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HomePod Blind test HP LOST!

You probably won't be disappointed. The experiment shows that the HomePod sounds good but it's not head and shoulders above the competition.

Me personally, I would not buy a HomePod when i can get a pair of Sonos Ones for the same price.
 
Slightly OT, but does anyone have a solution for disabling auto playing video such as this one on iOS?

I have 1Blocker and Wipr, and while I've tried a few extra stings that theoretically should have worked, I'm still getting auto playing video on almost every page that embeds it.

Back OT:

I hid the four speakers behind a curtain — a sheet of thin, sheer fabric that wouldn’t affect the sound​

Yeah, er, no. Pogue basically made a test that favored unidirectional, frequency compressed speakers.
 
I own a Sonos 5.1 system, and so have directly compared 2 Sonos speakers to 2 HP's. There is no question that the HP sound is superior for several different types of music (Rock, Classic Jazz, Blues, Broadway, Classical). One factor the tester did not account for was the surrounding space. Sound is very different depending on the volume of space, windows ( note glass window in photo behind 1 speaker), flooring and wall materials among other things. As mentioned , music is also perceived differently by the individuals listening. However, even if I perceived the sound as equivalent in all four speakers, I would rate the HP as superior due to security and privacy protocols by Apple. The Sonos is just a speaker without smart technology, while Google and Amazon are collecting and selling data from your home from their devices. No thanks!
 
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CPTmom2wp said:
I own a Sonos 5.1 system, and so have directly compared 2 Sonos speakers to 2 HP's. There is no question that the HP sound is superior for several different types of music (Rock, Classic Jazz, Blues, Broadway, Classical). One factor the tester did not account for was the surrounding space. Sound is very different depending on the volume of space, windows ( note glass window in photo behind 1 speaker), flooring and wall materials among other things. As mentioned , music is also perceived differently by the individuals listening. However, even if I perceived the sound as equivalent in all four speakers, I would rate the HP as superior due to security and privacy protocols by Apple. The Sonos is just a speaker without smart technology, while Google and Amazon are collecting and selling data from your home from their devices. No thanks!
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True. Funny how those things about google and amazon seems to skip the mind of the reviewers.

Anyway I do hope it sounds good. I read some more reviews and seems the consensus is that the sound is good enough.
 
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Ok I’m sold. This thing puts out some serious clear loud music. It doesn’t sound stressed or constrained even when near full volume. I have no idea what Consumer Reports is doing but they must be nuts to think it’s inferior in Audio Quality. I’m definitely impressed by the HP.
 
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kagharaht said:
True. Funny how those things about google and amazon seems to skip the mind of the reviewers.

Anyway I do hope it sounds good. I read some more reviews and seems the consensus is that the sound is good enough.
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I’ve said the same myself a few times. Indeed the reason I got a HomePod now (I wanted one anyway) rather than later, much later as my wife kept saying.
Was, I showed her the huge list of things my Echo 2 (which I got for free) had recorded us saying without the activation word “Alexa” being spoken.

Right there and then she said and I quote “get that damned thing out of the house”. Followed by me explaining how Apple’s security and privacy is different. Followed by a HomePod being ordered 20 minutes later.

Easiest new toy argument I’ve ever won :D
 
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TrueBlou said:
I’ve said the same myself a few times. Indeed the reason I got a HomePod now (I wanted one anyway) rather than later, much later as my wife kept saying.
Was, I showed her the huge list of things my Echo 2 (which I got for free) had recorded us saying without the activation word “Alexa” being spoken.

Right there and then she said and I quote “get that damned thing out of the house”. Followed by me explaining how Apple’s security and privacy is different. Followed by a HomePod being ordered 20 minutes later.

Easiest new toy argument I’ve ever won :D
Click to expand...
How did you see what Alexa recorded without the wake word?
 
Sure, and if we look at another review, we see the HP winning against the same speakers, or some sort of audiophile tests showing the HP is better. All I can say is the HomePod produces great sound (I don't think anyone disputes that) for a small single speaker. Whether its better then others is really subjective, some people don't like the midranges and prefer another speaker, some may not like the bass.

The important review that should matter, is your own. If you like the HomePod, then it doesn't matter what others thing
 
boshii said:
How did you see what Alexa recorded without the wake word?
Click to expand...

If you open the Alexa app and go into settings you can see everything it’s listened to.

As it’s not every day the Echo was used, particularly with it being a pain in the butt and not hearing me over the noise of the TV, so I was using Siri on my iPhone and Watch more than the Echo. It was easy to see just how much was recorded when we hadn’t been using it.

I can’t give you a figure on the number of entries because the list was huge and life’s too short to sit and count them. Suffice to say it was more than enough for the wife to ban Echo’s from the house. Fine by me I didn’t like how much it had been listening in on either.
 
TrueBlou said:
If you open the Alexa app and go into settings you can see everything it’s listened to.

As it’s not every day the Echo was used, particularly with it being a pain in the butt and not hearing me over the noise of the TV, so I was using Siri on my iPhone and Watch more than the Echo. It was easy to see just how much was recorded when we hadn’t been using it.

I can’t give you a figure on the number of entries because the list was huge and life’s too short to sit and count them. Suffice to say it was more than enough for the wife to ban Echo’s from the house. Fine by me I didn’t like how much it had been listening in on either.
Click to expand...
Those are utterances recorded after use of the wake word. It’s possible that what you were looking at were recordings after a false positive which happens with all voice activated assistants.

But let’s say Alexa was recording your every word, do you believe that Apple is not doing the same? How much more safe do you feel with the HomePod over the Echo knowing that HomePod shows you no record of what it was listening to?
 
boshii said:
Those are utterances recorded after use of the wake word. It’s possible that what you were looking at were recordings after a false positive which happens with all voice activated assistants.

But let’s say Alexa was recording your every word, do you believe that Apple is not doing the same? How much more safe do you feel with the HomePod over the Echo knowing that HomePod shows you no record of what it was listening to?
Click to expand...

I’m entirely aware that they are false positives, it doesn’t change the fact that it is happening.

As for how much more safe I’d feel with the same thing happening with HomePod. Quite a bit as it happens, considering Apple use a randomised Siri ID to send requests to their servers so that anything you’re asking Siri to do isn’t directly linked to you or any of your account details.
Anything they keep on the servers is there using Diffirential privacy, so it’s encrypted and muddled with millions of other users requests becoming just random data not linked to any users account in any way shape or form.

Amazon (and Google for what it’s worth) are the entire opposite. Everything you say that is recorded by their speakers, deliberately or accidentally activated. Is directly linked to you, you’re email address and your account details so as they can better target products towards you. Or in Google’s case, advertising.

There’s a world of difference between a company who doesn’t profit from using your information and those who do.
 
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My two cents on this.

Audio preference is always going to be subjective.

But even if you could tell the difference in a controlled side by side comparison, IMHO, the sound on the HP is sufficiently good that most non audiophiles (for want of a better word) will be impressed with how it sounds.
 
TrueBlou said:
I’m entirely aware that they are false positives, it doesn’t change the fact that it is happening.

As for how much more safe I’d feel with the same thing happening with HomePod. Quite a bit as it happens, considering Apple use a randomised Siri ID to send requests to their servers so that anything you’re asking Siri to do isn’t directly linked to you or any of your account details.
Anything they keep on the servers is there using Diffirential privacy, so it’s encrypted and muddled with millions of other users requests becoming just random data not linked to any users account in any way shape or form.

Amazon (and Google for what it’s worth) are the entire opposite. Everything you say that is recorded by their speakers, deliberately or accidentally activated. Is directly linked to you, you’re email address and your account details so as they can better target products towards you. Or in Google’s case, advertising.

There’s a world of difference between a company who doesn’t profit from using your information and those who do.
Click to expand...

Bravo! Well said! I have tried to get those points across to some of my friends who are Echo users but all they fixate on is the "cheaper price" and I just shake my head. I dumped my Echos and replaced them HomePods. I don't trust Amazon or Google.
 
Keep in mind that the HomePod calibrates itself, so it is literally changing its output according to the acoustical environment that it is in. From WWDC:

HomePod uses spatial awareness to sense its location in a room and automatically adjust the audio. [This] automatic room-sensing technology allows HomePod to quickly learn its position in a room, whether it’s in a corner, on a table or in a bookshelf, and within seconds, is perfectly optimized to deliver an immersive music listening experience wherever it is placed.​

This may explain why in some physical locations it reviews just average among great speakers, but other locations it reviews as noticeably better. In a bad location HomePod will adjust itself, giving it the edge; whereas in a good location there's nothing to do, so that advantage is lost.
 
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