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Two HomePods as computer speakers?
- Thread starter MiamiC70
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For the price of 2 homepods Audioengine hd6's would be a much better choice unless you like staying apple/voice controls
If you can find the SWAN M50W, they sound amazing for less than the cost of one HomePod. Can't imagine better bang for your buck in anything audio.
My computer / desk is near living room so would make perfect dual use opportunity.
There has to be a list somewhere of all the things HomePod is not...
In this case, even if the AirPlay setup could be made to pipe the Mac's sound through in stereo, it would be frustrating as hell to make something trigger a beep on the screen and then hear it 1 second later on speakers.
Apple supposedly is getting the lag lower in AirPlay 2, but even if they halve it, 500ms is going to jar.
In this case, even if the AirPlay setup could be made to pipe the Mac's sound through in stereo, it would be frustrating as hell to make something trigger a beep on the screen and then hear it 1 second later on speakers.
Apple supposedly is getting the lag lower in AirPlay 2, but even if they halve it, 500ms is going to jar.
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Entirely different protocols to AirPlay.
AirPlay is (currently) the only method of getting audio into HomePod. It doesn't even offer Bluetooth.
This is an area where Bose Revolve really shines. It is a USB computer speaker in addition to being a Bluetooth and wired speaker that runs off AC or battery. Looking forward to audio quality comparisons to HomePod, because it does a lot with its single driver.
I was kicking around this (not two speakers but one), for my iMac. Good to know that there is some lag with AirPlay but if I really want to do it, then its possible.
I'm toying around with re-doing my home office and this may fit well into what I'm looking to do.
I'm toying around with re-doing my home office and this may fit well into what I'm looking to do.
I’m still thinking about it. I have had some MM-1’s fir years which are great but having two wireless HP I can lose some wires and use the HP as both computer speakers and as secondary speakers to my main home theater setup. Might even make sense to pick up a 3rd one for the kitchen.
Are you talking about all computer sounds? MacOS will let you set the system audio output to be an AirPlay device, but it looks like you can only select one device at a time.
If you were talking only about iTunes, then you can stream to two airplay devices at the same time, but can't separate left and right channels to the two HomePods.
If you were talking only about iTunes, then you can stream to two airplay devices at the same time, but can't separate left and right channels to the two HomePods.
I dare say when AirPlay 2 makes it's way to macOS it'll solve issues with lag and multiple HomePods. So technically it'll be possible soon.
stop with your logic! That is going to be the case for pretty much all speakers this size.
Others have reported the delay is about 2 seconds. Would drive me nuts personally.
Exactly.
It would be possible to use it as a speaker for a select number of audio outputs as the software reportedly tries to account for the delay whenever possible (i.e. when watching a video or listening to music, the audio would sync up with the video by essentially letting the HomePod play the corresponding audio 2 seconds earlier so that it cancels out with the delay, you only have a 2-second-delay when playing/pausing/etc.). But as soon as you‘re talking about live audio sources (e.g. system sounds, phone calls, games, live video streams, ...), the system can‘t account for the delay anymore as it doesn‘t „know“ about the sound in advance. It would be a huge annoyance to use it as a standard speaker for everything you do on a Mac.
As others have said, AirPlay 2 is announced to address this delay, but as long as we don‘t know any details about it, I‘d be very careful with buying a HomePod with this purpose in mind and with the hopes that AirPlay 2 will make it all possible. It‘s a possibility that AirPlay 2 will just decrease the delay by a noticeable amount but not completely eliminate it. For example, a 400ms delay would be a huge improvement over what we have now but it would still make for annoying pauses between seeing an action or video on-screen and hearing the corresponding sound.
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I've had this setup since first receiving my HomePods. The sound is terrific, but until Airplay 2 is released there are some limitations:
- when using iTunes, both speakers can be selected at the same time. The sound is not true stereo, however, but I assume that will change with Airplay 2
- for computer sound output, it's only possible to select one of the HomePods using the Sound preferences control panel. There is a slight delay with this arrangement; the sound will not match the video exactly.
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You’d be better off going with a pair of jbl lsr305 and pocketing the huge chunk of change you’ll be saving
I still do as returned my HomePod. Too many shortcomings right now, maybe revisit after firmware/ software is updated.
Only with a Mac as it doesn’t have Bluetooth. With Airplau support it works great with my MacBook air.