I heard Sonos has the best audio, and is cheaper...
Apple people are usually audio quality fanatics... (except the kids that buy Beats) Are they going to settle for 2nd best?
I doesn’t really sound like HomePod is ready for primetime... it probably would have been released with AirPlay 2.
It sounds like we need a professional review rather than just specs. Audio quality natzi’s where art tho?
if you've read any articles from when it was released, reporters are stating it blows Sonos away in terms of audio quality. So I'm ok with being #1
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What I heard
HomePod came off as bolder and more vivid than Sonos Play:3 in the experience I tried, and a lot better than Amazon Echo. I'd also say the music sounded consistently vivid and crisp in a quiet space, more so than the Sonos and Amazon comparisons on-hand. "
“This obviously isn't Apple's first go-around with high-quality audio. In 2006, Apple released the iPod Hi-Fi. It wasn't well received at the time, was considered too pricey for what it delivered, and was discontinued in 2007. It was certainly slain for good with the advent of the Lightning connector. Right now, a decade later, we don't know for sure if Apple learned any lessons from that.“
I don’t know what Apple learnt from the iPod Hi-Fi, but it wasn’t "slain for good" by the Lightning connector. It had an auxiliary/digital in socket. Friends have them, and they are still in use - a great sound! That’s over 10 years later.
What happens when Apple moves on from the HomePod?
I’ve had single Sonos speakers in each room for several years now, never felt I needed more than one as they sound pretty good on their own, Looking forward to swapping out for the HomePod,
Yes indeed I am referring to firmware patches for the processor. Naturally. Do you think Intel's patches are for the OS? Intel's chips' firmware is independent of any OS. I'm exclusively talking about the patches to the Intel chips (or ARM chips) made by the manufacturer. By the time the patches reach the customer, as a software update, there is no way for the customer to know whether the patch is for the OS or for the firmware. If Apple has passed on any of Intel's firmware patches to us we would see them as software updates. Many other hardware vendors for PCs have already had to withdraw their software patches which contained Intel's firmware patches. It's a mess. I want the dust to settle before I buy any more affected CPUs.
My last comment was for the user StrangeDays but for some reason the website didn't work when I clicked on the Quote button. Instead, my comment was added as a new post.
The biggest thing many want to know is if this can work as a home theater system. Can it? Will the sound match competing systems? Will it work with an Apple TV? When?
I agree with you but also wonder if they need to release a sound bar and sub woofer too. Something that would include HDMI &/or audio input so that you don't have to use it with just Apple TV.
You guys just aren’t getting it. HP is not a home theater, nor a sound bar. They don’t care about those and you’ll never see one with inputs. It’s part of the Apple ecosystem...a wireless shelf speaker for the walled garden. That’s it.
If the HP sounds as good as some people say it does, then once the pairing feature is implemented you will have the makings of a home theater system.
The biggest thing many want to know is if this can work as a home theater system. Can it? Will the sound match competing systems? Will it work with an Apple TV? When?
This whole HomePod launch is disappointing. In the meantime, I was gifted an Echo and for the Alexa stuff, it’s really good at controlling the smart home stuff. Things that Siri can’t do yet.
Seems like Amazon is taking the lead and it pains me because I have an all Apple ecosystem that is substandard to what Alexa can do.
This sounds complete bullshit! I used both and Siri worked very well especially with scenes. Alexa only works better with fixed commands. With Siri, I can invoke the scene without using commands but a scene name: “Good Night” to turn off all lights and set Ecobee thermostat in sleep mode while deemed the hallway light. With Alexa, I have to say a command like: Turn “all lights” off, Set “Home” temperature to 75 degrees. I cannot turn on/off Ecobee thermostat with Alexa, but with Siri.
Although it's very exciting, I'm leery about buying anything with processors that have the Meltdown/Spectre bugs. Should I wait?
If they have software fixes for other Apple devices, I dunno why this would be different.
Read the update notes again, they aren’t fixes, they are are “mitigations”, and that use of language is very deliberate. There can be no software fix for Spectre especially; the only complete fix is new hardware. The patches make the problems more difficult to exploit but not impossible, and there will be a lot of people working to get around them.
Personally I’m holding out on new tech until the new chips are out there. Not the HomePod is even slightly enticing anyway, it’s clearly overpriced and over engineered.
The biggest thing many want to know is if this can work as a home theater system. Can it? Will the sound match competing systems? Will it work with an Apple TV? When?
I agree with you but also wonder if they need to release a sound bar and sub woofer too. Something that would include HDMI &/or audio input so that you don't have to use it with just Apple TV.
You guys just aren’t getting it. HP is not a home theater, nor a sound bar. They don’t care about those and you’ll never see one with inputs. It’s part of the Apple ecosystem...a wireless shelf speaker for the walled garden. That’s it.
Which is why I think it’s a niche product with a limited market. Also I wouldn’t call it truly wireless as it has to be connected to a power source to work.
One HomePod spec that caught my attention is not mentioned in this very nice overview: it weighs 5.5 lbs. That's more than 2X the weight of the Amazon Echo and 5X the weight of the Google Home speaker. This thing must be built like a tank since the weight is held in the structure (and magnets) and not in a battery. This should generally contribute to very solid bass and less susceptibility to parasitic vibrations at high sound levels. It's a little sonic beast.
If you're buying based on weight, the Google Home Max is 12 pounds.
Although it's very exciting, I'm leery about buying anything with processors that have the Meltdown/Spectre bugs. Should I wait?
If they have software fixes for other Apple devices, I dunno why this would be different.
These bugs are not easy to fix. And they aren't software patches, they are chip firmware patches.
Actually no, Apple has released software patches for these issues, not “chip firmware” (er, you’re not suggesting firmware on the processor?)
Yes these is firmware on the processor. These days all processors are RISC designs. Old x86 chips were CISC and in order to be backwards compatible there is a microcode engine sat in front of the execution units that breaks down the CISC instructions into RISC ones often several of them. This microcode engine is patchable and that’s what Intel is doing here.
I just keep thinking of the particular combination of traits a person would have to have in order to want this, and I just keep being left with a very small population of consumers...
I just keep thinking of the particular combination of traits a person would have to have in order to want this, and I just keep being left with a very small population of consumers...
I just keep thinking of the particular combination of traits a person would have to have in order to want this, and I just keep being left with a very small population of consumers...
What do you think the size of the population of consumers that want a Rolls Royce is? Is it so small that the car should be discontinued?
I just keep thinking of the particular combination of traits a person would have to have in order to want this, and I just keep being left with a very small population of consumers...
What do you think the size of the population of consumers that want a Rolls Royce is? Is it so small that the car should be discontinued?
which Rolls Royce? or, more specifically, which liquidation/bankruptcy/profit-less/BMW-bought Rolls?
small-customer bases typically result in unprofitable businesses that go under.
though, Porsche may be a good example of an independent, highly profitable, high end manufacturer. But a family rivalry did result in Porsche being taken over by VW (Piëch squashed a plan to use Porsche AG money to buy a controlling stake of VW after the plan started to succeed) The Piëch's and Porsche's have always seemed to have dynamic family squabbles...cousins...
The biggest thing many want to know is if this can work as a home theater system. Can it? Will the sound match competing systems? Will it work with an Apple TV? When?
This whole HomePod launch is disappointing. In the meantime, I was gifted an Echo and for the Alexa stuff, it’s really good at controlling the smart home stuff. Things that Siri can’t do yet.
Seems like Amazon is taking the lead and it pains me because I have an all Apple ecosystem that is substandard to what Alexa can do.
What do you mean by this? I use Siri to control smart home stuff every day.
Siri Works with Philips Hue and the iDevices switches but it doesn’t work with Smartthings, Z Wave, iRobot, Nest Thermostats or caneras, or the Harmony remotes. Where Alexa works with all of the above plus what Siri does.
It it really shouldn’t be a surprise, the list of HomeKit integrations is very small compared to Alexa’s list. I’ve been holding out on Alexa because of privacy reasons but someone got me one for my birthday. Since using it, I’ve only felt more underwhelmed by HomeKit support.
Yeah, I think woofer is more accurate. Poor woofers are always getting subbed for.
well, is Apple using it for 20Hz to 2 KHz or 20Hz to 200Hz?? size isn't the differential, what frequencies Apple is sending to the speaker is what makes the difference.
Yeah, I think woofer is more accurate. Poor woofers are always getting subbed for.
well, is Apple using it for 20Hz to 2 KHz or 20Hz to 200Hz?? size isn't the differential, what frequencies Apple is sending to the speaker is what makes the difference.
Yeah, I thought about that, but I have doubts about such a wee speaker properly kicking such low frequencies. I'd like to procure a HomePod, but it's hard to do so with my Onkyo 7.1 in the house.
Comments
Apple people are usually audio quality fanatics... (except the kids that buy Beats) Are they going to settle for 2nd best?
I doesn’t really sound like HomePod is ready for primetime... it probably would have been released with AirPlay 2.
It sounds like we need a professional review rather than just specs. Audio quality natzi’s where art tho?
"
What I heard
HomePod came off as bolder and more vivid than Sonos Play:3 in the experience I tried, and a lot better than Amazon Echo. I'd also say the music sounded consistently vivid and crisp in a quiet space, more so than the Sonos and Amazon comparisons on-hand. "
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/apple-homepod-a-first-listen/
Personally I’m holding out on new tech until the new chips are out there. Not the HomePod is even slightly enticing anyway, it’s clearly overpriced and over engineered.
which Rolls Royce? or, more specifically, which liquidation/bankruptcy/profit-less/BMW-bought Rolls?
small-customer bases typically result in unprofitable businesses that go under.
though, Porsche may be a good example of an independent, highly profitable, high end manufacturer.
But a family rivalry did result in Porsche being taken over by VW (Piëch squashed a plan to use Porsche AG money to buy a controlling stake of VW after the plan started to succeed)
The Piëch's and Porsche's have always seemed to have dynamic family squabbles...cousins...
http://www.autonews.com/article/20171020/COPY01/310209920/porsche-piech-scandal-volkswagen
It it really shouldn’t be a surprise, the list of HomeKit integrations is very small compared to Alexa’s list. I’ve been holding out on Alexa because of privacy reasons but someone got me one for my birthday. Since using it, I’ve only felt more underwhelmed by HomeKit support.
size isn't the differential, what frequencies Apple is sending to the speaker is what makes the difference.