But directional audio allows for recreating that separation using sound waves bouncing off an adjacent surface. Two of these can work together to recreate sound coming from multiple directions in a room pretty easily. Once it maps the room size and shape, it should know how to adjust.
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HomePod First Listen Impressions: 'Incredible' Audio With Bass-Heavy Sound That Easily Beats Echo
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But directional audio allows for recreating that separation using sound waves bouncing off an adjacent surface. Two of these can work together to recreate sound coming from multiple directions in a room pretty easily. Once it maps the room size and shape, it should know how to adjust.
Fact or Assumption? I don't remember hearing or reading that expanded language support was on the cards.
Siri needs multilingual awareness so I can perfectly say "Play song Cuando Calienta el Sol" and play it.
I love the idea that it learns the acoustic environment during each start-up. It makes total sense for moving around the house into the varied sonic spaces like the kitchen, laundry room, bedroom, living room, workshop, garage.
My concern is will it also be end user tweak-able once it establishes a base line for a particular room - as in "SIRI, please lower the bass by 3 db's." Living only in the "BEATS-Zone" would be a deal breaker for me.
My concern is will it also be end user tweak-able once it establishes a base line for a particular room - as in "SIRI, please lower the bass by 3 db's." Living only in the "BEATS-Zone" would be a deal breaker for me.
This exactly. Whilst I’ve not sampled these personally, for all those people out there who think there is a lot of bass from this thing go and listen to some good music of any genre that has extended bass material with a good subwoofer, (even one without tone controls to lift the bass), then come back and claim that these are bass heavy.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
You're mashing everyone's opinion together and then claiming it's the same people talking out both sides of their mouth. There are MANY differing opinions here. Lumping them together and stating they come from the same source is ludicrous and completely discredits your opinion. Just sayin'.
I appreciate that and yes, that may be true. However, I've been around here long enough to notice that there is a core group who is always with Apple no matter what. And I suspect that some of them will (if they have not already) be towing the company line on this one too, even after making passionate arguments against the importance of quality of sound when the product to be pushed couldn't win that contest.
I will grant you though that I'm speculating here and that it could be true that every poster is fully objective. Thus, all those who argued that quality of sound didn't matter last year should feel consistently about that with this product and vice versa... just as all those who argued so passionately against bigger-screen phones didn't buy iPhones when they adopted bigger screens... etc.
We'll see. Just an opinion (that certainly could be wrong).
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How much have you paid for your electrostatics? Are you bragging that you rich?
HomePod requires constant AC power for music playback
HomePod requires constant AC power for music playback
^ I love that photo caption!
Next up:
Refrigerator requires constant AC power for food cooling
Based on the new natural language and iCloud features of Siri, and how Siri is used to control the HomePod/Apple Music, the expansion is a fact. Whether or not it can do multilingual awareness like your example would be my assumption. I would assume they would learn your library (machine learning on the chip) to know what you've added at least.
You think this is something new and innovative? I own a receiver/amp purchased ten years ago that uses a "powerful processor" (DSP) and adapts the equalization to the room size and acoustics.
The average consumer just doesn't careee. I really like reading the comments on here because a lot of people know way more than I do, buttt average consumers don't care about the tech terms.
Heck, even the more savvy tech users don't care that deeply about "true bass".
If it sounds good it sounds good. Point blank. It's made by Apple, uses Siri and has great sound (apparently). That's what people care about.
I'm a huge Apple fan... but Amazon has the best home automation business model with AWS and Alexa.
I don't need a $350 fancy speaker. I paid $120 for 3 Echo dots. If I wan't great sound, I tell Alexa to connect to my AVR and voila! I'm certainly not going to pay 10 times more for a product that's in catch-up mode.
I don't need a $350 fancy speaker. I paid $120 for 3 Echo dots. If I wan't great sound, I tell Alexa to connect to my AVR and voila! I'm certainly not going to pay 10 times more for a product that's in catch-up mode.
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).
Not sure you can compare a $350 speaker to a $3,000 system. Some people want something simple, affordable, and small.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Faux stereo will not match real stereo... just as faux iPhones will not match real iPhones. One can believe anything they wish but I myself cannot be convinced that faux stereo will be as good as real stereo. Why not just appreciate the product for what it is rather than trying to spin it into something that it is apparently not? For what it is, it will apparently deliver great sound per these early reviews. It is apparently not trying to be a replacement for a real stereo or real surround sound system, even if you buy 2 of 5 or 6 of them.
That's not putting it down in any way. It's just shining a bit of a light on some spin that seems to be trying to argue that this will be as good as any 2.1 sound system available. It won't. It can't. No need to pretend it can. Let it be what it is and let it compete with the other smart speakers rather than trying to make it into the only speaker for all wants/needs/occasions.
It doesn't appear that Apple is trying to spin it as the latter, so why should we? I'm confident Apple doesn't need our help to sell a bunch of these.
The technology looks nice. For $349US, I'd expect it to have excellent quality!
When it comes to the assistant side, Siri is going to be the weakest link, unless Apple can give Siri a large boost in abilities..
When it comes to the assistant side, Siri is going to be the weakest link, unless Apple can give Siri a large boost in abilities..
Obviously it will support just playing stuff from you iTunes app, without Apple Music. It probably will not give you all features, like asking to play a certain song (for that you will need Apple Music). Might come in future updates?
But, I would find it showstopper, if it would't be simply presented as a "Airplay (2)" speaker in your network.
Apple does crazy stuff, but there not stupid.
But, I would find it showstopper, if it would't be simply presented as a "Airplay (2)" speaker in your network.
Apple does crazy stuff, but there not stupid.
This is going to be fantastic. If it's as great sounding as these early previews are saying then I think Apple have a great product on their hands, i will probably buy one when they become available in December I could do with replacing my now VERY old docking station that sits next to my bed.
Just take all your Apple gear and surround yourself with it all. Embrace it. Touch it. You'll be fine until December.
I get the sense this is one of those kinds of things that will grow on me with time. I didn't see the need for an Apple Watch at first but then that changed when I saw it. $349 is a bit steep for my budget. However, I am really into the idea of setting up a home automation rig in the next year or two and this might end up being a component of that.