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HomePod Classical Music in Stereo with Two HomePods
- Thread starter MacBird
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I’m testing mine out now (just put them in stereo). What’s a song you’d like me to test?
Just listening to "Sleepers, Awake!" the beautiful Bach piece, that incidentally, I'm learning on the piano. I've had two HPs set up for a couple of weeks, and they were sounding very nice. Today's update to stereo completes the package. With the Bach piece, one thing I noticed is that there is plenty of bass at just the right moments. The version is Raymond Agoult & The New Symphony Orchestra Of London. I'm no audiophile, but I find that the stereo separation is as expected, and there is an immersive effect. I suggest you go for it.
Abbado with the Berlin Philharmonic, 9th Symphony by Mahler would be great, but basically anything you know well to hear the difference. Thanks!
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Thank you, sounds encouraging!
Sorry for the late reply. Just tested your requests and there’s an absolute separation but a nice blend together to make one sound. I’m not a connoisseur of classical music but there’s a very distinct separation of unique instruments on each channel. It’s actually quite soothing. I think I’ll keep it on for the evening.
For removing dust from the HomePods, I can also recommend Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D minor. There is a nice recording on Apple Music with Ton Koopman.
I've just begun to experiment with my two HomePod's now that Airplay 2 provides stereo capability, and the sound is terrific.
Before trying some classical music, I queued up the Beatles 'Here Comes the Sun' from the Abbey Road album, because I knew that the stereo separation would be more easily experienced and I wanted to satisfy myself that the new stereo configuration was really delivering stereo sound.
Well, it is (stereo), and the sound quality is fantastic.
One of the earlier posts mentioned Mahler's 9th performed by the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Claudio Abbado. I don't have that album in my own collection however I do have the Apple Music subscription so I downloaded it from Apple and am listening to it now. It's a piece that I'm not particularly familiar with, so it's nice to explore it now along with hearing how the HomePods reproduce the sound and the experience of the full orchestra. The music begins with a short introduction that includes a lightly plucked harp motif from the right of the orchestra that's very nicely reproduced, along with a faint horn, and the full orchestra slowly comes into the music. It's all very clearly reproduced and lovely, developing to a heavier and more dramatic sound.
Those are just initial impressions but I can say that the stereo sound from the two paired HomePods is first class and I'm very satisfied. I have been enjoying these speakers since first purchasing them, and the long awaited stereo capability is really icing on the cake.
Before trying some classical music, I queued up the Beatles 'Here Comes the Sun' from the Abbey Road album, because I knew that the stereo separation would be more easily experienced and I wanted to satisfy myself that the new stereo configuration was really delivering stereo sound.
Well, it is (stereo), and the sound quality is fantastic.
One of the earlier posts mentioned Mahler's 9th performed by the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Claudio Abbado. I don't have that album in my own collection however I do have the Apple Music subscription so I downloaded it from Apple and am listening to it now. It's a piece that I'm not particularly familiar with, so it's nice to explore it now along with hearing how the HomePods reproduce the sound and the experience of the full orchestra. The music begins with a short introduction that includes a lightly plucked harp motif from the right of the orchestra that's very nicely reproduced, along with a faint horn, and the full orchestra slowly comes into the music. It's all very clearly reproduced and lovely, developing to a heavier and more dramatic sound.
Those are just initial impressions but I can say that the stereo sound from the two paired HomePods is first class and I'm very satisfied. I have been enjoying these speakers since first purchasing them, and the long awaited stereo capability is really icing on the cake.
I'm quite impressed with the sound quality, too, particularly that it seems to matter less to sit right between the two HomePods unlike with traditional speakers.
This particular live recording of Mahler's 9th is really great and the audience does not dare to applaud for over 40 seconds after it is over but then they really do.
My favorite is Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. When I was at Rutgers U my freshman year I was in the choir. It was awhile ago (1970-71). We sang the Ninth with Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonica to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the United Nations. A group of us also joined with other NYC choristers to sing the Ninth at a concert for peace. The pickup orchestra and choir was directed by Leopold Stowkowski. This was really my introduction to classical music, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
I just played Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture” on stero HomePods and it sounded nothing short of amazing. If only I could learn by osmosis, I wouldn’t have be practicing these stupid runs at almost 1 am.