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B/D

macrumors 68000
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Mar 30, 2016
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So, I have two OG set as an stereo pair with an Apple TV 4K, and i am starting to think that my Homepods are defective (i have factory reset them twice to try some troubleshooting).

You see, even on home theater mode the volume is widly inconsistent, specially concerning dialogue clarity and intelligibility, which is a deal breaker for me.

Everyone says that Homepod home theater mode biggest strength is the crystal clear dialogue, but i am not experiencing that all of the time.

So far, Amazon Prime Video and Apple streaming apps give the best results for me with the homepods.

Loud, powerful, good dynamics, good soundstage. But Netflix and Disney+ are wildly inconsistent. Some content is ok, other suffer from lower volume and dialogue is compromised/drowned by sound effects and music, like if the center channel is not properly recreated, and the mixing sounds weird.

Also, I am, for some time now, experiencing an annoying bug. I usually use my Homepods with the Apple TV at maximum volume, since I think they are not that loud anyway. But sometimes, while I am watching some content, at completely random intervals, the volume lowers itself to around 50% (I see the Apple TV volume control appear on the screen and lowering itself, without touching anything myself), and I have to reach the remote and turn it up again.

Anoyone else having the same issues?. Any suggestions?
 
So, I have two OG set as an stereo pair with an Apple TV 4K, and i am starting to think that my Homepods are defective (i have factory reset them twice to try some troubleshooting).

You see, even on home theater mode the volume is widly inconsistent, specially concerning dialogue clarity and intelligibility, which is a deal breaker for me.

Everyone says that Homepod home theater mode biggest strength is the crystal clear dialogue, but i am not experiencing that all of the time.

So far, Amazon Prime Video and Apple streaming apps give the best results for me with the homepods.

Loud, powerful, good dynamics, good soundstage. But Netflix and Disney+ are wildly inconsistent. Some content is ok, other suffer from lower volume and dialogue is compromised/drowned by sound effects and music, like if the center channel is not properly recreated, and the mixing sounds weird.

Also, I am, for some time now, experiencing an annoying bug. I usually use my Homepods with the Apple TV at maximum volume, since I think they are not that loud anyway. But sometimes, while I am watching some content, at completely random intervals, the volume lowers itself to around 50% (I see the Apple TV volume control appear on the screen and lowering itself, without touching anything myself), and I have to reach the remote and turn it up again.

Anoyone else having the same issues?. Any suggestions?
This, I have not seen yet. Do you have “Reduce Loud Sounds” turned on, on the ATV and/or “Sound Check” on the HomePod? Someone on here has mentioned that it’s not working properly so possibly a bug is causing your woes.
 
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So Apple called me back (I have an open case with them about this) this morning and told me some interesting things.

Despite the introduction of the home theater feature with the 14.2 software update, the Homepod still has a lower maximum volume and slightly compromised dynamic range when linked with an Apple TV (compared to the Homepod on its own playing Apple Music content). This shouldn´t be the case anymore, but it is. They are investigating it.

B). Even though the Home Theater functionality was supposed to help recreating the missing center channel for a better dialogue reproduction, in practice this is not always done well and sometimes the dialogue sounds wonky and misplaced in the mix.

C). Funnily enough, the advisor that called me told me that he himself have been suffering from the volume bar suddenly appearing on screen and lowering/raising itself, at completely random intervals, since at least the 14.1 update. Very spooky.

D). Expect improvements to all this in 14.5 and future updates, they are working closely with third party streaming providers to improve sound quality and playback with the Homepods, since Apple want it now to be a great music AND cinema speaker, which wasnt the case before.
 
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So Apple called me back (I have an open case with them about this) this morning and told me some interesting things.

Despite the introduction of the home theater feature with the 14.2 software update, the Homepod still has a lower maximum volume and slightly compromised dynamic range when linked with an Apple TV (compared to the Homepod on its own playing Apple Music content). This shouldn´t be the case anymore, but it is. They are investigating it.

B). Even though the Home Theater functionality was supposed to help recreating the missing center channel for a better dialogue reproduction, in practice this is not always done well and sometimes the dialogue sounds wonky and misplaced in the mix.

C). Funnily enough, the advisor that called me told me that he himself have been suffering from the volume bar suddenly appearing on screen and lowering/raising itself, at completely random intervals, since at least the 14.1 update. Very spooky.

D). Expect improvements to all this in 14.5 and future updates, they are working closely with third party streaming providers to improve sound quality and playback with the Homepods, since Apple want it now to be a great music AND cinema speaker, which wasnt the case before.
Thanks for sharing that. So I gather not using the default audio option is better for the time being. I may just set up some Shortcuts for my TVs/ATVs to AirPlay to the HomePods like I did in the past. It does sound a little echoey when AirPlaying as opposed to default audio but the default audio option has way too many issues right now. Using Shortcuts is pretty cool though. Had it open the remote app on my phone, the app I want on the ATV depending on what I wanted to watch, adjust lighting, etc....
 
Thanks for sharing that. So I gather not using the default audio option is better for the time being. I may just set up some Shortcuts for my TVs/ATVs to AirPlay to the HomePods like I did in the past. It does sound a little echoey when AirPlaying as opposed to default audio but the default audio option has way too many issues right now. Using Shortcuts is pretty cool though. Had it open the remote app on my phone, the app I want on the ATV depending on what I wanted to watch, adjust lighting, etc....


Yes, but we lose 5.1/Atmos processing by not using it. Regular Airplay casting only achieves 2.0 sound.

Also, to Airplay from the Apple TV to the Homepods, just open the Apple TV control center, click on the airplay icon, and choose the homepods. 5 seconds operation at max. Should be no echo at all.
 
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Yes, but we lose 5.1/Atmos processing by not using it. Regular Airplay casting only achieves 2.0 sound.

Also, to Airplay from the Apple TV to the Homepods, just open the Apple TV control center, click on the airplay icon, and choose the homepods. 5 seconds operation at max. Should be no echo at all.
I mostly watch hockey and sitcoms so I probably don’t even benefit from Home Theater.

I set up some Shortcuts that automatically AirPlay to the HomePod among other things like adjust my lighting, open the AT&T TV app and the AppleTV remote app on my phone. Even faster with the press of a button or a Siri request 😉
 
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So I didn´t comment this part of the conversation with the apple senior advisor here yesterday because I considered it to be slightly off topic, but I think it could be interesting to discuss.

He told me that internally, there have been some division between Apple support employees about the sound signature of the Homepods after the jump from 13.4.8 to 14.

Now the Homepod is more suitable for cinema playback, less overpowering bass, clearer mids and sightly de-emphasized treble.

The problem is that for a lot of people, while the sound is a lot clearer and less muddy now, is quite a bit less full and enveloping when playing music, and some elements in the mix are recessed a bit too much, almost to the point of being lost in the mix, particularly in the treble area.

Vocals ARE extremely prominent now, maybe too much (again, this is good for cinema playback, but maybe not so much for music).

The underlying problem is that, currently, the Homepod does not have two autoeq profiles for playing music and movies, it does not detect what type of content is playing. He hinted me that that could change in the future, and the homepod would tailored the sound specifically for playing music, and then it would detect when you are playing a movie and would optimize it sound profile for that.

What we have now is a unique autoeq sound profile that tries to sound great for both music and movies, which is tricky.
 
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I figured out what I was getting echoey sound from just AirPlaying to the HomePods without default audio... It’s because I was also getting audio from the TV speakers which I turned down to zero.
 
I figured out what I was getting echoey sound from just AirPlaying to the HomePods without default audio... It’s because I was also getting audio from the TV speakers which I turned down to zero.


To avoid that, when selecting to the homepods as an airplay target from the apple tv control center, make sure to deselect your internal tv speakers. Then, after your are done, switch back to your tv speakers. That way you dont have to turn them down to zero.
 
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To avoid that, when selecting to the homepods as an airplay target from the apple tv control center, make sure to deselect your internal tv speakers. Then, after your are done, switch back to your tv speakers. That way you dont have to turn them down to zero.
Some apps block the use of AirPlay. TVision is one of them, you can elect HomePods until the cows come home and it will keep playing through the TV speakers or soundbar, never the HomePods (minis, not sure about OG HomePod, I use 2 minis currently). WWE Network is another that will not allow the Airplay to work, again can keep electing it over and over but will not work.
I don't know if that happens when using Home Theatre mode with 2 OG HomePods. But HomePod Minis can only be used with the AirPlay menu on Apple TV.
 
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