That’s silly when you think about it. Putting the display on the side impacts the speaker angle and sound quality based on the current design.
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HomePod Appreciating in Value Following Discontinuation
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Or you can synchronize your music library on a backed up computer, that stores all that data and nothing get’s messed up.
I used to have mine, switching back with my LG9 OLED and Yamaha System, after I moved. I was sitting there one day, and I said, "Are you going to put up that damn projector?" I said to myself "HOLY CRAP, I could put the projector up from the ceiling and then strap the AppleTV 4K to the projector (this was right after I bought the new Gen2 AppleTV 4K), and then two HomePods on the left and right and that could be the ATMOS!!"
I was going to do a Speaker Rotator, but then this gave me the incentive to buy the Mini's for Music when I watch TV, and use the HomePods just for the Projector (or Music)!
This has been the BEST SETUP ever!! Trust me, 4K Projector with 4K AppleTV with Atmos HomePods, you can't get a better Wireless setup for a Projector! Wireless TO the Projector, and then Wireless Audio TO the HomePods!
INSANE!
I was going to do a Speaker Rotator, but then this gave me the incentive to buy the Mini's for Music when I watch TV, and use the HomePods just for the Projector (or Music)!
This has been the BEST SETUP ever!! Trust me, 4K Projector with 4K AppleTV with Atmos HomePods, you can't get a better Wireless setup for a Projector! Wireless TO the Projector, and then Wireless Audio TO the HomePods!
INSANE!
Upset that I didn’t grab a couple more. They are really good speakers.
I have 6 and was so unhappy after I paid $349 for each one.....yes, I paid retail as soon as they came out, I didn't buy them all at once but purchased over a period of ~ 5 months......
at first, I was so disappointed until my wife and I moved to our new house and I switched cable, internet, security and phone providers......
the previous house we were running ~ 200mb to all of our devices and now we are running ~ 1.6g to our modem and holy-cow, what a difference that made.....
sound quality, clarity and lag time if incredible.....we live in a 2 story 4300 sq/ft house and have added 6 mini-pods to accompany and funnel music, pod-cast and streaming throughout the house when I have the house to myself....
I'd by more of the originals and dump the mini's as they just don't hold up to the bass and clarity of the originals....apple, please bring back the HomePod and for love of peace, FIX SIRI......it sux........
at first, I was so disappointed until my wife and I moved to our new house and I switched cable, internet, security and phone providers......
the previous house we were running ~ 200mb to all of our devices and now we are running ~ 1.6g to our modem and holy-cow, what a difference that made.....
sound quality, clarity and lag time if incredible.....we live in a 2 story 4300 sq/ft house and have added 6 mini-pods to accompany and funnel music, pod-cast and streaming throughout the house when I have the house to myself....
I'd by more of the originals and dump the mini's as they just don't hold up to the bass and clarity of the originals....apple, please bring back the HomePod and for love of peace, FIX SIRI......it sux........
Your internet connection speed will have absolutely nothing to do with sound quality and this starts to sound like audiophile magical thinking. The song files the HomePod receives are a set quality and will sound the same no matter what link speed or type is used to send them to you. 1.6Gb/s fiber or 56K modem; other than the time to receive them makes absolutely zero difference in the playback quality.
So pay a fee to access my local library via haphazard matching on Apple's database? No thanks.
Aside from the fact that Apple Music doesn't come close to having all the music I have stored locally, I refuse to pay a fee just to access what I already own. I'll stick to AirPlay, even if it is a bit more cumbersome.
If Apple were smart, they should have offered a less-expensive-to-build but still nice sounding HomePod once Amazon released the Echo Studio in December 2019, and discontinued the original model.
What the point of the display then? If you can't see it is real world use scenarios? Who listens to the HomePod that close all the time?
What echoes do you use? I have 2 of the Echo Plus in stereo mode with sub, the 2nd gen echo dot, the latest echo dot that is a sphere, as well as some others, current gen models or last gen models. I have no issue with the sound, sounds great to me when playing on their own or when I play throughout the entire house. The only one that does not sound good is the Echo Flex, but that is not made for playing music.
Echo show 8, Echo show 15, Echo show 5, 2x echo dot 3rd gen and a 4th gen echo dot. I’ve owned a 3rd gen echo before.
Can't speak for the shows, I don't use them, only use mine for controlling lights and things and music. You might just have picky ears, mine all sound great to me, I am using Amazon music and have zero complaints from classical to rock, it all just sounds good to me.
Apple should’ve expanded on the HomePod as a full lineup, aka like Sonos!
Specifically allowing for a pre-amp + analog connections in 1 unit to allow for component stereo systems, turntables etc.
I love what spatial audio brings. Yet I still can “feel” a quality of an original analog song on high end speakers. Apple did a comparison featuring Marvin Gaye in spatial audio vs stereo, it was ok but trust me any of his hits you KNOW analog with a record still has something not yet reproduced.
I have a 2-channel system when I want to really listen to music but when I'm in the kitchen the HomePod is just great. Great sound to cook to and I use Siri for cooking timers all the time. "Hey, Siri, set pasta timer for 10 minutes". "Hey, Siri, how much time does the oven timer have left?" Naming timers is an underrated feature.
If the product is not selling well why would they bother expanding? They really need to believe in their product for them to keep pushing it forward while sales are not as expected. I still think the integration with Siri is a big problem with Apple smart speakers, Siri is the worst of the 3 by a long shot. If Apple would open it up for Alexa or Google assistants I can see people going for the premium speaker, but of course Apple would never do that as Siri is the best thing ever!
Lucky dog. I’m still upset I sold mine, twice over for Sonos One.
The other part of the mission statement which was missed by Apple is:
1. Simultaneously play a song/playlist on HomePod, while choosing another with iPhone, Mac, or iPad. Apple doesn’t let you do this regardless of the source even if you’re paying for Apple Music - all using the same iCloud account. Grrr!! They force you to pay for Apple Music Family to do this!
2. HomeKit missing feature: #1 above but also to act as an audio recording in the case of home security which allows you to record your dog or criminals talking when entered in your home.
One major thing about the HomePod OG was how sensitive it’s microphones are!
Damn I think I’ll delay the iPad Mini 6 and pickup a HomePod, again and this time keeping it!!
Why to keep expanding?
Because at the time the product was STILL selling. This shows lack of vision by Apple.
Note Apple believed in the product to make abs sell it. Still gets updates btw!
Some say the same view about the 13 mini “it’s not selling well” but without inquiring with Apple what their global and per regional sales targets are? What was their plan long term?! That is critical tot he conversation and as a business going concern.
You expand the lineup just enough to support the primary use cases for use and implementation by your consumers.
All our HomePods (6 of them: 2 large & 4 mini) do not react to voice, we have to touch the tops to enable Siri. Siri is used mainly for intercom, which works great.
Sad but true. It will be interesting to see how Apple's upcoming classical music service works with the HomePods.
They sound good- the pair sound better than one alone. But there are so many Apple Music bugs and glitches that I wouldn't rush to buy wireless speakers again. Plus you can get speakers that sound better for this money that you can attach to any old computer you own, that won't glitch and misbehave, and drive me nuts.! In addition to the Apple Music glitches (like the famous 15 second glitch), the HomePods pausing/stopping/starting out of synch and playing at different volumes depending on their mood... useless... an underbaked product if you're sensitive to small musical flaws/glitches.
The concept is good, and I always loved the idea of a HomePod Max, that could go louder and reach deeper, with some damn connectors on the back- removable power lead (for many reasons), USB-C (so you can connect it to a computer full of music and not need to use the internet) and Ethernet (as they are so sensitive to so many different routers and configurations, and Ethernet would entirely alleviate that.)