HomePod's Sound Continues to Receive Top Marks After Listening Demos in New York and London

[tdar]

It will be VERY interesting to see if Amazon will produce an Echo with truly high quality speaker drivers to take on the HomePod. Full Alexa support plus near audiophile quality sound? That's something I would very seriously consider.

Might they do this? Sure. They try to offer something for everyone's needs. But they have worked with Sonos on making Sonos work thru Alexa and I expect that is their solution for quality sound.

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

If any of that was true why are Apple selling it as a high quality speaker?

Good question.

Maybe, just maybe, the HomePod morphed late in the lab, due to Tsunami-sized competition, morphing from a simple, Siri hands-free hub device, to one decked with an Apple Music player + Airplay2-only "multi-phonic" speakers and microphones.

I am not sure anyone will ever answer truthfully -- esp. TC and his crew.

 

[jerwin]

Wow! Stereo. The future has arrived. Hello 1965!

Could someone put Rubber Soul on the turntable?

I think this means that you're not a real fan.

I recently found a nice copy of the US RS in Mono. I finally got around to listening to it tonight. Absolutely wonderful. I then listened to my US Capitol in stereo. Horrible. I don't think I can ever listen to it again in stereo.

found on the web

 

[dogslobber]

No Consumer Reports just yet. Maybe wait for the Pros...

 

[gnipgnop]

Why does the receiver need Wi-Fi?

Because the HomePod includes WiFi and you're doing an alternative component comparison. WiFi is how HomePod connects to your home internet service for things like Apple Music. If you're not going to include that within your own system, it isn't really a component alternative.

 

[Bawstun]

The crux of my complaint isn't the HomePod itself. It might be a marvelous piece of engineering that gets the best sound out of it's source material better than anything near it's price range. But Apple has decided that this hardware's primary purpose is to push their subscription service. If the entire reason for existence of this product, which the backstory that Apple has released say it is, was to get the best sound in a small package then allow people to connect their best music sources to the device. No artificial limitations. Because the data input for this is wifi, so the packet layout and information standards have been in place for years. No one company controls implementation of how data needs to be formatted to use ethernet or wifi. Opening it up would have no effect on how good of an AI assistant Siri is, either. There isn't a hardware reason** that Apple can't allow any and every digital music source access to the HomePod, and it wouldn't take a redesign of the hardware to allow it. This software limitation is a marketing decision to sell their streaming service, period.

Free the HomePod.

**There may be licensing (legal) reasons, but then the fault lies with that company and not Apple.

It’s a $350 overpriced speaker.

“Freeing” the HomePod comes in iteration 2 or 3. You need upgrades to sell more units!

Sadly, the original HomePod won’t be freeable. They’ll invent some hardware or software reason for why you NEED to get the HomePod 2 or 3 for these features.

 

[tdar]

B&W is everything. I have a zeppelin air, zeppelin wireless, P5, MM1 and panorama. I love this company!

Go listen to a set of 802D3's and get back to me. You'll not just love B & W, you'll think they are magical.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

“Freeing” the HomePod comes in iteration 2 or 3. You need upgrades to sell more units!

Sadly, the original HomePod won’t be freeable. They’ll invent some hardware or software reason for why you NEED to get the HomePod 2 or 3 for these features.

Complete your training is. A jedi you now be.

 

[gnasher729]

I do think Apple offers their version of lossless via Apple Music. My Apple Music files that are downloaded to my phone are a bit large in file size. The average 3-4 minute song is about 8MB. Other songs that are 6,7,8 minutes long minutes long are up to 19MB in file size.
Not absolutely sure if this is their losses, but it sounds absolutely amazing on my zeppelin wireless. Will tidal sound much better on this?

256 KBit/sec AAC is about 2 Megabyte per minute, so that is likely what you have. You'd need VERY good speakers and VERY good ears to distinguish this from lossless. And some of the music on the store is compressed from originals in better than CD quality. Lossless (ALAC or FLAC) would be about three times the size.

 

[EdT]

It’s a $350 overpriced speaker.

“Freeing” the HomePod comes in iteration 2 or 3. You need upgrades to sell more units!

Sadly, the original HomePod won’t be freeable. They’ll invent some hardware or software reason for why you NEED to get the HomePod 2 or 3 for these features.

I'm an old enough cynic that I know you are right. But if it really is an improvement then I'd hate for the technology to die unused. People should do a search using "Sony proprietary formats" as the search term. Some of these video and audio formats really were better than what else was out there, but Sony wanting to lock people into their proprietary software format made most of these long term failures.

 

[palmerc]

Sure. Two would be great. But $700 plus tax.

$700 plus tax would still put it below the cost of a pair of Bowers and Wilkins CM1s at $850. It is quite possible that Apple is about to completely disrupt the home stereo business.

 

[gnipgnop]

What I do find odd is that none of those first impression are from publications that deal exclusively with sound and vision like What Hifi.

What HiFi does have an initial impression...the interesting thing is that they say the Play 3 sounded "flat" in comparison to the HomePod even when set up with the TruePlay feature, and the Play 3 got a five star review from What HiFi.

https://www.whathifi.com/apple/homepod/review

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

$700 plus tax would still put it below the cost of a pair of Bowers and Wilkins CM1s at $850. It is quite possible that Apple is about to completely disrupt the home stereo business.

and/or stake the claim to "...but who makes the most profitable smart speakers?"
[doublepost=1517153879][/doublepost]

What HiFi does have an initial impression...the interesting thing is that they say the Play 3 sounded "flat" in comparison to the HomePod even when set up with the TruePlay feature, and the Play 3 got a five star review from What HiFi.

https://www.whathifi.com/apple/homepod/review

Not a real review- just another Apple-controlled demo attendee.

 

[gnasher729]

I assume you‘re right. I guess those restrictions only encounter once no Mac or iOS device is near to stream to it. Any confirmation on this?

Airplay is available as software for Windows and for Android. What apparently nobody has done yet is create a little box that takes physical audio input and sends it out via Airplay. I'd say there is a market for that now.

 

[tdar]

The HomePod is a competitor to the Sonos play/1

If so, sonos has nothing to be worried about. Notice now they are offering 2 play ones for the same price as one Homepod. They also have the play 3's and play5's for people who want stereo in one box and better sound. They can link 2 speakers for "true stereo" now and support multi room now. They support over 80 music services now, including Apple music. They support Alexa control now and google home and airplay 2 is coming. It works with iOS devices and Android, Macs and PC. I'd bet Sonos thinks that they are going to be fine.

 

[Cloudkicker]

Incredible! This is basically a thousand dollar speaker system for a few hundred dollars. Probably the best product on the market.

I'm glad hyperbole hasn't set in. s/

So if I understand this properly, an inexpensive Apple (...can't believe I just typed that!) product can equal or best an outrageously expensive top tier equivalent [example HomePod vs Goldmond Swiss audio], but a cheaper version of an Apple product can never be equalled or bested [example a Sony wireless headphones vs AirPods]?

Well. I for one am relieved the world is still spinning on its access & logic will always prevail.

 

[gnipgnop]

Not a real review- just another Apple-controlled demo attendee.

Okay, but they did listen to a Play 3 (also a $350 system) in the exact same environment and confirmed that it was tuned for it with TruePlay. That's the point that some people seem to be missing: they're not just listening to the HomePod in isolation for these initial impressions, and it's not like Apple is preventing the sound quality features of other systems from being active.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I'm glad hyperbole hasn't set in. s/

So if I understand this properly, an inexpensive Apple (...can't believe I just typed that!) product can equal or best an outrageously expensive top tier equivalent [example HomePod vs Goldmond Swiss audio], but a cheaper version of an Apple product can never be equalled or bested [example a Sony wireless headphones vs AirPods]?

Well. I for one am relieved the world is still spinning on its access & logic will always prevail.

Welcome to the forums... where many of us will just bend details to fit whatever Apple wants (us) to (help them) sell now. Last year(s), a lot of this same crowd was rationalizing the headphone jack jettison for bluetooth inferior quality on an argument that lower quality is "good enough" for the masses... that the modern audio listener doesn't care about high-to-audiophile quality. Now, apparently we're all supposed to be audiophiles and we can achieve that here- but only here- for just $349. Best of all: BOTH are getting fed audio from the exact same source.

 

[Cloudkicker]

Steve Jobs will rise from his grave and proclaim: "It took us a little longer, but we did it right".

For those of you who don't recall, he said that about Copy & Paste when it was finally added as a feature to iOS.

lol No kidding, eh? Yet Samsung is childishly labelled 'Samesung' for copying Apple. Nice to know "Apple got it right" on OLED all the way back in 2017.

 

[CodeSpyder]

I cancelled my order. I have a ton of Al Di Meola songs on my iPhone that I'd want to play, but ripped my CDs for the songs. HomePod won't play those, so, adios, HomePod.

 

[doelcm82]

If so, sonos has nothing to be worried about. Notice now they are offering 2 play ones for the same price as one Homepod. They also have the play 3's and play5's for people who want stereo in one box and better sound. They can link 2 speakers for "true stereo" now and support multi room now. They support over 80 music services now, including Apple music. They support Alexa control now and google home and airplay 2 is coming. It works with iOS devices and Android, Macs and PC. I'd bet Sonos thinks that they are going to be fine.

I just ordered a HomePod. That’s the equivalent of ordering TWO Sonos play 1 speakers. For every one of these Apple sells, Sonos loses two sales.

Sonos is doomed!

 

[vipergts2207]

Because the HomePod includes WiFi and you're doing an alternative component comparison. WiFi is how HomePod connects to your home internet service for things like Apple Music. If you're not going to include that within your own system, it isn't really a component alternative.

Most people probably already have a source. If not, add either an ATV or AirPort Express and replace the Klipsch sub with a $150 Dayton Audio SUB-1200.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Okay, but they did listen to a Play 3 (also a $350 system) in the exact same environment and confirmed that it was tuned for it with TruePlay. That's the point that some people seem to be missing: they're not just listening to the HomePod in isolation for these initial impressions, and it's not like Apple is preventing the sound quality features of other systems from being active.

I understand. But who's controlling the demo? Who's feeding the speakers the audio sources? Did that Sonos get the exact same quality of audio file that was fed to the HomePod? Etc. I've played this game myself before. Controlled demos can make ANYTHING seem better than it's competitors if you just set up the parameters in the right way. I'm not saying that Apple resorted to such shenanigans but it would be interesting to see if the reviews would have shifted if there would have been breaks between demo sessions so that Amazon, Google and Sonos could have come in and did their versions of head-to-head demonstrations too.

If so, they would have played up their product's strengths. Maybe they feed their product a lossless version of Hotel California while feeding the other 3 a 64kpbs version? Or maybe they just turn there's up slightly louder than the other 3 so it seems more "room filling?" Or maybe they optimize their music selections to be ones that sound best on their hardware? Etc.

 

[Princejb134]

Without Alexa and Spotify support, sound quality alone isn't compelling.

That's why it has Bluetooth

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I cancelled my order. I have a ton of Al Di Meola songs on my iPhone that I'd want to play, but ripped my CDs for the songs. HomePod won't play those, so, adios, HomePod.

It can play them... via airplay.

Presumably you want to be able to command Siri to play your ripped (higher quality) versions of these songs from your iTunes library instead of "the cloud's" version. Apparently, it will NOT do that.