The HomePod has landed

Well, it’s theoretically possible if you’re willing to accept low enough sensitivity; oh, I don’t know, 45db for 1 watt or something. ;-)

With plenty of cheap Class D power built in, sensitivity isn’t a huge factor. DSP compensates for non-linearities in the drivers, to a point.
 
With plenty of cheap Class D power built in, sensitivity isn’t a huge factor. DSP compensates for non-linearities in the drivers, to a point.

Yes, then the problem becomes giving a small driver enough stroke to produce adequate volume at our 6hz. As I recall at a given level excursion quadruples for every octave lower.
 
Yes, then the problem becomes giving a small driver enough stroke to produce adequate volume at our 6hz. As I recall at a given level excursion quadruples for every octave lower.

Yeah, not sure where the 6hz came from. Probably someone misreading something. I haven’t read the specs, but I’m guessing they can go down to 50, maybe 40hz before falling off a cliff.
 
Thanks for the link. I expected Wired to do this type of test, but kudos to Fastcompany.
I’m not convinced these guys actually know how to do these measurements without eliminating room nodes, but I guess the speaker auto compensates for them, so... Hopefully someone like Brent Butterworth or John Atkinson will measure them.
 
Might be worth trying out a pair of Homepods to see how they fair against my active monitors. Apple has a two week return policy so It would be easy to give them back once I've spent a few days trying them out.

I use Dirac Live DSP with my monitors and it does make an impressive improvement in the sound quality. I wonder what kind of software apple is using to process the room acoustics.
 
Might be worth trying out a pair of Homepods to see how they fair against my active monitors. Apple has a two week return policy so It would be easy to give them back once I've spent a few days trying them out.

I use Dirac Live DSP with my monitors and it does make an impressive improvement in the sound quality. I wonder what kind of software apple is using to process the room acoustics.
If you are going to use them together, wait for Apple to release the official Airplay 2 update which allows them to be paired.
 
Looks like Tom Holman was deeply involved in the design. An impressive resume, clearly knows how to shape audio.

I like his Pre-amp. And THX (He's the T) was pretty good too...

That being said, I (like most people on this site) will want for $350+ a little more than what this little speaker can offer. I would prob get a good DAC a used set of speakers, Chinese amp, and a chromecast for the same price (or less) and enjoy it much more. A pair of older monitors w small footprint, positioned and eq'd for room- ready to go- for home use. It would be fun to see what DIY'ers could do for the same $$

That being said the appeal would be taking it on trips and being able to have good sound in a hotel anywhere in the world. I have been doing fine with my $20 bluetooth positioned where I know it will sound good for that tho...
 
I like his Pre-amp. And THX (He's the T) was pretty good too...

That being said, I (like most people on this site) will want for $350+ a little more than what this little speaker can offer. I would prob get a good DAC a used set of speakers, Chinese amp, and a chromecast for the same price (or less) and enjoy it much more. A pair of older monitors w small footprint, positioned and eq'd for room- ready to go- for home use.

And a mess of wires and multiple outlets needed. I wouldn’t sell it short without hearing it. Is it going to replace my main rig? No. But if you haven’t been paying attention to what some of these higher end home music appliances are sounding like... well... it would be less of a mystery why the home Audio market is hurting. Some of them seem to defy physics. And the tech being used in the HomePod is impressive.

Your Chromecast Audio, Chinese amp, and mini monitors aren’t compensating on the fly for your rooms shortcomings and changes in genre.

I’d just say listen before you judge.

- Woody
 
Exactly. The little home brew systems don’t have the sophisticated DSP tuning and driver compensation of the HomePod. It is a technological tour de force in a tiny package that can fit anywhere, with great WAF.

Being omnidirectional, it is perfect, for example, between kitchen and dining room, serving both rooms equally well, with no mess of wires. It’s an appliance, meant to do one thing, and do it well.

No, it won’t replace the “main rig”, but 90% of the target audience for these don’t have one. They have sound bars and earphones, maybe a crappy little Bluetooth speaker. This will get them listening to music again, out loud, with very good reproduction quality.
 
And a mess of wires and multiple outlets needed. I wouldn’t sell it short without hearing it. Is it going to replace my main rig? No. But if you haven’t been paying attention to what some of these higher end home music appliances are sounding like... well... it would be less of a mystery why the home Audio market is hurting. Some of them seem to defy physics. And the tech being used in the HomePod is impressive.

Your Chromecast Audio, Chinese amp, and mini monitors aren’t compensating on the fly for your rooms shortcomings and changes in genre.

I’d just say listen before you judge.

- Woody

Did it sound judgey? I have an Elite Pioneer Receiver that has room correction and I LOVE it- I could see how it would be great for a Novice-phile- Just saying that sometimes I also Like to defeat room correction, play w positioning myself etc. I feel like this is a site where a lot of people share that sentiment.

Exactly. The little home brew systems don’t have the sophisticated DSP tuning and driver compensation of the HomePod. It is a technological tour de force in a tiny package that can fit anywhere, with great WAF.

Being omnidirectional, it is perfect, for example, between kitchen and dining room, serving both rooms equally well, with no mess of wires. It’s an appliance, meant to do one thing, and do it well.

No, it won’t replace the “main rig”, but 90% of the target audience for these don’t have one. They have sound bars and earphones, maybe a crappy little Bluetooth speaker. This will get them listening to music again, out loud, with very good reproduction quality.

Exactly my point- I was just saying that the 90% audience is prob 5% of the people on this site. I could be wrong. I frequently am. I am sure it is impressive- Just not $350 of impressive to ME. A step in the right direction from the Bose Wave Radio's of Yesteryear though. I hope some Luxury Hotel brands adopt them it would be fun to play with in that setting.
 
Exactly. The little home brew systems don’t have the sophisticated DSP tuning and driver compensation of the HomePod. It is a technological tour de force in a tiny package that can fit anywhere, with great WAF.

Being omnidirectional, it is perfect, for example, between kitchen and dining room, serving both rooms equally well, with no mess of wires. It’s an appliance, meant to do one thing, and do it well.

No, it won’t replace the “main rig”, but 90% of the target audience for these don’t have one. They have sound bars and earphones, maybe a crappy little Bluetooth speaker. This will get them listening to music again, out loud, with very good reproduction quality.
This is exactly how I am using it. It feeds two rooms (and an eat in kitchen). I don't see anyone replacing a full sound system with these things. They are mainly for convenience with very good sound quality or for someone that has no interest in a full on system in the space they will use these.

Exactly my point- I was just saying that the 90% audience is prob 5% of the people on this site. I could be wrong.
What is your point? Are we not allowed to discuss a product until we poll every member to see if the product meets the 5 percent criteria?
 
https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/...apples-audio-ambitions-come-in-crystal-clear/

"Earlier this month, HomePod pre-orders began shipping, and as of February 9, excited new owners began receiving their speakers. HomePod has been one of 2018’s most anticipated products in what has proven to be one of the industry’s most intriguing product categories, and early demand for the speaker did not disappoint. In fact, in the U.S., day one pre-orders of HomePod were higher than all other smart speaker first day pre-orders, except Amazon’s Echo Dot, according to NPD’s Checkout service."


Never heard of NPD, but if they are right, that is very good news for Apple given the unfortunate February timing of the release.
 
I had a request to test a few things on the HomePod with Siri, so I thought I would post some of my results here.

I tested asking for Beatles for Sale Mono and it worked. I tested Beatles for Sale Stereo and it grabbed the correct version again.

I also tried asking for Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 21, Friedrich Gilda & Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra concertos and it worked the first time I tried it. However, later on, I tried it again. This time, it had issues with the word “numbers”, so I said “nos” instead and it worked ( Siri says “numbers” when repeated back, so it is a bit strange). I also tried it by the conductor and it got it correct again.

I also tested it with Beethoven Symphony 5 & 7 a couple Dvorak albums with long names, Shostakovich, Maxwell Davies, etc. Typically, saying “nos” instead of number works. For single numbers like No. 5, “number” seemed to work without a problem.

Honestly, it did better than I expected. Siri used to have a lot more problems with these type of commands...especially with classical music.
 
Apple Music Growing at Record Pace With Two Million Subscribers Added in Just Five Weeks

I wonder if this is related to the HomePod?

If you think about it, they can sell one HomePod and have a paying Apple Music subscriber for the lifetime of the product. Of course, they could always provide SiriKit and allow any music service access, but something tells me that if they meet their sales goals, they won't be doing that anytime soon. I still don't think they care as much about market share as getting more hooks into the iOS and their services.

Of course, if it isn't moving off the shelves, they have the option of adding non-Apple services to it. The first iPhone had similar limitations and then the opened the app store. Guess we will wait and see.
 
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