HomePod HomePod Testing & Review by Audiophile

[8CoreWhore]

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7wwtqy/apple_homepod_the_audiophile_perspective

<<I am speechless. The HomePod actually sounds better than the KEF X300A. If you’re new to the Audiophile world, KEF is a very well respected and much loved speaker company. I actually deleted my very first measurements and re-checked everything because they were so good, I thought I’d made an error. Apple has managed to extract peak performance from a pint sized speaker, a feat that deserves a standing ovation. The HomePod is 100% an Audiophile grade Speaker.>>

<<The response takes a few minutes of playing music to settle before measurements are stable - indicative of some sort of live DSP correction. Mind you, any audiophile that was getting such good control over a space with lots of room treatment and traditional speakers would be very happy with these measurements. To have this sort of thing be a built in feature of the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) inside the speaker that is, for all intents and purposes omnidirectional, allowing it to adapt to any room, no matter how imperfect, is just beyond impressive. What Apple has managed to do here is so crazy, that If you told me they had chalk, candles, and a pentagram on the floor of their Anechoic chambers, I would believe you. This is witchcraft. I have no other word for it.>>

 

[ouimetnick]

Still isn't going to compare with a real audio setup. I have several different amps, different preamps, and lots of speakers (change them out every so often)

Measurements are important, but artificially changing the frequency response to sound "better" is another thing. The HomePod can't hold a candle to my old Ohm C2s, Boston Acoustics VR-M90, VR-M60, VR-40s, etc. Keep in mind the source. HomePod streams mp3s from Apple Music. I'm playing aiff/wav files, and some even higher (from HD Tracks) directly to my stereo. I tried a HomePod at the Apple Store last night and was not impressed with how loud and clear it was, but the bass and treble were a bit overpowering with the mids sounding a little lacking.

Probably a great speaker for MOST people though.

 

[chabig]

...the bass and treble were a bit overpowering with the mids sounding a little lacking.

I don’t believe you read the review. “I listened to it in a store and didn’t like it” isn’t an honest review. Just because you like to boost the mids doesn’t mean the HomePod is anything other than a great little speaker. All of the objective measurements say it has a nearly perfectly flat frequency response.

 

[ouimetnick]

I did read the review. Lots of testing was done, and I'm not questioning the review. I'm just saying that the time I spent with the HomePod did not impress me. I played several songs that I know inside out, and they didn't sound as realistic as they do on my home audio system. I should note that a busy retail environment isn't a good place to test a product like HomePod, but I wasn't going to buy one.

 

[The Game 161]

rather amazing given the size of the homepod. Love mine

 

[MrX8503]

I’m not an audiophile, but I’m impressed with the audio quality. Little distortion and very clear.

I did read the review. Lots of testing was done, and I'm not questioning the review. I'm just saying that the time I spent with the HomePod did not impress me. I played several songs that I know inside out, and they didn't sound as realistic as they do on my home audio system. I should note that a busy retail environment isn't a good place to test a product like HomePod, but I wasn't going to buy one.

How much did your home speaker system cost you?

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Still isn't going to compare with a real audio setup. I have several different amps, different preamps, and lots of speakers (change them out every so often)

Measurements are important, but artificially changing the frequency response to sound "better" is another thing. The HomePod can't hold a candle to my old Ohm C2s, Boston Acoustics VR-M90, VR-M60, VR-40s, etc. Keep in mind the source. HomePod streams mp3s from Apple Music. I'm playing aiff/wav files, and some even higher (from HD Tracks) directly to my stereo. I tried a HomePod at the Apple Store last night and was not impressed with how loud and clear it was, but the bass and treble were a bit overpowering with the mids sounding a little lacking.

Probably a great speaker for MOST people though.

Ofcourse there is better available. And if you like sitting in the main listening position and close your eyes on a well setup system it’s great. But let’s be real my such system is in excess of 10x what an HomePod costs. I say excess as I mentally blocked out the true costs

My HomePod for now will not make it in such a room. However I do appreciate good quality music in other rooms where it isn’t always feasible or acceptable by my spouse to have amps, speakers, cables, stands. Let alone an mlp

For such places the HomePod is pretty awesome. They can coexist

 

[GPDawes]

What is the DSD, DSF , HD , HI RES play back like at 192KHz.

Oh wait iTunes does not support that.!!!

I really wish iTunes catered for more formats, just like paint or iphoto does for graphics.
At least High Sierra and ios11 allow for flac play back in a limited way.

 

[chiefsilverback]

I should note that a busy retail environment isn't a good place to test a product like HomePod, but I wasn't going to buy one.

I'd got further to say that a busy retail space that is also very large relative to the average house is one of the worst places to listen to a speaker that relies on beam forming and using the room it's in to enhance its audio.

Given Apple's 14 day return period I would have thought it would be interesting to take one home and see how it stacks up against your setup, or complements it in the rooms where you don't have a dedicated listening 'space'?

 

[miatadan]

So now I am confused about sound quality of the HomePod as with this review: https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7wwtqy/apple_homepod_the_audiophile_perspective
The homepod has very flat response-
"What we can immediately see is that the HomePod has an incredibly flat frequency response at multiple volumes. It doesn’t try to over emphasize the lows, mids, or highs. This is both ideal, and impressive because it allows the HomePod to accurately reproduce audio that’s sent to it. All the way from 40Hz to 20,000Hz it's ±3dB, and from 60Hz to 13.5Khz, it's less than ±1dB... Hold on while I pick my jaw up off the floor.

But when I read other reviews, sound is muddy, boomy bass , no highs - so is there a batch of defective HomePods out there?

 

[itsLouieV]

So now I am confused about sound quality of the HomePod as with this review: https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7wwtqy/apple_homepod_the_audiophile_perspective
The homepod has very flat response-
"What we can immediately see is that the HomePod has an incredibly flat frequency response at multiple volumes. It doesn’t try to over emphasize the lows, mids, or highs. This is both ideal, and impressive because it allows the HomePod to accurately reproduce audio that’s sent to it. All the way from 40Hz to 20,000Hz it's ±3dB, and from 60Hz to 13.5Khz, it's less than ±1dB... Hold on while I pick my jaw up off the floor.

But when I read other reviews, sound is muddy, boomy bass , no highs - so is there a batch of defective HomePods out there?

could be a lot of people thinking that they are trained audiophiles, most are not. Sounds like how I review wines... Mix some legitimate tasting notes, with other things I've heard sommeliers say.

 

[douglasf13]

Still isn't going to compare with a real audio setup. I have several different amps, different preamps, and lots of speakers (change them out every so often)

Measurements are important, but artificially changing the frequency response to sound "better" is another thing. The HomePod can't hold a candle to my old Ohm C2s, Boston Acoustics VR-M90, VR-M60, VR-40s, etc. Keep in mind the source. HomePod streams mp3s from Apple Music. I'm playing aiff/wav files, and some even higher (from HD Tracks) directly to my stereo. I tried a HomePod at the Apple Store last night and was not impressed with how loud and clear it was, but the bass and treble were a bit overpowering with the mids sounding a little lacking.

Probably a great speaker for MOST people though.

The guy in the review streamed .wavs via airplay. Also, in the store is the worst place to listen to HomePod, being omnidirectional and space calibrating. I’m interested to hear one at home.
[doublepost=1518531466][/doublepost]

could be a lot of people thinking that they are trained audiophiles, most are not. Sounds like how I review wines... Mix some legitimate tasting notes, with other things I've heard sommeliers say.

I don’t know. This guy’s review sounds more dependable than most of the reviews based simply on “feelings.” At least he has some numbers.

 

[tkermit]

I'd take that review with a huge grain of salt. Have a look at e-t172's posts in Ars Technica's comment thread for example.

 

[douglasf13]

I'd take that review with a huge grain of salt. Have a look at e-t172's posts in Ars Technica's comment thread for example.

Yeah, we're now getting into the weeds of any hi-fi review, but the fact that this little HomePod is even in the discussion is somewhat remarkable, until you consider it has Tom Holman's fingerprints all over it.

FWIW, that Ars Technica commenter is largely missing the point in regards to the controlled room critique. The entire point of the HomePod is that is trying to equalize the room through DSP, which it seems to be doing quite nicely. Of course, Apple themselves certainly had the proper room to measure in. I was reading up on it the other day, and it is beyond world class:

 

[itsLouieV]

I don’t know. This guy’s review sounds more dependable than most of the reviews based simply on “feelings.” At least he has some numbers.

My bad, I could of done a better job quoting. I meant to just quote the last part where Miatadan says "But when I read other reviews, sound is muddy, boomy bass , no highs - so is there a batch of defective HomePods out there?"

 

[Hyper Driver]

Yeah, we're now getting into the weeds of any hi-fi review, but the fact that this little HomePod is even in the discussion is somewhat remarkable, until you consider it has Tom Holman's fingerprints all over it.

FWIW, that Ars Technica commenter is largely missing the point in regards to the controlled room critique. The entire point of the HomePod is that is trying to equalize the room through DSP, which it seems to be doing quite nicely. Of course, Apple themselves certainly had the proper room to measure in. I was reading up on it the other day, and it is beyond world class:

Many of us tuned our ears early on with state-of-the-art amplification equipment. Yes, with the stereophonic equipment that was in abundance during the musical and cultural expansion period. You know, the one that Steve Jobs held so close to his conscience. That one.


This jewel is incredible, both phonically and functionally. It is the best value based product that Apple has ever released.

 

[douglasf13]

Another review showing the HomePod is relatively flat.

https://www.fastcompany.com/40530628/apple-homepod-frequency-response-flat-sound