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HomePod HomePod first impressions

Well I didn't plan to buy a HomePod but after reading the positive reviews about sound quality I got one this morning. I got into Apple products with iPod because I'm a music fan. This is the ultimate iPod with easy access to your whole iCloud collection and even more. I couldn't be happier with the quality of HomePod in terms of design, build and most importantly sound.

As a bonus I am using it to supplement the sound of my iMac speakers, however most of my use will be through my iPhone or by using Siri.

By the way my other recent purchase was AirPods and they have proven to be fantastic too, with far better sound than I was expecting.
 
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I can’t believe I can’t set multiple timers. I hope this gets fixed. Otherwise I’ve felt disillusioned with bugs with airplay streaming. Could be that I’m in the iOS 11.3 beta 2 but it’s been a subpar experience controlling it. The sound is great. Controlling the device is not. I’ll keep Alexa for smarts. I’ll keep HomePod for a speaker. Nothing more.
 
I whispered Hey Siri from three rooms away, and heard "hmm?" throughout the house lol.

Seems to have completely disabled Hey Siri on my phone, though. The setting is on (tried turning it off and on) but no matter how far away I am from HomePod's range, my iPhone won't kick back in.
 
Wow I will say I’m actually very torn.
I’m leaning towards returning the speaker but only because of my current living room setup (1 Sonos Play 3 and two Sonos Play 1s) and some limitations I see with the way Apple has designed the way we interact with it.

Also, sound wise, I would compare the HomePod to a Play 3 at the very least. The HomePod sounds fantastic. The Play 1 I guess is being used since it is considered “smart”.

If I wasn’t already in the wireless speaker game with Sonos, I would definitely get a few HomePods.
 
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I'm very happy with mine. I don't subscribe to Apple Music -- I did the trial when it first came out, and the thing was thirty-one flavors of mess for classical -- but I may give it another go at some point. For now I'm using it as an Airplay speaker for my music server (a headless 2010 mac mini wired to my router and with an SSD swapped in) which I control using the Remote application. I'm also doing a little lighting control and sporadic technobadinage with Siri. It's likely I'll get a second one when Airplay2 drops.
 
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HomePod is primarily voice controlled, so you don’t even need to have a phone (after it was first set up).
To control it with the Music app or Control Center, both needs to be at the same network.[/QUOTE]

I’m more interested if an automation can trigger sounds to play.
 
mac.cali said:
I’m more interested if an automation can trigger sounds to play.
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Not with the Home app. The HomePod is not selectable under a scene or controllable object. Maybe a third party app (ie, IFTTT) can do it.
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atmuwben said:
Why when I say “Hey Siri volume 11” she gets snippy and tells ME what to do?
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Using “louder”, “lower”, or as percentages works best. Plus, not sure what absolute number is the maximum volume - is it 10? 50? 100? - so what 11 means?
 
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Z3man said:
Siri is bad really bad, using it just becomes frustrating and annoying.

For me this is just going to be an Airplay speaker, so not sure if it is worth keeping. I already have a better sound system which i can control via my Airport Express, so it is just like an airplay speaker system.

I like the idea of a smart speaker though, so i am going to have a look at Sonos and Amazon systems to see if any of them will integrate easily with iTunes. I doubt any of them will, i cant see Alexa working with iTunes, so i will probably just return the HomePod and stick with what i already have.

I am really quite annoyed about Siri being so useless, i would have really liked to keep the HomePod as the sound is pretty good, not amazing as some of the reviews would have you believe, but it is still pretty good. But with Siri being so useless i don't think it is worth keeping, i will see how it goes over the next couple of weeks.

If i could have a HomePod with Alexa that would be ideal.
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My usage is going to largely be as an Airplay speaker also, which is fine for me. In the past I've used my Airport Express units to drive local speakers, but I'm now using Google Wifi which doesn't have that same capability. My Airport equipment was earlier generation and didn't give me the ability to have a guest network, among other things, which is why I replaced it.

For folks who have Alexa or Google speakers, or Sonos, I can see that the comparisons and debates over pros and cons are important factors. I haven't used either of those and haven't had any desire to try them. When this HomePod speaker came out, I was motivated to give it a try. I'm also confident that Apple will be improving Siri and other features over time, since the speakers have a powerful processor and software updates will give Apple the ability to do lots more with these speakers in the future.
 
Despite being highly skeptical, I picked one this afternoon from my local Apple Store.

So small (and heavy!). I like the braided cable. As for sound...as a standalone AirPlay speaker it's surprisingly good! Across the room, it's loud and clear without needing to really crank the volume. I'll try some of the Siri stuff later on, but from what I've tried it responds well. Again, I'm at my desk across my room and didn't have to raise my voice to have it pause my music.
 
What is weird is lack of manual EQ. I mean WTF? (correct me if i'm wrong here). You should be able to tell Siri how to manually adjust this.

But I will probably get one. I can always return it. I do hate boomy bass though, and that is the disease with these types of speakers.
 
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Not sure to keep my HomePod here or not

Does this look a weird place to put it?

bd91ae77510dd76ac33610c27c8ea42c.jpg
 
HQuest said:
Using “louder”, “lower”, or as percentages works best. Plus, not sure what absolute number is the maximum volume - is it 10? 50? 100? - so what 11 means?
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I was trying to get to the shortest command for precise volume. While music is playing, “Hey Siri volume 10” sets HomePod to 10%. With “Hey Siri volume 11” she orders me to do it myself.
 
I find it amusing reading the reviews were they all seem to be screaming bloody murder about the eco system. Most of us here are rather used to this, so it's just sort of funny.

BTW, Sonos is getting some free publicity, (which may even counterbalance loss of sales.....or not)
 
penajmz said:
Does anyone else notice a difference in volume when playing through AirPlay vs asking Siri to play?
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If i play through Airplay from my iPhone 6s it is definitely a bit quieter than when asking Siri to play. But if i Airplay through my MacBook it is the same volume as asking Siri to play. I have found this when using other bluetooth and Airplay speakers as well, it is always a bit quieter when using the iphone.
 
Only issue I have with using HomePod on a nightstand is that there is no way to turn music off after a pre-set amount of time has passed. On my Echo Show, I could tell Alexa to “turn off after _ minutes.” Has anyone been able to do this with HomePod?
 
lewisd25 said:
Only issue I have with using HomePod on a nightstand is that there is no way to turn music off after a pre-set amount of time has passed. On my Echo Show, I could tell Alexa to “turn off after _ minutes.” Has anyone been able to do this with HomePod?
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I did not try but ask Siri to do it after 15 minutes or whenever?

Or just create a playlist in the amount of time you want music to play?
 
Macalway said:
What is weird is lack of manual EQ. I mean WTF? (correct me if i'm wrong here). You should be able to tell Siri how to manually adjust this.

But I will probably get one. I can always return it. I do hate boomy bass though, and that is the disease with these types of speakers.
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Its not weird at all, although its surprising...

The HomePod is constantly correcting the EQ based on the source (as artist intended) and what it hears via its microphones. Kind of like high end audio receivers during initial setup use a mic so it can listen to itself and set its frequencies based on speaker and listener location. The HomePod being an omnidirectional speaker is doing the same thing except constantly. This is important because location of a speakers has a very large effect on various frequencies.

Since the HomePod is correcting its EQ for the source you will need to alter the source so its correct the EQ to incorrect values (your preferences). AirPlaying from the Mac I can adjust EQ and I image presets provide in the iPhones/iPods will work as well.

The reason there likely isn't any generic presets is so they dont double it up. Presets in the phone altering the audio air playing to a HomePod that is further altering it.

Audio equipment should be purchased based on a lot of variables but the most important is the requirements of the owner. For example, you don't like boomy bass, therefore placing a high excursion woofer near your head where you sleep is probably not the best idea there are much better products for a nightstand out there for you. I would return it while you are still within the return window.
 
Bought 2 homepods and set then up. I am running 11.3 DP Beta 2. I set them up as Stereo but I can only play to 1 at a time. Do the homepods need to be on 11.3 too?
 
mac.cali said:
It seems ok. But having two would look better. Hopefully stereo setup is brought by the next iOS update.
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Yeah I'm very tempted to buy a 2nd one when stereo is available. I felt where I had it previously the sound would be better near the TV so the sound would be more central.
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Donga120 said:
Bought 2 homepods and set then up. I am running 11.3 DP Beta 2. I set them up as Stereo but I can only play to 1 at a time. Do the homepods need to be on 11.3 too?
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I think the settings is there I just don't think apple have set it up yet
 
jjjjjooooo said:
Is it paired with an Apple TV? Does it sound noticeably as coming from under the TV when watching videos?
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Yeah still sounds good. I would say it sounds better as the distance from the TV is better from a more central position than from the side of the room
 
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