HomePod OG Homepod sound quality was never good: A discussion

[turbineseaplane]

We now have 15+ HomePods and HP mini’s in our house

Wow

That is going to be major pain as the OG's die over time

 

[satchmo]

One of mine got bricked, likely by the 14.6 update*. I'm looking at moving on to another, maybe Sonus. I really haven't started looking. Recommendations for quality sound? AirPlay 2 support?

My wife prefers using Bluetooth or wired to a Harmon Kardon Studio (4?) from her iPhone. It does sound great.

(*Any suggestions on a fix are welcome. I'm not going to pay Apple $279. for a replacement. The hard reset doesn't work. It was removed from Home app and removed as an Apple iCloud device. The other three have been updated to 15.3.)

I have the Harmon Kardan Studio Onyx 2, and love the balance of this speaker. Much cheaper and frankly Bluetooth works just fine instead of AirPlay. It's also truly portable being battery powered with a detachable cord. And an auxiliary jack too!

But Apple being Apple chose to be different. Sure if it truly adds value. But in the case of speakers, not having industry standard features is just being different for different sake.

 

[Bogstandard]

The OG homepod does not sound as good as an upper tier sub/sat trio by creative or cambridge. To my ears at least.
They are overendowed with muddy mid base and stiffled highs.
They beat the sub/sat trios with their sound stage otherwise I prefer the sound of the former.
The homepod minis sound clearer in the upper register.
One of mine is now popping, and I'm loathe to use them in case they brick themselves.
Definitely an overhyped product.

 

[Htsi]

I like mine, but only in a stereo pair. Single HomePod isnt impressive