Funny, I completely forgot to ask about wattage
. So under 10W? Yikes that's.....anemic
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HomePod HomePod first impressions
- Thread starter ApeBot
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Funny, I completely forgot to ask about wattage
. So under 10W? Yikes that's.....anemic
Good to see you’ll be able to require authentication in 11.3 for personal requests.
Oh no. Now I want a stereo pair for casual listening in my living room. I'm going to go brokeJust 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 speakerSoftware updates required ASAP
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 roomAirPlay 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
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'l maybe get one for the bathroom.
Have you ever listened to Monitor Audio S300? It is amazing. I just hope it sounds as good. If not i'm returning.
I'm really on the fence about this. I'm deep into the Apple ecosystem, but I also have multiple Echos (2 shows, multiple dots) in the house. I have a bunch of TP Smartlink plugs which work with Alexa but it looks like they are not compatible with Homepod. I would want the Homepod to replace the Echo show in the main living space (where I usually give it commands to turn on/off lights, etc) but it looks like I can't with the plugs compatibility.
I haven't, but they make some great stuff.
At the moment i'm sat here wondering why you'd ever want to listen to something on the Homepod over a pair of £100 headphones - you wouldn't the headphones sound 10x better.
The speaker goes far louder than i'd ever want it to - volume and power are not remotely issues.
The more I listen to it, the less I like it - i'm so so disappointed, I really thought with all the talk of sound Apple was going to do this - but no, I guess that guy from B&W has come over done what they did with that dome iPod dock they had for £500 which sounded just like this.
This is a valid point of course, but I was led astray by reviewers' comments such as that it will "slaughter" anything under $1000, and "weighty, authoritative sound", and "sounds incredible".
It simply doesn't when you have it next to a Play 5, and thus I can't understand these reviewers - they haven't done the bare basics of comparing it to a properly good speaker.
Perhaps naively, I assumed they would have. I would have, if I got to review it. Indeed, when it comes to any other Apple product review, it is always compared to the best the market has to offer, by default. Not HomePod, apparently.
And let's not forget that the audio experience was the #1 goal here, and was supposed to be what forgave Siri's enduring mediocrity.
Credit where it's due - Siri's hearing is incredible.
Funny how we reach similar conclusions but from polar opposite judgements... muddy? Boomy? I couldn't describe it as that. I came to the opposite conclusion really - sterile, unnatural, over-processed, and a complete lack of power.
Oh and for anyone saying "You're an audio engineer, what did you expect?"
Honestly - I think i'd prefer to listen with my MacBook Pro speakers - it's less intrusive to the rest of the house and I can hear the top end.
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The Play 5 isn't a properly good speaker either though - that's also dreadful - the entire Sonos range has a crap sound signature.
All these consumer speakers, Sonos, B&W, Homepod, Bose, Soundbars, blue tooth wireless speakers - they all sound like i'm listening to music with cotton wool in my ears.
I'm not kidding but for about £50 on the second hand market now you could get a pair of active Behringher Truth monitors which will automatically switch off when you're not feeding them audio and they sound 100x better than all of these speakers.
Honestly - I think i'd prefer to listen with my MacBook Pro speakers - it's less intrusive to the rest of the house and I can hear the top end.
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The Play 5 isn't a properly good speaker either though - that's also dreadful - the entire Sonos range has a crap sound signature.
All these consumer speakers, Sonos, B&W, Homepod, Bose, Soundbars, blue tooth wireless speakers - they all sound like i'm listening to music with cotton wool in my ears.
I'm not kidding but for about £50 on the second hand market now you could get a pair of active Behringher Truth monitors which will automatically switch off when you're not feeding them audio and they sound 100x better than all of these speakers.
Fair enough - I don't like boomy bass so i'll see what I think of it later when I get home. Hopefully we'll find a way to EQ it somehow eventually.
Though, as a mass market consumer speaker, the lack of a flat and neutral sound signature is not surprising. Very much targeting the Beats audio crowd. I can't blame them for that, as it is what most people like. But it would have been nice to provide an EQ for those who don't like it.
Can someone help me here. Im currently using Bose solo 5 as TV speaker. Do you guys think 2 HomePods can replace the Bose solo 5, or one HomePods can replace solo 5 easily. And should I get 2 HomePods when paring is available? Or there are something better under au$1000 (2 HomePods = au$1000).
At the moment most of the very early Apple product reviews are extremely unreliable because Apple has started giving review units to independent bloggers, vloggers (etc.) who are actually Apple fans. Of course the coverage is going to be favourable, factoring in 1) their sites/channels etc. started as Apple fan pages, 2) Apple's just given them a free $xxx device, of course they're going to be in a good mood when reviewing it, 3) as independents they don't want to lose such a privilege as getting free units from Apple.
Of course serious journalists/reviewers are sent units as well but, increasingly worried about the attention b/vloggers are getting, I assume they don't want to go in too hard on Apple either at this point.
Or in other cases, they get about 10 minutes with the device - which isn't enough time to really put it through its paces and compare it too other devices.
I take your points on board, but do you see how this reads a bit funny ? You hate Sonos, Bose, Soundbars, and Bluetooth wireless speakers. You also hate B&W. You also knew that the HomePod was designed by the guy that worked on the B&W speakers that you hate, and you know it's a small wireless speaker akin to all the ones you just stated that you also hate...
And despite all of that, you bought one anyway?
I can only assume you were just hoping that Apple would be better than the rest and reset your thoughts on the category ? If so, okay, I get it - i'm a fan of Apple and each time they enter a new product category, I tend to just assume they will do a good job of it too.
I hope you can at least get a full refund.
I don't think there is anything wrong, I just think some people had their expectations too high. No matter what iMore says, there are going to be shortcomings in a speaker this small.
Love the sound on this thing and Siri understands my voice well from the sofa
I’ve tried two. I optimistically ordered four hoping to replace my Play 5s, I could open a third? No, I don’t think that’s a good idea either...
At the moment at least two are going back because I’ll keep two for HomeKit support, but not to replace the Sonoses!
Has anyone done a Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin test yet...... I actually had high hopes for a reasonable stereo replacements, was going to buy 2 HomePod, my subwoofer went out and my nht super zeros have no bass without it.... plus I don’t think you can over state how easy and nice it is to stream music... probably would listen more since my current set up is still dvd and cd.... I consider my self an audiophile.... just have been out of it for a while.... at one time I had 8k invested in separates and speakers but had kids and just let it all go
Awesome! As much as I’m intrigued with it and itching to buy it.... gonna pass up on it.
I’m waiting on that AirPlay 2.
Not only does this thing sound amazing but I am impressed at how the sound follows you everywhere you go.
I’ve tried two. I optimistically ordered four hoping to replace my Play 5s, I could open a third? No, I don’t think that’s a good idea either...
I returned the Play 5 back when, I did not feel personally it was worth the bucks.
I am betting for the price I will be happy with the Homepod. We'll see.