Upcoming 17.1 Software Brings Enhance Dialogue to Original HomePod and HomePod mini

[MacRumors]

With the HomePod software 17.1 update that is set to be released in the near future, Apple is bringing support for Enhance Dialogue to the HomePod mini and the original HomePod.

Enhance Dialogue is a feature that is meant to boost the volume of spoken voices to make dialogue easier to hear over effects, action, and music in a movie or TV show. The feature works when a HomePod or HomePod mini is paired to an Apple TV and used as the audio output option.

Prior to now, Enhance Dialogue was available on the second-generation HomePod, and it was a feature that was first introduced in tvOS 17. With tvOS 17.1 and HomePod software 17.1, Enhance Dialogue can be enabled on any HomePod (or set of HomePods) paired to an Apple TV 4K.

Enabling Enhance Dialogue can be done by playing a TV show or movie, bringing up the playback controls with the Siri Remote, and choosing the Enhance Dialogue feature from the Audio Options button. It can be enabled for all content by going to Settings > Video and Audio > Enhance Dialogue.

Apple today seeded the final beta version of the HomePod 17.1 software, and it should see a release as soon as next week alongside iOS 17.1 and tvOS 17.1.

Article Link: Upcoming 17.1 Software Brings Enhance Dialogue to Original HomePod and HomePod mini

 

[NervousFish2]

Oh my god, this is cool!

 

[klasma]

It would be nice to have a parametric EQ in general.

 

[Wig321]

For a few years I’ve always had subtitles turned on (this highlights another issue with subtitles missing words).

I have HomePod minis in stereo and this feature works great. I don’t have the courage to install beta software on my original HomePod.

 

[Schnegg]

I don‘t own Homepods, but this is great. Something needs to be done about these awful surround mixes with the loud effects and droned out dialogue.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Nothing beats a good center channel speaker for clear dialogue. Phantom centers like phantom overheads (ATMOS) or phantom surround speakers is not the same as actual centers, actual overheads or actual surrounds.

Those happy with stereo, enjoy this new feature. Those willing & able to go for true surround or true ATMOS, there is abundant offerings that can deliver that as fast as you want to move. Your ears will definitely notice.

That's not meant to put down HPs at all- they are great for what they are... which is NOT home theater speakers unless one defines home theater audio as stereo. A good Apple product or two budget will buy an incredible, true surround sound setup that will sound as good 10, 20 or 30 years from now as it sounds day 1. The "smarts" in the Apple devices you already own can make it work just like HPs do... except it will work with EVERYTHING that produces audio, including all streaming audio sources, anything pre-HDMI... and all to come that expands above current audio standards.

 

[t0rqx]

So why is this possible with "outdated" socs?

 

[B/D]

So why is this possible with "outdated" socs?

Good question. The story with 17.0 was that the feature was only available to the big second gen Homepod, because the processing of the audio mix to bring foward the speech was done by the speakers themselves in real time, and that process used some machine learning instructions set. This required a Bionic processor. The S7 chipset is based on the A13 Bionic, and therefore support this particular set of instructions, whereas the A8 does not.

Perhaps now, with 17.1, Apple have made the Apple TV 4K, not the Homepods, the device in charge to the processing of the audio mix, which would allow this feature to be available on the entire Homepod family.

 

[B/D]

For a few years I’ve always had subtitles turned on (this highlights another issue with subtitles missing words).

I have HomePod minis in stereo and this feature works great. I don’t have the courage to install beta software on my original HomePod.

View attachment 2297381

How well it works?. Is dialogue just louder or there is a higher maximum volume in general when using the Homepods with the Apple TV?

 

[sos47]

It would be nice to have a parametric EQ in general.

agree
it would be nice to have a parametric EQ for each audio device seperatly

 

[ju3rg]

Good question. The story with 17.0 was that the feature was only available to the big second gen Homepod, because the processing of the audio mix to bring foward the speech was done by the speakers themselves in real time, and that process used some machine learning instructions set. This required a Bionic processor. The S7 chipset is based on the A13 Bionic, and therefore support this particular set of instructions, whereas the A8 does not.

Perhaps now, with 17.1, Apple have made the Apple TV 4K, not the Homepods, the device in charge to the processing of the audio mix, which would allow this feature to be available on the entire Homepod family.

That would make sense, but exclude 1st gen Apple TV 4k? That one has the A10X and some of the newer stuff, e.g. Facetime, does not work on them.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Nothing beats a good center channel speaker for clear dialogue. Phantom centers like phantom overheads (ATMOS) or phantom surround speakers is not the same as actual centers, actual overheads or actual surrounds.

Those happy with stereo, enjoy this new feature. Those willing & able to go for true surround or true ATMOS, there is abundant offerings that can deliver that as fast as you want to move. Your ears will definitely notice.

That's not meant to put down HPs at all- they are great for what they are... which is NOT home theater speakers unless one defines home theater audio as stereo. A good Apple product or two budget will buy an incredible, true surround sound setup that will sound as good 10, 20 or 30 years from now as it sounds day 1. The "smarts" in the Apple devices you already own can make it work just like HPs do... except it will work with EVERYTHING that produces audio, including all streaming audio sources.

It doesn’t sync quite as well as it needs to, and maybe this isn’t a new feature, but I find using the HomePods in a stereo pair while ALSO still sending sound through the tv *almost* has a similar effect. Just need to be able to adjust which channels come out where and that could actually work.

 

[Jeaz]

Good question. The story with 17.0 was that the feature was only available to the big second gen Homepod, because the processing of the audio mix to bring foward the speech was done by the speakers themselves in real time, and that process used some machine learning instructions set. This required a Bionic processor. The S7 chipset is based on the A13 Bionic, and therefore support this particular set of instructions, whereas the A8 does not.

Perhaps now, with 17.1, Apple have made the Apple TV 4K, not the Homepods, the device in charge to the processing of the audio mix, which would allow this feature to be available on the entire Homepod family.

Was this ever the official stance or just speculation?

 

[B/D]

That would make sense, but exclude 1st gen Apple TV 4k? That one has the A10X and some of the newer stuff, e.g. Facetime, does not work on them.

Well, I can´t, since this particular feature works with the Apple TV 4K first gen as well, which means that my theory is incorrect, then.

 

[B/D]

Was this ever the official stance or just speculation?

Just speculation. By the way, has this ever happened in the past or is it the first time ever?. I´m talking of Apple introducing a feature for a particular generation of devices, and then some time later making that same feature available to older devices via a software update . I find it curious.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

It doesn’t sync quite as well as it needs to, and maybe this isn’t a new feature, but I find using the HomePods in a stereo pair while ALSO still sending sound through the tv *almost* has a similar effect. Just need to be able to adjust which channels come out where and that could actually work.

If your TV would happen to have center channel out, or even subbing in a good soundbar for a center channel speaker, I suspect it would be night & day for your ears. TV speakers- even in expensive TVs- are notorious for being cheap and very poor quality of sound. Part of what makes HPs used in this way such an amazing upgrade is that it is their much improved stereo sound vs. the poor stereo in just about all TVs. But that's their limit- stereo left & right.

If you have any easy way to export center channel audio, try a true center channel speaker (or as a fall back that might be easier just to try something, a soundbar as center channel), I'm confident you would be impressed with the dramatic audio improvement.

I know a bit about this topic and I would always endorse at least a 3.1 setup, which is 3 "Dumb" speakers- left, center, right and a good subwoofer, powered by a good Receiver to which AppleTV and the television are connected. That will play ANYTHING vs. only what works in tight walled garden constraints... and everyone already has the same HP "smarts" + Siri in all of the other Apple devices they own: Mac, iDevices, AppleTV.

If someone wants a bit more, add at least 2 speakers in the surround positions: left & right... to make it a 5.1 surround sound setup. That's abundantly noticeable too in any 5.1 Dolby Digital content (most movies & TV shot in the last 30 years). No way to do that as well with faux surround (soundbars or stereo pairs claiming ATMOS).

If someone wants to max it out, add even more such as rears (7.1 or better) and overhead speakers for true ATMOS. Again, ears definitely notice vs. faux surround or faux ATMOS.

No one can find any professional cinema or theater with only a soundbar or 2 HPs down front. Visit any one for a movie and before the lights go down take a good look around. There will be speakers down front, speakers beside, speakers behind and probably speakers overhead. Somewhere in there, there will be a subwoofer or 2+ too. If a soundbar or 2 HPs could sound about as good, it would be FARRRRRRRRRRR cheaper to use them instead of such setups. So then the question becomes why don't professional theaters take the much cheaper option? The logical answer to that question points the way to much improved home theater setups.

 

[beanbaguk]

OS 17 just keeps on giving. It brought my OG HomePods back to life again. They were next to useless with 16.x with a torrent of problems. Since I installed 17.x, they now work again and I’ve returned them back to my office Apple TV. This makes them even better!

 

[iManic]

It doesn’t sync quite as well as it needs to, and maybe this isn’t a new feature, but I find using the HomePods in a stereo pair while ALSO still sending sound through the tv *almost* has a similar effect. Just need to be able to adjust which channels come out where and that could actually work.

How are you outputting sound through the homepods and the tv speakers at the same time?

 

[B/D]

How are you outputting sound through the homepods and the tv speakers at the same time?

Using the temporary audio output (regular airplay, via the Apple control center), not home theater mode. Is not recommended, for things like echo and delay. Also, temporary output does not work with all tvOS apps, whereas default audio output does.

 

[Nozgog]

This is huge! Thank you Apple!

Hopefully Apple is also listening about the upgrade we all want and need

2 big HomePods in front
2 HomePod minis in the back
2 HomePod minis left and right
1 HomePod as center
2-3 HomePods on the ceiling

Apple would not only be selling 2 HomePods for stereo pairing but 7-8 HomePods for true surround sound

Another bonus: it might just be the first zero config surround system?

 

[firewire9000]

That would make sense, but exclude 1st gen Apple TV 4k? That one has the A10X and some of the newer stuff, e.g. Facetime, does not work on them.

Prob because it lacks the neural engine hardware.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

This is huge! Thank you Apple!

Hopefully Apple is also listening about the upgrade we all want and need

2 big HomePods in front
2 HomePod minis in the back
2 HomePod minis left and right
1 HomePod as center
2-3 HomePods on the ceiling

Apple would not only be selling 2 HomePods for stereo pairing but 7-8 HomePods for true surround sound

Another bonus: it might just be the first zero config surround system?

Don't forget a good HP Sub. And then getting power run to all of those globes & cylinders.

And hope that unlike an Apple product like iMac where- when the "smarts" conk or are arbitrarily made obsolete (AKA "vintaged")- they take the "dumb" part with them, that Apple will opt to support these for far longer than anything else that depends on the iOS core... because the speaker parts themselves are likely good for 10-30 years... much like those iMac screens getting tossed in about 7 or so years likely have 3-5 or more years still in them.

Good speakers- the "dumb" part you actually hear- don't get "long in tooth" at anywhere close to the pace of iOS-based tech. There are people who visit this site still enjoying good speakers they purchased in the 1990s, 1980s or even 1970s. Let's hope that anyone who buys that hypothetical all HP surround sound system gets much longer than about 7 years (typical "vintaging" timetable) out of them.

 

[Jeaz]

Just speculation. By the way, has this ever happened in the past or is it the first time ever?. I´m talking of Apple introducing a feature for a particular generation of devices, and then some time later making that same feature available to older devices via a software update . I find it curious.

Not that I can recall right now, although I have a nagging feeling it's happened before. Either way, it's very rare at least but I'm not complaining.
I was bummed before that this wasn't on the OG HomePods, but this feature alone was hardly enough to upgrade for. But very nice it's coming in 17.1. Looking forward to it!

 

[B/D]

Not that I can recall right now, although I have a nagging feeling it's happened before. Either way, it's very rare at least but I'm not complaining.
I was bummed before that this wasn't on the OG HomePods, but this feature alone was hardly enough to upgrade for. But very nice it's coming in 17.1. Looking forward to it!

Same. Very nice surprise indeed.

 

[geek36]

OT: does anyone have a setup of apple tv and homepod mini in pair mode? was wondering how's the audio quality in movies? because i plan to setup apple tv with homepod mini in my bedroom but not sure about the audio quality in it. i don't have homepod minis yet, so i don't have an idea how it sounds.