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HomePod HomePod 2 Sound Quality.
- Thread starter Pewpewpew
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Wow! It’s a good thing you never bought the 1st gen.
I like it but Im 52 years old and grew up in the era of dual 4 ft high speaker enclosures with 12” woofers. To me it’s just right.
I like it but Im 52 years old and grew up in the era of dual 4 ft high speaker enclosures with 12” woofers. To me it’s just right.
I’ve spent many years in nightclubs listening to fabulous dance music. This is just plain nasty it’s so boomy and imprecise. I think I was expecting too much coming from Kef and sennheiser speakers.
Yeah, the HomePod is like the AirPods Max of the speaker world. How you like it depends on where you’re coming from and your preference for musical signature.
For me it’s perfect. Well almost. I actually slightly prefer my 1st gens to my 2nd. I feel the bass was neutered a bit too much in a futile attempt to appease people like you.
For me it’s perfect. Well almost. I actually slightly prefer my 1st gens to my 2nd. I feel the bass was neutered a bit too much in a futile attempt to appease people like you.
Yep. The era of 21” Cerwin Vegas. I’m sure I lost some low range hearing to those.
You can set it to reduce bass in the Home app.
My gen 1 in stereo config sounds great for its size and is not dissimilar to my $4K Event Opal Studio Monitors, which calibrated flat in my living room.
My gen 1 in stereo config sounds great for its size and is not dissimilar to my $4K Event Opal Studio Monitors, which calibrated flat in my living room.
I’d try moving it to a different spot in the room or trying it in a different room altogether to see if it’s the speaker/room combination that isn’t working. The HomePod will try to adjust its output to eliminate boominess but it’s limited as to what it can detect and fix.
That, and the reduce bass setting mentioned above are your best bets. You can also adjust the EQ setting in music but that will universally change the sound for all your speakers.
Any of that might help, but you aren’t going to equal KEFs with a HomePod.
That, and the reduce bass setting mentioned above are your best bets. You can also adjust the EQ setting in music but that will universally change the sound for all your speakers.
Any of that might help, but you aren’t going to equal KEFs with a HomePod.
I ditched my Bose sound touch and replaced that with 2 HomePod mini last month.
played "Dark Side" and was amazed.
now I use those for my sound to play movies, music and that's it.
back in the day, Nakamichi and Kenwood produced great sound, then Infinity took over!
I also used a coffee filter to repair a RadioShack cracked speaker in 1985.
Bought my pair yesterday but only been able to set them up this afternoon. Had to update phone to 16.3 and then run updates for the HomePods...
It still hasn't captured my iTunes Match library at the moment so am air-playing music from the music app on my Mac. Sound is fine but far too loud if the sound on the music app is anything above 50% on the slider. I wasn't expecting this, although to be fair I dont recall ever air-playing with my 1st gen HP or minis.
Currently listening to Tubular Bells and it's very nice - as it should be!
It still hasn't captured my iTunes Match library at the moment so am air-playing music from the music app on my Mac. Sound is fine but far too loud if the sound on the music app is anything above 50% on the slider. I wasn't expecting this, although to be fair I dont recall ever air-playing with my 1st gen HP or minis.
Currently listening to Tubular Bells and it's very nice - as it should be!
Geez. Every opinion that I see of the sound quality is the polar opposite of the previous. Makes the purchase decision impossible lol
I picked up my pair of HomePod's this morning and then proceeded to update to 16.3. One of the HomePods got stuck when updating. I reset and started over. All went fine after that slight foible.
Coming from the HomePod minis I find the following...
1) Sound quality is much improved over the HomePod minis. There is a much deeper, immersive and richer sound. I can hear different sounds I didn't noticeably hear before, and they are clear.
2) Siri response appears to be slightly faster.
3) The setup and pairing process was much better versus the minis, which never went right the first try or two or three.
With first impressions, I am pleased with the HomePods.
Coming from the HomePod minis I find the following...
1) Sound quality is much improved over the HomePod minis. There is a much deeper, immersive and richer sound. I can hear different sounds I didn't noticeably hear before, and they are clear.
2) Siri response appears to be slightly faster.
3) The setup and pairing process was much better versus the minis, which never went right the first try or two or three.
With first impressions, I am pleased with the HomePods.
No reason at all to ‘upgrade’ unless a snappier Siri and temperature / humidity sensors are important to you. I bought two more to go alongside my OGs as I wanted to expand Homepod info every room. The OGs I have remain in their place - they hold their own and then some.
I’m betting the Atmos ones sound bad. Apple really need us to be able to set EQ or at least toggle through ‘Warm’ or ‘Bright’ sound modes.
I realized today these sound only a little better than my Studio Display speakers. My first HomePods. I guess the sound is making me appreciate my Audioengine A5+ wired speakers. Or maybe I just need a day or two of ear burn in. I'm going to swap out my Audioengines in a couple days and if I notice they do indeed sound much better, I'm returning my HomePods.
I was swayed to try these by all the glowing reviews of HomePod sound quality. But I wonder if much of this is coming form Gen Zers: people who grew up in a post hifi world. Audiophiles are now a small, weird, vocal cult. But everyone used to be an audiophile more or less. Soccer moms listened to vinyl. College students brought their massive stereos into their shoebox dorm rooms in the 90's: systems with a separate amp and passive speakers, sometimes a sub-woofer. Listening to CD's, aka lossless audio.
But the Internet, Napster and iTunes killed hifi. People started thinking their Macbook's speakers sounded good! In that context, yes a stereo pair of Home Pods sound phenomenal.
It's the same with headphones. I own Airpods Max and Sony XM5's. They do sound pretty good. (Actually prefer the much warmer Sony sound signature). But then if I listen lossless tracks on Apple Music through my Sennheiser 660s's or Hifiman Sundara's with a DAC, I realize there is a whole other level of clarity and transparency that wireless headphones just can't match. At least not yet.
I was swayed to try these by all the glowing reviews of HomePod sound quality. But I wonder if much of this is coming form Gen Zers: people who grew up in a post hifi world. Audiophiles are now a small, weird, vocal cult. But everyone used to be an audiophile more or less. Soccer moms listened to vinyl. College students brought their massive stereos into their shoebox dorm rooms in the 90's: systems with a separate amp and passive speakers, sometimes a sub-woofer. Listening to CD's, aka lossless audio.
But the Internet, Napster and iTunes killed hifi. People started thinking their Macbook's speakers sounded good! In that context, yes a stereo pair of Home Pods sound phenomenal.
It's the same with headphones. I own Airpods Max and Sony XM5's. They do sound pretty good. (Actually prefer the much warmer Sony sound signature). But then if I listen lossless tracks on Apple Music through my Sennheiser 660s's or Hifiman Sundara's with a DAC, I realize there is a whole other level of clarity and transparency that wireless headphones just can't match. At least not yet.
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Yeah the new HomePods are tuned way too bright - not enough in the low end. In some rooms it works well, in my kitchen for example it’s not working at all - in fact it’s giving ear fatigue. Apple need to fix the EQ on these
That is usually a sign of a good sounding speaker…
Feels like some harmonics are killed in the name of clarity. When the woofer is called upon, it absolutely makes its presence, but there’s a threshold or crossover here; it can also leave you with a sound severely underemphasized in the lower mid range.
I think there is room for a middle-ground here. I still want clarity and separation, but maybe not as clinical as this sound profile.
Right now feels like a contrasting speaker.
I think there is room for a middle-ground here. I still want clarity and separation, but maybe not as clinical as this sound profile.
Right now feels like a contrasting speaker.
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Well, as usual Apple doesn’t listen to users. Why no ability to adjust the sound manually with an EQ?
It seems many users today, like a warm sound signature but clear mid/highs. Not an over emphasis on highs to give fatigue.
Who is tuning the HomePod gen 2?
Apple needs to stop telling us what we want and allow us to customize the sound to a warmer tone with less emphasis on the highs.
Apple is really moving away from listeing to their consumers. Cook really needs to be careful or Apple is going to fall the way of HP/IBM/TI etc…behemoths who missed the boat due to arrogance in my humble opinion.
It seems many users today, like a warm sound signature but clear mid/highs. Not an over emphasis on highs to give fatigue.
Who is tuning the HomePod gen 2?
Apple needs to stop telling us what we want and allow us to customize the sound to a warmer tone with less emphasis on the highs.
Apple is really moving away from listeing to their consumers. Cook really needs to be careful or Apple is going to fall the way of HP/IBM/TI etc…behemoths who missed the boat due to arrogance in my humble opinion.
Basically it's following the same profile as the Airpods Max: which are also kind of fatiguing in the treble. It's less of an issue with a speaker than headphones. But in both cases, no EQ option. The competition all offer it. Sony XM headphones, Bose wireless headphones, the Echo Studio......all the option to EQ! But Apple always thinks it knows what you want better than you know yourself. So customization is something they avoid like the plague. Sometimes I really ponder breaking out of the walled garden entirely. Only problem is my friends use FaceTime plus I'd hate to be a green text bubble so I need an iPhone at minimum.
