People still don’t understand an iPhone is software.
For the HomePod, it’s the hardware that’s so much better which is refreshingly different.
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HomePod's Sound Continues to Receive Top Marks After Listening Demos in New York and London
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For the HomePod, it’s the hardware that’s so much better which is refreshingly different.
I've tried and tried but I cannot make any sense in these statements.
"......and there seems to be a lack of respect for those who are not where there shouldn’t be".
"If you spend 79 bucks on a speaker and it makes you happy than do you!"
Stereo and mono are rather loaded terms in this context. Most commenters are using "stereo" as a proxy for panoramic, which did require a binaural arrangement before the advent of computational audio.
Previously, if you wanted to place a guitar left of center, the engineer would mix the left mic track slightly higher than the right mic track. Now it's possible to create an immersive sound stage with an omnidirectional speaker array that tunes its ambience based on the reflectance patterns it detects. You'll still get a wider sound stage with two HomePod enclosures, but a single HomePod should still be more immersive than a typical pair of similarly sized speakers.
Like you said, the HomePod's approach is just a different means to the same end.
Sorry, but that article/comparison was extremely shallow.
Question, I have been following your conversation for a couple of pages now, and I’m curious. From what you are saying or implying, a single B&W zeppelin will sound better that two HomePods? I went to the B&W website and was reading up on that speaker.
And does a single unit give true stereo sound or would a person need to buy two to get the full effect?
I do love the fact that it has a single 6” speaker/subwoofer built in which MUST sound better than any 4” speaker calling itself a subwoofer.
Thx
No real equipment reviewers provide their judgments based on a demo set up by the manufacturer. All the reviewers listed are the ones who wants to grab title so that they can use it as click bait.
This should answer everyone’s questions...
https://reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7t51a2/nda_is_up_what_can_i_tell_you_guys_about_the/
https://reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7t51a2/nda_is_up_what_can_i_tell_you_guys_about_the/
Nope.
I vote for B&O BeoPlay A9. Seriously great sound from a singe (big) speaker.
I vote for B&O BeoPlay A9. Seriously great sound from a singe (big) speaker.
Nope.
I vote for B&O BeoPlay A9. Seriously great sound from a singe (big) speaker.
I have read great reviews regarding the A9. Of course for 2700 dollars I would hope so.
No-one got an HomePod, free or otherwise. All these reviewers were invited to listen to them at an Apple location.
Why does Windows not have iTunes installed on their OS by default and therefore force u to go through additional steps just to use iTunes? Because microsoft have no reason to advertise it.
Same thing with Apple and Spotify.
You want spotify? AirPlay it.
For $2,699...
Guys seriously there is no way the homepod is as good as a 2.1 setup, it's not supposed to be. Like I said earlier it's competing against Bose Soundtouch 20 which costs the same.
No it includes anything you import to iTunes whether you purchased it there or not.
No, per Serenity Caldwell you can play everything in your iCloud Music Library with Siri control.
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Sure they invited them, how else would they have been able to listen to HomePod?
Is there a $40 companion speaker that would give a separation enhance to the pod? Save me from 2 units.
Apple last week invited select reporters to one-hour-long HomePod listening demos in New York City and London, resulting in several first impressions of the speaker's sound quality being shared online over the past few days.
We've rounded up all of the first impressions we've come across so far, and highlighted some excerpts that we thought were interesting below. If you spot an article not listed here, let us know in the comments section.
o Business Insider
o TechCrunch
o CNET
o Engadget
o iMore
o Mashable
o TechRadar
o Digital Trends
o Tom's Guide
o Expert Reviews
o Wired UK
o iNews UK
o Huffington Post UK
o Vogue UK
o Refinery29
o Gear Patrol
o Stuff.tv
o Alphr
o Lance Ulanoff
o T3
The consensus is that the HomePod sounds very good, although some felt the quality isn't exactly worth the price. A few reporters were more impressed by upcoming stereo sound capabilities of two HomePods in the same room.
Keep in mind these listening demos were conducted by Apple in controlled environments, so we'll have to wait for more in-depth reviews once reporters and customers get the speaker into their hands and try it out.
Business Insider's Avery Hartmans
Wired UK's Jeremy White
TechCrunch's Brian Heater
CNET's David Carnoy
iNews UK's Rhiannon Williams
Apple began accepting HomePod orders through its online store and Apple Store app on Friday in the United States, Australia, and United Kingdom, with the first deliveries to customers estimated to arrive Friday, February 9.
Article Link: HomePod's Sound Continues to Receive Top Marks After Listening Demos in New York and London
Ok, realised what it is now but you still need an Apple Music subscription for that. If you aren’t a subscriber then you can’t use any of your own music ripped from CDs, even if you pay for iTunes Match which is pretty crappy from Apple.
The answer to all this is: Nobody knows.
We know today: A HomePod has six tweeters, six microphones, one subwoofer that isn't very big but has quite large displacement, and one rather powerful processor that controls everything. Usually people have two separate speakers boxes, with two actual speakers, and no intelligence whatsoever. So the HomePod ought to be better than you would think if you just looked at the speakers, but nobody knows how much better.
People reviewing it so far haven't done any meaningful reviews. On the other hand, some people are waiting for music magazines putting a HomePod into a lab and measuring things, and I can only tell you that this will not give any meaningful results. Like they will try to measure the frequency response. At the same time, the HomePod will measure the layout of their lab, and produce the best result it can in that lab room. It will twist its frequency response so that the ears of the listener get the best possible result, and if you look at the measurements, they will look godawful. Because you have a speaker that doesn't try to produce the best sound coming out of the speaker, but the best sound entering the listener's ears.
We also have been told that the sound from a single HomePod produces something that tells the listener's ears where the instruments in a recording are positioned. But it's different from stereo. It sounds different.
What we need is some serious reviewers with good hearing and half a dozen different speakers to listen at the HomePod carefully, and tell us how it compares in quality with various conventional speakers. And that serious review will be difficult because it behaves different from conventional speakers. Two stereo speakers have _one_ point where their sound is optimal. HomePod has a whole area where the sound is optimal. So you have to take that into consideration. I'd expect a review to say "speaker X, which cost $XXX, was better than HomePod in its sweet spot, but less good when you moved two meters away, so overall their quality is about equal".
One HomePod doesn't give "true stereo" sound. It gives a _different_ sound. Which might be as good, almost as good, nowhere near as good, or better than "true stereo". We don't know that yet. But we know it is different. Two HomePods should be able to deliver something that is better than "true stereo", but again, we don't know that until we hear them.
So there is a lack of respect from these so called audiophiles for folks who just want a good speaker. It’s great that someone spends thousands of dollars on speakers but I just want to listen to music without the pomp and circumstance.
“Do you” is an expression for do what you want to do if it makes you happy. For example: I’m going to move away! Okay man do you.
Is there anything else?
You need an Apple Music subscription to play the music you want _using Siri on the HomePod_. You can play any music, or any sound at all, from any Mac, any iPhone, any PC with Airplay software, any Android device with Airplay software, just not by using Siri. What the situation is with iTunes Match, nobody knows. Siri on my Mac plays music from iTunes Match. (Just tried: Command space, said "play music by Pink Floyd", and it started playing "Pigs on The Wing"). Works even with music that I recorded from LPs.
Every single one of these “reviews” are nothing but regurgitated Apple marketing BS by internet bloggers and tech sites looking for clicks. Not one of these “reviewers” has asked or provided answers to any questions even a junior reporter or technical person would ask. So, I’ll say it again. Apple has launched a product with no clear purpose, applications, instructions, specifications, 1/2 baked features and for $350 no clear benefit over competitors.
If I can’t play my 137GB+ iTunes music library to this thing WTF would I buy it? If I can’t use its Bluetooth features why would I pay for it? If I can’t steam to it except from Apple Music then where is my subsidized subscription? Sorry, this like every launch in last few years from Apple is a mess.
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And seemingly asked Apple engineers absolutely no questions?
If I can’t play my 137GB+ iTunes music library to this thing WTF would I buy it? If I can’t use its Bluetooth features why would I pay for it? If I can’t steam to it except from Apple Music then where is my subsidized subscription? Sorry, this like every launch in last few years from Apple is a mess.
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And seemingly asked Apple engineers absolutely no questions?
Just hope nobody thinks it's a dartboard.
Why ask me?
I was responding to OP who said they got good reviews because the reviewers received them free of charge from Apple. Whereas the article said they were invited to listen in a demo room.