HomePod HomePod first impressions

[G5isAlive]

I’ve been buying speakers for a long, long time, back when you actually used copper to connect them and debates waged on about what guage you needed... heck back when people talked about 4ohm versus 8. I have spent more than 40k total on speakers. McIntosh, Klispch, Bose, Cambridge Soundworks, Sonos...yes SONOS.

I have NEVER been this impressed that I was experiencing something totally new. HP is not a speaker. Not in the conventional sense. Its more like a computer. You don’t expect it to be one size fits all. You pick the HP based on your needs, the same way you chose a computer, laptop, desktop, gaming, whatever.

Siri (iPhone) Alexa, Google home, have them all, and pat myself on the back when I can enunciate clearly enough and loud enough in a quiet environment for them to understand me. HP Siri? Its finally to the point I don’t have to be careful, or controlled, it just hears me and complies. Quickly, efficiently. For the first time I am a beliver in voice control. I sat in the bathroom, door closed, off the kitchen, and said to my HP in the living room which was playing music, about as loud as I would to my echo dot 5 feet away, “Hey Siri, set volume to 100%’. And it did. I don’t care about how smart or dumb, voice control that doesn’t hear you is stupid. Siri on HP is mind blowing.

As for sound, I hear vocals that i have never heard on many of my speakers, sonos 5 included. Sure, it doesn’t break the laws of physics.. some amplitudes and frequencies are beyond it.. .but for the most part, it sounds great in small to modest size rooms placed near a wall.

I am lucky, I have choices. And thats how I will pick the speaker I want to use. For general listening in the bedroom, office, kitchen, I chose HP. For my 4th of July barbecue I will move my play5s outside. For my Apple TV, well, probably will keep my playbar, sub, side speakers.

You will pick the HP if you value voice control that really works, great sound in a modest space, appreciate vocals, and like to move around, oh and you like being in Apples ecosystem. you will pick other speakers to fill different niches.

HP is a game changer. I wont be buying any more sonos’s unless they find a way to match the convenience, quality, and ease of the HP.

 

[Mercury7]

Is it possible to navigate through the library using your iPhone and play it in the HomePod by itself? I mean not using AirPlay. More like iTunes Remote.

Should be.... I noticed people get confused including myself thinking Wi-Fi means your router in your house.... it’s not, Wi-Fi is just the connection airplay uses, so you can send music from your phone straight to the HomePod .... no middleman

 

[Macdude2010]

I got my HomePod this morning and have pretty much been playing it nonstop since the morning. It sounds absolutely amazing, however I got close to it and noticed it smells a little like something is warm/burning in it. Any other people notice that?

 

[DiscoBatman]

Been messing with mine for an hour. Not at all impressed with the sound and I've moved it all over the room. Has a very dark sound. And I don't think it gets very loud at all. It certainly sounds far better than any other smart speaker, but it doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the reviews have led us to believe.

I feel like the speakers must have been stiff as hell out of the factory because guy has opened up and is sounding pretty damn great now. To the point I'm looking at it and wondering how something so damn small is sounding this good.

 

[DocMultimedia]

Miles Davis “Flamenco Sketches”.

They are in the room, hot damn!!!

Bitches Brew was unbelievable. I've been doing Miles all night.
[doublepost=1518224585][/doublepost]I know I've seen it mentioned earlier today as an issue...Siri's voice is too loud. Did anyone find a way to deal with that?

 

[Patriot24]

Is it possible to navigate through the library using your iPhone and play it in the HomePod by itself? I mean not using AirPlay. More like iTunes Remote.

The only interface to HomePod playback on an iPhone/iPad is the control center widget. Currently it only gives basic controls.

 

[ErikGrim]

Something wrong somewhere folks, maybe defective units?.

Guy on Reddit praised the heck out if this speaker for its price and quality for its size and he is an audiophile with vast experience with equipment.

And most reviews gave this a big thumbs up for music sound quality.

When you are an audio engineer and you listen to fully transparent monitors all day, any bias is going to sound muddy or not right to you.

Of course my one tiny HomePod can’t hold a candle to my Event 20/20 v2s it doesn’t need to. It truly is a miracle that this much and rich sound can come from such a tiny package.

That said, the lower frequencies tend to be a bit exaggerated as if to show off just how much air this thing can push without distorting. It sounds excellent when you are watching movie trailers, but something like the toms in hotel California live can be a bit much. Most regular bass sounds fine.

Much like there’s a sweet spot for listening to a pair of stereo speakers, there’s a sweet spot for placement for a beam forming speaker. The HomePod is more reliant on proper placement to fully expand the higher frequencies than I’d like. Especially since I’m limited in where I can place mine.

From what I can tell it really wants to be placed on a hard surface a bit out from a solid wall. A lot of people’s complaints from the highs can be solved by moving it around to make it recalibrate.

Finally it should really shine once you have two of these.

 

[Patriot24]

I know I've seen it mentioned earlier today as an issue...Siri's voice is too loud. Did anyone find a way to deal with that?

I've noticed this as well - it's just a touch louder than I'd like. There appears to be no way to control this as of yet.

That said, I've thought about it, and it's a really interesting design challenge. If the system were to set it to the same volume as playback, you could have a situation where it is unexpectedly very loud or very quiet. If too quiet, you might think it isn't hearing you and double requests to send messages, etc.

My guess is that they had to make a judgement call on this and optimized for a volume that can be audibly heard at a distance equivalent to the outer limit of the microphones' range.

Another low hanging fruit item for a future update (granular control via settings).

 

[mikemj23]

Is it possible to navigate through the library using your iPhone and play it in the HomePod by itself? I mean not using AirPlay. More like iTunes Remote.

The only interface to HomePod playback on an iPhone/iPad is the control center widget. Currently it only gives basic controls.

Tap on the song title and it takes you to Apple Music for full control, next song etc.

 

[cavemonkey50]

The only interface to HomePod playback on an iPhone/iPad is the control center widget. Currently it only gives basic controls.

Select the HomePod from the widget and then open Music. You have full browsing capabilities including queueing tracks.

 

[penajmz]

The whole stereo set up comes up when you set up a second HomePod and it sets them up as a pair but it doesn’t work when you play sound.

 

[Patriot24]

Tap on the song title and it takes you to Apple Music for full control, next song etc.

[doublepost=1518226317][/doublepost]

Select the HomePod from the widget and then open Music. You have full browsing capabilities including queueing tracks.

Thanks! That wasn't obvious to me for some reason. Learning as we go here. I feel like I may know less about this product out of the gate than any Apple product I've purchased in the last 10 years. It's been a strange rollout...

 

[Jamesk811]

Currently only English is supported.

Sorry I meant 11.3 not 9.3. Thanks for picking this up.

When I ask Siri to send a message she says “you’ll need to authenticate on iPhone to continue” and then a pop up appears on my iPhone. When I click on that pop up, I get the following screen (see screenshot).

 

[G5isAlive]

It's not a car speaker. Sorry dude. I don't need authority to tell you your idea is a silly one.

You wouldn't wipe your behind with an iPhone, you shouldn't try to use homepod as a car speaker.

Umm dude, read again, never was my question I simply gave an informed answer versus the one you pulled out of your ... iphone. Facts are still relevant.

 

[richard371]

Same. Maybe it’s burning in haha.

I got my HomePod this morning and have pretty much been playing it nonstop since the morning. It sounds absolutely amazing, however I got close to it and noticed it smells a little like something is warm/burning in it. Any other people notice that?

 

[pitt1717]

so been using it for just a little while, damn ups came late. but I think it sounds really good. Anyway my only disappointment is I fell like I need to say hey Siri louder than I have to after seeing some of the reviews. but I think even the Wife likes it. good thing is now I have a true hub for my homekit setup and no longer have to rely on my iPad which usually dies because of the wife and kids.
all in all I think it is a good purchase, and no Apple Music.....yet. wife seems fine streaming prime music for now

 

[AustinIllini]

Umm dude, read again, never was my question I simply gave an informed answer versus the one you pulled out of your ... iphone. Facts are still relevant.

Thanks for wasting everyone's time with a non-question.

 

[Mercury7]

so been using it for just a little while, damn ups came late. but I think it sounds really good. Anyway my only disappointment is I fell like I need to say hey Siri louder than I have to after seeing some of the reviews. but I think even the Wife likes it. good thing is now I have a true hub for my homekit setup and no longer have to rely on my iPad which usually dies because of the wife and kids.
all in all I think it is a good purchase, and no Apple Music.....yet. wife seems fine streaming prime music for now

I’m going to use prime, no interest in Apple Music and don’t mind using phone to start it

 

[Phil77354]

Received my HomePod and the unboxing and setup is incredibly easy, fast and smooth. I have two set up now, the second was quicker since it seems to already know some of my preferences. Both appear in my iTunes as Airport speaker choices, I can play music to one or both as I chose. The controls on each speaker can be used to pause play or change tracks, in addition to adjusting volume.

Sound is very very good from first impressions. More bass than I expected. I have one sitting next to my computer and it is a very full and well balanced sound, vocals are very present, and the bass is also very apparent but in a good way.

So far I've tried a few Siri requests, works very well. I'm not much of a Siri user, at least not up until now, but it could be that having these HomePod speakers I will find it more useful and try it more frequently.

I'm very pleased so far. The speakers look great, as others have reported.

 

[csurfr]

I got my HomePod this morning and have pretty much been playing it nonstop since the morning. It sounds absolutely amazing, however I got close to it and noticed it smells a little like something is warm/burning in it. Any other people notice that?

I noticed that too when I was sitting next to mine earlier. I’m hoping it’s just that “new HomePod smell”
[doublepost=1518229122][/doublepost]

Received my HomePod and the unboxing and setup is incredibly easy, fast and smooth. I have two set up now, the second was quicker since it seems to already know some of my preferences. Both appear in my iTunes as Airport speaker choices, I can play music to one or both as I chose. The controls on each speaker can be used to pause play or change tracks, in addition to adjusting volume.

Sound is very very good from first impressions. More bass than I expected. I have one sitting next to my computer and it is a very full and well balanced sound, vocals are very present, and the bass is also very apparent but in a good way.

So far I've tried a few Siri requests, works very well. I'm not much of a Siri user, at least not up until now, but it could be that having these HomePod speakers I will find it more useful and try it more frequently.

I'm very pleased so far. The speakers look great, as others have reported.

Absolutely agree. The bass from this thing kinda threw me for a loop for a few minutes. Mine was playing all day and every song sounded great, Siri had no problems hearing me, or doing exactly what I asked.

 

[richard371]

Actually I feel the 1 HomePod kicks my Klipsch 5.1 and Denon 5.1 sound wise. And that’s just 1. May need to add another. Use this setup for music and the 5.1 for tv and movies.

 

[The Game 161]

I think when stereo is available very tempted to get a 2nd homepod in white and have one at the left side of the TV and the other on the right...hmmmm

 

[richard371]

Yeap 2 will be super emersive I hope.

 

[mac.cali]

Anyone putting their HomePod near a tv? If so mind posting some photos for comparisons?

 

[The Game 161]

Anyone putting their HomePod near a tv? If so mind posting some photos for comparisons?

I'm tempted to do this and put it in the middle and if I get a 2nd put them either side of the TV.

Might do it when I get back