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Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

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Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#191

Post by johnvanommen »

AlanYx wrote: post #88
andrewbarba wrote: post #3

Worth noting: - We lost two tweeters (7 down to 5) - We lost two mics (6 down to 4) Really curious how the sound compares to the original.

The description of the tweeters has changed on the spec page as well. I wonder if they're still using balanced mode radiators (BMRs) like the first gen HomePods? Perhaps these use a newer generation BMR?

I don't think they're BMRs, they're just conventional full range drivers, similar to what Apple has been using for almost two decades, going all the way back to the iMac.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#192

Post by johnvanommen »

etempleton wrote: post #57

Interesting to see a follow up. I didn’t think we would get another HomePod. I suspect they realized it was priced too high and the first version was just too expensive to produce. On a side note, I still have my old Apple Hifi and it continues to sounds great. I use it as computer speaker via optical audio. I also have a pair of Sonos Ones and a Sonos Move. I am fairly underwhelmed by the Sonos One sound quality, bu…

I think that's the case. The original (discontinued) Homepod had a heck of a lot of technology crammed in there.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#193

Post by daniel_reetz »

atdrummond wrote: post #179
ezfe wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>3. Siri tries (and frequently fails) to identify me and my wife by our voice, and then won't do things (like turn off the music, find our iPhone, etc.) because she can't figure out who we are. I've never had this issue in my household. Have you tried re-training it?

Shouldn’t we give him the benefit of the doubt over the HomePod?

Thank you. This is a perspective that is often overlooked. We all know the shortcomings of software engineering - why are we blaming the user first?

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#194

Post by pasc1878 »

gigatexal wrote: post #121

Super, duper bummed I can't pair this one with my 1st gen homepod. From footnote #3: Creating a HomePod stereo pair requires two of the same model HomePod speakers, such as two HomePod mini, two HomePod (2nd generation), or two HomePod (1st generation).

Yes this is not good. I could justify buying one and moving one original to another room.

But buying two and ending up with a spare old one. No

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#195

Post by criddell »

Jhsto wrote: post #119
AriaMinaei wrote: post #96

Speaking of smart speakers, I'm moving to a new flat and I'm looking for some good old dumb speaker setup. The smartest that I'd let it get would be a Bleutooth dongle. As a recovering Audiophile, I'm gonna stay away from r/audiophile lest they temp me to sell my kidney to afford that extra 5% in "acoustic fidelity." Seriously, I'm happy with the 95%. Now, how do I go about putting together that sound system? Or in A…

Where I'm from everyone is using Genelec speakers.

In my home office I have a little Onkyo (CR-N575) desktop receiver and it sounds okay at best. I keep wondering if replacing the default speakers would make much of a difference? I'm doubtful because the amp itself isn't great.

I clearly don't know much about amplifiers, but the specs say "RMS output power: 20W+20W (1 kHz, 10% THD 6 ohm)" which is terrible, right?

https://www.intl.onkyo.com/downloads/manuals/pdf/cs-n575d_ma...

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#196

Post by jdminhbg »

daniel_reetz wrote: post #193
atdrummond wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn’t we give him the benefit of the doubt over the HomePod?

Thank you. This is a perspective that is often overlooked. We all know the shortcomings of software engineering - why are we blaming the user first?

A suggestion to fix it isn’t “blaming the user.” I’ve had to retrain mine. It’s annoying that it failed and I had to do it, but I’m also glad I spent 20 seconds fixing it instead of worrying about blame.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#197

Post by petesergeant »

novok wrote: post #167
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…

Siri is really bad on many basic things that they could hard code. Like 'turn off lights' become 'turning on the the lights'. There are many weird ass bitflips for basics like that in Siri that is incredibly frustrating that alexa and google are significantly better in understanding reliably. Whats even worse is Siri could hard code these basics and not use ML which tends to work %90 of the time, but bitflips %10 of…

I don't have experience of Siri, but Alexa is _bad_ at this for me.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#198

Post by criddell »

yowzadave wrote: post #130

HomePod is the most annoying piece of technology that I still frequently use. I was an early buyer of the first version, but this update doesn't address any of the complaints that I have about it: 1. No audio line-in! It's a $300 speaker, it sounds great...sometimes I'd like to be able to just plug something into it. If you have a record player, you have to have a separate set of speakers for it, because this thing w…

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.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#199

Post by m3kw9 »

HomePods is one of the best products apple offers. Now I don’t use Siri that much, but if you listen to a lot of music this is the best bang for the buck. Get 2 and it becomes more amazing in stereo.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#200

Post by AlanYx »

johnvanommen wrote: post #191
AlanYx wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The description of the tweeters has changed on the spec page as well. I wonder if they're still using balanced mode radiators (BMRs) like the first gen HomePods? Perhaps these use a newer generation BMR?

I don't think they're BMRs, they're just conventional full range drivers, similar to what Apple has been using for almost two decades, going all the way back to the iMac.

The first gen HomePod definitely uses BMRs: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/nondestructive-look-ins...
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