Apple HomePod

[iacas]

http://www.loopinsight.com/2018/01/24/on-homepod-and-audio-quality/

They’re using some form of dynamic modeling, and likely also current sensing that allows them to have a p-p excursion of 20 mm in a 4″ driver. This is completely unheard of in the home market.

And:

The practical upshot is that that 4″ driver can go louder than larger drivers, and with significantly less distortion. It’s also stuff you typically find in speakers with five-figure price tags (The Beolab 90 does this, and I also suspect that the Kii Three does). It’s a quantum leap over what a typical passive speaker does, and you don’t really even find it in higher-end powered speakers

And:

The speaker uses six integrated beamforming microphones to probe the room dimensions, and alter its output so it sounds its best wherever it is placed in the room. It’ll know how large the room is, and where in the room it is placed.

And:

The room correction applied after probing its own position isn’t simplistic DSP of frequency response, as the speaker has seven drivers that are used to create a beamforming speaker array,. so they can direct specific sound in specific directions. The only other speakers that do this is the Beolab 90, and Lexicon SL-1. The Beolab 90 is $85,000/pair, and no price tag is set for the Lexicon, but the expectation in the industry is “astronomical”.

And:

Lots of people online are calling it overpriced because they think Apple just slapped a bunch of speakers in a circular configuration and added Siri, but the engineering behind it is extremely audiophile niche stuff. And it does this all automatically with no acoustical set up or technical know how.

---

It's available for pre-order now, but I've not ordered one, largely because:

• I'm not sure how it handles multiple users. All three of us in our family have iPhones, Siri, AppleIDs, etc.
• I'm not sure how much I'd use it - I'm not often in the same room.
• We don't listen to a lot of music at home.

I think it will sound phenomenal, in part based on what is up above, as well as the in-person stuff dating to last June.

[TN94z]

I think we would actually use one quite often. We workout in the garage and have been using a small JBL Go speaker and I was complaining about it last night. I may have to jump on the HomePod. It really sounds like a very good deal at 349 considering what you're getting.

[iacas]

9 minutes ago, TN94z said:

I think we would actually use one quite often. We workout in the garage and have been using a small JBL Go speaker and I was complaining about it last night. I may have to jump on the HomePod. It really sounds like a very good deal at 349 considering what you're getting.

If you're into audio, I think it may be an incredibly well priced piece of kit.

I don't think it's really a competitor to Google's or Amazon's dinguses. More of a parallel platform with a little overlap.

[saevel25]

I'm with Erik, I don't think I will have much use for it.

I hardly listen to music at home. I have a pretty good soundbar for my TV that can pair with my phone.  I just use my Airpods or my Apple headphones with my MacBook most of the time.

 

[TN94z]

27 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

I'm with Erik, I don't think I will have much use for it.

I hardly listen to music at home. I have a pretty good soundbar for my TV that can pair with my phone.  I just use my Airpods or my Apple headphones with my MacBook most of the time.

 

I want to get some airpods as well. I just never seem to have time to do any shopping for "me." We have a cheapo sound bar and I have speakers throughout my house in the ceiling, but my garage would be ideal for the HomePod. I could then migrate it into the shop that I plan on building in the next couple of years. I'll do more research and comparisons before jumping in. It just sounded like a pretty good deal from what I quickly read.

[jamo]

I may get one in the future, a few years down the road, but for now I don't think it would improve my setup at all. I have a pair of nice computer speakers in my living room hooked up to an AirPort Express that I can AirPlay music and podcasts to, and a tiny Bluetooth speaker that I use in the kitchen/bathroom/walking around my apartment. I never use Siri, and haven't ever really had a desire to get a cylinder from Amazon or Google. If anything, I'd rather use that money on a receiver and speakers for my TV. 

Maybe eventually, but not for a good long while. 

[iacas]

https://www.imore.com/homepod-vs-amazon-echo-vs-google-home-max-vs-sonos-one-speaker-showdown

"When it comes to speaker quality and privacy, HomePod has no competition."

https://medium.com/@LanceUlanoff/up-close-with-apple-homepod-siris-expensive-new-home-22f1ee0e682

If it were only a question of quality, Apple’s HomePod, which, after a months-long delay finally ships on February 9, should be an unqualified success. Its audio quality is excellent, especially considering its size. Seven months ago, I sat is a small room and heard Apple’s 7-inch smart speaker play music for the first time. It sounded good, but the demonstration was short and lacking a key component of the smart speaker’s feature set: Siri integration.

Recently, though, I heard Apple’s HomePod again in a variety of scenarios and spaces. It sounded even better, especially when compared to larger Google Home Max and the aurally excellent Sonos One, the HomePod’s separation of sounds and fidelity to original instrumentation is astonishing.

This listening experience also added the smarts, or utility, that was missing back in June. Apple’s HomePod is, finally, a functioning Siri smart speaker.

[jamo]

16 hours ago, iacas said:

https://www.imore.com/homepod-vs-amazon-echo-vs-google-home-max-vs-sonos-one-speaker-showdown

"When it comes to speaker quality and privacy, HomePod has no competition."

https://medium.com/@LanceUlanoff/up-close-with-apple-homepod-siris-expensive-new-home-22f1ee0e682

If it were only a question of quality, Apple’s HomePod, which, after a months-long delay finally ships on February 9, should be an unqualified success. Its audio quality is excellent, especially considering its size. Seven months ago, I sat is a small room and heard Apple’s 7-inch smart speaker play music for the first time. It sounded good, but the demonstration was short and lacking a key component of the smart speaker’s feature set: Siri integration.

Recently, though, I heard Apple’s HomePod again in a variety of scenarios and spaces. It sounded even better, especially when compared to larger Google Home Max and the aurally excellent Sonos One, the HomePod’s separation of sounds and fidelity to original instrumentation is astonishing.

This listening experience also added the smarts, or utility, that was missing back in June. Apple’s HomePod is, finally, a functioning Siri smart speaker.

I'm curious to see what reviewers and users say about how well Siri works on the HomePod. I know Apple is angling for a music-centric strategy, but it might be limited if it can't do some of the basic things that a $50 Echo Dot can do.

We'll see though.

EDIT: Then again, for my own purposes if I were to buy it, it would be as more of a music-focused device.

[saevel25]

If the HomePod was able to link up with my TV, I would probably try it out. 

[iacas]

6 hours ago, saevel25 said:

If the HomePod was able to link up with my TV, I would probably try it out. 

Yeah, like an audio in port. Oh well.

[nevets88]

These ads are awesome

4 New HomePod Ads (Links in Post) http://reddit.com/r/apple/comments/7teg01/4_new_homepod_ads_links_in_post/

[iacas]

Just now, nevets88 said:

These ads are awesome

4 New HomePod Ads (Links in Post)

 

You could just embed them.

 

[iacas]

http://www.loopinsight.com/2018/01/29/homepod-an-hour-in-the-hands-of-an-audio-engineer/

Reddit user WinterCharm, an audio engineer who got an hour to play with a HomePod:

****ing hell this thing is TINY. It’s really surprising to see it in person. Hefting it is odd, too. The fabric is soft but firm. It was also lighter than I was expecting. It’s also very pretty. Aside from the single cord coming out the back, there is no idication that it has a particular side/front. It’s built to blend into whatever space it’s in, rather than stand out.

And:

Having heard it side by side with The Sonos Play One and Google Home Max, A single HomePod is already much better than both in terms of sound quality.

And:

The first impression was the neutrality of the speaker. The HomePods are tuned for an as-true-to-recording sound. When the song calls for it, there is bass. When the song turns to crystal clear highs, they are reproduced faithfully. What really was interesting is the instrument separation in the room. At about 45% volume, the HomePod FILLED the room I was in with some great sound. When you walked away from it, the sound gets quieter, but not as quickly as you’d expect. All the details were still there, just softer. there was no feeling of walking out of the sweet spot that you get with a normal speaker. And that’s when it hit me… Apple really has done it.

[saevel25]

Dang-it, the more I hear about it the more I want one.

[jamo]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

Dang-it, the more I hear about it the more I want one.

It's hard to not talk myself into getting one. I was firmly in the camp of not wanting an Apple Watch before the Series 3 came out, but at their current price point I couldn't resist. I might have to hide my credit card and disable Apple Pay when the full HomePod reviews start coming out.

[iacas]

I think people are going to be surprised by the size. It's a lot smaller than I think people realize.

[iacas]

http://www.loopinsight.com/2018/02/06/inside-apples-homepod-audio-lab/

Two reviews:

https://daringfireball.net/2018/02/homepod

http://www.loopinsight.com/2018/02/06/review-apple-homepod/

[iacas]

http://www.loopinsight.com/2018/02/06/review-apple-homepod/

https://www.imore.com/homepod

https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/06/a-four-sentence-homepod-review-with-appendices/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/technology/personaltech/apple-homepod-review.html (This review is stupid. The entire point of HomePod is great sounding audio, and they barely get to that at the end. It's not an Echo or Google Home, it's a speaker with great sound, that you use a limited version of Siri as the user interface. Disappointing, NY Times.)