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Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

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Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#251

Post by adolph »

anotherman554 wrote: post #238
_hhkc wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s unclear if the parent post meant that they have two contacts named “Mom and Dad” or if they are two separate contacts appropriately named.

It might be unclear for an A.I. But a human being can use their "theory of mind" and rule out any implausible interpretations of what a fellow human being means when they complain Siri is texting Dad, not Mom, when they say text Mom.

> their "theory of mind"

Yes, I work on that a lot, kinda. It’s tricky, like learning to move one’s ears the first time. When my spouse first brought it up I thought it was “theory of mine” and I kept expecting a name for what it is.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#252

Post by voisin »

Hippocrates wrote: post #137

I F'in LOVE the OG HomePods. The sound quality absolutely slaps for the money/size/convenience. I've got one for music in the kitchen and it fills the room like a setup 3x as large. The bass response even at low volumes is remarkable, and clarity through the whole volume range is near perfection. Many of my guests have sourced their own OGs after hearing it. I've got another hooked up to my Apple TV (mono) that repla…

> I don't see much stated improvement. Kind of seems like a processor bump type release, which is not what I expected in V2 after so many years.

What would you improve? Sounds like they nailed it the first time around based on the rest of your post.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#254

Post by greggsy »

plusminusplus wrote: post #83
greggsy wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Siri for mundane things. Horses for courses. For music though, I prefer browsing through a playlist or artist discogs. Recalling a track from memory and requesting an assistant to play it isn’t very intuitive. Siri aside, I’m very much looking forward to this update.

You can ask voice assistants to play playlists or albums as well, not just a single track.

I mean, I like scrolling through track names, albums and cover art.

I rarely walk into a records store knowing exactly what I want, and live the process of discovery.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#255

Post by 1123581321 »

gnicholas wrote: post #247
criddell wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Audio line-in would be nice even if it's just to get rid of wireless latency. If they had that, I'd buy a pair today just to test with my home office receiver.

Is it possible to pipe sound into a Mac or iOS device, which then sends it to the HomePods? Macs can now use HomePods as the sound-out, so presumably this would be possible (but kludgy).

Probably with Rogue Amoeba's audio apps: Audio Hijack capturing the input to Airfoil output, I think.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#256

Post by rektide »

davidy123 wrote: post #73
ZeroCool2u wrote: post #14

Seems like Apple executed the way Google should have with their Google Home Max. They've added stereo pairing, so you can have two of them sync up together and then connect them to an Apple TV 4k and you basically get a pretty nice wireless sound bar with Dolby Atmos enabled. Still, at $300 per pod, I really need Siri to do better than the "dumber than a bag of rocks" vibe she currently gives off for this to be at al…

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding, but Google smart speakers have had stereo pairing for a while. https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7559493?hl=en-C...

Bought Google Max for the parents, & holy cow the pairing is terrible. Unusable entirely with a TV, huge lag.

I have the "headphones out" line coming from the tv, which I split, and then send to the line-in on each speaker. At least there is a line-in! Less and less smart speakers have a line in, it feels like. Absurd. (Different story, but also, really wish the Chromecast Audio were still a thing. Some inventory left but what a great product for adding amazing connective capability to any sound system! Smart being counter-analog-line-level stuff is such a shite hellworld thing.)

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#257

Post by voisin »

layer8 wrote: post #231
Hippocrates wrote: post #137

I F'in LOVE the OG HomePods. The sound quality absolutely slaps for the money/size/convenience. I've got one for music in the kitchen and it fills the room like a setup 3x as large. The bass response even at low volumes is remarkable, and clarity through the whole volume range is near perfection. Many of my guests have sourced their own OGs after hearing it. I've got another hooked up to my Apple TV (mono) that repla…

One issue I have with the HomePod (mini) Siri is that it activates even when I’m in another room and want my iPhone or iPad in that room to react, but Siri answers from the HomePod in the other room where I can barely (or not at all) hear it.

This is crazy behaviour. Is it hearing from another room or is it activating via the iPhone or iPad in the room you are in? If so it would seem that most users would have this issue. Can anyone else chime in? I am looking to buy one now but this seems to be an annoying flaw.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#258

Post by layer8 »

voisin wrote: post #257
layer8 wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One issue I have with the HomePod (mini) Siri is that it activates even when I’m in another room and want my iPhone or iPad in that room to react, but Siri answers from the HomePod in the other room where I can barely (or not at all) hear it.

This is crazy behaviour. Is it hearing from another room or is it activating via the iPhone or iPad in the room you are in? If so it would seem that most users would have this issue. Can anyone else chime in? I am looking to buy one now but this seems to be an annoying flaw.

It is hearing from the other room (doors aren’t fully closed, and the HomePod mini has really sensitive hearing) and I guess for some reason decides that it’s probably the same room. This doesn’t happen when you have the other device active/unlocked. There is a mechanism to negotiate between devices which device should answer (you see the Siri symbol lighting up on all devices), but the logic seems to be half-broken (unfortunately a common occurrence with present-day Apple software).

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#259

Post by jcoletti »

Hippocrates wrote: post #137

I F'in LOVE the OG HomePods. The sound quality absolutely slaps for the money/size/convenience. I've got one for music in the kitchen and it fills the room like a setup 3x as large. The bass response even at low volumes is remarkable, and clarity through the whole volume range is near perfection. Many of my guests have sourced their own OGs after hearing it. I've got another hooked up to my Apple TV (mono) that repla…

Completely agree. Incredible audio quality for the price, and it does a good job at the basic things I would personally ever need to use a voice assistant for. Will definitely buy a v2. Conversely, totally understand people not wanting one of these if they are true audiophiles, outside of the Apple ecosystem, or expecting a more sophisticated voice assistant.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#260

Post by adamparsons »

gnicholas wrote: post #247
criddell wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Audio line-in would be nice even if it's just to get rid of wireless latency. If they had that, I'd buy a pair today just to test with my home office receiver.

Is it possible to pipe sound into a Mac or iOS device, which then sends it to the HomePods? Macs can now use HomePods as the sound-out, so presumably this would be possible (but kludgy).

There was a project a few years ago called BabelPod that would take line-in (or any audio source really) on a raspberry pi and it would send it to airplay speakers, effectively making a janky wireless aux cord for record players and such.

I tried setting it up the other day after seeing a fork that has addressed some of the isuses, but I only had about 2 hours to try getting it working before giving up.

For those interested, just keep in mind the chances of it working are pretty low without some debugging, and most people run into issues with it

https://github.com/maexdaemaege/babelpod

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