[turtle]

Linky

Apple today announced HomePod (2nd generation), a powerful smart speaker that delivers next-level acoustics in a gorgeous, iconic design. Packed with Apple innovations and Siri intelligence, HomePod offers advanced computational audio for a groundbreaking listening experience, including support for immersive Spatial Audio tracks. With convenient new ways to manage everyday tasks and control the smart home, users can now create smart home automations using Siri, get notified when a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm is detected in their home, and check temperature and humidity in a room — all hands-free. The new HomePod is available to order online and in the Apple Store app starting today, with availability beginning Friday, February 3.

Matter Support Matter launched last fall, enabling smart home products to work across ecosystems while maintaining the highest levels of security. Apple is a member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which maintains the Matter standard, along with other industry leaders. HomePod connects to and controls Matter-enabled accessories, and serves as an essential home hub, giving users access when away from home.

HomePod (2nd generation) is available to order for $299 (US) from apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK, the US, and 11 other countries and regions starting today, with availability beginning Friday, February 3.

Hmmm... I'm sure there are major improvements but the specific Matter support seems to be the biggest thing I'm seeing. I don't recall what the original sold for and I don't feel like looking it up right now.

[chucker]

Originally, $349, then lowered to $299, same as this one.

That's… bizarre. They discontinue it, then introduce largely the same product two years later?

Unless Marco Arment is right and there was a severe design defect, perhaps to the point where they risked having to issue a recall. So instead, they canceled the product, fixed it, reintroduced it. But does that take two years?

[709]

Importantly, the power cables are now color-matched.



Never thought about it on my M1 MBP and now can't unsee it.

[PB PM]

Another useless smart speaker. I mean I can count the number of times I use Siri a year on one hand, so clearly I’m not the target user.

[Yontsey]

Originally Posted by PB PM Another useless smart speaker. I mean I can count the number of times I use Siri a year on one hand, so clearly I’m not the target user.

This.

I’ll stick with my Sonos speakers.

[drewprops]

I like the idea, but have a question about execution.

I use the Amazon product to control lights at home. Anyone in the family can turn things on an off, and make adjustments. It is not trained to voices (yet).

We might assume the HomePod can be trained to recognize multiple voices, but what is the experience in a home when multiple people have Apple mobile devices - is there a cacophony of Siris answering the person issuing commands? I have experienced being able to invoke other people's iPhones when speaking to my own, and wonder if there's potential for mild bedlam?

I even have my watch and my phone answering me when I ask to dial up a friend. Who's doing the call, my watch or my phone, or even my computer - and now add in a HomePod!

...

[turtle]

I do not have HomePods though I do have HP minis. I also have Sonos for most of my listening around the house.

I will say my house uses Siri/HomePod minis all the time. Timers in the kitchen, lights on/off, what is the forecast... I mean really all those things they say you can do with it. Music does happen, but it really goes to Sonos more because of quality.

The minis also have a very long audible range. By that I mean, I can be in my office and call out to Siri and it isn't uncommon that the mini in the family room is the one that responds instead of my phone or Watch that are right beside me.

The new HomePods might sounds amazing, but I don't anticipate they will ever have the same pull as Sonos for my home.

[turtle]

Oh, also looks like the Temp/humidity sensor is finally going to be put into action with the new updates. I'm looking forward to what data that provides me.

I mean, if the humidity gets so high turn on the dehumidifier kind of thing.

[Matsu]

I have Sonos for music in the house. Plays the wife/kids playlists and my radio stations from different parts of the globe. I’ve turned off all the voice/mic/ digital assistant bits though it’s probably still spying on us. I wonder if Apple’s HomePods can use AirPlay2 to interact with the Sonos and play in sync with it?

[dglow]

Ordered two. Interested to hear how they render spatial/surround audio as a set when paired to an Apple TV.

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Matsu I have Sonos for music in the house. Plays the wife/kids playlists and my radio stations from different parts of the globe. I’ve turned off all the voice/mic/ digital assistant bits though it’s probably still spying on us. I wonder if Apple’s HomePods can use AirPlay2 to interact with the Sonos and play in sync with it?

Kinda, but it is more from your source rather than the HomePod. So when you add Sonos to the HomeKit environment it is just a speaker in that room. If you ask a HomePod to play music it will, by default, only play music from itself. If you say "play *music* in the kitchen" then it will play from all speakers in the kitchen, including Sonos.

If you are initiating play from an iDevice or Mac you can play the music from speaker groups that include the Sonos speakers and/or the HomePods. Generally it is fairly seamless. The challenge is if you just ask for music via Siri and don't designate a room/group.

[Matsu]

hmmm... So I can control Sonos via Apple/Homekit, but I wouldn't be able to control Sonos without going into the Sonos app. I'm really the only one in the house who uses it for Radio, but I love being able to grab international radio stations via Sonos' numerous apps.

I wonder how Apple does on this score: most radio stations have a web page where they stream their on-air content. Is Apple/Siri able to simply search the web, grab the correct publicly available stream and play it, all via voice control?

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Matsu hmmm... So I can control Sonos via Apple/Homekit, but I wouldn't be able to control Sonos without going into the Sonos app. I'm really the only one in the house who uses it for Radio, but I love being able to grab international radio stations via Sonos' numerous apps. I wonder how Apple does on this score: most radio stations have a web page where they stream their on-air content. Is Apple/Siri able to simply search the web, grab the correct publicly available stream and play it, all via voice control?

Not exactly, you configure and set up Sonos with their app. You can always control it with their app, but you can also control them with HomeKit integration. Volume controls and such work as expected.

If you want to use a Sonos specific source I'm sure you would require their app to do so. Of course, this can be iDevice or Mac/PC based.

I've not been able to get Siri to play anything that isn't from Apple Music. I understand you can integrate Pandora, Spotify and others now but general internet searches would refer you to your phone and then initiate play from it. You wouldn't be able to handsfree make that happen as it is now.

[Matsu]

Sonos just launched a spatial audio capable speaker of their own: Era 300. Pricey at $559 CAD, but maybe worth a listen. There's a lot of drivers in there, 6 in total, including: front, left, right, and up firing tweeters, and two mid-woofers.

They're supposed to support a 7.1.4 simulation when used as surrounds with an Arc. They should make these things work as front speakers as well. Looks like they have enough drivers to concoct a pretty good front soundstage all on their own...

[dglow]

Man, for the cost of two Eras plus an Arc one can buy a solid receiver and a bunch of great speakers.

[Yontsey]

I wonder if the 100s would fit in the same wall Mount as the Ones?

[Matsu]

To be fair, the Era 300 looks a little bulky for rear surround duty in a typical lifestyle system setup. I’d be more interested in using it as a main speaker single or pair. It’s got line-in and Bluetooth and maybe enough bass reproduction for versatile little setup for music/movies.

I think Sonos ought to enable these to work as a 2.0 virtual surround system. Just looking at the driver array, it ought to be possible to program these to deliver a decent phantom centre channel along with height effects and some surround virtualization.

[Frank777]

Originally Posted by Matsu To be fair, the Era 300 looks a little bulky for rear surround duty in a typical lifestyle system setup.

A few reviews I've seen have mentioned that the Era 300 looks bulkier in photos than in real life. So there's that.

Sonos has always been a favourite brand because they understood the need for privacy with their microphone-banishing SL lines.

Unlike Apple, which has apparently let the CCP influence their previous privacy-first focus in their products. (There are multiple mics in just about everything Apple ships nowadays, and AFAIK only the MacBooks have a hard switch to deactivate them when the shell is closed.)

So I was disappointed to learn that the Era line wouldn't have 'SL' versions. Hopefully, a teardown will confirm that the microphone switch on the Era is a hardware switch, does not allow the possibility of software switching on the mics remotely.

[dglow]

If you’re that paranoid (and I don’t blame you), set up some traffic filters on your gateway/router and block any outbound traffic from those devices.

[Matsu]

I'm just putting the finishing touches on a basement multipurpose room. The TV area is basically a 10' wide fireplace nook with room for a deep sectional, viewers would sit about 9-10' from the TV. Ceilings are a bit low (7.5') and there's an old wood burning masonry fireplace. I've lowered the height of the mantle to about 44", and re-set the bricks so there's still about 10" between the top of the firebox and the mantle. The way it is now there would be about 4.5" of breathing room all around a 75" TV - that would land about 4.5" from both the ceiling and top of the mantle (about 14.5" distance between firebox and TV). The TV is further shielded from heat by being set in/back about 8" from the front lip of the mantle, but this fireplace will not burn wood anymore: it will probably get a low BTU direct-vent gas, or an electric, insert.

With a 75" set, it doesn't leave me tons of room for a soundbar/centre, but I could go with a phantom centre channel set-up or an ultrathin soundbar...

[dglow]

Phantom center with two great bookshelf speakers flanking the screen wins over an undersized soundbar any day – IMO.

Especially for a space like you describe – it doesn't sound like a wide room that needs to accommodate a lot of far off-axis viewing.

[Matsu]

Depending on how much work I want to do, I could lower the fireplace even more, or delete it entirely.

My first instinct was to preserve it as part of a somewhat cozy area, with some built-ins and overstuffed seating. So far all it's cost me is some mortar, some sore muscles, and a bit too much time.

Maybe I end up just tearing it out so I can drop in an 85" TV and crazy sound system, but it's not a vibe that would please the missus

[dglow]

What's the viewing distance? Eyeballs-to-screen.

[Matsu]

It's about 10ft wall-to-wall. Assume about 1-1.5ft of seatback depth on a plush couch, typical couch depth about 40", so eyeballs to screen is going to be about 8-9 ft, depending on laid back vs edge of seat?

[Yontsey]

We're going with the 77" LG OLED from Costco and then going with the Sonos Arc and 2 Ones mounted on the ceiling behind up top. I didn't feel like doing in-ceiling speakers. I did a in-wall cut out behind the TV but it's like 36x24 for all the plugs, ethernet, and where I can mount my AppleTV and tv mount and stuff like that so it's out of the way.

[drewprops]

Some of these big televisions have a single power/data cable that can be run inside the wall, but I understand that there may be fire regulations that require running the cables through a conduit of some sort.

Found it.
https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00062213/


...

[turtle]

Homeowners can do whatever they want. Installers are expected to follow the rules.

Really though, it isn't like someone is going to come inspect your work so you can run it however you want. My home actually has empty conduit from the normal TV spots into the attic. There is a blank on the wall. So we could put everything through those and route down to a closet or something, but we don't.

[Yontsey]

Originally Posted by drewprops Some of these big televisions have a single power/data cable that can be run inside the wall, but I understand that there may be fire regulations that require running the cables through a conduit of some sort. Found it. https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00062213/ ...

My Samsung in my house now has that. I have mine ran through the wall to the bottom behind a cabinet. New house I'm just going to zip tie the box or velcro it to the back to the TV or something like that.

[Matsu]

Sound bars get poo-poo-ed, but they are undeniably convenient, and there are a few that sound really good in the right room.

One of the problems with modern AVRs has to be the sheer number of speakers involved. Even 5.1 seems simple relative to the latest height enabled systems...

I think this is where wireless speaker systems have so far missed an opportunity. What they need is a small I/O component to communicate with source and TV, and software that can support a modular number of powered wireless speakers so you can simple scale by adding more speakers and running a set-up routine to calibrate according to number and placement

[dglow]

You’ve almost described the Sony HT-A9. Small I/O component: check. Variable number of speakers: not quite.