HomePod HomePod first impressions

[SpiersyG]

YouTube is 128kb/s. Garbage In Garbage Out.

As I acknowledged. Still, only 10 million plus listens to that track, so maybe it would be of interest to some people.
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YouTube is 128kb/s. Garbage In Garbage Out.

Your playlist looks interesting btw. Listening now. Humble certainly gets the woofer going...

 

[kmanmx]

Does anyone know if Apple does some 'pre-burnin' on the HomePod ? It is typically true of all speakers that they take many dozens of hours, sometimes hundreds, to sound their best. Wondering if Apple do some of this in the factory or not... people seem quite happy with the sound fresh out of the box, so I suspect possibly they do.

Just went onto Argos's website (UK Apple retailer & Apple reseller) and they have HomePods in stock near me, so I am going to pick one up shortly

 

[ErikGrim]

Does anyone know if Apple 'pre-burnin' the HomePod ? It is typically true of all speakers that they take many dozens of hours, sometimes hundreds, to sound their best. Wondering if Apple do some of this in the factory or not... people seem quite happy with the sound fresh out of the box, so I suspect possibly they do.

That’s a myth.

 

[kmanmx]

That’s a myth.

Eh, it's not at all a myth. The science is really quite sound. How flexible and comfortable are your new leather shoes when you get them ? not at all, most will agree. The same applies to speaker cones, the material is very stiff and takes some time soften up and become more pliable, which understandably effects the sound quality. Pretty much all high end audio manufacturers will explain this process to you if you buy speakers from them, see here for example: https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/gbr/en/blog/how-run-speakers

To clarify, i'm solely talking about the speakers. The burn in for amps, dacs, preamps and cables is totally a myth.

This widely reiterated piece of rubbish would have you believe that audio electronics, and even cables, will “sound better” after a burn-in period of days or weeks or months (yes, months). Pure garbage. Capacitors will “form” in a matter of seconds after power-on. Bias will stabilize in a matter of minutes (and shouldn’t be all that critical in well-designed equipment, to begin with). There is absolutely no difference in performance between a correctly designed amplifier’s (or preamp’s or CD player’s) firsthour and 1000th-hour performance. As for cables, yecch... We’re dealing with audiophile voodoo here rather than science. (See also the Duo-Tech review in Issue No. 19, page 36.) Loudspeakers, however, may require a break-in period of a few hours, perhaps even a day or two, before reaching optimum performance. That’s because they are mechanical devices with moving parts under stress that need to settle in. (The same is true of reciprocating engines and firearms.) That doesn’t mean a good loudspeaker won’t “sound good” right out of the box, any more than a new car with 10 miles on it won’t be good to drive.

 

[johnyslats]

Has anyone found functionality to integrate a playlist into a Home.app scene? E.g. when using Good Morning, turn on my lights, increase the heating and play Favourites mix playlist

Doesn't appear to be possible. When creating a scene, the HomePod isn't even listed as an accessory for use, even though the device is visible elsewhere within Home

 

[danbalsh]

Doesn't appear to be possible. When creating a scene, the HomePod isn't even listed as an accessory for use, even though the device is visible elsewhere within Home

Feels like a missed opportunity, hope they add this with iOS 12

 

[maflynn]

Feels like a missed opportunity, hope they add this with iOS 12

Given that they missed their desire to get the HomePod out during the holiday season, I'm sure many things had to be pushed off for the future, just to get this out the door now.

 

[johnyslats]

Feels like a missed opportunity, hope they add this with iOS 12

Hope so too. Hoping for 'Turn on Apple TV' to add to my 'Movie Time' scene. Movie lights (hue) and HDMI switch to Apple TV surely got to be possible

 

[danbalsh]

Hope so too. Hoping for 'Turn on Apple TV' to add to my 'Movie Time' scene. Movie lights (hue) and HDMI switch to Apple TV surely got to be possible

It's definitely possible using the HomeKit hacks on RasspberryPi, just need a decent Apple implementation

"Hey Siri, I'm home.."

Lights come on, HomePod turns on and plays music

 

[Brookzy]

My HomePods arrived about an hour ago.

Initial impressions: what a disappointment.

It’s just a very average sounding speaker. There’s no bass - there is no chance you could use this for a house party.

The vocals are too artificial and clinical. I assume this is a conscious effort from the audio team at Apple to have “crisp” vocals however they’ve gone too far.

And it’s really quiet. Anything below 50% is completely futile and 100% is equivalent to my Sonos Play 5 (first gen) at 60-70%.

There will be a sigh of relief in the Sonos offices this morning. The reviewers who claimed the HomePod to be the best speaker under $1000 are just out of their minds.

Still, I’ll give it a shot, see if it grows on me or tunes better over time with the echolocation stuff.

(And, I’ve tried two, so not likely a defective unit.)

 

[OllyW]

My HomePods arrived about an hour ago.

Initial impressions: what a disappointment.

It’s just a very average sounding speaker. There’s no bass - there is no chance you could use this for a house party.

The vocals are too artificial and clinical. I assume this is a conscious effort from the audio team at Apple to have “crisp” vocals however they’ve gone too far.

And it’s really quiet. Anything below 50% is completely futile and 100% is equivalent to my Sonos Play 5 (first gen) at 60-70%.

There will be a sigh of relief in the Sonos offices this morning. The reviewers who claimed the HomePod to be the best speaker under $1000 are just out of their minds.

Still, I’ll give it a shot, see if it grows on me or tunes better over time with the echolocation stuff.

(And, I’ve tried two, so not likely a defective unit.)

You are the second disappointed Sonos Play 5 owner to post here.

Impressions from a Sonos Play 5 (gen 2) owner

 

[Pug72]

For a good distinct bass kick test try Riche Sambora - One Light Burning.

You get clear deep bass and high end right from the start. It's my go to whenever I tryout new speakers or indeed give a demo to friends.


I decided against a HomePod in the end. I like the idea but would be redundant in my house as I already have a good sound set up in rooms I listen to music. (Plus Echo Spots and a Dot for home automation and room to room comms.


Interested in hearing the reviews here though.

 

[maflynn]

nd it’s really quiet. Anything below 50% is completely futile and 100% is equivalent to my Sonos Play 5 (first gen) at 60-70%.

I'm no audiophile, but I wonder if its an apples vs. oranges type of thing. Just like the HomePod is much better vs the 79 dollar Echo, the 600 dollar Sonos 5 may very well produce better sound. Of the reviews, I've read/watched it was noted that the Sonos was close to the HomePod regarding sound quality.

There will be a sigh of relief in the Sonos offices this morning.

No, I don't think its at that level, I think HomePod has a lot of positive energy regarding this product and apple is showing it is a force to be reckoned with in the smart speaker category. Amazon's Alexia definitely has a lead in terms of what it can do vs. Siri, but nonetheless, I think Apple has a great product.

 

[GDF]

Not sure why people are comparing this to the Sonos 5. That is a $500 dollar speaker and not a smart speaker. Comparisons shoudl be against the Sonos One, which is a smart speaker or if just a speaker the Sonos 3.

 

[miguelthomas]

Ever review i've read and watched i saw that HomePod are better than Sonos One and could be AS GOOD AS Sonos 5. So, Sonos 5 is better than HomePod.

My thoughts: If you don't have any smart speaker and wants quality, you could pick a HomePod and you will be really satisfied.

BTW, I'm from Portugal and during this weekend i will buy one and user forward2me ahahah

 

[dannys1]

Mine has arrived, throughly disappointed in it. Sound is as I feared from a consumer speaker, veiled, muddy, boomy, no top end, smeary, boxy - there's no detail. It's the same horrible sound signature that Bose, B&W (Some fella from B&W designed Homepod's sound), H&K, Sonos and all those crap sound bars and blue tooth speakers have.

I feel it has the potential to be EQ'ed better, but there's no EQ option!

I'm sure it's fine for your average home listener who'll think it's good "good bass" and goes loud for it's size. But I was hoping for a lot more - no way would I buy two of these for stereo sound when you can get a pair of Elac book shelves for that price.

 

[Bazooka-joe]

Despite my grumbling about Siri in another thread, the sound is absolutely superb and Siri picks up Apple Music with no issues at all and hasn’t got it wrong yet.
It’s a shame it doesn’t integrate with iOS calendar yet

 

[Macalway]

Comparisons with dissimilar products and peoples taste in music are going make interesting posts. Then you have the burn-in idea, which is so obviously loopy, it's sounds like a conspiracy theory.

 

[kmanmx]

Comparisons with dissimilar products and peoples taste in music are going make interesting posts. Then you have the burn-in idea, which is so obviously loopy, it's sounds like a conspiracy theory.

Properties of a mechanical system changing with use is "loopy" and a "conspiracy theory" ? - hmm. Even though it is a very well known and observed phenomenon in pretty much everything from shoes to car engines and everything in between.

I think you should read up on material science !

 

[Macalway]

Mine has arrived, throughly disappointed in it. Sound is as I feared from a consumer speaker, veiled, muddy, boomy, no top end, smeary, boxy - there's no detail. It's the same horrible sound signature that Bose, B&W (Some fella from B&W designed Homepod's sound), H&K, Sonos and all those crap sound bars and blue tooth speakers have.

I feel it has the potential to be EQ'ed better, but there's no EQ option!

I'm sure it's fine for your average home listener who'll think it's good "good bass" and goes loud for it's size. But I was hoping for a lot more - no way would I buy two of these for stereo sound when you can get a pair of Elac book shelves for that price.

B&W have made decent stuff. I don't know the direction they have taken recent'y though. Bose, is obviously not reliable for certain things, as with the rest of the consumer market. The fact that you feel these are simply consumer low end, is a bit confusing.
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Properties of a mechanical system changing with use is "loopy" and a "conspiracy theory" ? - hmm. Even though it is a very well known and observed phenomenon in pretty much everything from shoes to car engines and everything in between.

I think you should read up on material science !

I don't think so. Much more likely the listener changes with time

 

[dannys1]

B&W have made decent stuff. I don't know the direction they have taken recent'y though. Bose, is obviously not reliable for certain things, as with the rest of the consumer market. The fact that you feel these are simply consumer low end, is a bit confusing.

I think they're consumer mid-range, not low end, I said they sound signature is crap, not cheap. Bose make £1000 corner hi-fi units that sound woeful.

As an audio engineer I'm used to a detailed, true, revealing sound though. I prefer Adam, Elac and Sennheiser for headphones.

 

[kmanmx]

I think they're consumer mid-range, not low end, I said they sound signature is crap, not cheap. Bose make £1000 corner hi-fi units that sound woeful.

As an audio engineer I'm used to a detailed, true, revealing sound though. I prefer Adam, Elac and Sennheiser for headphones.

As an audio engineer, why would you buy a HomePod ? You know full well there is no magic sauce that lets you evade the laws of physics. HomePod is very small, and very low power (< 10W). How on earth is it going to compete with active studio monitors from Adam with an order of magnitude more volume and power ?

It is what it is, a very small powered wireless speaker - and so that is what it should be compared too.

 

[Macalway]

I think they're consumer mid-range, not low end, I said they sound signature is crap, not cheap. Bose make £1000 corner hi-fi units that sound woeful.

As an audio engineer I'm used to a detailed, true, revealing sound though. I prefer Adam, Elac and Sennheiser for headphones.

I guess it comes down to wether these are better than the direct competition, which isn't saying much, if you're after particularly detailed preproduction.

 

[cjbryce]

Just listening to mine, so very first impression stuff.

Siri

Still pretty dumb but does 95% of what I ask so I'm OK with that
HomeKit stuff "just works"
Not great at recognising tunes with non-English names
Works better than iPhone (not surprising given the mic array)
Quick response
Hears over quite loud music
Feedback sensible/helpful and voice actually not unpleasant
Sends messages from any voice if the owner's iPhone is on the WiFi network - don't piss off your partner​

Sound - after only about an hour of listening.

Amazing for such a tiny speaker
Deep bass and good mid-range clarity and precision
No competition to my B&W floor-standers and Arcam amp - but it's not intended to be
More than adequate volume for a 5m x 5m bedroom

One HomePod definitely wouldn't be room filling for a 12m x 6m living room​

AirPlay from AppleTV too low a volume compared to Apple Music

Turning up volume via Apple TV remote results in next Apple Music play being way too loud but this is a problem from app to app on Apple TV and I get it when using my TV speakers too​

Software updates required ASAP

Play a playlist/song at a preset volume as an alarm
Play a playlist/song at a preset volume when a HomeKit automation requires it
User-configurable permanent/automagic AirPlay connection from device->HomePod
AirPlay2 (obviously)​

Hardware roadmap required please Apple

HomePod XL - around 75-100W should do it so maybe twice or thrice the physical size
HomePod Sub - ditto
Apple TV optical in and Dolby Atmos 7.1 via AirPlay2 to my new array of HomePods​

I'll almost certainly get another one to have a stereo pair in the bedroom, and I'll maybe get one for the bathroom.

 

[dannys1]

As an audio engineer, why would you buy a HomePod ? You know full well there is no magic sauce that lets you evade the laws of physics. HomePod is very small, and very low power (< 10W). How on earth is it going to compete with active studio monitors from Adam with an order of magnitude more volume and power ?

It is what it is, a very small powered wireless speaker - and so that is what it should be compared too.

The volume and the power is not the issue though - it's the sound signature. I don't want volume - I want neutrality. You could EQ this Homepod to sound really quite acceptable - and it's low to medium volume levels are perfectly loud enough. However there are no EQ options. So I can't get rid of the boom, I can't tone down the muddy bass and I can't give it any top end it's sorely lacking.

It's like listening to a wall of mid-range with a subwoofer booming away.