seconds when it happens. It’s possible to be software-related as I didn’t experience this when using them during the summer. I installed these back in June. Anyone experience something similar? Any ideas what might be causing it?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Did you reboot AppleTV? Sometimes they need to be rebooted.

Assuming so, did you unpair and re-pair them?

While unpaired and listening to music, do you have the stuttering issue? Or only while paired with AppleTV?

What generation of AppleTV? Is it updated to latest tvOS?

Is there a lot of demand for wifi at the time this occurs? Even if you have super-fast broadband, there's only so much wifi bandwidth to go around.

 

[papbot]

Everything has been rebooted and up to date. And you can only use the HomePods this way with the latest ATV. I have not un-paired anything but might try that later on. I did find another recent thread started by someone with very similar symptoms that started with one of the recent updates. His use of them is similar to mine. This does make me suspect software.

Also when not watching tv we frequently ask Siri through the HomePods to play a local radio station which is accessed through Audacy. Haven’t noticed the issue then either. I’ll wait a while to see what a new update may provide but may try un-pairing the setup. Thanks for that suggestion.

 

[papbot]

This is the other thread. There does seem to be an issue with the latest software.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/tvos-18-2-and-homepods-stereo-pair.2445182/?post=33629954#post-33629954

 

[Kenny99]

Tried the HomePods Mini's and didn't like the lack of base that my sound bar had. Back to sound bar now. The Mini's are now on my computer desk as speakers for my M4.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

HPs- whether the bigger ones or minis- were NOT intended to be home theater speakers. They became that from public wants and Apple seeing an opportunity to collect even more revenue... but they were designed to bring music to rooms without speakers. All of the "smarts" & SIRI existed on the iDevices, Macs, AppleTVs already owned. HPs do a great job of putting music in places otherwise difficult to place speakers in classic setups.

While ANY speakers certainly sound better than what are usually crap TV speakers, HPs (either incarnation) are capped at stereo-only... with not even a rumor of Apple creating anything more to fill in an actual Center channel, surround, sub or overhead.

Best possible home options are classic AV Receiver + "dumb" speakers in at least a 5.1 setup (left, center, right, left surround, right surround and SUB). Wired everything will work better and pretty much anything that can play audio will play through that AV Receiver.

A notch(es) below that are high quality soundbars that can pair with rears and a SUB. Some of these can sound quite good- especially high-rated ones typically pricier than a few hundred dollars.

Notch(es) below that are soundbars alone (because at least they have a center channel too). Center is usually used for dialogue and clear dialogue is key to enjoying movies & TV shows. Speakers with no center create a faux center and our ears can easily tell if we are objective in the judgement. Else, if faux was just as good, all professional theaters would try to fake ATMOS and surround with 2 relatively cheap speakers down front too.

And then there's speakers like HPs and similar to provide stereo playback. They can sound great but the stereo cap is absolute. Our ears can easily tell faux surround from sound actually coming from 'back there.' And audio physics can't be beat when it comes to things like SUB vs. no SUB for bass.

If you want great sound, climb the AV ladder and enjoy existing HPs as originally intended. Else, very best case, you are capped at stereo sound trying to fake surround and ATMOS from only 2 sources up front. Wired "dumb" won't randomly disconnect, will work with EVERYTHING and can optionally fill in the gaps of quality theater sound beyond only left & right stereo with actual sound sources vs. faux ones. Quality "dumb" will also likely last DECADES vs. "smart" which will almost certainly be vintaged as fast as sellers think they can do it to sell replacements.

I have some smart speakers myself- favoring SONOS- used for MUSIC in other rooms, exactly as HPs might have been used. But in my home theater room, it's AV receiver and true surround sound setup. If in doubt, visit friends with such a setup and watch something with surround/ATMOS audio... then compare the same with any stereo-only setup. Your ears will almost certainly notice a big quality difference.

 

[chadamorrill]

@HobeSoundDarryl - we know your preference, dude. Let's get back to trying to help the OP as opposed to making him feel like crap for not having your exact setup, or choosing to use his HomePods in this way, which is 100% supported by the manufacturer.

@papbot - I assume your FIOS is a separate physical box, not an app on the AppleTV, correct? That would mean that you're using eARC passthrough audio, correct? I've had some issues like you're describing, and have historically defaulted to changing the HDMI cable to a better / newer one. That's the easy solution if it works. More difficult solutions would be to request a newer/different FIOS TV box from your provider, or worst case... try your exact setup on another TV (different eARC port altogether). I have a TV that is much older (albeit with an eARC HDMI port) that just flakes out every so often. I can't tell when it's going to happen, nor can I fix it in any way other than by rebooting all the things. I suspect that the eARC port on the TV is just starting to go bad.

 

[papbot]

@HobeSoundDarryl - we know your preference, dude. Let's get back to trying to help the OP as opposed to making him feel like crap for not having your exact setup, or choosing to use his HomePods in this way, which is 100% supported by the manufacturer.

@papbot - I assume your FIOS is a separate physical box, not an app on the AppleTV, correct? That would mean that you're using eARC passthrough audio, correct? I've had some issues like you're describing, and have historically defaulted to changing the HDMI cable to a better / newer one. That's the easy solution if it works. More difficult solutions would be to request a newer/different FIOS TV box from your provider, or worst case... try your exact setup on another TV (different eARC port altogether). I have a TV that is much older (albeit with an eARC HDMI port) that just flakes out every so often. I can't tell when it's going to happen, nor can I fix it in any way other than by rebooting all the things. I suspect that the eARC port on the TV is just starting to go bad.

Yes, the Fios is a separate box. I have only it and an HDMI cable from the Apple TV connected to my tv. The ATV cable goes to the eARC input. I’ve had no significant issues till very recently. This momentary dropping and resuming of audio over and over does not occur when watching content from the ATV with the audio through the HomePods. That made me think it was an issue with the Fios feed, but switching to the tv speakers doesn’t produce the same problem, which I think it would if it were a Fios issue. It’s quite puzzling and easy to believe it is software-related since it began around the time of the latest 18.xx releases. But it only occurs about once every couple of hours most of the time.

 

[papbot]

HPs- whether the bigger ones or minis- were NOT intended to be home theater speakers. They became that from public wants and Apple seeing an opportunity to collect even more revenue... but they were designed to bring music to rooms without speakers. All of the "smarts" & SIRI existed on the iDevices, Macs, AppleTVs already owned. HPs do a great job of putting music in places otherwise difficult to place speakers in classic setups.

While ANY speakers certainly sound better than what are usually crap TV speakers, HPs (either incarnation) are capped at stereo-only... with not even a rumor of Apple creating anything more to fill in an actual Center channel, surround, sub or overhead.

Best possible home options are classic AV Receiver + "dumb" speakers in at least a 5.1 setup (left, center, right, left surround, right surround and SUB). Wired everything will work better and pretty much anything that can play audio will play through that AV Receiver.

A notch(es) below that are high quality soundbars that can pair with rears and a SUB. Some of these can sound quite good- especially high-rated ones typically pricier than a few hundred dollars.

Notch(es) below that are soundbars alone (because at least they have a center channel too). Center is usually used for dialogue and clear dialogue is key to enjoying movies & TV shows. Speakers with no center create a faux center and our ears can easily tell if we are objective in the judgement. Else, if faux was just as good, all professional theaters would try to fake ATMOS and surround with 2 relatively cheap speakers down front too.

And then there's speakers like HPs and similar to provide stereo playback. They can sound great but the stereo cap is absolutely firm. Our ears can easily tell faux surround from sound actually coming from 'back there.' And audio physics can't be beat when it comes to things like SUB vs. no SUB for bass.

If you want great sound, climb the AV ladder and enjoy existing HPs as originally intended. Else, very best case, you are capped at stereo sound trying to fake surround and ATMOS from only 2 sources up front. Wired "dumb" won't randomly disconnect, will work with EVERYTHING and can optionally fill in the gaps of quality theater sound beyond only left & right stereo with actual sound sources vs. faux ones. Quality "dumb" will also likely last DECADES vs. "smart" which will almost certainly be vintaged as fast as sellers think they can do it to sell replacements.

I have some smart speakers myself- favoring SONOS- used for MUSIC in other rooms, exactly as HPs might have been used. But in my home theater room, it's AV receiver and true surround sound setup. If in doubt, visit friends with such a setup and watch something with surround/ATMOS audio... then compare the same with any stereo-only setup. Your ears will almost certainly notice a big quality difference.

A couple of things: Apple does support the use of HomePods as a home theater set up. The settings and support page instructions are easy to find and follow. I had a high-end soundbar with woofer previously, but it developed some serious electronic issues. I considered replacing it with another one of similar type. But anything comparable, including the exact same one, was more than twice the price of 2 HomePods and an ATV, which I already had. I won’t say that this set up is exactly equal to that soundbar, but at this price, it is close enough and offers additional functions that we enjoy. For now, the HPs are satisfactory, and perhaps this intermittent issue may be resolved at some point by an update.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

@HobeSoundDarryl - we know your preference, dude. Let's get back to trying to help the OP as opposed to making him feel like crap for not having your exact setup, or choosing to use his HomePods in this way, which is 100% supported by the manufacturer.

I made my best suggestions to OP back in post #2.

If those don't resolve it, my best guess is this is bugs in tvOS and/or audioOS and only Apple can resolve OPs issues with updates that may or may not come soon. I mostly live in an Apple everything household and I've been waiting on a fundamental bug fix in macOS for FIVE years now.

I intended no bad feelings at all. OP referenced that he buys other kinds of audio equipment (explicitly referencing a soundbar) and I posted information that since he's experiencing problems with HPs- which seems inevitable with any "smart" speakers dependent on proprietary "smarts"- he might want to put HPs back to their originally-intended task (music in other rooms, for which they are great!!!) and consider other options more suitable for home theater. That's NOT intended to put down HPs at all- just use them as Apple originally intended vs. trying to make them work for this... where they are hard capped at stereo-only in the very best case or bug-free, perfect performance.

For his purposes, OP potentially had better than stereo audio before because just about any soundbar- including the cheapies- will produce left & right (like HPs) and CENTER audio (unlike HPs). Center channel usually plays dialogue and one of the great gripes about leaning only on ANY stereo speakers alone is that dialogue can be hard to hear well (because they are producing FAUX center vs. the real thing).

Nevertheless, if OP wants HPs and only HPs now, trying the suggestions offered either fix it or not. And if not, it's probably the waiting game for Apple bug fixes that hopefully come soon. This will always be an issue for devices that depend on "smarts" to play at all... as I still wait for bug fixes for a 5-year-old macOS problem. Hopefully, Apple fixes both that one and this one soon. But no one should hold their breath.

The main part of speakers does NOT have to be married to "smarts" to play anything & everything as great as a speaker can sound... unless the only speakers we can consider buying are entirely dependent on "smarts" to operate at all.

 

[chadamorrill]

Yes, the Fios is a separate box. I have only it and an HDMI cable from the Apple TV connected to my tv. The ATV cable goes to the eARC input. I’ve had no significant issues till very recently. This momentary dropping and resuming of audio over and over does not occur when watching content from the ATV with the audio through the HomePods. That made me think it was an issue with the Fios feed, but switching to the tv speakers doesn’t produce the same problem, which I think it would if it were a Fios issue. It’s quite puzzling and easy to believe it is software-related since it began around the time of the latest 18.xx releases. But it only occurs about once every couple of hours most of the time.

The difference is that you're either allowing the HomePods to play TV audio or not. When you play over TV speakers, you remove the variable that is "allow AppleTV to passthrough audio from xyz source to the HomePods" as well as the hardware involved. That's a big variable, and is a software setting (true) that requires the hardware to in place to be free from defects. Sometimes HDMI cables go bad. Sometimes HDMI ports go bad. There are plenty of good but cheap HDMI cables to be had on amazon. That's where I would start.

 

[papbot]

For his purposes, OP potentially had better than stereo audio before because just about any soundbar- including the cheapies- will produce left & right (like HPs) and CENTER audio (unlike HPs). Center channel usually plays dialogue and one of the great gripes about leaning only on ANY stereo speakers alone is that dialogue can be hard to hear well (because they are producing FAUX center vs. the real thing).

I agree with this as my previous soundbar had center, left, and right, side, and upfiring speakers as well as the subwoofer. The soundbar alone was a beast. When I first got it, I had no idea how heavy the thing was. Its audio was great, and I would have been fine with replacing it with a similar one, but my wife had been talking about a HomePod for quite a while, and I had come across several articles and links to Apple support pages about using a paired set as a home theater system. And again, at half the cost of a comparable soundbar this was very appealing. And subjectively, with the enhanced dialog setting in the ATV settings, including, now with the latest 18.2 release, an “advanced enhanced” option, the audio is very good. Even with the soundbar, which would pick up every small ambient sound in the broadcast or movie, dialogue was sometimes difficult to hear, so we got used to turning on subtitles so as not to have the volume turned up so loud that the next special effect sound would vibrate the whole apartment.

I appreciate your response and suggestions, but other than this recent audio dropping/stuttering issue, we’ve been quite pleased. Since it’s an intermittent issue currently, I can deal with it, but if it’s not resolved at some point and annoys me enough, I will probably get another soundbar, already picked out the version I would choose.

 

[papbot]

There are plenty of good but cheap HDMI cables to be had on amazon. That's where I would start.

I actually had replaced all the HDMI cables sometime during the summer with, I’d say, medium level cables. Not the most expensive but highly rated moderately priced ones. And no issues until this recent one. But I have spare ones around so I can give that a try at some point. I’m still thinking software as I continue to see other posts on that thread I linked to above, not the same issue but close enough to lead me to think software.

 

[papbot]

The difference is that you're either allowing the HomePods to play TV audio or not. When you play over TV speakers, you remove the variable that is "allow AppleTV to passthrough audio from xyz source to the HomePods" as well as the hardware involved. That's a big variable, and is a software setting (true) that requires the hardware to in place to be free from defects. Sometimes HDMI cables go bad. Sometimes HDMI ports go bad. There are plenty of good but cheap HDMI cables to be had on amazon. That's where I would start.

I’m currently submitting feedback through Apple’s Feedback Assistant, and one of the questions is about what cables are being used. That led me to consider what you’ve suggested along with the fact that this does not occur when watching or listening to content from the ATV, but only when viewing and listening to broadcasts through my FiOS box. I’m thinking at the very least of replacing the cable from that box to the tv and maybe switching to one of the other HDMI inputs on the tv if another is available.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

One more idea (unlikely): unplug the TV for a minute or two and plug it back in again. There’s a minimal computer in there too and perhaps it could use a full reboot. Power surge, lightening strike, etc might have slightly scrambled a little something.

Though I too suspect Apple bugs, this is very easy to do just to rule one more remote possibility out.

 

[papbot]

One more idea (unlikely): unplug the TV for a minute or two and plug it back in again. There’s a minimal computer in there too and perhaps it could use a full reboot. Power surge, lightening strike, etc might have slightly scrambled a little something.

Though I too suspect Apple bugs, this is very easy to do just to rule one more remote possibility out.

I actually have done that; I regularly restart all devices about once a week. With the ATV, HomePods, Fios box and tv I power cycle them.

 

[papbot]

Reading the posts about similar issues on the other forum I thought I would try what one of them did. So I went into the Home app and unpaired the two and switched the hub from the ATV to one of them. Then I paired the two again and changed the hub back to the ATV. I had to go into all settings, Home app, and on the ATV itself to re-establish the tv’s output to the ATV system. Once that was working again, I began watching a broadcast, and the problem was much worse - audio jumped back and forth, and those momentary drops which seem like stuttering was worse. I had not experienced the audio jumping back and forth between the pods for a while, only those momentary repeating drops had persisted.

Fortunately, after power cycling the ATV and pods, everything seems back to normal, but I’m waiting to hear the stuttering again. This really seems to have coincided with a recent software release; although the audio jumping between pods, I had not had for a while till this last maneuver in unpairing and hub switching. I have not switched any cable as yet as everything is quite new - the Sony OLED tv is 2 years old, the ATV and pods I got back in June as well as the cables I’m using.

 

[shakopeemn]

again. This really seems to have coincided with a recent software release; although the audio jumping between pods, I had not had for a while till this last maneuver in unpairing and hub switching. I have not switched any cable as yet as everything is quite new - the Sony OLED tv is 2 years old, the ATV and pods I got back in June as well as the cables I’m using.

No stuttering with using only the TV speakers? Only stuttering using ATV audio on the HomePods?

Ensure that your ATV is connected to your home network via WIFI, not ethernet.

Also, the ATV directs the audio via WIFI to the HomePods and I suspect the WIFI network is at issue. That's difficult to troubleshoot from an open-mind and practical sense. Easy to dismiss network as "other devices aren't having an issue". However, to pull off in sync audio, the network needs to be above par.

For the record, my HomePod Mini pair are perfectly synced to ATV on the latest OS releases for both devices.

 

[papbot]

Also, the ATV directs the audio via WIFI to the HomePods and I suspect the WIFI network is at issue. That's difficult to troubleshoot from an open-mind and practical sense. Easy to dismiss network as "other devices aren't having an issue". However, to pull off in sync audio, the network needs to be above par.

I had suspected that but the scenario doesn’t fit. The issue only occurs while viewing content from my Fios/cable box with the audio going to the ATV and HomePods. It does not occur when switching to tv speakers. It also does not occur when watching content from the ATV such as movies. Sound is perfect, no drops/stuttering. The same is true when telling Siri to play a local radio station, or music from a playlist, no issues. The issue only occurs when the cable box is used but if the box were the problem why wouldn’t it affect the tv speakers. All of the devices are less than 20 feet from my router with a very strong signal and fast speed.

Fortunately after my last power cycling of the devices, mentioned above, the issue has not recurred. But I’ve done that multiple times since this started 2 weeks or so ago. No such issues from June until this recent business. It seems like grasping at straws but I still suspect software.

 

[macmac30]

I’m just trying to use the latest gen f’g HomePods (paired) to listen to Xmas music. “Siri, shuffle play holiday music…”. “Long pause….sorry, there’s a problem with Apple Music.” Why the F am I paying Apple almost $40 per month for this craptastic service????

 

[papbot]

I wanted to update this thread as it had been quite an annoying problem that caused us to frequently switch to the tv speakers. I made multiple attempts to mitigate it, all unsuccessful. I had always thought it was probably software-related as we had no such issue when we first set this up back in June. Well, lo and behold, the 18.3 tvOS and HomePods release fixed this. Not one instance of the issue since installing the final release. Now, whether it was the ATV software or the HomePods, I have no way of telling, but 18.3 has fixed it.

 

[shakopeemn]

Well, lo and behold, the 18.3 tvOS and HomePods release fixed this. Not one instance of the issue since installing the final release. Now, whether it was the ATV software or the HomePods, I have no way of telling, but 18.3 has fixed it.

Glad 18.3 resolved your issue! The ATV/Homepods is a nice combination.
It was never an issue on 18.x for my ATV4k 3rd Gen and stereo Homepod minis.

 

[ignatius345]

I’m just trying to use the latest gen f’g HomePods (paired) to listen to Xmas music. “Siri, shuffle play holiday music…”. “Long pause….sorry, there’s a problem with Apple Music.” Why the F am I paying Apple almost $40 per month for this craptastic service????

You're complaining about Siri. Siri sucks dog ass and always has. HomePods are best considered as really good AirPlay and home theater speakers that have some limited ability to take vocal commands... and that's it. Keep your expectation there, and you'll be a lot happier.

I ask mine to tell me the weather, add stuff to my grocery list, and run defined HomeKit commands using accessories it already knows the names of. I never try to get it to do anything where any "judgement" could come into play -- like picking music -- because, again, it's dumb as ****. I queue up music by opening my phone where I can do a better job of it anyway, and leave it at that.

 

[macmac30]

You're complaining about Siri. Siri sucks dog ass and always has. HomePods are best considered as really good AirPlay and home theater speakers that have some limited ability to take vocal commands... and that's it. Keep your expectation there, and you'll be a lot happier.

I ask mine to tell me the weather, add stuff to my grocery list, and run defined HomeKit commands using accessories it already knows the names of. I never try to get it to do anything where any "judgement" could come into play -- like picking music -- because, again, it's dumb as ****. I queue up music by opening my phone where I can do a better job of it anyway, and leave it at that.

I kind of disagree (100% agree that Siri sucks ass! 😜). I started using Amazon's Alexa in 2014, then tried Google's Home speaker. Then Apple launched their smart speaker in 2018. And yes, while they made a big hoopla about sound quality, they also made a big todo about their 7 mic array that could easily pick up your spoken commands. I'm f'g tired of yelling at Siri for her to respond. You should have heard my 12 year old this morning at 6:20am when his HomePod mini alarm went off:

"Siri, stop"
"Siri, STOP!"
"SIRI!!!! STOPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!"

APPLE FIGURE THIS SH*T OUT!
As sensitive a company as Apple is about their image, it blows my mind that they allow this horrible Siri experience. I guarantee EVERY family in the world is like "WTF is wrong with Apple and this Siri????" EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

Steve Jobs used to talk about how he and his family would sit around the dinner table and discuss features and benefits of washing machines.

He's probably rolling in his grave because now HomePod families sit around the dinner table rolling their eyes about how stupid Siri is...

Siri, add chocolate syrup to the shopping list. "I've added chocolate and syrup to the shopping list"
Siri, how much time is left on the timer? Hello Siri???
Siri, turn off the kitchen lights. No response.
Two linked new gen big HomePods get out of sync or only one HomePod plays music.
Apple Music sometimes plays a snippet from the middle of the next song first and then restarts and plays the song from the beginning.

And a lot more goofy issues...

 

[ignatius345]

I kind of disagree (100% agree that Siri sucks ass! 😜). I started using Amazon's Alexa in 2014, then tried Google's Home speaker. Then Apple launched their smart speaker in 2018. And yes, while they made a big hoopla about sound quality, they also made a big todo about their 7 mic array that could easily pick up your spoken commands. I'm f'g tired of yelling at Siri for her to respond. You should have heard my 12 year old this morning at 6:20am when his HomePod mini alarm went off:

"Siri, stop"
"Siri, STOP!"
"SIRI!!!! STOPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!"

APPLE FIGURE THIS SH*T OUT!
As sensitive a company as Apple is about their image, it blows my mind that they allow this horrible Siri experience. I guarantee EVERY family in the world is like "WTF is wrong with Apple and this Siri????" EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

Steve Jobs used to talk about how he and his family would sit around the dinner table and discuss features and benefits of washing machines.

He's probably rolling in his grave because now HomePod families sit around the dinner table rolling their eyes about how stupid Siri is...

Siri, add chocolate syrup to the shopping list. "I've added chocolate and syrup to the shopping list"
Siri, how much time is left on the timer? Hello Siri???
Siri, turn off the kitchen lights. No response.
Two linked new gen big HomePods get out of sync or only one HomePod plays music.
Apple Music sometimes plays a snippet from the middle of the next song first and then restarts and plays the song from the beginning.

And a lot more goofy issues...

Yeah. I have to keep Siri in the tiniest possible box to not end up just doing this.