I've been waiting for a review of the HomePod from a technical audiophile perspective, and it's finally in:
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/apple-homepod-wireless-smart-speaker-review
It is the most in-depth audio technical review I've seen. I don't remember seeing any reference to the HomePods' "Fletcher-Munson loudness compensation", for example in any other reviews. Unfortunately they did not put it on their test bench.
Just concentrating on it's audio capabilities, ignoring Siri limitations, current lack of stereo, etc., some notable quotes from the article:
"In the end, Apple’s HomePod proved itself—to me, anyway—to be the shining triumph of audio engineering the company portends it to be."
"The Apple HomePod is, hands-down, the best-sounding speaker of its size I’ve ever heard, and, note-for-note, an absolute pleasure to listen to every moment it’s on. It is, indeed, a remarkable sonic achievement."
"After jumping through an almost laughable number of screens and steps a while back to introduce an Alexa-enabled Sonos One to my system (review at soundandvision.com), setting up the HomePod was a breath of fresh air."
"If the HomePod has a dominant distinguishing characteristic, it is unquestionably its bass, which is nothing short of remarkable for such a small speaker: notably articulate, controlled, and almost shockingly deep in a way that I’ve just not heard from anything near its size. I ran some bass test tones, and in my space the SPL meter indicated surprisingly consistent output from 80 hertz right down to 50 Hz; from there, it dropped off quickly and was down 10 decibels by 40 Hz"
"If I had any complaint at all, it was that, at least in my room at that 8-foot distance, the HomePod delivered less overall maximum volume than the other speakers"
"The Sonos One on this track sounded very good and also quite natural down to its low-end limit, even throwing a bit of spread on the crowd noise, but it was easy to hear how the bass line was less discernible and pronounced, and in direct comparison with the HomePod, I came to hear both the initial horn blast and all that followed grow a bit threadbare and edgy."
"I could go on at length with how the HomePod delivered similar revelations track after track."
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/apple-homepod-wireless-smart-speaker-review
It is the most in-depth audio technical review I've seen. I don't remember seeing any reference to the HomePods' "Fletcher-Munson loudness compensation", for example in any other reviews. Unfortunately they did not put it on their test bench.
Just concentrating on it's audio capabilities, ignoring Siri limitations, current lack of stereo, etc., some notable quotes from the article:
"In the end, Apple’s HomePod proved itself—to me, anyway—to be the shining triumph of audio engineering the company portends it to be."
"The Apple HomePod is, hands-down, the best-sounding speaker of its size I’ve ever heard, and, note-for-note, an absolute pleasure to listen to every moment it’s on. It is, indeed, a remarkable sonic achievement."
"After jumping through an almost laughable number of screens and steps a while back to introduce an Alexa-enabled Sonos One to my system (review at soundandvision.com), setting up the HomePod was a breath of fresh air."
"If the HomePod has a dominant distinguishing characteristic, it is unquestionably its bass, which is nothing short of remarkable for such a small speaker: notably articulate, controlled, and almost shockingly deep in a way that I’ve just not heard from anything near its size. I ran some bass test tones, and in my space the SPL meter indicated surprisingly consistent output from 80 hertz right down to 50 Hz; from there, it dropped off quickly and was down 10 decibels by 40 Hz"
"If I had any complaint at all, it was that, at least in my room at that 8-foot distance, the HomePod delivered less overall maximum volume than the other speakers"
"The Sonos One on this track sounded very good and also quite natural down to its low-end limit, even throwing a bit of spread on the crowd noise, but it was easy to hear how the bass line was less discernible and pronounced, and in direct comparison with the HomePod, I came to hear both the initial horn blast and all that followed grow a bit threadbare and edgy."
"I could go on at length with how the HomePod delivered similar revelations track after track."
