New Apple HomePod

Thanks for your quick reply. I was going to have an atmos sound bar dedicated for 4K movies enjoyment and use the KEF for music listening. But have been toying the idea of use the KEF for movies as well.

Looking forward to your comparison between HomePod and KEF. I dont expect HP will outclass the KEF anyways but will be good to know what is good or not.

HI,

When you use Roon/Airplay with HomePod, does it play FLAC? Or Roon will convert FLAC to ALAC/AIFF to be played by HomePod? I assume HomePod will not play anything beyond 16/48, is it?

Cheers,

I’m in love with HomePod. The sound is strangely addictive.

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From the conclusion:

“The Look and feel is top notch. The glass on top is sort of frosted, but is smooth to the touch. When I first reviewed the home pod, I noted that it was light. I was comparing it with the heft of my KEF speakers. This thing, as small as it is, weighs 5 lbs. Which is quite dense, and heavy for its size. The Fabric that wraps around it is study, reinforced from inside, and feels very good to the touch.”

And:

“The Frequency response, Directivity, and ability to correct for the room all go to show that the HomePod is a speaker for the masses. While many of you in this subreddit would be very comfortable doing measurements, and room treatment, there is no denying that most users won’t go through that much trouble, and for those users the HomePod is perfect.”

And caveats:

“Because of the onboard DSP, you must feed it digital files. So analog input from something like a Phono is out, unless your Phono Preamp has a digital output which can then be fed to the HomePods in realtime via airplay, possibly through a computer. But you cannot give the HomePod analog audio, as the DSP which does all the room correction requires digital input.”

And:

“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. If you are, it’s a no brainer, whether you’re an audiophile or not.”

And:

“As a product, the HomePod is also held back by Siri. Almost every review has complained about this, and they’re all right to do so. I’m hoping we see massive improvements to Siri this year at WWDC 2018. There is some great hardware at play, too. What’s truly impressive is that Siri can hear you if you speak in a normal voice, even if the HomePod is playing at full volume. I couldn’t even hear myself say “Hey Siri” over the music, but those directional microphones are really good at picking it up. Even whispers from across the room while I was facing AWAY from the HomePod were flawlessly picked up. The microphones are scary good — I just hope Apple improves Siri to match.”

And from the rollup at the top of the post:

“am speechless. The HomePod actually sounds better than the KEF X300A. If you’re new to the Audiophile world, KEF is a very well respected and much loved speaker company. I actually deleted my very first measurements and re-checked everything because they were so good, I thought I’d made an error. Apple has managed to extract peak performance from a pint sized speaker, a feat that deserves a standing ovation. The HomePod is 100% an Audiophile grade Speaker.”

The three things I notice most about the HomePod are the clarity, 360 sound, and how sensitive the microphones are. The 360 turns out to be a big thing for me and it makes it very apparent how much SQ you lose moving out of the sweet spot of stereo speakers. I will be snapping up another one as soon as stereo becomes possible which sounds pretty close.
You can say Hey Siri in a low voice when the volume is turned up or form another room and it hers every time. Siri and HomeKit have been working well for me controlling lights etc but my needs are simple so far. Better than Alexa actually.
Sold my Sonos Play 5 and Sonos One’s on CL already :slight_smile: I was never really satisfied with either one of tis setups even with stereo pairing. I always though detail and bass were poor especially when going past 30 or 40 percent volume.
Kef LS50W staying put but it’s really noticeable now how much sounds changes when you move outside the sweet spot to the point where it is practically aggravating.

the end of hifi-audiophile world as we knew it. Really?

Who said that?

This guys loves to complain about Apple, audiophile equipment, and hi res files so I take everything he says with huge grains of salt.
I bought his iTunes book last time around and didn’t think it was very good.
He is also strangely unaware that you control your music to some extent with iTunes or iOS EQ.


Also he does not mention his sources, bit rate etc.
Pretty useless article and misleading in some cases.

Ah didn’t see that follow on article…you would think he would update his main article where he specifically says you can’t do this.

Schiller: ‘standing ovation’

Mine arrived today, been a few hours. Placed it on a desk with a wall behind it (seems to be Apple’s ideal setup according to pictures of it) and gave it 15 mins to do its calibration thing.

It’s pretty stunning. I haven’t been this impressed since I picked up a pair of Devialet Phantoms.

Haven’t compared it directly to my LS50Ws since they’re being repaired :roll_eyes: but if my audio memory serves me well you lose quite a bit on the bottom end, there’s also no where near as much volume or bass extension on the HomePod vs a pair of LS50Ws. That said, it is pretty damn nice being able to walk round the room with the music having no identifiable sweet spot.

If you’re a Roon user this thing is the ideal endpoint for rooms where critical listening is not required.

One more observation about the advantage the Home Pod can provide:

Controlling music with my voice.
I have Apple Music, I have mostly used it for discovery and then play in Tidal with the superior sound.

I am using Apple music more:
With new Downbeat I can read the album reviews on the couch and have Siri play the album from Apple Music as I read.

Siri will also pause, resume and skip to the next track in Roon. Of course she can not search Tidal through Roon–maybe in the future.

As the special section in Monday’s New York Times “Into the Eye of the Internet”'s first article on the Post Text Future points out: voice, video and AI are the future of interface with the Net. Voice control of music is coming and we can only hope that audiophile quality will be along for the ride.

Useless and misleading = doesn’t fit in with your viewpoint.

It’s pretty obvious how it does. Especially if you are familiar with his writing and opinions.

Heads up, watch out for the marks it may leave on your woodwork! Lots of reports on Twitter from (white) homepod owners. :frowning:

Thanks for the heads up Andy.
I had noticed a light ring under it which did not stain my wood.
There is now a article on iMore about this issue.

Am using a coaster under mine now to prevent any possible damage.

Computer Audiophile now has a review on the Home Pod.

I also find some of my music sounds too bass heavy.

So never will be a primary music listening device, but will work in certain locations and my wife likes asking it what she wants!

It just works…