1. Does the latest version of tvOS allow let me use more than one speaker set at a time?
2. Will HomePod be compatible?
Thanks, Tom
2. Will HomePod be compatible?
Thanks, Tom
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- Thread starter gotom
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1. Doesn't look like Airplay2 is fully implemented yet on ATV latest Beta, definitely not on latest publicly available release.
2. That is the plan.
I would expect an Airplay 2 update to ATV very soon. Speculation is, Home Pod will not fully support Airplay2 out of the gate, but an update will be coming soon. AP2 is supposed to enable you to play on multiple Airplay devices simultaneous, like we have been able to do for some time with iTunes onPC\Mac.
2. That is the plan.
I would expect an Airplay 2 update to ATV very soon. Speculation is, Home Pod will not fully support Airplay2 out of the gate, but an update will be coming soon. AP2 is supposed to enable you to play on multiple Airplay devices simultaneous, like we have been able to do for some time with iTunes onPC\Mac.
I wonder if they will extend Airplay 2, to some sort of Bluetooth version for W1 devices so two people can watch ATV 4/4K devices with W1 equipped headphones.
What's your reasoning behind this? I have a Sony Soundbase under my TV and will be pairing a HomePod at the back of the room for a surround effect.
I stream to my apple 4K. love it. girlfriend loves it.
It needs to be "centered" under tv for best results, and when full room ships we will buy another and then move them to each side of tv.
We only use an apple tv. no cable box. no blue ray. It won't work with those devices.
we don't want a room filled with speakers all around us and this solution is best for us and sounds great!!!!
It needs to be "centered" under tv for best results, and when full room ships we will buy another and then move them to each side of tv.
We only use an apple tv. no cable box. no blue ray. It won't work with those devices.
we don't want a room filled with speakers all around us and this solution is best for us and sounds great!!!!
Surround sound by using two different speakers is not ideal as you don't get the full 5.1 experience as the HomePod is not even 2.1
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Such an arrangement will be an odd surround effect. Basically you will be hearing all of the sounds in the audio track from the front and all in the back. A helicopter meant to rumble in from the front, fly over and rumble off in the back will be rumbling in from the front & back and rumbling off to the front & back.
In short, the typical goal of a home theater surround sound system is discrete sounds. A DD 5.1 or 7.1 audio track is encoded so that a DD processor can send sounds to individual speakers, NOT send the same sound to all (or in this case BOTH) speakers. In a movie theater, you've experienced this effect. Sound coming from over there and seeming to fade away somewhere else. A war picture might have bullets or canons shooting from left and exploding to the right... or front to back. Cars zipping around might sound in front of you and then behind you to sync with what you are seeing on screen.
What you'll be doing is basically playing the same sounds front & back with that set up. I suppose it can be called a surround sound effect but it's far from what is usually desired in a surround sound setup.
If you are really after something that is more along the lines of discrete surround sound, I'd encourage you to look at real 5.1 or 7.1 systems. If wires are a big issue, there are systems that beam the bass & surround channels to a subwoofer you can put behind you and then wire the rear speakers into that. That eliminates wires running from front (of the room) to back if one can't get them into the walls or run through an attic or basement.
HP is really NOT designed to be a surround sound speaker. Apple hasn't even shown ANY aspirations for it to become that in their marketing. There are a ton of other options available to scratch that particular itch. And note that the bulk of HP's features are also available in an
TV you may already have: Siri voice control, AM, etc... along with the added benefits of full home sharing, the ability to play music from other sources (including higher quality sources like Tidal), and so on.
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If you are really after something that is more along the lines of discrete surround sound, I'd encourage you to look at real 5.1 or 7.1 systems. If wires are a big issue, there are systems that beam the bass & surround channels to a subwoofer you can put behind you and then wire the rear speakers into that. That eliminates wires running from front (of the room) to back if one can get them into the walls or run through an attic or basement.
HP is really NOT designed to be a surround sound speaker. Apple hasn't even shown ANY aspirations for it to become that in their marketing. There are a ton of other options available to scratch that particular itch. And note that the bulk of HP's features are also available in an
I would just say that there are several Bluetooh surround systems out there that wires shouldn't be used as an excuse.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
There certainly are. I just set up some "no (visible) wires desired" relatives with one of those 7.1 surround sound bars and they love it and it sounds great. Channels left, center & right are basically in a classic sound bar up front. Subwoofer and rear channels are wirelessly "beamed" back to the Sub, which then has the connections for the rear speakers coming out of it. This yields discrete surround sound that- the purist that I am- sounds pretty d*mn impressive for costing less than 2 HPs.
If they wanted most of the rest of the HP features, they could subscribe to AM on theirTV for both AM and Siri-voice controls and use their iDevices for the remaining "smarts", which will do the rest better than it can be done with a HP anyway. The TV option also brings full home sharing access to their CD rips without paying for a subscription and the flexibility to use other sources like Pandora, Tidal and iHeartRadio without leaning on the Airplay option. As a bonus, they also get all the video benefits of an TV and the definite potential for third party apps to keep right on coming, expanding its features.
Since they are not leaning on Airplay fromTV, the disconnection-reconnection hassles of it mentioned in HP reviews do not apply.
None of the above makes HP a bad product or anything- just points out that HP is really NOT meant to be used in this way. Yes, we can force it into this type of function but it's still not ideal for this purpose. And especially as imagined by the OP, putting an HP behind you is going to be dramatically far from it approximating the "rear" channels in a typical "surround sound" setup. Why? It won't be playing "surrounding" sounds- it will be playing ALL sounds.
If they wanted most of the rest of the HP features, they could subscribe to AM on their
TV for both AM and Siri-voice controls and use their iDevices for the remaining "smarts", which will do the rest better than it can be done with a HP anyway. The TV option also brings full home sharing access to their CD rips without paying for a subscription and the flexibility to use other sources like Pandora, Tidal and iHeartRadio without leaning on the Airplay option. As a bonus, they also get all the video benefits of an TV and the definite potential for third party apps to keep right on coming, expanding its features.Since they are not leaning on Airplay from
TV, the disconnection-reconnection hassles of it mentioned in HP reviews do not apply.None of the above makes HP a bad product or anything- just points out that HP is really NOT meant to be used in this way. Yes, we can force it into this type of function but it's still not ideal for this purpose. And especially as imagined by the OP, putting an HP behind you is going to be dramatically far from it approximating the "rear" channels in a typical "surround sound" setup. Why? It won't be playing "surrounding" sounds- it will be playing ALL sounds.