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First HomePod Pre-Order Customers Get Charged as Speakers Prepare for Shipment
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If they were designed to be surround speakers, they wouldn't have to push as much air, and wouldn't have as much need to radiate in every direction. Fewer drivers, smaller woofer, maybe slaved to the full-sized units for much of their processing. With fewer parts they could be cheaper (yeah, I know, we are talking about Apple, but...), and smaller. Yes, I know that they don't have to be smaller than current surround speakers, but the HomePod doesn't have to be smaller than a typical "bookshelf" speaker, yet it is.
I'm not saying "make them smaller, HomePods are too big!", I'm saying, you could (if Apple wrote the appropriate drivers) use 4 HomePods to approximate 5.0 sound (not 5.1 because no subwoofer). But using full-blown HomePods for the rear channels is overkill - they'd generally be against walls and/or in corners, they don't need to be driven as loud, and, heck, with a stereo pair of HomePods up front, you've already got sufficient processing power in the room for determining what signals to send where and for keeping track of room acoustics. So HomePod Satellites could have fewer parts in them, could be smaller, and not be designed for standalone use. Sell a pair of them for $300-$400, and some HomePod users would cheerfully buy them to have a $1000ish Apple theater setup, instead of going the soundbar route.
HomePod doesn’t have nearly enough on offer to interest me. Yet. I look forward to seeing what’s coming up in its future.
iPad sounds more like a fully teched up smart apartment.
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I'm providing arguments based on logic and some familiarity with the high-end audio field, and your response is "but the company's marketing department SAYS it's stereo", and you're calling me dumb? "two mids and no tweeter qualifies as Stereo" - no, with no tweeter, those "mids" would be handling the full audio range, and could nominally do stereo. But with two midrange drivers and a single tweeter, there will be a crossover in play - the higher frequencies of the L and R channels will be mixed to mono and sent to the single tweeter, while the lower frequencies will be sent to the midrange drivers. You're getting quasi-stereo at that point, which may or may not sound pleasing, depending on how discriminating you are (the Amazon Echo has a single 2.5" woofer and 0.6" tweeter, and some people are happy listening to music through that).
I'm not saying the PLAY:3 sounds good or bad. I'm not saying the HomePod will do real stereo. I am saying, however, that your argument of "but the PLAY:3 can do stereo" (thus implying that the HomePod can't), when the PLAY:3 has multiple drivers only in one frequency range (and the HomePod also has multiple drivers in one frequency range) - and, particularly, clinging to that notion in the face of information to the contrary - is idiotic. The Sonos PLAY:3 is no more equipped for real stereo than is the HomePod. Both can play multiple channels in some - but not all - frequency ranges. And the information released thus far points towards the HomePod having a lot of signal processing going on to do precisely this, sending different parts of the incoming signal (likely not simply the L or R channels) out through different tweeters, to create a soundstage - which is the whole point of stereo imaging in the first place: creating more lifelike sound. Both likely sound good. We'll have to wait until the HomePod is widely available before anyone can reasonably claim that one sounds demonstrably better than the other. But trying to claim that the PLAY:3 has an advantage because it "plays discrete stereo" is just foolish - it is no more capable of "discrete stereo" than the HomePod.
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That's exactly why I'm going to buy one. Once AirPlay 2 is supported, you'll be able to talk to your HomePod to control your Sonos. You could be like, "Hey Siri, play my favorites playlist in the living room, kitchen, and family room." I think that would be so cool! The speakers can also be added to the Home App so you can say, "Let's party," and it'll turn on the speakers and turn down the lights. If you have a full setup, this is an amazing product IMO.
$350? For a speaker? Apple, half of your userbase (probably more like 3/4) probably think this is just siri except not on a phone. You think they'll pay $350 for something they don't even understand?
So you understand the user base better than Apple? You should send them your resume.
I hear ya, bro... What's next, people paying $160 for wireless earbuds? Now that would be a real knee slapper!
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I’m sorry, I’m going to give that 3/4 a touch more benefit than you, I know there’s a lot of stupid people about but I’m going to go out on a limb and expect that the majority of those 3/4 will check what they are buying and weigh the pros and cons next to the value it brings to them and the money they have to spend like I have.
Also it might not be the case for everyone but I’m also factoring in the knowledge that $350 is not a lot to spend on a speaker, though of course I’ll find out on Friday how much quality in the sound department I’m getting for my cash. In that particular case I am, unlike some who have dismissed it before knowing, waiting to hear for myself if it’s good enough for me in the role it will serve.
I'd be more interested at $249. I'm not a Home Kit or any Home Control system fan. Geo Fencing with my Nest is about as far as I go. If Siri can develop into something well beyond it's current level I could see myself having this in my Home Office.
I'd be more interested at $249. I'm not a Home Kit or any Home Control system fan. Geo Fencing with my Nest is about as far as I go. If Siri can develop into something well beyond it's current level I could see myself having this in my Home Office.
Yeah so would I like it more at that price. Still not enough to buy it though; for me personally it's a solution for a problem I don't have. I have Siri on multiple devices and at least one is always in earshot; that also covers HomeKit control. I don't do Apple Music. I have a proper audio system that does three zones, calibrated for each zone, and can consume my digital and analogue libraries. Sure I can't move it easily - but I don't need to. I have a Bluetooth speaker I barely use. What's left?
That said I can see scenarios where it would make sense. They're just not mine.
I'm really excited about the HomePod. I think many people don't realize that for $349 you're getting high-end, pro or pro-sumer tech that you just don't see in home audio speakers that cost less than thousands of dollars. Of course I haven't heard it yet. But I know it's going to sound better (and louder) than any Sonos or iHome currently available.
I won't miss Bluetooth audio on HomePod, either. Eventually Bluetooth will support 16 bit 44.1kHz audio but at the moment, nope. I believe Apple will eventually either start selling HD audio tracks or, at least, allowing HD audio to be streamed via Airplay 2 or 3, which, along with multiple-room audio from iOS devices, will add even more value to Airplay over Bluetooth.
I won't miss Bluetooth audio on HomePod, either. Eventually Bluetooth will support 16 bit 44.1kHz audio but at the moment, nope. I believe Apple will eventually either start selling HD audio tracks or, at least, allowing HD audio to be streamed via Airplay 2 or 3, which, along with multiple-room audio from iOS devices, will add even more value to Airplay over Bluetooth.
I think the HomePod will sound great, I think a lot of people underestimate it around here but that always happens, it did with the AirPods and they are great.
I'm sure once people get it in their homes and get the sound out of it many will be impressed.
I'm looking forward to mine arriving. they say it will be great from a distance so cooking and making a phone call will be ideal. I'm a big podcast guy so I think I will use that for more than music but the music will still get a good usage out of it. Plus controlling my lights
Strange. I thought it was a new speaker that sounds good even if you have only one in a room, that needs just one cable to plug it into power and that's it. And it has Siri built in, but that is secondary.
Actually, this is spot on. I would guess half of people with iPhones have never heard of HomePod. And 1/2 of the people that HAVE heard of HomePod think it’s just a really expensive amazon echo. Right now, these people would rather have a $100 Alexa tin can, than a nice $350 Siri speaker. Most people don’t understand sound quality, or don’t care enough to pay attention to it. With all that said, I’ll be picking mine up on Friday.
If they managed to sell HomePods to a quarter of the people that own iPhones that would be an astronomical earth-shattering success.
Even 1/4 of iPhone owners being aware of and considering a HomePod would be a success.
If all you have is two speakers, then the optimal distance to the speakers is the same as the distance of the speakers from each other. If the speakers are 3 meters apart, you should sit 3 meters away. If they are 10 inch apart, you should sit 10 inch away. If you have headphones, please put your head straight between the speakers
Well, that will give you the right stereo experience. NOT.
So you're buying an almost $400 speaker to act as your alarm clock? LoL perfect customer for apple!
This.
Siri has to get much, much better for me to consider a HomePod. The audio quality is very appealing to me but I just can't justify a $350 smart speaker that doesn't have bluetooth or seamless spotify.
I currently have a few Amazon Echo smart speakers. I've been very impressed with Alexa. It almost never misses what I say and it's responses are logical and helpful. When it's responses are off (which almost never happens), you can easily submit feedback to amazon and they fix Alexa's responses. You can also suggest things for Alexa to improve. For example, my wife prefers Celsius and I prefer Fahrenheit when asking about the weather. I suggested to Amazon that Alexa should use our voice profiles to determine how it returns the weather. Amazon replied to my comment within the hour and said they were going to start working on implementing my suggestion.
I currently have a few Amazon Echo smart speakers. I've been very impressed with Alexa. It almost never misses what I say and it's responses are logical and helpful. When it's responses are off (which almost never happens), you can easily submit feedback to amazon and they fix Alexa's responses. You can also suggest things for Alexa to improve. For example, my wife prefers Celsius and I prefer Fahrenheit when asking about the weather. I suggested to Amazon that Alexa should use our voice profiles to determine how it returns the weather. Amazon replied to my comment within the hour and said they were going to start working on implementing my suggestion.
Mine also. Got tracking. If it gets to UPS tomorrow, I wonder if we get it earlier than Friday.
I wouldn't be interested at $49.I'd be more interested at $249. I'm not a Home Kit or any Home Control system fan. Geo Fencing with my Nest is about as far as I go. If Siri can develop into something well beyond it's current level I could see myself having this in my Home Office.
Sorry, I just don't need a mono speaker with Siri. I see zero utility for it. I don't want to control my smart home devices with my voice, I want to push a button. I'm happy with the way they work now.
Also, I've got plenty of speakers. 5.1 surround in the living room and bedroom, stereo on the porch, and I've got a spare 5.1 system that I've not even installed anywhere yet, it'll probably eventually end up in the guest bedroom. All the TVs are hooked up to Macs, the living room TV has a Mac Pro, one of the good ones, a cheesegrater. The porch audio system has its own AirPort Express.
This just would be a low-utility, high-cost bit of junk in my house.