Google home, which I just bought for about half that price, already can do home automation to turn on my already existing home stereo system, instead of relying on a single speaker and only Apple music.
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Tim Cook Says HomePod Experience Will Blow People Away
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You can gather a lot of data just from your isp. Anyway all I'm saying is this device is pretty closed. It is way more secure than most devices that you would probably ever use.
I am actually looking forward to this. Very surprised by the price, expected something much more expensive. The spatial awareness features look very impressive. My only concern is that the sound quality won't be too good - the speaker is surprisingly small and cheap compared to the current upper mid range.
Funny. I had a negative reaction to the AirPods and still do. I can't get past the similarity of having QTips sticking out of my ears. Sorry.
They're not the best looking, but I don't care because usability wise, they're the best earphones I've ever used.
Why do people assume this will sound like a sonos ? I had the original iPod hifi and while the price was up there, the SQ was not.
As an owner of AirPods, I'm not buying into this thing sounding comparable to a sonos....maybe a sonos 1 at best. It will never touch a 5.
Let's see how it plays out, though my money is that a sonos 1 will match it.
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Agreed. Convenience , the best I have owned.
Funny, you seem to have a "Negative reaction" to a lot of Apple products. And Throughout this thread you keep using the word "Hype" for various products. You know what the added benefit is to the word hype? You don't have to purchase the product. Hype is only what a user defines it as, not what someone exacerbates or abuses the term when it comes to a product they have their own opinion on. You're conflating two different things.
The Apple Watch was hyped, success on its own right. The AirPods were hyped, huge success on its own right. Perfect examples.
I don't believe people in general are that fascinated with great audio beyond a certain fairly low threshold of quality. I hope the other capabilities make it worth it. $349 wow sounds like a stretch.
Or something like this Bose Revolve+ $299, almost the same design, this new type of "circular sound" or whatever, this one has a battery, no Siri, it sound pretty good, the other day tried it at Best Buy and this circular sound gives a new different feeling that I really like, really liked the sound, so, the HomePod has to sound at least on par to this one, I guess will see that when it hits the stores, it all points that it will.
Trun. People were saying how the Airpods were overpriced, even though similar offerings from others like Samsung is actually more expensive. People keep comparing the Airpods to some generic $20 Bluetooth headset. Same here I guess. People will either keep believing that $20 products are better for them, or people are being happy with their Airpods/Homepods.
What makes you say it's "cheap"? I have a Klipsch G-17 Airplay speaker and for the size it sounds amazing. Honestly the first time I heard it I couldn't even believe such clean and full sound could come out of that small a package. The bass that comes out of it seems impossible, it has only 2 2.5" woofers. By my calculations this Home Pod has about 2X the volume of that speaker, so I imagine it could be quite good (in theory), especially if there are 2 of them working together.
Is it going to match a large, multi-thousand dollar speaker and amplifier system? No, of course it isn't. But if it gets 50% of the way there (high end audio is notorious for steeply diminishing returns on $) and provides all these other features and integrates perfectly with all Apple devices, it could be considered quite a bargain.
I dunno why people are complaining. I have a UE Megaboom by UE/Logitech, and it usually sells for $300. You get a Siri integrated wireless speaker, and most likely sound better than the Megaboom for $350. I don't know man, it sounds like a good deal to me.
I hope the next iteration is that it's going to be portable.
I hope the next iteration is that it's going to be portable.
The key takeaway I got was that any of capabilities other than music related stuff seemed to be downplayed.
It felt like the most lackluster product introduction Apple has ever done:
It felt like the most lackluster product introduction Apple has ever done:
Man in the middle. Pretend to be an Apple server.
If you're that concerned about possible constant listening by a hacked device, then buy Amazon.
They deliberately put in a hardware microphone disable buton on the top of the Echo and Dot, just for people like you. No amount of remote hacking can turn it on.
Of course, that means you have to touch it to let it listen, which removes half the fun. But that might be worth it to you.
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iPod HiFi is still my favourite Apple device. Never bought one back when it officially shipped, but damn, asap I picked one up and it didn't drop in value. Quality of it is absolute perfection. Floorless. My partner now has one also.
I am not an audiophile, by far. I do like listening to music though. I spend about half a year looking for some speakers that I would feel comfortable with and it was very difficult. I tried a bunch of speakers for under $400 and all of them were underwhelming — flat sound, not enough clarity. In the end I stopped at Audioengine HD6 bluetooth speakers, which are an amazing set for around $700 in total.
The HomePod is more or less the same price per speaker, but its significantly lighter and smaller. If its not sounding at least as good as the Audioengine (which is not really a high-end speaker), then it doesn't make much sense to me. Will Apple be able to close the gap with their beam forming tech? Maybe. At any rate, I am looking forward to trying this thing out!
Have to double disagree. Whilst they may be very good speakers, for me to be "blown away" they’d have to be able to fool me into thinking there is an 12” sub hidden in there. These blockheads at Apple have taken it too far with superlatives.
My Mac Pro is great. Am I blown away? No. My iPhone7 is great. Am I blown away? No.
EDIT: Just read the article again, I have to give Tim a pass. He said "blown away by the experience", not "blown away by the sound”.
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Great product but not Hi Fi. Perfection? Flawless? Eh?
You obviously don't like low lows as far as bass in concerned.
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I can't believe the fanboys are excited about a speaker! this is CRAZY! the biggest tech company in the world creates a speaker and it's HOORAY!! LMAO whatever happened to Think Big! seems that belief died with Steve jobs...Fanboys you can say the sound will be AMAZING all you want, but Apple just entered the smart home automation market with something that looks like a toilet paper roll....this AMAZING sounding speaker does nothing but play apple music and utilizes a minor league assistant in Siri...I see through Apples BS in this one...$349? no thanks
In an interview today with Bloomberg TV, Apple CEO Tim Cook said customers will be "blown away" by the experience of the HomePod.
Unless they literally placed a bomb in the HomePods, I don't see that happening. If you ever feel impressed by the sound of such a device (in general, I'm not singling Apple's implementation out), you need to get out more and visit your local HiFi dealer or, even better, a HiFi show such as the one in Munich (http://www.highendsociety.de/index.php/en/high-end.html).
Unless they literally placed a bomb in the HomePods, I don't see that happening. If you ever feel impressed by the sound of such a device (in general, I'm not singling Apple's implementation out), you need to get out more and visit your local HiFi dealer or, even better, a HiFi show such as the one in Munich (http://www.highendsociety.de/index.php/en/high-end.html).
If had B&W so would I. Right now I can’t find a good package that is also aesthetically pleasing, (to me), to go with my Mac. One thing I’ve realised as I’ve gotten older is that everything and I do mean everything is a compromise.
Want top end sound? Then you probably need good full range speakers and dedicated amplification. Want to drill perfect holes in a bit of wood? Don’t buy newfangled multi use drill bits.
Try the 801 D3s
Not sure about the Mac thing, you might want a more esoteric sound source (and most definitely, good amplification), but they are aesthetically pleasing and sound very, very good.
They are quite nice, and also exhibit a nod to the Nautilus. Extremely surprised also that they go down to 15Hz.Try the 801 D3s
Not sure about the Mac thing, you might want a more esoteric sound source (and most definitely, good amplification), but they are aesthetically pleasing and sound very, very good.
I just saw they were twenty two grand though so I’ll have to pass.
But if I had the room and money I’d probably go for the FH001.