“When HomePod finally came to market little more than a week ago, I read review after review that immediately gushed over the device’s premium audio quality,” Jim Gresham writes for iDownloadBlog. “No surprise, I had to go get one on launch weekend, but, I am not sure I intend to keep it.”
“The kit is impressive and a lot of speakers are crammed into a small footprint. Full room audio is definitely something HomePod delivers in a sleek package, and with a voice assistant,” Gresham writes. “I’m not going to tear into the HomePod and just bash its sound quality. I just don’t prefer the device. HomePod does sound incredible, don’t get me wrong! There is a lot of impressive sound coming from a device about the size of a tissue box. In fact, if you had hidden it behind a screen, played music, then revealed to me how small it is, I would have never believed it. But so many reviews claim it sounds better than even thousand-dollar equipment. These statements are grossly exaggerated.”
“I’m not an audiophile, but I do have experience with prosumer level audio products,” Gresham writes. “Again, I am no authority on sound quality. You see, this is just my opinion… To spare you a very long story, for a shorter-but-still-long story, I could not and still cannot get macOS to reliably output audio to the HomePod from my late-2017 iMac… As a Sonos customer, I was very interested in an AirPlay speaker that I could use with my iMac, because there is no way to get your Apple desktop to push audio to Sonos… Well, not easily. Let’s just say, there is not currently a proprietary app that will make that happen. Therefore, the ability to push iTunes and system audio to an awesome speaker, right next to my iMac, is an amazing opportunity. So, I shelled out the premium $350 to grab one of these guys on opening weekend and got burned as an early adopter. Apple will certainly fix these issues in upcoming software patches.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If you think a Sonos Play:1 sounds better than a HomePod, you suffer from amusia.
We expect AirPlay 2 to rectify many, if not all, issues people are currently experiencing.
SEE ALSO:
Jean-Louis Gassée: The trouble with Apple HomePod reviews – February 20, 2018
Steve Crandall: Apple’s HomePod is the next big step in home audio – February 13, 2018
Apple HomePod: The audiophile perspective plus 8 1/2 hours of measurements; HomePod is 100% an audiophile-grade speaker – February 12, 2018
Apple’s HomePod is actually a steal at $349 – January 26, 2018
Digital Trends previews Apple’s HomePod: Impressive sound coupled with strong privacy – January 26, 2018
Hands on with Apple’s HomePod: Attractive, ultra-high-quality speaker, an excellent Siri ambassador – January 26, 2018
Apple’s HomePod, the iPod for your home – January 25, 2018
One hour with Apple’s new HomePod smart speaker – January 25, 2018
Apple’s iOS 11.3 beta delivers AirPlay 2 with multi-room playback – January 25, 2018
How Apple is positioning the HomePod and why – January 24, 2018
How I got talked into buying an Apple HomePod despite my reservations – January 24, 2018
Tim Cook says audio quality puts HomePod ahead of ‘squeaky-sounding’ competition – January 24, 2018
Apple’s HomePod arrives February 9th, available to order this Friday, January 26th – January 23, 2018
Apple delays HomePod release to early 2018 – November 17, 2017
Apple reveals HomePod smart home music speaker – June 5, 2017