And of course this review will be dismissed as biased and probably paid for by Apple. Audiophile (or expert) opinions are welcomed only when they support the dominant narrative. In this case the HomePod has been pre-failed by the negative narrative so any support from an audiophile will be rejected out of hand. That’s how the Internet works.
Yet I don’t think NIST uses terms like “witchcraft” when reporting measurement results.
"Maybe it would be easier to just think of NIST as a real-life Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
Perhaps not in official reports but when evaluating exceptional examples of engineering some NIST folks may speculate that engineers have sacrificed virgin motherboards to the pagan hardware gods.
In the rocket science world, the successful launch of the Falcon Heavy most likely involved witchcraft and many crossed fingers in addition to good engineering. Murphy would have paid a visit had Elon been boastful rather than placated him by saying 50-50 it blows on the pad and offering his car as a potential sacrifice.
In comparison, the ESA put 4 satellites on the maiden launch of the Ariane 5...and Murphy slapped them down hard.
This is why several reviewers have said this thing is bargain-priced if you prize great sound above all.
As mentioned in the source report, I expect a fair number of users — maybe a majority — will not use Siri at all except to control volume and music playback, which all works fine. Which is exactly what Apple reckoned for the initial release.
If you are primarily interested in talking to household objects all the time (but with decent sound), get the Sonos One. If you want incredible sound, get a HomePod.
Family members complain that I talk to myself way too much. I don't use Siri or any other device for this reason. The last thing I need is someone complaining about how much I talk to a little box. I would alter you last sentence a bit--
If you are primarily interested in talking to inanimate objects all the time, go see a shrink! Otherwise, get a HomePod to relax while listening to all your music.
So there it is you fake audiophiles praising the HomePod with your tests and charts. CS has spoken and all is lost. Read it and weep. /s
CR's results *may* be a result of the testing environment.
Looking at the frequency response graph in the article, there are some really serious dips and peaks at lower frequencies -- about 20dB of variation, which in terms of human perception means the peaks are FOUR TIMES as loud as the dips. That's usually indicative of room nodes causing problems. If that's what's happening, the room correction in the HomePod may not actually work as well as expected. And again, IF that's what's happening (we don't know for sure), that may explain what CR testers heard.
I haven't heard the HomePod myself yet, but others are saying it sounds really good. From that we can draw one of two conclusions:
1. Specs and graphs are useful tools but don't do a good job of predicting how humans will perceive sound, or 2. Lots and lots of people are perfectly satisfied by speakers with grossly non-linear reproduction.
Sorry Apple detractors, but I'm suffering from serious Buyer's Delight with the HomePod. No matter how much you all try to dissuade me I just can't stop feeling great about bringing this puppy into my home. Yeah, I had to buy a pizza all on my own today, without any help from Siri, but I'm a grownup and can handle simple tasks like that with little guidance or supervision. I improvised. I was also very happy that Siri defaults to NPR news for the daily update. It did offer to redirect to other sites, but no way. Unless The Onion news is a choice I'm sticking with NPR.
Last paragraph is confusing. I think first sentence should read “Unless you’re *not...” I know it’s a quote so forgive me if I’m wrong.
AppleInsider left out part of the quote. The original reddit post said “Speaking of inputs, you have one choice: AirPlay. which means, unless you’re steeped in the apple ecosystem, it’s really hard to recommend this thing.”
They’re saying the speaker sounds great, but it’s hard to recommend unless you plan on using AirPlay from another Apple device or Apple Music directly on it.
That portion of the quote selectively left out of the story negates the entire post. Apple should have given the AirPod professional audio grade connectors. A major oversight and negative, IMO.
Yeah no, not an oversight at all. Apple doesn’t care about your other audio gear. It’s not a speaker company.
"Steeped in the apple ecosystem" my ass. How could you not have an iPhone? Or an iPad? Or a Mac laptop? Does that make me steeped? No, it makes me reasonable. I want the best. I'm getting this speaker. And I have never been interested in any (gag) "smart speaker."
I think they were referring to the fact Siri is limited to Apple Music. That's the true limitation, not so much not owning an Apple device. This speaker is primarily for really great audio and an elegant, small form factor. I'm not purchasing because of Siri's limitations (including the fact it only works with one voice). I could buy 'regular' speakers for great audio - there is no added value in HomePod for me personally.
Wrong, voice control is not limited to AM. iTunes Match, iTunes purchases, and iCloud Music Library also can use the siri interface.
So let’s recap... Sounds good for an Apple Music Only - Must Have Subscription - Smart Speaker. If audio quality is your only concern, there are true audiophile speakers that blow HomePod out of the water - but for a much higher price.
So the HomePod is a made in China, budget consumer-level speaker that sounds pretty good - and has a nifty voice command feature for 1 person only - who is willing to pay for an Apple Music Subscription and already owns Apple devices - who doesn’t value their privacy.
Im sure there is a market for that.
The market is most of the AppleInsider readership.
And, you don't need to have Apple Music. You just need something (say, an iPhone) capable of streaming AirPlay to it.
Wrong. For it to be a 'Smart Speaker' you have to have an Apple Music subscription. If you don't have an Apple Music Subscription - it's just a speaker.
You are clueless, yet again. Factually incorrect FUD. AM, ITunes Match, iTunes purchase history, and iCloud Music Library all support the voice playback interface. take your pick.
SpamSandwich said: [...] Apple should have given the AirPod professional audio grade connectors.
What do you think Apple should provide in the way of professional audio grade connectors? An XLR for an AES pair? Two XLR for +4dBu balanced analog? Ethernet for Dante or some other audio-over-IP standard?
I have to concur - the only way they made it sound this good has to be total witchcraft.
The bass response on the speaker is phenomenal, the clarity is utterly out of this world.
I bought it yesterday mainly because I am 'steeped' in Apple technology and I had some spare cash to splash... I wasn't particularly expecting hearts and kisses from the thing but I have to say I'm overjoyed that I did buy it. I can't wait until the functionality to link two together in one room is available - I won't hesitate for a second to get a second one at that point. I can imagine the sound that two of them together will produce will be completely immersive.
The algorithm complexities in working out the best sound setup when two homepods are in the same room are probably a little mind blowing. I assume they do a Proximity check with each other first and then with the rest of their surroundings.
The best thing about all this negative commentary about HomePod is it MAY convince Apple to pull its finger out of its arse and do something about SIRI.
Last paragraph is confusing. I think first sentence should read “Unless you’re *not...” I know it’s a quote so forgive me if I’m wrong.
AppleInsider left out part of the quote. The original reddit post said “Speaking of inputs, you have one choice: AirPlay. which means, unless you’re steeped in the apple ecosystem, it’s really hard to recommend this thing.”
They’re saying the speaker sounds great, but it’s hard to recommend unless you plan on using AirPlay from another Apple device or Apple Music directly on it.
That portion of the quote selectively left out of the story negates the entire post. Apple should have given the AirPod professional audio grade connectors. A major oversight and negative, IMO.
Yeah no, not an oversight at all. Apple doesn’t care about your other audio gear. It’s not a speaker company.
I know they’re not a “speaker company”, but a piece of pro/prosumer audio equipment should fit into a pro/prosumer array of equipment, especially since Apple does not (yet) offer an entire ecosystem supporting it.
Now, you can disagree with my opinion, but you can’t ignore the fact that Apple isn’t offering this product in a complete vacuum.
I think this is an amazing device. But I won't be buying it. Apparently, Apple has tethered it to an iCloud account AND requires two-factor authentication. I don't have an iPhone attached to me at all times. In fact, we don't have any in the house. My iPad may or may not be around when I want to listen to music. I want to play my music from my Macs on my LAN - and that's it. But apparently I can't do this.
Apple's insistence on tethering to a personal device and an iCloud account is driving me away from their products. If they do this with MacOS it will be a sad day indeed.
AirPlay from your Mac. The iPad doesn't need to be around after initial setup.
The initial setup requires 2FA. I refuse to enable it on any of my devices because I have been stranded for days in the past.
Apple presumes you have an iDevice nearby at all times. There are other use cases.
For instance, try reading your iCloud mail using a browser on another person'd device that is linked to iCloud. It's impossible. It shouldn't be, but it is.
So you log into iCloud.com on a Mac or Pc and turn 2FA off if you are having an issue and don’t have a device to authenticate. The key with iCloud.com is signing in on an actual browser and not an iOS device.
If it’s the case of your phone...restore the phone and set it up and choose to set up iCloud later. Once you are pst this your phone be activated and be able to receive texts, and you can get your authentication code. I figured this out one night when setting a phone up for myself after I restored it. I almost lost my mind because I couldn’t figure out how the hell I was supposed to get a code sent to a phone that I can’t set up and receive texts on!! 😎
Last paragraph is confusing. I think first sentence should read “Unless you’re *not...” I know it’s a quote so forgive me if I’m wrong.
AppleInsider left out part of the quote. The original reddit post said “Speaking of inputs, you have one choice: AirPlay. which means, unless you’re steeped in the apple ecosystem, it’s really hard to recommend this thing.”
They’re saying the speaker sounds great, but it’s hard to recommend unless you plan on using AirPlay from another Apple device or Apple Music directly on it.
That portion of the quote selectively left out of the story negates the entire post. Apple should have given the AirPod professional audio grade connectors. A major oversight and negative, IMO.
Yeah no, not an oversight at all. Apple doesn’t care about your other audio gear. It’s not a speaker company.
I know they’re not a “speaker company”, but a piece of pro/prosumer audio equipment should fit into a pro/prosumer array of equipment, especially since Apple does not (yet) offer an entire ecosystem supporting it.
Now, you can disagree with my opinion, but you can’t ignore the fact that Apple isn’t offering this product in a complete vacuum.
I agree that your opinion is likely misplaced and probably irrelevant. HP is not even prosumer equipment. It’s a high-quality consumer shelf speaker desired for the Apple ecosystem. They’re not trying to compete in every market.
Comments
https://www.nist.gov/speech-testimony/take-our-daughters-and-sons-work-day
Perhaps not in official reports but when evaluating exceptional examples of engineering some NIST folks may speculate that engineers have sacrificed virgin motherboards to the pagan hardware gods.
In the rocket science world, the successful launch of the Falcon Heavy most likely involved witchcraft and many crossed fingers in addition to good engineering. Murphy would have paid a visit had Elon been boastful rather than placated him by saying 50-50 it blows on the pad and offering his car as a potential sacrifice.
In comparison, the ESA put 4 satellites on the maiden launch of the Ariane 5...and Murphy slapped them down hard.
https://www.consumerreports.org/smart-speakers/apple-homepod-early-test-results/
So there it is you fake audiophiles praising the HomePod with your tests and charts. CR has spoken and all is lost. Read it and weep. /s
If you are primarily interested in talking to inanimate objects all the time, go see a shrink! Otherwise, get a HomePod to relax while listening to all your music.
Looking at the frequency response graph in the article, there are some really serious dips and peaks at lower frequencies -- about 20dB of variation, which in terms of human perception means the peaks are FOUR TIMES as loud as the dips. That's usually indicative of room nodes causing problems. If that's what's happening, the room correction in the HomePod may not actually work as well as expected. And again, IF that's what's happening (we don't know for sure), that may explain what CR testers heard.
I haven't heard the HomePod myself yet, but others are saying it sounds really good. From that we can draw one of two conclusions:
1. Specs and graphs are useful tools but don't do a good job of predicting how humans will perceive sound, or
2. Lots and lots of people are perfectly satisfied by speakers with grossly non-linear reproduction.
45 million songs in my kitchen.
Wrong, voice control is not limited to AM. iTunes Match, iTunes purchases, and iCloud Music Library also can use the siri interface.
Or just drop more FUD pellets from your mouth.
http://www.loopinsight.com/2018/02/06/inside-apples-homepod-audio-lab/
Now, you can disagree with my opinion, but you can’t ignore the fact that Apple isn’t offering this product in a complete vacuum.
If it’s the case of your phone...restore the phone and set it up and choose to set up iCloud later. Once you are pst this your phone be activated and be able to receive texts, and you can get your authentication code. I figured this out one night when setting a phone up for myself after I restored it. I almost lost my mind because I couldn’t figure out how the hell I was supposed to get a code sent to a phone that I can’t set up and receive texts on!! 😎