nunzy

ericthehalfbee said:

Lots of misconceptions about what the definition of stereo is.

Put simply, stereo sound is an attempt to create localization using two or more speakers. The reason we have two ears isn't so we can listen to "stereo" sound coming from left & right channels. We have two ears so that our brain can determine where a sound came from (localization). Is it to our left or right, in front of us or behind us, or even above or below us. Our brain is very good at taking sound arriving at both our ears, and based on slight differences in level and phase (time) it can determine where in 3D space the sound came from.

Early attempts at this involved using a pair of microphones (to simulate our ears) to record a live performance (like an orchestra). Then these two tracks were played back through a pair of stereo speakers with the intent of trying to recreate the original performance. There have been many other methods to try and recreate a soundstage for a listener (some involve processing to try and "trick" our ears while the most common method people are used to is a 5.1 or 7.1 sound system). Whatever the method, the end goal is the same - to try and create a 3D soundstage that approximates the original.

The HomePod also tries to create a wider soundstage. I haven't been able to try one yet, so I don't know how it works, but reviews say it's pretty good at this. By definition, it's impossible for the HomePod to be mono, since you can't create a soundstage with a mono speaker. You need multiple sources in order to do this, which would qualify the HomePod as a stereo speaker. The people claiming it isn't stereo are those stuck with the limited definition that "stereo" means left & right channels with left & right speakers.