hmurchison

Soli said:

hmurchison said:

pscooter63 said:

Soli said:

What makes the Echo such an amazing tool starts with the 7-far field microphones.

Logically speaking, more microphones increases noise levels and induces phase distortions (cancellations/amplifications).  Unless that box is not summing all seven prior to its processing, and processing all seven microphones separately, then doing a compare of each output.

Thoughts?

Poor design in the Echo.  The Google Home has two microphones and it's just as accurate if not more than Echo and Echo Dot.    I don't see Apple putting more than two microphones in.

1) How do you know the microphones are better as opposed to Google's service simply being better since they've been converting speech-to-text longer than anyone?

2) If fewer microphones are inherently better than why 2 and not 1?

I own both.  Even my wife says the Google Home understands her better.   Siri on the other hand tends to prefer male voices is our own anecdotal experience.   That and $.50 may buy you a cup of coffee. 

Aside from "costs of goods" I think either a really good omnidirectional or matched stereo pair microphone are ideal.   That being said I have no idea of how inexpensive the Echo mics may be.  The accuracy is close enough for me to say that if Amazon isn't paying significantly more for mics than Google there's not much to worry about. 

paxman said:

Soli said:

I am a bit of a skeptic when it comes to home automation. I have a vision of a device sitting there, never used. I can see the practicality of being able to switch off all the lights in the house from my bed, but at the same time, as I make my way upstairs I don't mind lifting my arm and flicking a switch. Besides, the cost of leaving a light burning for one night is negligible these days with LED's. In a similar way I see most of the home tasks I perform as not too much trouble to do analogue. That said, I am also interested. I like the idea, I guess. So, what is it that you do that makes your Echo 'amazing and useful'? What tasks does Echo perform for you on a daily basis? 

You should be a skeptic because a lot of people selling the dream of Home Automation get confused.   In an ideal HA environment you don't need to bark commands at a speaker.   Your lights should come on based on a preset schedule or your motion.  Doors should lock/unlock based on proximity of authorized users or after a specified amount of time.  Fans or windows should open with the VOC level in a home reaches unsafe levels.  Water mains should shut off if there's a leak detected in your laundry room, basement or kitchen.   Garage doors should shut after a specified time.    

HA done right to me is a dynamic system that I don't have to micro-manage.   Right now the industry is still in the "toy" phase.  "hey look I can do xyz with my voice" but that's not the power of HA. Voice is just one input out of many and it's appropriate in some places and in-appropriate in others. 

These things fun..my young boys love watching the lamps turn colors and my wife loves not having to get up and flip a switch.  

More Tim Cook brown nosing. 

Hub/Bridge free is marketing talk. Philips and other vendors could be hub free as Zigbee Lightlink doesn't require a bridge but when you need stable remote access or traversing other protocols a bridge is the smart solution.  

If if you ask Leviton how to remote access these dimmers you will be told to get a 4th gen Apple TV or iPad as a HomeKit bridge.  

<a href="http://www.headfi.org"; target="_blank">www.headfi.org</a>



If you can't find a mountain of recommendation here then Lord help you.





Personally I'm going to be buying the Denon AHD-750's but they are more popular for DJ's as their bass and output is phenomenal.



Grado's probably means you want a nice accurate Midrange which means you'll be up against various Sennheiser models like the 590.



Also check out the Phillips 890 is size isn't important. They look really comfy.