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HomePod First Listen Impressions: 'Incredible' Audio With Bass-Heavy Sound That Easily Beats Echo
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I have a full size Alexa in my bedroom, but in the living room a use Echo Dot, which is tiny, but has a 3.5mm output which can be plugged into any powered speaker. I use a Polk, which is reasonably good as far as powered speakers go (and it accepts Airplay and BT, too) and it works great.
For music, the Alexa is not as good as Google Home, which I noticed was not tested against the HomePod
But neither would hold a candle to the Echo Dot plugged into a full size powered speaker, such as my Polk.
The Echo Dot is really an amazing deal and neither Google nor Apple have a competing product with audio out.
For music, the Alexa is not as good as Google Home, which I noticed was not tested against the HomePod
But neither would hold a candle to the Echo Dot plugged into a full size powered speaker, such as my Polk.
The Echo Dot is really an amazing deal and neither Google nor Apple have a competing product with audio out.
With the two of them working together, how important is speaker placement? Obviously with a 2.1 system you basically put them in a line with optimal listening point in a triangulated position from the speakers. But with these working together, could you place them diagonally across a room? High/low? Have the same dimensional experience anywhere in a room?
[doublepost=1496799659][/doublepost]I have a pair of high end studio monitors myself, but as incredible as they sound, they only work optimally in a small area. I am really looking forward to filling the rest of my oddly laid out apartment with these + AirPlay 2.
[doublepost=1496799659][/doublepost]I have a pair of high end studio monitors myself, but as incredible as they sound, they only work optimally in a small area. I am really looking forward to filling the rest of my oddly laid out apartment with these + AirPlay 2.
I don't think it could be that difficult to use the HomePod together with my existing sonos system
According to one review I read, they were. But can't confirm that, obviously and maybe whoever did the setup botched it. But supposedly the Play:3 was set up with room analysis beforehand.
Article Link: HomePod First Listen Impressions: 'Incredible' Audio With Bass-Heavy Sound That Easily Beats Echo[/QUOTE]
i wonder how homePod compares with my 7yr old yamaha sound projector... with 44+ drivers and what not~
i wonder how homePod compares with my 7yr old yamaha sound projector... with 44+ drivers and what not~
The whole point is the top shelf, DSP driven, room and other speaker aware, speaker; SIRI is just the second bullet point and arguably at that price, not the most important.
Also safe to assume that's a fairly ridiculous comparison. I love all these people coming in here bragging about how their $5K+ amp/speaker systems will blow this small $350 box away.
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Yeah, this is a huge issue for me as well. If there's no way to use it in a simple way for television audio, that might be a deal-breaker. Kinda weird to have a "music only" speaker and then have to get some other speaker system for your television in the same room.
Maybe some box that takes digital/analog audio inputs from your tv and plays it out using Airplay 2 to the Home Pod, automatically connecting when needed. But this sounds unlikely.
For music, the Alexa is not as good as Google Home, which I noticed was not tested against the HomePod
But neither would hold a candle to the Echo Dot plugged into a full size powered speaker, such as my Polk..
Use the Google Home to control a Chromecast Audio plugged into your Polk, and you'll have the best voice-controlled audio solution on the market. The Echo Dot is a great product, but still no multizone audio from Amazon.
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You absolutely missed the point. These so called smart assistants are all DUMB! Alexa is just as "useless" as Siri. Just like with Siri, the novelty has worn off and it's now considered the most expensive alarm clock for many Echo owners. Just do a quick search online. I can do everything I used Alexa for with my Apple Watch, and it's always on me making it far more useful and convenient.
Making great sounding speakers OTOH is definitely NOT easy, and to create one that intelligently senses its surroundings and optimizes the sound; going so far as to break down instruments and vocals and pumping them out at different angles... it's pretty mind blowing. None of it would matter if the sound quality sucked or average (like, ahem, Apple's I'll-fated HiFi), but according to initial reviews, the tech packed into HomePod isn't just marketing speak. It handily bested the $300 Sonos which to the average listener is considered a great speaker...
"The HomePod was rich, loud, crispy and in a word, stunning, with the Sonos, which always sounded great in my home, actually kind of dull, like a better than average FM radio, and the Echo like a tinny AM car speaker."
"But I did notice the HomePod was able fill a large room very well and sounded great no matter what angle I was listening from, which Apple says is possible because the HomePod is smart enough to intelligently tune itself and balance the audio to match any room or position you put it in.
Still, it was tough to evaluate the HomePod on its own, and I didn't realize just how good it sounded until I heard a nearby Sonos 3 speaker playing the same songs. The Sonos sounded OK, but the sound wasn't nearly as rich as the HomePod.
And the Amazon Echo?
Compared to the HomePod, the Echo sounded like someone was singing through a tin can a mile away. It isn't even in the same league as the HomePod or Sonos."
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Maybe for you. I found Echo redundant and not any better than what I already have on my iPhone and Apple Watch. In fact, I found AW more useful since it's always on me and I didn't have to raise my voice or stare at the blue light only to shut down and offer no response... that happened quite a lot. It's the equivalent of Siri's sorry, I can't blah blah, except she's polite enough to tell me she can't do something.
Hmm I seemed to have missed the part where they said it can be used as the HomeKit hub. I also did not noticed it on the website. I will revisit the website now and read over again.
Agree to disagree. Apple needs to focus on improving its platforms. Sorry, but the world doesn't need a Sonos speaker with Siri, which is essentially a crippled version of Google Assistant or Alexa. The world wants an interface. Apple, you do your thing and integrate with devices that specialize in their thing.
Congratulation !
Beside, why do peoples bother with buying 1080p LCD TV when I personally own a 70' 4K OLED TV.
Plus, Toyota is so stupid ! I own a TESLA, WTF ARE THEY THINKING !
Oh man, wait until you see the pool I have on the roof of my house, you wonder why they even make houses without it !
Peoples are so dumb! WTF !?!?!?
Isn't it kind of premature to judge how useful/effective siri will be with the speaker, as siri is going to be upgraded substantially in the meantime? It seems like apple has obviously shifted their stance on the whole closed AI assistance game, has figured out how to keep it safe/private, and is now pushing it with IOS11 and integration with new products (AirPods + homepod). I've been using siri with CarPlay and find it to work quite well already for my rather basic tasks, but it's reliable enough for me to mostly trust sending real texts in the car. I could absolutely see getting some use out of it with the homepod use scenario.
I have speakers that will sound better than this most likely, but none of them are as easy to use as this will be. If this thing works like my AirPods do, as in always just working perfectly, without any need to connect manually or power things on, I'll know I'll be using it more than the rest.
However being able to use it as a speaker for a TV would be very useful. I'd love to use it over my old soundbar, as I think they could use all this processing to make TV/movies sound great as well (but obviously this is soundbar talk, a real 7.1 surround system will be better).
I have speakers that will sound better than this most likely, but none of them are as easy to use as this will be. If this thing works like my AirPods do, as in always just working perfectly, without any need to connect manually or power things on, I'll know I'll be using it more than the rest.
However being able to use it as a speaker for a TV would be very useful. I'd love to use it over my old soundbar, as I think they could use all this processing to make TV/movies sound great as well (but obviously this is soundbar talk, a real 7.1 surround system will be better).
For Siri, it works where it hears your voice at and give u an answer. Ok and for Apple Music it means without needing your phone. It can browse your music thru the cloud and start playing music with hassle minus logging into your iCloud You can still plays music from different apps. just thru the apps on your phone or wherever you connected airplay too.
Spot on. I can already achieve this to a better sound standard https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202192 using speakers at home. I don't need apple to give me an overpriced and under performing speaker , I need a better GA or Alexa experience. Or as you said , we need a better interface and not apple copying the competition , while Siri is sooooo far behind.
Success of the echo .....the speaker component comes so far behind the main point of the device the assistant. Initially o bought an echo, and follow up were dots , Alexa is what makes the experience awesome. If I want music I got quality speakers plugged into apple express or google chrome audio.
Why pay for the siri functionality twice? That's probably $100 thrown in the trash right there.
This smartspeaker crap is the stupidest product category I ever heard of ....
So this is primarily music player? OK fine.
First of all, who listens to music, even at home, through speakers anymore?
And if you do, don't you own great speakers (not just one) already?'
Oh, but it's also smart !
Is that right ....
Let me ask you something: you wanna know the time & weather, right?
To find that out, which of these two actions are you more likely to do:
Pull out your phone? Or say: "Hey Siri! Time & weather!"
Believe it or not, it's less physically demanding to pull out your phone.
And if you say "Oh well, that's too much work to pull out my phone!",
has it now gotten to the point where
people were too lazy to look at their iPhone, so they made Apple Watch,
but now people are too lazy to look at their Apple Watch so they made HomePod??
"But what about people who don't have a phone or smartwatch?", you say?
Come now, how likely is it that a person who'd be interested in a device like HomePod
doesn't lready own a phone and/or a smartwatch?
This product is the very definition of the word "useless".
That, of course, doesn't mean it won't sell well. I bet it sells-out during pre-sale.
Because there are a lot of dummies out there.
So this is primarily music player? OK fine.
First of all, who listens to music, even at home, through speakers anymore?
And if you do, don't you own great speakers (not just one) already?'
Oh, but it's also smart !
Is that right ....
Let me ask you something: you wanna know the time & weather, right?
To find that out, which of these two actions are you more likely to do:
Pull out your phone? Or say: "Hey Siri! Time & weather!"
Believe it or not, it's less physically demanding to pull out your phone.
And if you say "Oh well, that's too much work to pull out my phone!",
has it now gotten to the point where
people were too lazy to look at their iPhone, so they made Apple Watch,
but now people are too lazy to look at their Apple Watch so they made HomePod??
"But what about people who don't have a phone or smartwatch?", you say?
Come now, how likely is it that a person who'd be interested in a device like HomePod
doesn't lready own a phone and/or a smartwatch?
This product is the very definition of the word "useless".
That, of course, doesn't mean it won't sell well. I bet it sells-out during pre-sale.
Because there are a lot of dummies out there.
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How does this sound "Unfair" if you never even heard the sound quality from Home Pod before? The Reason you say it "Sounds unfair", is because you have NO knowledge of what premium sound quality is. Because if you did, you would not be stating it sounds unfair.
I suggest you research other competitor products on the market with Bluetooth/home audio. $350 is not unreasonable for what Apple is asking when you factor the capabilities and performance, especially when other Bluetooth speakers range in price point higher than what Apple is charging.
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Do we know yet if HomePod supports 3.55 mm line-in? At the moment, assuming it doesn't.
I need a speaker for my DJ rig, and if it's "smart" then that's a nice bonus that could help me out with some other stuff. But realtime playback probably can't be accomplished with AirPlay; I would have to connect my Phone to the DJ rig and then transmit via AirPlay Multi-Room or perhaps using AirFoil.
Also, too bad that it's not really smart. You should be able to just say "play my liked tracks on Soundcloud" and it should just go.
I need a speaker for my DJ rig, and if it's "smart" then that's a nice bonus that could help me out with some other stuff. But realtime playback probably can't be accomplished with AirPlay; I would have to connect my Phone to the DJ rig and then transmit via AirPlay Multi-Room or perhaps using AirFoil.
Also, too bad that it's not really smart. You should be able to just say "play my liked tracks on Soundcloud" and it should just go.
It's difficult to grasp a new market category, but in 10 years people will fully expect their homes to be smart.
I have four (silly) questions... that I hope someone might be able to answer...
1. When you say "Hey, Siri" to address your HomePod... won't all your other iOS devices also respond? How will Apple address this?
2. There are five people in my household. How will HomePod address each individual's preferences / Apple ID... both for music and non-music functions?
3. I don't understand what HomePod can do for me that my Apple TV can't. I'm more than happy with the sound out of my TV soundbar. It seems to me that the Apple TV is a more powerful platform... because interaction isn't limited to Siri... and because there is both audio and video feedback. Although I like the idea of one day speaking to my Apple TV directly... sans Siri remote. Any thoughts??
4. Where was the obligatory Jony Ive product introduction video at WWDC 2017?
1. When you say "Hey, Siri" to address your HomePod... won't all your other iOS devices also respond? How will Apple address this?
2. There are five people in my household. How will HomePod address each individual's preferences / Apple ID... both for music and non-music functions?
3. I don't understand what HomePod can do for me that my Apple TV can't. I'm more than happy with the sound out of my TV soundbar. It seems to me that the Apple TV is a more powerful platform... because interaction isn't limited to Siri... and because there is both audio and video feedback. Although I like the idea of one day speaking to my Apple TV directly... sans Siri remote. Any thoughts??
4. Where was the obligatory Jony Ive product introduction video at WWDC 2017?
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