Apple TV 4K with OG HomePods or stereo speakers?

[0194839]

I’m on the verge of buying 2 OG HomePod’s. But I’m also considering 2 shelf speakers with a receiver.

I like the Dolby Atmos feature the Homepods bring with them.

Is a pair of OG Homepods going to give you an immersive sound experience? Anyone here with a pair of OG Homepods?

 

[richard371]

I have just the 4k ATV with 2 OGs in stereo and im very pleased with the setup. I got rid of my denon/klipch 5.1 setup.

 

[HappySponge]

I have just the 4k ATV with 2 OGs in stereo and im very pleased with the setup. I got rid of my denon/klipch 5.1 setup.

How do you find the difference in the 2 setups? Is the audio quality close enough?? I have a 5.1 set up (marantz receiver and GALILEO speakers) and was thinking of doing the two home pods instead.

 

[gnomeisland]

I went from an Atmos Soundbar (Pioneer Elite FSB700, I think?) to dual OG HomePods. It isn't true surround by a long shot but it sounds great. Personally, I've had no issues and looking forward to the ARC support in the 5th generation AppleTV so I can get rid of the soundbar completely (for Blu-Ray and occasional TV/other content)

 

[ScrumpyDaniel]

The sound is phenomenal and with the new model with arc/earc it's made all my devices sound amazing. The only problem i have is the audio is never synced correctly when using my Apple TV with them. Match frame rate breaks the lip sync and I have to set my TV to game mode to get it even close to being synced up. Wireless audio sync doesn't fix it either. I have raised this issue with Apple so fingers crossed they'll fix it.

 

[richard371]

How do you find the difference in the 2 setups? Is the audio quality close enough?? I have a 5.1 set up (marantz receiver and GALILEO speakers) and was thinking of doing the two home pods instead.

I think it sounds better but you don’t have true surround but I don’t miss it much.

 

[nutmac]

Is a pair of OG Homepods going to give you an immersive sound experience? Anyone here with a pair of OG Homepods?

If (1) your room has a flat ceiling, (2) the pair of HomePods are placed about 4 feet apart and less than 10 inches from the flat wall, (3) you are viewing from a narrow sweet spot, and (4) volume is sufficiently loud, you will get some surround effects. But I found the experience to be far from immersive. You are not going to hear an airplane flying overhead then pass behind your left ear.

If your experience is anything like mine, you will experience improved dialog, more balanced soundstage, and thumpier bass over stereo playback.

 

[0194839]

I have just the 4k ATV with 2 OGs in stereo and im very pleased with the setup. I got rid of my denon/klipch 5.1 setup. View attachment 1790905

Looks so much better than a receiver with speakers imo. Thanks for the photo, appreciate it!

 

[0194839]

I went from an Atmos Soundbar (Pioneer Elite FSB700, I think?) to dual OG HomePods. It isn't true surround by a long shot but it sounds great. Personally, I've had no issues and looking forward to the ARC support in the 5th generation AppleTV so I can get rid of the soundbar completely (for Blu-Ray and occasional TV/other content)

Thank you for your input!

 

[0194839]

If (1) your room has a flat ceiling, (2) the pair of HomePods are placed about 4 feet apart and less than 10 inches from the flat wall, (3) you are viewing from a narrow sweet spot, and (4) volume is sufficiently loud, you will get some surround effects. But I found the experience to be far from immersive. You are not going to hear an airplane flying overhead then pass behind your left ear.

If your experience is anything like mine, you will experience improved dialog, more balanced soundstage, and thumpier bass over stereo playback.

Thanks for sharing your experience in detail. A narrow sweet spot isn’t desirable, is it like too narrow? A balanced sounds stage is the thing I’m attracted to the most.

I ordered the HomePods today and they’ll be (hopefully) delivered by next Thursday. I’ll share my experience when I have them.

edit: typo

 

[0194839]

The sound is phenomenal and with the new model with arc/earc it's made all my devices sound amazing. The only problem i have is the audio is never synced correctly when using my Apple TV with them. Match frame rate breaks the lip sync and I have to set my TV to game mode to get it even close to being synced up. Wireless audio sync doesn't fix it either. I have raised this issue with Apple so fingers crossed they'll fix it.

Which generation Apple TV do you use? I bought the latest, maybe they fixed it 🤞🏽

 

[nutmac]

Which generation Apple TV do you use? I bought the latest, maybe they fixed it 🤞🏽

I am not @ScrumpyDaniel, but I have two Apple TV (2nd gen), both are connected to LG B9 and C8 via eARC HDMI via 48 Gbps HDMI cable.

My TVs are set to 4K SDR 60 Hz with match dynamic range and match frame rate turned on, and I performed wireless audio sync for every frame rates, resolution, and HDR modes. Knock on wood, but I have yet to encounter a single audio sync issue -- ranging from apps such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, ESPN+, HBO Max, Hulu, MLB at Bat, Netflix, and YouTube, as well as handful of Apple Arcade games.

 

[AL2TEACH]

The sound is phenomenal and with the new model with arc/earc it's made all my devices sound amazing. The only problem i have is the audio is never synced correctly when using my Apple TV with them. Match frame rate breaks the lip sync and I have to set my TV to game mode to get it even close to being synced up. Wireless audio sync doesn't fix it either. I have raised this issue with Apple so fingers crossed they'll fix it.

what HDMI cable do you have for the Apple TV? I don't care what kind of deal apple has with belkin and there are many inexpensive cables that might do the job but belkin ultra high speed cables work perfectly.

 

[Dc2006ster]

I went from a 2 speaker stereo system (NAD integrated amp with Mission 770 speakers) to Sonos Beam to 2 Homepods. For ease of use with Apple TV 4K and sound quality the HomePods are the best. I would not say the sound is immersive i.e all around me but it is very spatial, well located and detailed. You can “hear” the space between sounds e.g. people speaking of screen, sound off screen But don’t expect sounds to be behind you.

 

[ScrumpyDaniel]

what HDMI cable do you have for the Apple TV? I don't care what kind of deal apple has with belkin and there are many inexpensive cables that might do the job but belkin ultra high speed cables work perfectly.

Yeah i've got the Belkin HDMI cable direct from the Apple Store.

 

[CreepyAF]

I have four homepods hooked up to the Apple TV, two seen here, and two behind the couch on homepod stands, and the sound is amazing. I have to keep the volume down bc I live in a condo, but I’m still able to hear voices clearly while enjoying deep base. Sound has a spatial quality toit as well.

 

[AL2TEACH]

Yeah i've got the Belkin HDMI cable direct from the Apple Store.

well heck, I just shot my wad but curious what the fix will be.

 

[0194839]

what HDMI cable do you have for the Apple TV? I don't care what kind of deal apple has with belkin and there are many inexpensive cables that might do the job but belkin ultra high speed cables work perfectly.

I’m not @ScrumptyDaniel, but I purchased the latest Apple TV with the Belkin HDMI and I have to say it not only looks way more awesome with the new tech but it also sounds so much better than my previous Apple TV. I’m not sure whether its the hardware of the new Apple TV or the Belkin HDMI cable what’s makes the difference but I can surely notice a significant improvement.

 

[0194839]

*OP update: Thanks everyone for replying to this thread. Today I received the first of the two HomePods (The HomePod is not available in my country, so I had to go abroad .

My first impressions: The build quality is superb. Setting the OG HomePod up was a piece of cake.

I have a relatively large living room so my first impression was a bit underwhelming. But I soon imagined that two HomePods paired together will be a whole different story/experience. The sound is very good tbh. I found that some songs sounded not so good and some sounded very awesome. Probably depends on the mix?

I have to note that for me personally it takes a day or two to get used to a new device and its own authentic sound, lol. The second HomePod is coming next week, so I’m already looking forward to that event.

Until that time I’m going to play with the positioning of the HomePod because my initial impressions tell me that the right positioning of these beautiful tech creatures makes a difference.

Did any of you played with the positioning of the HomePods? Any tips?

Thanks in advance

 

[azpekt]

I had two OG as potential replacement for my 3.0 system. It was meh, sound was two boomy and not directional, central channel not really heard, cannot use Spotify connect through AVR…

 

[richard371]

I had two OG as potential replacement for my 3.0 system. It was meh, sound was two boomy and not directional, central channel not really heard, cannot use Spotify connect through AVR…

Might be placement. My exp is opposite.

 

[azpekt]

Might be placement. My exp is opposite.

i just found their sound incomparable to a pair of proper bookshelves speakers. to each their own.

 

[Minato1990]

Homepods.

Especially for my PS5 use playing games like the Last of US 2 or FF7R Integrade the immersion is crazy nice!

 

[richard371]

i just found their sound incomparable to a pair of proper bookshelves speakers. to each their own.

For me I love how directional the sound is and it feels like I have a true center channel. The voices etc are nice and clear even at lower volumes or a lot of background action etc.

 

[azpekt]

Homepods.

Especially for my PS5 use playing games like the Last of US 2 or FF7R Integrade the immersion is crazy nice!

how's latency? for me it was not terrible but quite annoying though.