12-05-2018, 12:05 PM | #16 |
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12-05-2018, 12:16 PM | #17 |
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Everyone, I should have said Echo Dot (2nd and 3rd Gen). Probably that car Echo Auto is at least 3rd. And then my Google Home Mini whatever that is.
My ears have heard (suffered) too many blasts, gunshots, loud speakers, and even fireworks to appreciate good audio speakers. What I like is loud voice clarity. I prefer the Dots generallly, but the Google Mini has better volume (5% increments, and louder). I can be in the Den in my chair and I won't be able to hear an echo Dot weather announcement from my office very well, but I can say: "Ok Google set volume level to 10." Ok Google, weather." The weather comes in loud and clear from my office. "Ok Google set volume level to 4." To quote and paraphrase a song of one of my favorite singers Tom T Hall. The Cowboy and the Poet "I knew I had to ask him about the mysteries of life He spit between his boots and he replied It's faster horses, younger women, Older whiskey, and more money" I would only add "more volume." Last edited by frahse; 12-05-2018 at 03:03 PM. |
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12-07-2018, 07:10 PM | #18 |
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Apple's HomePod is doing just fine for the market Apple targeted...which is not the $50 "lady in a can". Love my Homepod and like my 3 Echo's.
Neither is Apple scaling back on hardware. Apple music is like iTunes before it. There's just no business reason to keep either one only to Apple's platform. As an subscriber to Apple Music and an owner of Alexa base products, this is good news to me. Just like Amazon Prime eventually landing on the Apple Tv. What signs CAN we read? Well, Apple probably has no intention of a $50 "Siri in a can". As such, it takes no sales away from Homepod and yet makes Apple Music that much more attractive. Winners here are Apple and Amazon....loser is Spotify as it's one less reason to choose Spotify. We can see that Apple is serious about growing it's service revenue. You can only raise the price of the iPhone so high (so much higher than most of us would have imagined). Services is where Apple will see growth. Relationship between Apple and Amazon appears to be thawing. Amazon is now selling more Apple hardware. Winner Apple and Amazon - loser Google who still is in a pissing contest with Amazon. |
12-10-2018, 09:29 AM | #19 | ||
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c|net: Great sound, but it's trapped in Apple's world wirecutter: Apple HomePod Review: It Only Sounds Great Engadget: Apple HomePod review: A great speaker that’s not so smart |
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12-10-2018, 10:22 AM | #20 |
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there is a limit to how much sound quality to get squeeze out of a given sized small tube, can, puck, dot...
and these things are probably pretty well optimised already. if you want to hear actual bass notes, then simple science tells us that a bigger box is needed Sonos, Google play max, JBL link view all have v good audio ratings but all are bigger than what we are discussing here. I am not well versed in the Apple rage or quality Amazon don't seem to get hifi- & Google are not much better. [ google youtube music quality] Neither matches the streaming quality from Spotify or from the lossless services like Tidal, Qoboz... Amazon cant even be bothered to to bit rate 320 on purchased/streamed mp3 But I guess if all you want is weather forecasts, sports news & audiobooks, then any tiny device will do |
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12-10-2018, 02:08 PM | #21 | |
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I can really tell a difference in the bass at low volumes. It's also amazing to speak fairly softly and have the HomePod respond from across the room, even when it's playing loud music. |
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12-10-2018, 02:21 PM | #22 | |
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https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/...e_perspective/ I am not an Audiophile but I like good sounding Music. As a music speaker with voice control, it's great. I have zero home automation and very little interest in it. I do have some Echo Dot's and there is, of course, no comparison to the sound. But to the date, my biggest use of my echo dot's are as voice timer's in the kitchen and "your package has shipped, arrived". I got an Amazon Fire Tv Cube that has Alexa and I have it connected to my soundbar/sub woofer. Yeah....it can sound nicer as it's outputting to much larger speakers. My HomePod, I can put it in any room, anywhere in a room, at it optimizes it's output (has 7 tweeters pointing around a cylinder). The fact that it has Siri built in is a "nice extra" for my use case. If you are wanting a lady in a can....you can get that experience for a LOT less than a HomePod |
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12-10-2018, 03:09 PM | #23 | ||
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Apple isn't generally so polarizing with professional reviewers. I'd say if you go to any of those same sites and check their reviews for the iPhone, iPad and other Apple products, they won't score so poorly.
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12-10-2018, 06:43 PM | #24 | |
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The evidence of what Apple was aiming for is right before your eyes. At $350 it could not possibly be aime at the “lady in a can” market that was around $150 for the Echo...and already down to $49 for the Dot. |
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12-11-2018, 01:16 AM | #25 |
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one aspect that fascinates me is that after years of hi fi magazines rabbiting on about the importance of depth of stereo field, correct speaker placement, how to sit in the middle.... it turns out that all we really needed was a single can on a shelf !
will "stereo" become something your grand-kids giggle about - like CDs, tapes, walkman.. ( to be fair: Alexa does support setting up a pair of speakers and designating a L R sterso pairing, but I doubt many people bother ). |
12-11-2018, 04:13 AM | #26 | |
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12-11-2018, 08:00 AM | #27 |
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I have two Sonos Play Ones set up in my store. They are paired for stereo and I can tell the difference between one speaker and the stereo playing from two. I have had a partial hearing loss since I was 19. The depth of the sound and the definite difference between mono and stereo make a huge difference.
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12-11-2018, 05:39 PM | #28 | |
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http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-annou...and-echo-plus/ A 2.1 bundle can be had for $249. |
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12-12-2018, 09:31 PM | #29 | |
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As for home automation, Apple was first there too. However, Apple's security requirements made the products too expensive, opening the door to Amazon....as long as you really don’t care that much about security. As for Lady In A Can...there is no business model for Apple. Siri makes the iPhone better, the HomePod better, the Apple TV better, the Apple Watch better. But by herself? There's no money to be made for Apple selling no-margin devices. Apple has the iPhone and Google has both Android phones and a competing Google in a can. Amazon's place as retailer of choice is the only thing I can think of that keeps Google from blowing Alexa out of the water. I still have little idea if Alexa makes any money for Amazon. |
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12-13-2018, 08:57 AM | #30 | |
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Apple and Amazon have somewhat different business models. Both are somewhat based on keeping you in the walled garden, but Apple has been focused on devices and now more and more services. Amazon is focused on selling you stuff. So it's actually not particularly germane if Siri or Alexi actually make money on their own, both are there to enhance the product and keep you in the walled garden. I agree with you on Apple TV. Jobs originally wanted it to be a one stop shop for anything you wanted to watch. Basically Tivo on steroids. The cable providers and Hollywood blocked that. The current iteration of Apple TV is much closer to that vision. It's not perfect by any stretch, but it's a pretty interesting expansion. I actually think that between Apple, Google and Amazon, Google is in the most jeopardy of losing their place which is basically being the ad king. That's where most of their profit is. |
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