Article: Apple HomePod Review - An Audiophile Perspective

[bobfa]

Very interesting to hear someone we respect review the device.  I have disagreed with all of the reviews I have seen to date.  I cannot fathom what Apple is trying to do with the speaker system as far as their direction.  I have read a couple of articles that try to articulate that but nothing rings true.  Apple appears to be creating a “house sound” that may be similar to the Beats brand?  I am not sure, but that will influence everything.  Sort of like what is happening to the B&W D3 speakers that have gotten so forward and harsh.  

 

Now I actually bought three HomePod devices to replace the Amazon Echo devices that were around my home.  Part of that is for a bit better sound quality, part is due to information security or my perceptions that Apple is doing a better job here and has different motivations that Amazon.  

 

I do not find the speaker to be so unpleasant that I would sell it at a loss after two or three days.  (Apple does have 14 day return policy).   I am 5 days into my “trial” and I am still intrigued.  The HomePod is not a “performace listening” system.  It does some really interesting/weird/fun/crazy things with sound and from that aspect I find it fascinating.  This is sort of like DIRAC or other room correction system boxed up in one place and gone wild!.  Apple has chosen a sound signature just like B&W to match their market segment and direction.

 

For background music “playing in the other room” it is interesting.  For quite wind down listening in the evening it is also “ok” I would call the sound signature for this kind of listening THROATY.  It is not about placement of instruments or accuracy it is the simplicity of having music accessible when I want it.  

 

The voice response system is actually well executed, it really hears me well.  Now the domains that are supported are lacking vs some of the competition in that space.   That limitation is somewhat problematic for many.  We are very early days on this. 

 

If I had to fish or cut bait today I would take the HomePods back.  They are too expensive and do not deliver as well as I would like them to on several fronts.  The real question is will I put the Amazon Echos back in place.  I thought that I could live with some of the voice control limits that Apple has vs some of the complexity that Amazon has.

 

Today is not decision day.  That day should be this Friday.....  We will see.

 

—RJF

[bobfa]

12 hours ago, bobfa said:

Very interesting to hear someone we respect review the device.  I have disagreed with all of the reviews I have seen to date.  I cannot fathom what Apple is trying to do with the speaker system as far as their direction.  I have read a couple of articles that try to articulate that but nothing rings true.  Apple appears to be creating a “house sound” that may be similar to the Beats brand?  I am not sure, but that will influence everything.  Sort of like what is happening to the B&W D3 speakers that have gotten so forward and harsh.  

 

Now I actually bought three HomePod devices to replace the Amazon Echo devices that were around my home.  Part of that is for a bit better sound quality, part is due to information security or my perceptions that Apple is doing a better job here and has different motivations that Amazon.  

 

I do not find the speaker to be so unpleasant that I would sell it at a loss after two or three days.  (Apple does have 14 day return policy).   I am 5 days into my “trial” and I am still intrigued.  The HomePod is not a “performace listening” system.  It does some really interesting/weird/fun/crazy things with sound and from that aspect I find it fascinating.  This is sort of like DIRAC or other room correction system boxed up in one place and gone wild!.  Apple has chosen a sound signature just like B&W to match their market segment and direction.

 

For background music “playing in the other room” it is interesting.  For quite wind down listening in the evening it is also “ok” I would call the sound signature for this kind of listening THROATY.  It is not about placement of instruments or accuracy it is the simplicity of having music accessible when I want it.  

 

The voice response system is actually well executed, it really hears me well.  Now the domains that are supported are lacking vs some of the competition in that space.   That limitation is somewhat problematic for many.  We are very early days on this. 

 

If I had to fish or cut bait today I would take the HomePods back.  They are too expensive and do not deliver as well as I would like them to on several fronts.  The real question is will I put the Amazon Echos back in place.  I thought that I could live with some of the voice control limits that Apple has vs some of the complexity that Amazon has.

 

Today is not decision day.  That day should be this Friday.....  We will see.

 

—RJF

 

 

I wanted to add a bit more to my thoughts here.  There are two other people in my home; my wife and my son.  We are pretty comfortable with using Amazon Echo devices. In addtion  I have a "REALLY GOOD" main stereo system in the Living Room that fills the first and second floor with music if the doors to the bedrooms are open.    But operating the stereo is a lot harder than talking to a magic box in the corner to tell it to play music.  

 

There are a lot of limitations on Siri and the HomePod that I knew about before purchase. 

 

More tomorrow,...

[bobfa]

On 2/14/2018 at 10:50 PM, bobfa said:

 

 

I wanted to add a bit more to my thoughts here.  There are two other people in my home; my wife and my son.  We are pretty comfortable with using Amazon Echo devices. In addtion  I have a "REALLY GOOD" main stereo system in the Living Room that fills the first and second floor with music if the doors to the bedrooms are open.    But operating the stereo is a lot harder than talking to a magic box in the corner to tell it to play music.  

 

There are a lot of limitations on Siri and the HomePod that I knew about before purchase. 

 

More tomorrow,...

Today I sent the HomePods back to Apple.  This decision was predicated on several things. 

 

1. The audio quality is "interesting",...  Apple has created a sound that I describe as uncomfortable. Too much bottom, not enough detail, not enough middle.

2. The integration with Apple services is very weak and it does not work in a multiple person household.

3.  Apple Music works well and I cannot fault it for what it is. The integration with Homepod is very good.  I do not need Apple Music except for this.

4.  The controls and configuration of HomePod in the Apple Home App is just plain odd.  It kind of works but needs a LOT of UI work.

5.  The AI domains are very limited on the HomePod rendering it neutered and less than useful.

6.  Little things are annoying such as the inability to control Alarm volume or type.  The whole timer and alarm controls, weird.

7.  Yes I know that almost all of this is software but I have less patience than I used to.

8.  I have a VERY GOOD system to listen to and I do not need the HomePod for "performance listening"

 

So a bit more narrative is needed here.  First on home automation.  I have rather simple needs that HomePod did not enhance.  I have shared calendars and shared task lists that it could not address or manage well.  I have simple lighting automation that only requires occasional intervention and the is very little need for additional features that the HomePod might bring.

 

I will write more on this later on Friday!  

 

[bobfa]

7 hours ago, bobfa said:

Today I sent the HomePods back to Apple.  This decision was predicated on several things. 

 

1. The audio quality is "interesting",...  Apple has created a sound that I describe as uncomfortable. Too much bottom, not enough detail, not enough middle.

2. The integration with Apple services is very weak and it does not work in a multiple person household.

3.  Apple Music works well and I cannot fault it for what it is. The integration with Homepod is very good.  I do not need Apple Music except for this.

4.  The controls and configuration of HomePod in the Apple Home App is just plain odd.  It kind of works but needs a LOT of UI work.

5.  The AI domains are very limited on the HomePod rendering it neutered and less than useful.

6.  Little things are annoying such as the inability to control Alarm volume or type.  The whole timer and alarm controls, weird.

7.  Yes I know that almost all of this is software but I have less patience than I used to.

8.  I have a VERY GOOD system to listen to and I do not need the HomePod for "performance listening"

 

So a bit more narrative is needed here.  First on home automation.  I have rather simple needs that HomePod did not enhance.  I have shared calendars and shared task lists that it could not address or manage well.  I have simple lighting automation that only requires occasional intervention and the is very little need for additional features that the HomePod might bring.

 

I will write more on this later on Friday!  

 

I do not want to be overly critical about the audio quality of the HomePod.  In my office, the bedroom and when you are a bit further away from it the sound is actually very very good.  I have a long term relationship with high quality audio reproduction and Apple has really done a good job on this thing.  It does stuff that almost any other all-in-one audio component does not do; room correction, and all of that.  For a whole lot of Apple's target market this is a great 1.0 product.  A lot of energy went into this thing.  A single audio component that can play streaming music at this reproduction quality and cost is a good value proposition.  IF YOU ARE IN THE APPLE ECOSYSTEM.  I would like to add an additional caveat you are a single household.  This is almost frictionless for delivering music to the home.

 

I have seen a lot of talk on the tech-blogs about use cases that they think the HomePod can fill.  I have seen a lot of talk about using the HomePod with your TV.  I do not see that as valuable and it really speaks to the fact that most modern TVs have TERRIBLE audio.  Some sort of sound bar system would be a better value.  Now Apple could do the Dolby decoding and stereo pairs and surround simulation with all that computing power.  But without an optical input from the TV the application to this modality is weak.

 

In an apartment or your bedroom one of these gives a lot of musical value. 

 

-------------------

The "AI" and voice control

I am all in on Apple computing products.  I use an iMac for my main computer, Mac Laptops, iPad, iPhone, Watch,  Apple TV, and more..  The way the systems work hand in hand and the overall systems design is a notch above just about anything else.  When Apple bought Siri a lot of us were excited to have Apple work through the privacy and availability.  And the progress on Siri has been laudable.  Apple is not moving fast enough for the tech press and they talk and write a lot about what Siri can do.    The voice response system on the HomePod is nothing short of amazing.  The music can be blaring away and I can talk in a quiet voice and it hears me just fine.   The issue is what it can do with what it hears.  The press is brutal in it's evaluation of the HomePod on this functionality.  If I ask it to play the Beatles it will do that.  Now if you have 10 variants of something from the Grateful Dead I am pretty sure you will run into issues.

 

 This whole thing is a very powerful integration of Computers and Audio.  I know that my wife would like the main stereo system in the house to be this responsive to voice control. This is one implementation of the future of Voice First interaction technology.  More of this will be in our future.  Organizing and delivering the right track out of 40 million is a daunting task.  This is a good start.

 

I am going to stop now for a bit.  There is one more section on information security that I would like to address in that it was part of my reason to bring the HomePod into my systems.  I will finish that up in a while.

[bobfa]

4 hours ago, bobfa said:

I do not want to be overly critical about the audio quality of the HomePod.  In my office, the bedroom and when you are a bit further away from it the sound is actually very very good.  I have a long term relationship with high quality audio reproduction and Apple has really done a good job on this thing.  It does stuff that almost any other all-in-one audio component does not do; room correction, and all of that.  For a whole lot of Apple's target market this is a great 1.0 product.  A lot of energy went into this thing.  A single audio component that can play streaming music at this reproduction quality and cost is a good value proposition.  IF YOU ARE IN THE APPLE ECOSYSTEM.  I would like to add an additional caveat you are a single household.  This is almost frictionless for delivering music to the home.

 

I have seen a lot of talk on the tech-blogs about use cases that they think the HomePod can fill.  I have seen a lot of talk about using the HomePod with your TV.  I do not see that as valuable and it really speaks to the fact that most modern TVs have TERRIBLE audio.  Some sort of sound bar system would be a better value.  Now Apple could do the Dolby decoding and stereo pairs and surround simulation with all that computing power.  But without an optical input from the TV the application to this modality is weak.

 

In an apartment or your bedroom one of these gives a lot of musical value. 

 

-------------------

The "AI" and voice control

I am all in on Apple computing products.  I use an iMac for my main computer, Mac Laptops, iPad, iPhone, Watch,  Apple TV, and more..  The way the systems work hand in hand and the overall systems design is a notch above just about anything else.  When Apple bought Siri a lot of us were excited to have Apple work through the privacy and availability.  And the progress on Siri has been laudable.  Apple is not moving fast enough for the tech press and they talk and write a lot about what Siri can do.    The voice response system on the HomePod is nothing short of amazing.  The music can be blaring away and I can talk in a quiet voice and it hears me just fine.   The issue is what it can do with what it hears.  The press is brutal in it's evaluation of the HomePod on this functionality.  If I ask it to play the Beatles it will do that.  Now if you have 10 variants of something from the Grateful Dead I am pretty sure you will run into issues.

 

 This whole thing is a very powerful integration of Computers and Audio.  I know that my wife would like the main stereo system in the house to be this responsive to voice control. This is one implementation of the future of Voice First interaction technology.  More of this will be in our future.  Organizing and delivering the right track out of 40 million is a daunting task.  This is a good start.

 

I am going to stop now for a bit.  There is one more section on information security that I would like to address in that it was part of my reason to bring the HomePod into my systems.  I will finish that up in a while.

OK here is my final segment.  I want to talk about information security.  

 

I assume that many on this forum walk around with some sort of mobile device on our pocket all the time. So we are all carrying around a potential "wireless bug".  Introducing another device into our homes that has a microphone and an internet connection does not necessarily increase our security risk, although it has a possibility higher potential to be attacked and compromised.

 

So if you have a device with a microphone it is a potential bug.  The switch on top of an Amazon echo is a software driven push button that tells the computer to turn on the red light and turn off the microphone system in some manner.  The HomePod has a voice command to turn off listening which is again software.  The HomePod has no visual indication that the device is in a not-listening state.  As these are software switches it is possible that they could be compromised.  I would think that with Apple the risk might be lower as they are very vocal about their controls in this space.

 

Now the real meat of the problem is in intent.  Apple intends the voice to control and input data.  They appear to have no incentive to monetize your voice or keep data around.  Their differential privacy system appears to be robust.

 

Amazon sells the Echo devices to keep you in their system and to keep you buying from them.  Their system does use cloud based technologies and the voice information in one form or another is available to them.  You can see on their App or on the website the voice information about what you asked or told the device. There may be more exposure here but it is hard to validate.

 

Google has a different motivation in this.  They want you to GIVE them data about you that they can use to sell to advertisers to target you.  Now they do that by inference but it does feel more intrusive or creepy to see the ads hitting you after a search.  The knowledge about YOU is the product that Google sells to their customers.

 

Microsoft is a new player to this game and their Cortana software is now appearing in devices like the HomePod.  I have no experience with this hardware or how Microsoft implements their software stack.  I am suspect of their motivations.  Windows 10 bothers me a lot!  I find their security statements to be cryptic.

-----

I jumped too fast assuming that Apple did what I want them do to and I was disappointed.  I have never had to return an Apple product. 

 

I am back to using the Amazon Echo devices in my home. They provide a service that I currently want including voice activated music playback although not at the quality level of the HomePod.  The Echo devices are "just good enough" to listen to.  AKA AM/FM radio.

 

Sorry if this seems a bit OT but it is relevant to my potential use cases for HomePod.   

 

-RJF

 

Note that I work in Information Technology and I hold two security certifications CISSP and CISM Retired.