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HomePod First Listen Impressions: 'Incredible' Audio With Bass-Heavy Sound That Easily Beats Echo
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I imagine Apple did some research. Plus Beats already play in this market so there's a few years of customer data they have access to.
I guess time will tell with regards to how narrow or not the market is. I don't have any research or sales statistics for $300-$400 speakers.
I personally don't have any intention of buying a HomePod just yet. However...
If the sound from 2 paired HomePods is comparable to my Zepellin Air (I paid nearly £500 for it about 5 years ago) then it'll certainly be on my shortlist when I'm shopping for a replacement.
I'm particularly intrigued about the ability to "learn" a room. My Denon receiver has his functionality. But you need to set it up manually using a microphone that comes with it. It works well but is a long winded process - the HomePod apparently does this automatically. My Zepellin Air can't do it at all - it needs to be placed well in a room to make it sound its best (as do most speakers in this category).
I just feel this type of product should have character. It's odd that Luxo Jr exists in the heritage of ideas Apple is related to, and yet we end up with this. I'd like to see robots with personality which can pretend to be speakers, lamps and so on.
So did you buy the music on iTunes? There aren't many ways to put music files on your phone without going through iTunes.
I download the music however I feel like, then I add them to iTunes. The vast majority of my listening habits are hearings turned into audiobooks and podcasts anyway.
Wow, that marketing video was cringeworthy. I like the tuned bass port (I hope apple has something similar) but there doesn't seem to be any indications of DSP to drive beam forming of the high frequencies - put the Whyd close to a wall, and the reflections will have a smearing effect on the direct HF sounds..
Fair point about Siri's language capabilities. I expect Google Home will catch up to Siri fairly quickly in terms of recognizing more languages, but Amazon will be much slower.
If you use Apple music and are looking for an easy standalone speaker solution, HomePod makes sense. There is good competition though. I've seen a nice whole house audio setup with 6 Chromecast Audio's. One for each zone of in-wall speakers. Google Home controls them beautifully and allows issuing commands to different speakers or groups of speakers. At $109 Google Home is a great controller. $350 for a HomePod used only as Siri device would be painful.. I would guess a HomePod mini or nano will be available at some point offering Siri without the audio.
So basically you want a speaker light? what happens when you want to move the speakers? Rewire your whole house?
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Agreed, I will get one for sure but it better be able to answer and make calls...like you iPad can.
Hmm cool. You might benefit from something like this then. If all of your music files are on iTunes you'd probably be able to play them directly on the Homepod.
I'm sold on it. Can't wait for December. Glad I withheld from the Google Home and Echo. The HomePod has loads of potential.
Any Airplay2 speaker can be controlled through an HomePod. You won't get voice features but that doesn't really matter because many people would have an Apple Watch or iPhone nearby.
Showing it sounds better is to justify a higher price. Obviously.
Nobody called the price magical.
The A8 processor is going to allow Apple to do so much with this. I imagine that it'll neatly manage Facetime Audio and other VOIP services (since they're part of SiriKit) .
I've got my answer on rebroadcasting and it's great news. Now we need to know minor details like is bluetooth included? Can we access local music/video files via home sharing. How are multiple users managed?
If you watch the Keynote there'a a demo video that shows that when 2 are paired they dynamically adjust sound output to compliment each other.
These are for listening to music primarily. I wouldn't use them for an AV setup - they won't replace a dedicated 5.1 setup for example - anybody with knowledge in this field would tell you that.
I wouldn't worry about what others say. Just use the available information and form your own educated opinions.
Haven't read through every page, so don't know if it's already been asked:
How do we turn the volume up and down? No physical buttons, right?
Will it be, Hey Siri turn volume up to 70%?...
Or maybe a dedicated remote app like the Apple TV?
How do we turn the volume up and down? No physical buttons, right?
Will it be, Hey Siri turn volume up to 70%?...
Or maybe a dedicated remote app like the Apple TV?
I think you can do that or you can launch the Music app and manage all your "rooms" using airplay 2
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I did watch it and there's a difference in what "compliment" may mean and the idea of 2 being paired up as excellent stereo Left & Right speakers, as was the context of the conversation. Compliment could mean that they'll both sync up their sound output to try to generate about the same volume throughout a room (which is what I suspect it means). That's different than what stereo means in the context of the conversation. For example, does compliment mean the one to the left will optimize the stereo left channel and the one to the right will optimize the stereo right channel sound? Maybe, but that wasn't communicated. Of course, the trick for trying to believe it anyway is how would each speaker know which is left & right and the location of the optimal listening position to set themselves up that way?
Bottom line: several people are suggesting that these CAN replace speakers in a good stereo or even home theater setup. The implication is buy one for the left and one for the right and they'll outperform classic speakers set up that way by working together. I can't absolutely refute that suggestion but I don't automatically buy it either... until someone can offer definitive information that "compliment" means that.
I agree but that's the conversation within which I was participating. I suspect this in a fine smart speaker but it should mostly be left at that. Some in this thread seem to be trying to puff these up toward being the be-all, end-all speaker for ALL purposes. That, I don't believe at all but some puffery keeps flying. I figure by the time this thread ends, these will lay golden eggs, double as Star Trek transporters and food replicators and even slice bread (but only these slices of bread will be properly sliced).
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There is a reference on the Apple site that you can adjust volume by touch (on the tops of the speaker). Here's the quote: "Tap the top of HomePod to play, pause, or adjust the volume."
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Does anyone have information on if it will be able to switch music libraries depending on which person talks to it? Or is this a product for single households only, not for families?
Also: until now Siri has terribly struggled with artists that do not have English names – will I be able to play songs from French, Italian, Spanish, German,.… bands? Is Siri now capable of identifying a word (e.g. artist name) in a different language than the sentence it's embedded in?
Also: until now Siri has terribly struggled with artists that do not have English names – will I be able to play songs from French, Italian, Spanish, German,.… bands? Is Siri now capable of identifying a word (e.g. artist name) in a different language than the sentence it's embedded in?
If your Apple Watch battery isn't dead and your iPhone isn't upstairs in your gym bag this works great. At $39 you can put Echo Dot's everywhere and not have to worry about finding a device. Just talk and one will hear you. Amazon hasn't figured out multi-zone audio yet, but it's just a matter of time. Google and Sonos have the best multi-zone solutions. Sounds like Airplay2 has a lot of promise and could close the gap.
Maybe the same way as Google home does it? Voice command work but also the circle at the top works as a touch dial with LEDs indicating volume increase/decrease.
