jimcaj wrote:

To my surprise he said that he thinks Apple should not use the term Stereo, because it’s not, he said. Not in the ‘old’ way of thinking - two speakers right left Stereo hi-fi setup. He phrased it, IIRC, like ‘more sound’ DSP’ed .. as you add more HomePods.

 

If you are looking for "true" stereo as it is recorded in the studio, then there are lots of options for that.

Even on my main system, two sets of BeoLab 14's and a BeoSystem 4 so much signal processing is going on but I do like the results.  I've accepted the fact that stereo pairing the HomePods will not be traditional stereo since they will both be doing a lot of processing on their respective channels, but I believe I will probably enjoy it even more. It "should" at least fix the out-of-phase portion of that one song.

jimcaj wrote:

We’ll see. I don’t like this trend.

There are a lot of trends in music today that I don't like.  The move to streaming all your music (which requires you to pay a monthly fee to continue to listen to "your" music. The lowering of the quality of the music, etc. But I hope that I can hold onto my way for as long as I can.

Aussie Michael wrote:

It’s the Homer Simpson bowling ball :-)

The HomerPod, then.

MM

Mark-N wrote:

I've accepted the fact that stereo pairing the HomePods will not be traditional stereo since they will both be doing a lot of processing on their respective channels

I do hope you are right. But, thats not what I heard him say though. If he's right, there'll be no channels. Just an extra device - two or three as you add them on ..... That's his point. Yes, lots of devices today are heavily dsp'ed. But you still have your left and right on them. Here, not so. But, again. It can be wrong. That's just what I heard.

Go to 20:05

The only information that I have to go by is the statement on Apple's Homepod page:

Create stereo sound with a second HomePod.

 

Put another HomePod in the same room and they automatically detect and balance each other. With advanced beamforming capabilities, a HomePod pair is able to create a wider, more immersive soundstage than a traditional stereo pair.

I hope this means that the right channel information will be processed by one speaker and the left channel will be processed by the other.

I know its fun to listen to "Bird on a Wire" and point to each instryment if your system is good enough to do that, but I tend not to listen to music that intently.  I like to be able to hear all that is available iin a song, but it's precise location isn't as important to me.  I'll be very happy when I listen to Kanna Hashimoto and the word "bakari" is just as loud as the rest of the sentence, and not canceled out!

 

So some results ... this took a lot to set up !

Mainly because my dab measuring App mutes Apple Music on the iPhone.

So I resorted to AirPlay from my MacBook.

But at least I got the volumes in the tests to be almost consistent.

I also used Ms ElliePhant aka SWMBO as they “ears”.

The songs were Jennifer Warne singing Bird on a Wire and also Famous Blue Raincoat from the same album.

I posted a picture of the rig in Flash my B&O and the MacBook simultaneously Airplaying different targets. In the “integration” thread. So I won’t waste your viewing space here. Airplay to the speakers in this test was via the ATV or direct to the HP — AHP ?

I played these tests:

1. HomePod

2. BV8-40 centre speaker - SPEAKER 1 setting

3. BV8’s BL3s - SPEAKER 2 setting

4. BV8 driving BL3s and BL4s - SPEAKER 4 setting

5. BV8 driving BL3s and BL4s with the BV8’s centre speaker - SPEAKER 5 setting

6. BV8 driving BL3s, BL4s, and BL19 and with the BV8’s centre speaker - SPEAKER 5 setting

7. And back to HomePod

8. And playing 7 while flipping the BV8’s [MUTE] on and off

So my wife ...

Rated 2 > 1

Rated 2 > 3 !

And 4 > 3

Disliked 5

Thought 7 was better 6

Which seeing as 7 was the same 1 perhaps proves these tests were useless 😂

And her reaction to me simultaneously playing 6+7 was to say I had increased the volume; i.e. she did not detect the HomePod as a new source in the mix.

Which was my own 👂 🐘 👂 thought ! The HomePod’s richness was equivalent to #6.

Although clearly the HP by itself had no stereo it did over some spatial awareness so some of the instruments with higher treble appear on the left sound stage or the right sound stage of the HP !

And so in conclusion ?

The HomePod IS good value for money.

Later tests will be ...

A1

A2

A3

BL6K+BL11

BL20

... so stay tuned ... as that may happen tomorrow 😴

Going viral right now:

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/02/12/homepod-audiophile-review-standing-ovation/amp/

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7wwtqy/apple_homepod_the_audiophile_perspective/

Both B&O and Dali are mentioned in the Reddit comments.

jimcaj wrote:

Going viral right now:

 

 

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/02/12/homepod-audiophile-review-standing-ovation/amp/

 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7wwtqy/apple_homepod_the_audiophile_perspective/

 

 

Both B&O and Dali are mentioned in the Reddit comments.

This is really amazing! The 'response curves' are almost flat!

Interesting, and it seems like Apple have made a one box speaker that is excellent for its size.

I'd caution against expecting audiophile room filling sound from something like the HomePod, however clever the DSP is.

Most of the sound quality reviews i've read have it as a bit better than some of the comparable Sonos speakers, but not that much better.

And the review below is much more lukewarm, and is a proper test from an audio sensitive guy. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzbTRMIFL-4

Excellent for its size, good with modern recorded music, but no substitute for left / right normal speakers and not great with older recordings / recordings with dynamic range.

Sandyb wrote:

a proper test from an audio sensitive guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzbTRMIFL-4

Thanks. Very interesting clip. Warms my old hi-fi heart.

Sandyb wrote:

And the review below is much more lukewarm, and is a proper test from an audio sensitive guy. 

I've read a lot of love for the HomePod and a lot of hate especially in comments.  I wonder how much of ones opinion is what you wanted to walk away with initially.  It's not suprising that one $350 speaker will have some limitations that some people will focus intently on, but what's it going to be like when you can stereo pair them.  And... if Apple decides to build off the HomePod and release larger versions, what that will do to the audiophile world!