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Has anyone successfully used HomePod on a mesh Wifi network? I have a mesh network with Luma routers, and HomePod won't even let me set up the device, claiming the network is incompatible. There's no reason for that, and I have several iOS devices, several Macs, and two Apple TVs happily using that network. Apple engineers are trying to investigate, and have reported received other complaints from mesh network users, so I'm trying to figure out if this is some kind of general problem with HomePod and mesh networks or if it works on some and not others.

Works seamlessly on my linksys velop mesh network and I have moved it between several rooms/nodes
 
Btw the power cable is removable; it just takes a little force.

Leave it to a google home user to review HomePod. :rolleyes:

If he had HomeKit set up, he’d know that’s one of the strengths of HomePod and Siri... the ease of setup is unmatched and voice control is very intuitive.
 
Sound wise, it's not lacking. On par with my Bang & Olufsen equipment, better than my Harman/Kardon equipment (my HK Sabre SB35 wireless soundbar does a better job at simulating surround sound, but the sound dynamics of the HP are clearer).

Like mentioned by reviewers, Siri is lacking. For example, though Siri can read my messages, it can't answer a question like "what's my name?" (but the iPhone Siri can). Which I understand could be due to the inability to differentiate between / identify people speaking. But if Siri is able to read messages from my device, it should at least be able to tell me what's the name of the person whose Apple ID it's assigned to.

I'm not disappointed though. I purchased it while already looking forward to this year's WWDC.
I am looking forward to WEDC too. I sure hope Airplay 2 comes before that. I will buy another. For those upset about Siri, buy an echo or google home. Or the dot/mini. They are useful and bat clean up for the homepod. I really like my home mini, jbl Link 10 (which I have a case for and can transport to other home) and a chromecast audios hooked up to TV sound bars/optical. I have Apple TVs too and so will try airplaying them. That said, chromecast is pretty cool and the responses and info for google home are great. I just buy my smart home products compatible for google and HomeKit. Though, I hope Ring connects to HomeKit. I have 4 devices. I also recommend Wyze cams. They are $20 and work great.
 
Sir Mix-A-Lot Posse's on Broadway...
So a peak at 50Hz, and down by about 30dB when it hits 20Hz.
Not bad. Clean up to nearly 20kHz which is all anyone but a teen can hear, but I'd want a subwoofer for the real low end.
Apple claims a full 20 mm excursion on the 5" bass. Usual is around 5mm for a big woofer. They'd have to push harder to get the bottom few audible notes, and that'd probably cause burnout problems.
Looks like they put out a pretty good compromise.
 
Anyone else notice that the sound is better when you ask Siri to play something vs using AirPlay? A lot of the reviews said it should be the same but I’m noticing that AirPlay doesn’t sound quite as good. Maybe AirPlay 2 will resolve this?
I thought it was my imagination but I think maybe you are correct.
 
So a peak at 50Hz, and down by about 30dB when it hits 20Hz.
Not bad. Clean up to nearly 20kHz which is all anyone but a teen can hear, but I'd want a subwoofer for the real low end.

The frequency response is better than I thought it would be. But that was 80% volume from about 8 feet away, and it (only) hit mid 70's db. It just isn't that 'loud' right in front of it. Although Bass should go 'everywhere' regardless, I have it set up a on a hard surface, a foot away from a wall. I expected more db out of it... But as others have said, it carries that volume everywhere in the room, most of it down the hall, and even into your bathroom. I'll need two units to match the db 'impact' I had with my $300 Bose Solo 15 siting on the couch right in front of it. But off axis, and anywhere outside of directly in front, it does a commendable job.
 
The bigger annoyance to me is that you have to say “Hey, Siri” then wait for it to wake up, THEN issue a command. With my echo, I can just say “Alexa, play music” with no pause. Far better solution.


I am not sure what you are referring to. I have never paused after saying “Hey Siri”. There is no need to wait. You can issue commands as a single seemless phrase.
 
The frequency response is better than I thought it would be. But that was 80% volume from about 8 feet away, and it (only) hit mid 70's db. It just isn't that 'loud' right in front of it. Although Bass should go 'everywhere' regardless, I have it set up a on a hard surface, a foot away from a wall. I expected more db out of it... But as others have said, it carries that volume everywhere in the room, most of it down the hall, and even into your bathroom. I'll need two units to match the db 'impact' I had with my $300 Bose Solo 15 siting on the couch right in front of it. But off axis, and anywhere outside of directly in front, it does a commendable job.

I've only been playing it for an hour or two, but I get the impression the Bass response is opening up more. Here's Missio, Middle fingers, at the same 80% volume. Definitely more response and feeling in the bass.
 

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I've been using my HomePod for about 5 hours now and can share my initial impressions.

Setup was drop dead simple and fast. Even though I was expecting the HomePod to sounds really good, I was still blown away by how good it sounds. Even my wife, who is not into evaluating these things said it was stunning. I could hear music in a way that I never could before. The separation of instruments is outstanding. I can clearly hear the music as if the band was playing right in the room!

Next thing that amazes me is how well Siri can hear me. With the music blasting, I can stand really far away and say Hey Siri and she responds. I'm talking like 35-40 feet away with a half wall separating us. And the HomePod still responded to my voice commands even when I talked in a very low voice...way lower than I would ever use in a normal conversation.

As the evening wore on, I started realizing the benefit of not being tied to my phone to pick-out music and stream it to a device. (I was using routinely utilizing a UE Boom.) Simply talking to Siri at a natural voice level and asking her to play various things was quite pleasing. And it worked every single time. I can see this becoming more and more useful as time goes on.

Bottom line is the speaker sounds absolutely amazing. And I never thought I would care about having an always-on home assistant, but I'm already seeing great value in it and I'm sure my reliance on it will grow in time.

Two huge thumbs up -- this thing is great!
 
pairing is available right now in the latest iOS beta. I thought the HomePod OS would need an update, but apparently not. Getting a second one today maybe. HomePod Unboxing & Review! Both Colors Thanks for the heads up @ersan191!

Just went through the tortuous process of reading through the 2000+ comments on the youtube video and found one intriguing one by Ainsley Williams where he said that he was still on iOS 11.3 beta 1 and was even able to get the homepod stereo pairing to work with that beta too.
 
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Can't wait for the HomePod v2 next year. It will be like going from a 3GS to an X
 
Just went through the tortuous process of reading through the 2000+ comments on the youtube video and found one intriguing one by Ainsley Williams where he said that he was still on iOS 11.3 beta 1 and was even able to get the homepod stereo pairing to work with that beta too.
Are there any indication to how well it works yet?
 
Or you could take 799 one dollar bills and make a really big bonfire.

Christ, are we going to next hear about the children starving in China?
No but if someone was going to p***s away $349, I think most of us could find much better ways to spend that money.
 
Are there any indication to how well it works yet?

I'll have to wait a few days. Had 2 delivered to work yesterday but only took 1 home because they are pretty heavy to carry around. Currently listening to the complete discography of the Wolfe Tones on 1 homepod and that's pretty awesome even on 1 homepod. I'll install iOS 11.3 beta 2 tomorrow. I'll have to backup my iphone first which I will do today sometime.

So in a couple of days I'll bring the other one home. I will turn the first one on, maybe play a few songs with just one homepod - and then set the second one up via the beta and enable stereo that way - and then replay the same songs again in stereo. So I won't know personally the difference till then. It probably will be louder too with 2 homepods so I think the first thing I will have to do is actually turn the volume down. But I'm not sure about that.
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the videos i've seen shows the option but doesn't seem to work yet

There are conflicting comments about this. Some are saying that it works - others are saying it doesn't.

And someone even claims it works on beta 1 too.

I'll find out later when I try it myself.

Even if it doesn't on beta 2 then maybe it will come in a later beta. Pretty sure apple will want it tested in at least a few betas before releasing to the public.
 
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The bigger annoyance to me is that you have to say “Hey, Siri” then wait for it to wake up, THEN issue a command. With my echo, I can just say “Alexa, play music” with no pause. Far better solution.

You actually don’t have to wait for her. Just go right into what you want to say. We’ve been using it all night, and it works pretty flawlessly.
 
The bigger annoyance to me is that you have to say “Hey, Siri” then wait for it to wake up, THEN issue a command. With my echo, I can just say “Alexa, play music” with no pause. Far better solution.
You don’t need to wait after saying “Hey SIRI”. That’s a myth.
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I don't think you're alone on this one, this is one of my pet peeves as well. I don't know how Apple keeps pushing Siri to be a magical, smart assistant when others are blowing it out of the water with theirs. Clearly, they haven't really improved their "assistant" since it was first introduced. And, don't get me started on Siri being an AI learning what you like and what you ask of it more often. It has failed to even give me the most basic information when I used to use it.

It's only good for simple commands, other than that, it's pretty useless that's why I turned it off on all of my devices.
You don’t have to wait after saying “Hey SIRI”. You just follow with the command immediately and SIRI gets it. In fact, waiting too long after saying “Hey SIRI” confuses it. When I see folks having problems with SIRI, it is precisely because they are putting in a weird super long pause. Also, SIRI has been receiving regular upgrades over the past year and has gotten very good at many things. It frequently amazes me at some of the things it can do.
 
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My last reply on this. i just compared the Bose Solo 15 at the same point on Missio - Middle fingers. Graph attached. Interesting, The over all volume on the Bose is considerably higher, as I thought. (As a home theater speaker) The Bose isn't nearly as flat - in that - I think the HP sounds better in so much as richness and full music capability. But the Bose still blows it away as a simple TV speaker with 'punch' watching videos. So you'll need two HP to top a "decent" sound bar such as the Bose. And that really makes sense. Apple, as any dedicated fan knows, is generally greatly over priced on the technical merits of what it is. Hey, I've had two of nearly every product Apple sells in the last ten years, and I call it call it as I see it. This speaker is no different. Do I love it, sure. What's not love, it's simple, beautiful, and sounds great, as a kitchen counter personal assistant / music player. But beyond that, well, it's just not that special...

Bose Solo.jpg
 
Last thought on AM vs. Airplay. I ripped all my cd's on my laptop years ago, so my 'local' songs are all at the bit rate I ripped them at. Could have 128, could have been 256, may have even been MP3, IDK. But as has been pointed out many times, iTunes match doesn't upload YOUR song if it is in the Apple music library already. It just adds their copy to your online 'Library'. So the Apple version that is 'downloaded' to you HP directly could be a much better quality than the one you ripped on your computer, synced to your phone and are Airplaying to the HP.

Although I guess no one, myself included, actually sync their phones anymore. But hey, it's just a thought.
If you sign up for iTunes Match, you can replace every “Matched” song in the iTunes library in your Mac with the latest version from Apple. Here’s the procedure: First backup your your iTunes library! Then, delete the local copies of all of your “Matched” songs but don’t remove them from your iCloud Library. Lastly, re-download the songs from your iCloud Library. All of the songs on your Mac will now be the latest and greatest version from the iTunes Store. These songs are not copy protected and they are yours to keep even if you quit iTunes Match. Awesome!
 
I bought a HomePod in white. The sound is incredible. I also connected my Apple TV with the HomePod and it was pretty neat to listen and watch tv using the HomePod.

So far the experience has been enjoyable. I can understand what Tim Cook was getting at when he talked about quality audio experience and an immersive audio experience.
 
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