From the moment that Apple HomePods were announced, I was interested.
That being said, I wasn’t going to pony up 600-700 bucks for a pair unless I could hear them. Therein was the problem.
You see you could look at them in an Apple Store you could play with the colorful Siri swirl. But you couldn’t actually hear them. Anyone who’s been in an Apple Store knows the chaos the customers endure to shop there.
People playing with every device at every counter. The loud talking, the kids shouting, the Apple Representatives talking louder to be heard over the din.
Boops, Beeps, suddenly loud music from various corners of the store, the Apple Training person giving a class, people trying to get their computers working, and asking endless questions about their new devices they’re in the process of setting up, all over the drone of the latest popular music that the store is playing to “enhance” the customer shopping experience…
You get the picture.
If someone wanted to hear the HomePods with music similar to what they actually listen to in a quiet environment they were pretty much SOL. Against the cacophony of the store there’s no way you could actually hear Mozart, or the delicate pluck of a string. There was no way to actually hear the speakers… Just the speakers.
When Apple released the HomePod mini at $99 it put a HomePod device in the realm of buying one just to try it out. Worst case scenario the sound was crappy but you had access to Siri and could ask about the weather as you made coffee in the morning.
That’s how we came to have a HomePod mini.
We were astounded at the quality of the sound from such a little device. So astounded in fact, that we bought 3 more.
Several weeks after that, we were visiting a neighbor’s house and he had two full size HomePods. He also had a regular set of very nice speakers for listening to his vinyl collection.
I asked if he liked the HomePods. He said, “Yes, very much,” He went on to explain while switching off the turntable that they sounded great when he was streaming music and that he also had several HomePod minis scattered about the house in the bedrooms and his office.
Then he started streaming music to the HomePods.
The sound was glorious. Amazingly glorious, the room was filled with well balanced music. The bass was strong but not overwhelming and the treble was crisp and clear. Had I known what HomePods really sounded like in a quiet room I’d have bought a set shortly after they came out, and I said so.
Then the neighbor said, “If you want a pair you’d better hurry. Apple just discontinued them today.”
I was bummed out.
The other half who is not often impressed with speakers or reproduced music asked a few questions and I thought that was it. I’d missed out on something that was really great.
Two weeks after that a couple of boxes addressed to the other half arrived via UPS.
Magically, two space gray HomePods had appeared. The stereo pair of HomePod minis moved into my office and a new stereo pair was created in the master bedroom. The HomePods are on the credenza flanking the TV now. They handle music in the living room and serve as speakers for movies being played on the Apple TV.
They support the Dolby Atmos stream from the Apple TV and the sound is amazing when playing movies or even TV shows.
There have been some articles calling the HomePod a failure. I don’t think the devices are failures, Apple’s marketing department failed. They clearly didn’t understand that while people will pay 2 or 3 thousand dollars for a computer they’ve never seen or used, folks will need to be a little more “Ears On” for a set of speakers. Even if those speakers are $299 each.
A computer, will adapt and you can hammer it into what you want or need.
Speakers on the other hand either please your ears or they don’t. We all hear differently, it’s not a one size fits all solution.
There are some magna planar speakers that I really like and yet I’ve heard others that I didn’t care for. Some models “hiss” while in operation and that hiss seems to be independent of the speaker’s input source. I find the hissing to be irritating. So even if I had enough cash and space to buy a set of magna planars I’d still be listening to them very carefully as I was making my selection.
Spending $600 on a set of machines I’d never heard before was simply too big a leap of faith for my budget. Sure, I could have bought a set and if I didn’t like ’em I could have returned them, but who wants that hassle?
As I sit here writing this, my Office HomePod minis are playing a selection of guitar solos that are quite beautiful and quiet. I could never have listened to this kind of music in an Apple Store.
The Apple Store venue would have made this music sound like the speakers weren’t of good quality regardless of it being played on full size HomePods or the HomePod mini.
As I said, if there was a failure, it was on the part of Apple’s marketing.
I think they were a bit too arrogant in believing that slapping an Apple logo on something would entice people to buy whatever that thing was. Sure there are lots of Apple fans who salivate yearly for the next Apple widget.
There are a lot more people out here that look at Apple products from a more objective position. We want to evaluate the product and we want to be able to think about the product and it’s utility to our lives.
I didn’t get on board with the Apple Watch until Gen 3. Only then had the watch’s utility caught up to the hype and expense in my mind. Yes, there were other reasons for my purchase of the Gen 3 at the time. I eventually upgraded to Gen 5 and don’t anticipate another upgrade until Gen 7 or 8. Then, only if the Watch provides additional utility that is well beyond what my Gen 5 provides.
I would recommend HomePods (The big ones) if you can find them. I’ve been very pleased with mine, and I continue to appreciate and enjoy my HomePod minis on a daily basis.
That may be in part because there is so little I want to watch on TV and I’ve been shifting more to music and reading a good book.
On music, I have to mention that since I started with Apple Music at 9.99 a month I’ve not been disappointed. Perhaps its because I have access to a world of music that I’m listening to more. Being able to stream literally anything without the worry of buying a crappy album and being stuck with it. I’ve become far more likely to listen to new artists and Apple’s curated lists of music. “Guitar Chill” is my latest discovery.
These lists are updated typically every week and they’re usually quite good. The HomePods let me enjoy them without having something stuffed in my ear. Being able to say, “Siri Stop” is really nice when the phone rings. Although you can use the HomePods to answer the phone and then they’ll act like a speaker phone. I use that option rarely since I don’t like speakerphones in general. I’ve got to admit that it’s nice if I’ve got my hands full.
Thinking about it, I wonder if it would be too over the top to have a set of HomePod mini’s in the garage? If I was doing a lot of work in the garage or working out daily there, it might just be worth it.
Hmm… Nah, I’ll give that one some more thought.