HomePod How is classical music on HomePod?

[Traverse]

Airplay sends two channels of 16-bit quality sampled at 44.1KHz -- that is, CD quality.

Really? My mistake. I used to think it was better than BT because it utilized WiFi, but I thought I read somewhere that it was compressed as well.

My bad.

 

[Phil77354]

I listen to the official Kingdom Hearts orchestra concert. It sounds good to me. Had to adjust because all of the instruments are much more separated and distinguished than with AirPods.
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So is mine, but keep in mind if you’re streaming your iCloud Music Library it has been compressed to 256 kbps and if you’re airplaying then it is also compressed I believe.

Not that it makes a difference. I’m sure any subtle differences would be indistinguishable on the HomePod.

Until this weekend I didn't even have an iCloud library, but I have just signed up to Apple Music to give it a try and it's now in the process of uploading to the cloud. (I'm hoping that this will not end up corrupting the album and track labeling I've painstakingly established for my CDs in iTunes).

In any event, my streaming would therefore be directly from my computer's library (actually, stored on a separate hard drive). My understanding is that the iCloud images of my music would only be used if I was accessing them away from my computer, on an iPhone or iPad, something like that. Isn't that right?

 

[subjonas]

Thanks for the feedback, all. My interest in the homepod is now more piqued.

So far I've tried my HomePod with various types of music, and I would say that the sound is less immediately impressive with classical, although the clarity and quality is exceptional. It could be that fully capturing the sound of a symphony orchestra, for example, is really something that you need a couple of HomePods to do justice to.

I will be trying that this weekend, as I have several of these to set up and experiment with. At the moment I'm listening to the Beethoven Violin Concerto, Wolfgang Schneiderhan on violin, with Eugen Jochum conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. a 1962 recording I have in my iTunes library (ripped from CD to Apple Lossless). The sound is excellent.

I think so, to get the immersion I’m looking for I would probably need to get two homepods. Apple needs to release the “stereo” function first though.

Until this weekend I didn't even have an iCloud library, but I have just signed up to Apple Music to give it a try and it's now in the process of uploading to the cloud. (I'm hoping that this will not end up corrupting the album and track labeling I've painstakingly established for my CDs in iTunes).

In any event, my streaming would therefore be directly from my computer's library (actually, stored on a separate hard drive). My understanding is that the iCloud images of my music would only be used if I was accessing them away from my computer, on an iPhone or iPad, something like that. Isn't that right?

For Match (or whatever it’s called now), my understanding is that a device will always play music from icloud if the track isn’t stored locally on the device itself or being airplayed from another device that has it stored locally. So if you’re playing your music directly from your homepod (invoked by siri) it will play from icloud, not from your computer. The homepod will only stream from your computer if you are airplaying from your computer.

This reminds me of another question I had. Does anyone know if homepod’s ability to analyze music on the fly and optimize it for the room only apply to cloud streaming or does it work for airplay as well?

 

[smarcotte]

I will agree with everyone that the sound quality is exceptional. That said, Siri has a very hard time parsing opera titles and singers. Try telling her to play Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Rene Jacobs. It is an adventure.

 

[CPTmom2wp]

I will agree with everyone that the sound quality is exceptional. That said, Siri has a very hard time parsing opera titles and singers. Try telling her to play Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Rene Jacobs. It is an adventure.

I'm not sure I could pronounce it properly, much less spell it to do a search......Poor Siri🙁

 

[tubular]

I’ve rung the changes trying to coax Siri to play the first movement of Shostakovich’s 15th Symphony. Haven’t cracked it yet.

 

[Traverse]

In any event, my streaming would therefore be directly from my computer's library (actually, stored on a separate hard drive). My understanding is that the iCloud images of my music would only be used if I was accessing them away from my computer, on an iPhone or iPad, something like that. Isn't that right?

For Match (or whatever it’s called now), my understanding is that a device will always play music from icloud if the track isn’t stored locally on the device itself or being airplayed from another device that has it stored locally. So if you’re playing your music directly from your homepod (invoked by siri) it will play from icloud, not from your computer. The homepod will only stream from your computer if you are airplaying from your computer.

This reminds me of another question I had. Does anyone know if homepod’s ability to analyze music on the fly and optimize it for the room only apply to cloud streaming or does it work for airplay as well?

@Phil77354 I believe @subjonas is correct: Your HomePod (or any devices) will not pull the music from another device, but will stream it from your iCloud Music Library or iTunes Purchases - both of which will not be lossless (not that big of a deal to me).

@subjonas - That is a good question that I doubt any of us could answer. I would, however, assume yes if it is sampling this music on the fly for adjustments which seem implied by Apple.

 

[subjonas]

@Phil77354 I believe @subjonas is correct: Your HomePod (or any devices) will not pull the music from another device, but will stream it from your iCloud Music Library or iTunes Purchases - both of which will not be lossless (not that big of a deal to me).

@subjonas - That is a good question that I doubt any of us could answer. I would, however, assume yes if it is sampling this music on the fly for adjustments which seem implied by Apple.

Additionally, if one would rather control the music from their ios device instead of their computer, there is the option to home share from itunes (on the computer) to the ios device and then airplay from the ios device to the homepod, keeping it all local and lossless.

True that seems logical.

 

[Traverse]

Additionally, if one would rather control the music from their ios device instead of their computer, there is the option to home share from itunes (on the computer) to the ios device and then airplay from the ios device to the homepod, keeping it all local and lossless.

True that seems logical.

I wish it would appear as a now playing face on my watch. There are times I do want to control the HomePod without yelling Siri

 

[dfs]

How do you change the EQ setting?

On your iPhone or iPad go Settings>Music>EQ

 

[prospervic]

Once Apple releases AirPlay 2, it might actually sound really great with two HomePods combined, at least I hope so. Without the option to adjust the EQ settings, I probably would have returned the HomePod.

I’m really hoping this will be the case. So, I’ll being waiting until Airplay 2 before purchasing.
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By the way, to get back to the original question of 'how is classical music on HomePod', I'm listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons now, Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, one of my very early CD purchases. Playing it from my iTunes library, lossless rip. Anyway, it sounds really excellent. I'm finding the HomePod speakers to be substantially better than what I've been using as computer speakers - Audioengine A2 powered speakers that I've been pretty satisfied with for several years. Glad I waited for the HomePod and didn't spend money earlier on more expensive

Good to know HomePod can play music from the iTunes library. This means I can use the external DVD drive connected to my iMac to play the hundreds of CDs I haven’t ripped.

 

[lch6257]

Have any HomePod owners given it a good test with classical or symphonic music? I’m hoping it’s not just made for pop music.

So, I was listening today to classical radio on Apple Music through he HomePod. A track I was not familiar with "Telemann - Giovanni Antonini & Giardino Armonico - Suite for Recorder, Strings & Continuo in A Minor" came on and I can hear the breaths of the Recorder on the HomePod. Quite amazing to hear this so clearly in this track, but certainly the quality of the sound depends on the track and they are definitely not all created equal. All in All, Two Solid Thumbs up for Classical listening on the HomePod.

 

[Phil77354]

I decided to try some organ music, now listening to Bach Toccata & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565, E. Power Biggs on Sony Classical CD, 1960 recording. Sounds great, reproduces the very low notes all the way up to the highest, clearly and distinctly.

 

[MacBird]

I decided to try some organ music, now listening to Bach Toccata & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565, E. Power Biggs on Sony Classical CD, 1960 recording. Sounds great, reproduces the very low notes all the way up to the highest, clearly and distinctly.

One thing I find quite impressive is the dynamic range, I listened to Mahler's 9th and Shostakovich's 5th and it sounds great for such a small speaker.

 

[oakrrl]

Have any HomePod owners given it a good test with classical or symphonic music? I’m hoping it’s not just made for pop music.

I listen mostly to classical music. Just got a HomePod, tried it out. Not impressed. It's better than most small wireless speakers, certainly better than the low-end Bose Soundlink Color I have. But the pair of M-Audio AV40s I have plugged into my iMac's headphone port is far, far, FAR superior and only ran $140 for the pair. Of course, they're not wireless, and they're not "smart" -- but sound is MUCH better.

(warning: the AV40s have been replaced by AV42, which many feel are not as good)

 

[colinwil]

I will agree with everyone that the sound quality is exceptional. That said, Siri has a very hard time parsing opera titles and singers. Try telling her to play Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Rene Jacobs. It is an adventure.

Lol - I asked mine to play “Je ne regrette Rien” by Edith Piaf. It played something by Rihanna 🙂

 

[cynics]

I will agree with everyone that the sound quality is exceptional. That said, Siri has a very hard time parsing opera titles and singers. Try telling her to play Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Rene Jacobs. It is an adventure.

Truth x 100.

I came home this evening and wanted to relax to some Benevento/Russo Duo but Siri could grasp it so I then tried Ulrich Schnauss. Oh boy, by the time I got Siri to understand me I was so far from wanting to relax it felt like a hollow victory.

 

[PieTunes]

Lol - I asked mine to play “Je ne regrette Rien” by Edith Piaf. It played something by Rihanna 🙂

I was doing the dishes and played the Musicals radio station, Do You Hear the People Sing came on and it didn’t sound like the original cast recording of Les Miserables. So I asked her about the song and she pronounced it Less Miss Ribbles. 😕

 

[PotatoLeekSoup]

Lol - I asked mine to play “Je ne regrette Rien” by Edith Piaf. It played something by Rihanna 🙂

That's part of the niceness of using iTunes Match instead of Apple Music. It cannot play music you dislike (assuming you do not buy music you don't like!)