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HomePod HomePod first impressions
- Thread starter ApeBot
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My first impressions as a brand new HomePod owner.
Setup: Quite easy, and seamless, though I had to enable 2 factor, which I'm not happy about at all. I prefer not having that enabled, but if I want the HomePod, I suppose I need too.
Sound: Clearly its the best feature of the HP, and I was not disappointed.
Siri: Decent. I find it a bit more responsive then the Echo, but Alexia does more but at least what Siri does do, it does efficiently
Setup: Quite easy, and seamless, though I had to enable 2 factor, which I'm not happy about at all. I prefer not having that enabled, but if I want the HomePod, I suppose I need too.
Sound: Clearly its the best feature of the HP, and I was not disappointed.
Siri: Decent. I find it a bit more responsive then the Echo, but Alexia does more but at least what Siri does do, it does efficiently
Holy crap, does jazz ever sound good on the HomePod; it's like sitting in an intimate club environment listening to a quartet play...
Hello!
A further update for anyone who is interested!
I managed to get a Sonos Play1 today and I must say I'm rather impressed. For me personally. it sounds a lot brighter than the Homepod. I put the same first track on (Shake It On by Jamiroquai) as when I got the Homepod and I was genuinely blown away. It just sounded so clear!
The bass isn't as strong as the Homepod, but I kind of expected that anyway and for less than half the price of the Homepod Im genuinely amazed at the quality of the sound. For me personally, its so much nicer!
The father in law has 2 Play1s setup in stereo and it sounds unbelievable, Im thinking of getting another one and Id still be quids in!
I can feel a Sonos addiction coming on!
Cheers!
A further update for anyone who is interested!
I managed to get a Sonos Play1 today and I must say I'm rather impressed. For me personally. it sounds a lot brighter than the Homepod. I put the same first track on (Shake It On by Jamiroquai) as when I got the Homepod and I was genuinely blown away. It just sounded so clear!
The bass isn't as strong as the Homepod, but I kind of expected that anyway and for less than half the price of the Homepod Im genuinely amazed at the quality of the sound. For me personally, its so much nicer!
The father in law has 2 Play1s setup in stereo and it sounds unbelievable, Im thinking of getting another one and Id still be quids in!
I can feel a Sonos addiction coming on!
Cheers!
I got one then a second Sonos one in a few days. Stereo is way better. Test it in a few places first and each time run the Trueplay tuning which makes it sound a lot better. I moved one speaker ran tuning moved again etc and kept doing this for a few hours , yeah sad ha but by doing this I’ve got it sounding amazing .
Good grief, people! The tweeters are facing outward in a circle, spaced at 60 degrees. Look at the pictures on the Apple site. Some of them will be facing forward, some rearward and some sideways. This isn't hard.
There is no solid plastic enclosure.
Yeah, the little tweeter horns shoot the sound downwards to vents at the bottom of the unit.
I don't think so . . .
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I believe this is the correct explanation, based upon what I have read.
I also can say that if I pick up one of my HomePods and hold it to my ears to determine where the sound is coming from, it is clearly coming from the bottom of the HomePod.
I picked one up and I really like the sound. Ended up with a second and I'm running the stereo mode that they have on Youtube. You use two copies of Airfoil and set one to one HomePod with the right signal and one to the other with the left signal. It's not ideal but it still sounds really great to me and I'm sure the actual stereo mode may be better because they can probably calibrate together similar to how Audyssey can EQ multiple subs at the same time. I guess my experience is I have a pretty decent 11.1 audio setup with 3 way towers and have been into audio for a while. Don't know if I would call myself an audiophile or anything but I feel like I know sound have a pretty good midrange setup and care about speaker placement, acoustics and calibration.
I'm impressed with these things I think they are well balanced and I think they just reflect the source, if the song seems to have a lot of bass they bring it but if the song is balanced I don't find these bloated or anything. I'm also actually surprised with how balanced they sound at low volume I really enjoy this aspect. The highs seem good to me and what is amazing is just how huge the sweet spot is or how much that even matters with these things. Even one just fills the room with sound and sounds great no matter where you move. Yeah if you get a pair of high end bookshelves you could build a better sweet spot but with these it really does feel that concept doesn't even really matter and that's pretty cool I think. It's really a completely different type of speaker like the mother of all Bi-Poles with amplification and calibration embedded into each speaker in the array. Is it going to beat a high end speaker dead in the sweet spot? Probably not. Once you get out of that sweet spot the HomePod is a completely different beast.
I think they are exciting though and it's interesting what Apple can do to the HT industry here. I think that would be a profitable target like you can put a bunch of these things in a Dolby Atmos setup it would be better at localizing 3 dimensional sounds than anything that I know of on the market (I haven't exactly been buying HT speakers though I have what I need so I really don't look) and you don't have to wire each speaker to the amplifier you just use your existing wall outlets and don't need a receiver, each speaker dynamically calibrates processes and amplifies itself. The only thing they'd really need is a sub, 40Hz is good for music but for HT they need a real sub but they would really disrupt that industry if they want to. Maybe in a year they come out with the HomePod Center that has traditional HT inputs and a HomePod sub, I think there is a lot of money in this arena for Apple if they want to go there.
I'm impressed with these things I think they are well balanced and I think they just reflect the source, if the song seems to have a lot of bass they bring it but if the song is balanced I don't find these bloated or anything. I'm also actually surprised with how balanced they sound at low volume I really enjoy this aspect. The highs seem good to me and what is amazing is just how huge the sweet spot is or how much that even matters with these things. Even one just fills the room with sound and sounds great no matter where you move. Yeah if you get a pair of high end bookshelves you could build a better sweet spot but with these it really does feel that concept doesn't even really matter and that's pretty cool I think. It's really a completely different type of speaker like the mother of all Bi-Poles with amplification and calibration embedded into each speaker in the array. Is it going to beat a high end speaker dead in the sweet spot? Probably not. Once you get out of that sweet spot the HomePod is a completely different beast.
I think they are exciting though and it's interesting what Apple can do to the HT industry here. I think that would be a profitable target like you can put a bunch of these things in a Dolby Atmos setup it would be better at localizing 3 dimensional sounds than anything that I know of on the market (I haven't exactly been buying HT speakers though I have what I need so I really don't look) and you don't have to wire each speaker to the amplifier you just use your existing wall outlets and don't need a receiver, each speaker dynamically calibrates processes and amplifies itself. The only thing they'd really need is a sub, 40Hz is good for music but for HT they need a real sub but they would really disrupt that industry if they want to. Maybe in a year they come out with the HomePod Center that has traditional HT inputs and a HomePod sub, I think there is a lot of money in this arena for Apple if they want to go there.
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Please give examples for what specific recordings you are listening to.
And have you tried any other comparable speaker for price in the HP’s category (ie. smart speaker)?
I think the issue is beta 11.3
Not sure if they fixed it on beta 3 but wasnt working on beta 2. I have returned my HomePod and will be repurchasing at a later date when all teething issues are fixed
I find the HomePod to sound better than all my Sonos speakers besides the Play Bar + Play Sub combo. I have 2x Sonos Ones, 2x Play 3's, 4x Play 5's and I think it actually beats the Play 5's was well but it doesn't get as loud.
And I don't really enjoy TruPlay, each and every time I try to tune my speakers it only results in removal of bass and low-end and some metallic vocals.
Had a HP for over a week now. Am no audiophile or music expert. As ever it is personal taste with sound and music. It is very heavy and small, with the former surprising me. Build quality is excellent. Set up was very easy. I really like the sound and listening to apple music and podcasts. I also airplay from my ipad pro to it and this works well on the whole when I watch youtube videos, movies, and live streams, though on a very few occasions there can be lag. Siri is very basic for me and I do hope they bring it up to speed real soon and extend its functionality e.g. make calendar appointments. I do like listening to news through the HP first thing in the morning or after work along with the weather. Once Airplay 2 arrives I will buy another one or two for a stereo set up in my lounge and have one in my bedroom. I am locked in the apple system so having a HP adds alot of value. For the price think it represents good value for money and great sound.
Dad played some of his Polkas, and wow they sound great on the HomePod.
Otherwise, as others have said, they seem to compare well with my excellent tower speaker, 12 in subwoofer, 500 watt amp system, except for raw power, feeling of the base, and the spacial effects of some stereo passages. I haven't tried classical music. The HomePod doesn't appear to me to do any coloring, unlike most small speakers of this type. But there are certainly more sweet and dull spots in the room than when filled with my Yamaha sound bar or high end stereo.
I find that Siri often gets stuck. We ask for her to play music, and she responds that she's doing so. Nothing plays.. I wind up having to power cycle to get her out of the funk.
It doesn't happen every day, but too often.
It doesn't happen every day, but too often.
I get the same. Eventually she says that there's no internet connection (when there is) and I have to power off and on again. Really buggy.
I got myself a second HomePod and this thing is just amazing when it comes to spreading sound. I have it right next to my desktop monitor and when I play on the HomePod it sounds like the audio is radiating from the entire wall. You can't really tell exactly where the HomePod is located unless you see it as its sounds like the sound is coming from everywhere around it and its really great at reflecting off the walls.
Compared to my Sonos One's, Sonos Play 3's and Sonos Play 5's they can't really spread the audio at all compared to the HomePod. They are stationary units pushing directional sounds so in order for them to work the best you need to ensure you have optimal placement so they are firing sound directly in your direction, preferably they should be placed a few meters from your listening position so the directional audio waves manages to spread somewhat before they arrive at your listening position. If you are too close they don't really have sound-stages or any width to them at all unless you setup two in a stereo pair.
And all the Sonos speakers lacks the same great DSP and loudness EQ as the HomePod so they sound really flat with a really narrow dynamic range unless you turn the volume to something like 60+ which is rather loud. The HomePod is much more capable of sounding vivid and dynamic even at really low volume levels which is quite impressive.
Compared to my Sonos One's, Sonos Play 3's and Sonos Play 5's they can't really spread the audio at all compared to the HomePod. They are stationary units pushing directional sounds so in order for them to work the best you need to ensure you have optimal placement so they are firing sound directly in your direction, preferably they should be placed a few meters from your listening position so the directional audio waves manages to spread somewhat before they arrive at your listening position. If you are too close they don't really have sound-stages or any width to them at all unless you setup two in a stereo pair.
And all the Sonos speakers lacks the same great DSP and loudness EQ as the HomePod so they sound really flat with a really narrow dynamic range unless you turn the volume to something like 60+ which is rather loud. The HomePod is much more capable of sounding vivid and dynamic even at really low volume levels which is quite impressive.
Very mixed feedback on two Sonos 1s for stereo compared to one HP. I guess the only way I will know for sure is do my own comparison.
That is far as I would go with Sonos speakers, anything else would over the cost of the HP and not a far comparisons. I already know a single Sonos 3 will not cut it, I guess folks could pick up two of those and the price while higher would still be a reasonable comparison.
@dotnet is technically correct. While physically the driver is facing down its a horned tweeter that is piped outward. The "front" or "face" of the tweeter where the sound is coming out on the HomePod is the side. I posted about this for a better explanation.
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ass-filter-on-it.2105441/page-4#post-25822398
Like I mentioned there, this isn't new tech or anything. I guess someone could argue this is "special" because getting 7 horned tweeters to work well is difficult, to get it to work as well as the HP is incredibly difficult/impossible (for someone without a lot of resources like Apple).
Well I’ve been using my properly since my internet was reconnected on Wednesday and I’ve been pleased.
Siri is responsive and I don’t have to shout like a do to my Alexa which is nice.
It works well as a soundbar for my Apple TV.
Music sounds great.
I’ve been using it to set timers whilst I’m cooking and it has been able to handle all of my general queries so far.
Siri is responsive and I don’t have to shout like a do to my Alexa which is nice.
It works well as a soundbar for my Apple TV.
Music sounds great.
I’ve been using it to set timers whilst I’m cooking and it has been able to handle all of my general queries so far.
I just picked mine up, and made an account just to post in this thread:
My main bullet points:
Overall, I do like the product, but not sure it's worth the money. I've only had it for 3 days so I'll wait out the return time and decide a little later but so far I'm leaning towards returning it.
My main bullet points:
- Sounds good, but not great. After playing it side by side with my $150 sound bar, it definitely sounds better than it, but not sure if it's $350 better especially when I have an Apple TV and can stream music through that too.
- As a sound bar for the AppleTV, it's okay, I prefer my actual sound bar.
- "Hey Siri..." works actually very well, and can hear me from different rooms or over high volume without any issue.
- I wish there was a follow-up feature for Hey Siri, so I don't have to say it multiple times in a few seconds to skip a couple songs or change the volume a couple times
- The volume doesn't sound that loud, unless it's 1 AM and the house is dead quiet, I need to have it above 50% for casual listening, and even when I want to blast it, 80%+ doesn't shake the house like I'd like, my wife and I can still have a casual conversation with it almost maxed out and I've tried it in different locations and rooms and still wish it was louder.
- Volume is much much louder when streaming from AppleTV or my iPhone, but when playing music directly from the HomePod, it doesn't get that loud.
- The bass is heavy, everything else seems to be very well balanced.
- Haven't used Hey Siri for anything other than playing music so I can't comment on that.
- Really, really crappy that I can't add music to my library from the HomePod Now Playing screen on my iPhone.
Overall, I do like the product, but not sure it's worth the money. I've only had it for 3 days so I'll wait out the return time and decide a little later but so far I'm leaning towards returning it.
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Have to agree with you.
I find the voice detection is the most impressive thing about the HomePod.
The bass is too heavy.
I also found the volume not that loud, like you when streaming from the iphone you can get it to go louder. You can get it to go even louder if you stream from a MacBook via iTunes. When doing this you can also use the presets and equaliser in iTunes and you can get much better sound quality and louder than when using it as a stand alone device.
For these reasons i returned mine, because it is only any good as a streaming device rather than a stand alone device, and i already have better speakers that i can stream to, so wasn't worth keeping for me.
If Apple introduce some presets or equaliser settings for the HP i would buy another one and try it again.