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HomePod First Listen Impressions: 'Incredible' Audio With Bass-Heavy Sound That Easily Beats Echo

Wackery said:
at 350$, it's not beating anything
Click to expand...

How would you know that? Why does it need to "Beat" anything?

I don't think that's Apples goal here. Their goal was to release the product when It's ready and release the product that's going to deliver promising results.

Tim Cook even said it's not about being first on the market, it's about delivering a better product. Rest assured, Home Pod will do really well.
 
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A stereo pair is far far better than a single MONO

So:

HomePod x 2 = $700

SONOS Play One x 2 $350 ($50 off at present) + Dot $50 = $400

$300 to spare for another SONOS Play One for another room $200 + Dot $50 = $250

$50 over and TWO rooms covered with SONOS.

These Voice activated devices are best in a few rooms.
Also I doubt if HomePod streams Spotify and Google Play Music and won't control Nest thermostats.

The quality of the SONOS Play One in a stereo pair is outstanding. SONOS and Alexa integration due soon.
 
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macpanzer said:
Stereo means distinct left and right channels, which will need to stay the same left and right throughout the musical track playing.
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That's what the SoC controlling audio beamforming is for. It can adjust the sound based on the space that it's in and mix it through the speakers so that it's consistent wherever you're standing.
 
dmylrea said:
And you have some excellent speakers, too. SONOS is still the "go to" speaker for those who don't feel the need to talk to a computer. (Personally, I prefer the Sonos controller software instead of fighting with Siri to get it to play the right stuff).
Click to expand...

I have no illusions of this actually becoming reality, but would it not be amazing to be able to say “Hey Siri, play Led Zeppelin IV on my Living Room Sonos” followed by “Hey Siri, raise the volume to level 4, and add my Kitchen Sonos to the group.”

I don’t “feel the need” to talk to a computer, howver if it were actually possible to do so, then I’d do it in a hearbeat.
 
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deany said:
A stereo pair is far far better than a single MONO

So:

HomePod x 2 = $700

SONOS Play One x 2 $350 ($50 off at present) + Dot $50 = $400

$300 to spare for another SONOS Play One for another room $200 + Dot $50 = $250

$50 over and TWO rooms covered with SONOS.

These Voice activated devices are best in a few rooms.
Also I doubt if HomePod steams Spotify and Google Play Music and won't control Nest thermostats.

The quality of the SONOS Play One in a stereo pair is outstanding. SONOS and Alexa integration due soon.
Click to expand...

If you're doing a price comparison, why use the Play 1 when the Play 3 is apparently the comparable?
 
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I remember back last December when AirPods came out...

And most here were moaning/whining about how awful they must be; total rubbish, buh-blah, buh-blah, buh-blah. A huge fail for Apple. And of course Tim Cook needs to be fired.

And here we are today.

Yeah... HomePod will likely be the same huge Apple fail. Count on it.
 
I'm interested. But what I really want is this combined with a tv speaker. OR at least I want that option as well. It would feel kind of dumb to have this and then in the same room have a tv speaker or a stereo system.

Maybe this is just Apple's way of getting Sonos to support Airplay2.

Which also makes me wonder why Apple doesn't just buy Sonos.
 
deany said:
A stereo pair is far far better than a single MONO

So:

HomePod x 2 = $700

SONOS Play One x 2 $350 ($50 off at present) + Dot $50 = $400

$300 to spare for another SONOS Play One for another room $200 + Dot $50 = $250

$50 over and TWO rooms covered with SONOS.

These Voice activated devices are best in a few rooms.
Also I doubt if HomePod steams Spotify and Google Play Music and won't control Nest thermostats.

The quality of the SONOS Play One in a stereo pair is outstanding. SONOS and Alexa integration due soon.
Click to expand...

Thanks. We needed another post like this since the other 250 that said the same thing weren't enough.
 
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Seems like a lot of people are missing the point. Just like how many missed the point of AirPods.

That's ok though, I'll enjoy my AirPods and HomePod, while haters are confused as to why they're selling so well.
 
Leonard1818 said:
More than likely...

I believe a stereo pair of play:1's is a great deal (when they were $50 off) for what you get.
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Yeah I have a Play 3 and two Play 1s, got two Play 1s at Christmas for
Mtmspa said:
Said nobody yet.
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I just said it. People who went to the demo have been able to compare it with a Play 1 and have said it sounds slightly better than a Play 1, but the fact is you can get TWO Play 1s for the price of one Homepod OR a Play 3 which has far superior sound quality the Homepod can't compete with. So at the demo, it was misleading of Apple to compare it with a Play 1, they should've compared it with a Play 3 or a stereo pair of Play 1s.
 
deany said:
A stereo pair is far far better than a single MONO

So:
...

The quality of the SONOS Play One in a stereo pair is outstanding. SONOS and Alexa integration due soon.
Click to expand...

Can SONOS broadcast a local source like Youtube? Last time i checked it wasn't able to.
Whether it's Apple or Sonos, I would like it to be able to be support not only music services.

.
 
Tapiture said:
Yeah I have a Play 3 and two Play 1s, got two Play 1s at Christmas for

I just said it. People who went to the demo have been able to compare it with a Play 1 and have said it sounds slightly better than a Play 1, but the fact is you can get TWO Play 1s for the price of one Homepod OR a Play 3 which has far superior sound quality the Homepod can't compete with. So at the demo, it was misleading of Apple to compare it with a Play 1, they should've compared it with a Play 3 or a stereo pair of Play 1s.
Click to expand...

You should read the article again. It was compared to a Play 3.
 
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paul4339 said:
Can SONOS broadcast a local source like Youtube? Last time i checked it wasn't able to.
Whether it's Apple or Sonos, I would like it to be able to be support not only music services.

.
Click to expand...

There are work arounds but only with SONOS Play 5 1st and 2nd G, Connect amp and Play Bar that have Line-in. Work around is not ideal but works.
 
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Nick A said:
Also, a 4"in driver cannot be a sub-woofer, it's just against physics. It may be tuned to produce a lot of mid-bass but there is no way that little driver produces true bass notes.
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A low frequency sound may have a wavelength 20 meters long. Some audiophiles believe that to correctly reproduce it you need a speaker that size - bigger than your living room - this obviously isn't practical.

Actually, the audiophile world is full of pseudoscience that is reinforced by subjective opinions. The fact is that you can reproduce a low frequency sound just by making something vibrate at that frequency. This something could be as small as an atom - but that obviously wouldn't be very loud.

In this case the driver has a relatively small diameter for a woofer but it is able to generate loud bass because it has a 20mm displacement. This is a lot of movement it enables the driver to produce intense pressure waves - loud bass.
 
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I appleagize if this has been asked before in here (~250 posts yipe) but does anybody know if you can use the HomePod as a speaker phone (when synced to an I phone)?

It's one feature I think would be obvious, but not mentioned (that I've seen).
 
deany said:
You'll never get good Stereo separation on such a small stand alone device.
Click to expand...

It's a small stand-alone device with an SoC inside of it that can control audio beamforming. The separation is likely going to be more sophisticated than people think for a portable system.
 
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