Apple HomePod

Bl4ckGryph0n

Out of interest; so Siri is already on desktop, laptop, tablet, phone, watch, TV, car, and now in a stand alone speaker.

In what way do you think the range need expanding?

JimBobRude

I’m wondering about location.......
I know it’s suppossed to sound great wherever it is positioned but would a central location to the primary listening spot sound best for a reasonable faux stereo image? The way I understand it is that it’s creates a centre image for vocals and then a left and right channel to give the illusion of soundstage.

Inked

As stated, if they want to break into the smart speaker / assistant market and attract new customers rather than just the Apple faithful, then they need to expand the range of smart speakers.
Not everyone owns an Apple desktop and laptop and tablet and watch and tv and car and not everyone will want the full HomePod experience.
Look at the iPhone and iPad range, they started with one offering and we were told that other sizes / configurations were unwanted / unnecessary, no stylus is needed, no one reads anymore etc etc. Now we have 4 current iPhones, and 4 sizes of iPad.

As with you, I DO own all of those things (multiple in some cases) and I STILL think the amazon offering makes more sense in some regards.
CarPlay is good not great - I hate that I have to plug my phone in when there is Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in the car and a built in wireless charger. (And I far prefer google maps on my virtual cockpit to using Apple maps via CarPlay).
Siri is spotty as hell with CarPlay, though I need to look into whether that’s the car or the phones fault, but still, not the seamless usage I’d expect. (Maybe I’ll stick my spare Dot in the car )

I don’t always want to FaceTime on my phone/iPad when I’m trying to get stuff done but need to speak to my wife, so an Echo Show is great and completely hands free unlike the phone or iPad which you need to handle before making a call unless you somehow miraculous always leave them propped up ready to FaceTime (I don’t know anyone that does).

Inked

Just picked it up. Will have a play after eating

                                                                       

Inked

I’ve a feeling I’m going to run into some issues with HomePod due to the fact that my accounts are split (i use my @SKY email for iTunes and my @Me for iCloud).

Might be time for me to try and do everything on my @Me account.

Inked

First impressions
Space grey is very black, white would definitely have looked better in the kitchen if I didn’t have the kids.

Listened to a few things now, it’s very bass heavy. Siri is incredibly fast to respond but makes mistakes, asking her to set living room lights to a colour and she has so far set 3 lights to the correct colour leaving 1 light unchanged. When asked again she then set the dining room lights instead. Asking a third time she got the completely the wrong colour and only half the lights.

Has a long way to go IMO. I like the design, the sound definitely fills the room but as said above can be a bit overpowering with the bass, I’m not sure it will be to everyone’s taste. Siri needs a lot of work.

JimBobRude

I’ve just had a quick listen to mine and I agree. It’s a fun sound for the average listener for sure. It has a U shaped sound signiture, the bass is nice and punchy and I really like it for what it is. The treble is nice and detailed but in an artificial way, there is a peak around 8khz -10khz I would say. I need more time to tell. I will run a response sweep and see what stands out. The mids are a little dry/scooped on the lower mids but I’m coming from a preference for the warm smooth mids of a HD650 as a reference.
It’s really nit picking because for what it is it sounds fantastic! I’m enjoying it and that’s the most important thing.

Bl4ckGryph0n

Still haven't had a change to get mine out, too hungry now. Will go out for dinner soon.

Rob8980

Just had an hour playing with my new HP. First impressions-

-Its a heavy little bugger, but in a reassuring kind of way.

-The power cable is braided and the plug is slimline, which I like.

-set up was very quick and straight forward, but I don’t have any other smart things to link to it only our phones and iPads.

-waveform on top is very cool and sori is very quick to respond, and so far has picked up my voice without a problem, even over the top of kids playing and music going.

-Sound is very bass heavy but vocals are clear and overall sound quality is very good, but I’m no expert. I just know it sounds better  than the airplay enabled ihome unit it replaces.

-Siri has only got confused once when I asked her to play a specific song from the Moana movie soundtrack (my girls wanted it...honestly)

Overall I’m happy with it, but will keep on playing around and update in a few days.

Inked

Asked Siri to “play One, by Metallica”earlier and twice she got confused and played other Metallica songs. Ended up asking her to play “the song One, by Metallica”

Overall very pleased with it despite its shortcomings, have started a 3 month trial of Apple Music.