Ahh, someone doesn't understand levels! The HomePod was doing about 75 dB SPL in that 56% THD test! That's just above audible - that is a lower signal level. See, human auditory systems do NOT change sensitivity with the limits if your speakers! A speaker generating 56% THD @ 75 dB SPL will not be hard to hear at all. Doesn't matter that it's a "high level signal" for the speaker - that is a low level signal for a human! And it is quite audible - just check the FM/RD curves...
If you think that 75 dB SPL is "Just above audible", you need to have some hearing-aids installed!
Conversation is around 60 dB SPL; 75 dB SPL (on what weighting scale?) is certainly not "loud"; but it is WAY above the 30 dB SPL of a whisper.
I like my TV at home around 75-80 dB SPL, and that is most definitely a "comfortable listening level". You'd have to be Pete Townshend to think that 75 dB SPL was "just above audible"!!!
Hell, a moderately-quiet band in a nightclub is usually only around 85-90 dB SPL. I used to like to mix around 100-105 dB SPL, and I would routinely get yelled-at by club-owners. But 75 dB SPL is someone "raising their voice" above a normal conversation. Again, WAY above "Just barely audible".
And besides, if you look at the "-12 dB" graph, the AVERAGE is about 80-83 dB SPL, It dips down to around 75 dB SPL (with a GIANT room-mode dip at around 36 Hz!) only below about 40 Hz. So, I would HARDLY call that only "doing about 75 dB SPL".
Now, if you had said 30-45 dB was "Just barely audible", I would not have nearly as much to quibble about. But instead, you lied. And you lied in an attempt to deflect the conversation away from the fact that the "Whitepaper" YOU cited COMPLETELY REFUTED your original position!
And speaking of which, what did YOUR Expert say?
"THD and IMD have no correlation to the perception of the distortion that they are intended to represent. Correlation is possible with a metric that takes into account the way the ear actually functions One of the most important implications is that distortion in loudspeakers could well be an insignificant factor"
Look at the image. There's a +10 dB for most of the bass range, and a -15 dB dip at around 93 Hz. That's not consistent with "All the way from 40Hz to 20,000Hz it's +- 3dB". Judging by the graph, that's only true for the 1500-7000 Hz range.
My guess is that by "all the way", he means "the average for the range", and not "on every point on the range". If so, that's very misleading - it apparently misled you.
Keep in mind that some of that is due to "Room modes", especially in the lower frequencies. I would bet that, in Apple's anaechoic chamber, it likely looks a little flatter in the low-end.
I just went through this a couple of weeks ago with a friend (who happens to be a degreed Electrical Engineer, and an audio afficianado with decades of experience) that bought a $1800 subwoofer to add to his already great stereo system, and wanted to use an REW setup to help him set it up. The low-end had all SORTS of ugly peaks and valleys (FAR worse-looking than the HomePod graph!), and after much fiddling, EQing, listening, retesting, re-EQing, re-fiddling, relistening, etc. over the course of nearly a MONTH, we both came to the conclusion that a lot of the lumpiness that we saw below about 40 Hz was due to "room modes", and that you could TRY to EQ it out for ONE location; but then, moving 6 inches to the left or right would present an ENTIRELY different picture... Mind you, you cannot HEAR any of that "lumpiness"; but the graph says it's there; so...?
I submit that would be the case here, too. But until we had cheap tools like REW at our disposal, us "normal people" simply haven't had the equipment to actually MEASURE these things "In Place". And I would bet a reasonable amount of money that, if you measured yours, and 10 of your friends-with-good-stereos frequency-response curves, even those with RIDICULOUSLY high-end systems, that NONE of them would literally measure-up to your "ideal", let alone that arbitrary DIN standard...
But upgradable RAM, even if it were in custom form that would require a trip to an Apple store, would at least lower the environmental impact of laptops being discarded because they can't be upgraded. Environment should always come before profits and it should be made into law.
See above. VERY few people actually "upgrade" their Laptops. They use them until they are attracted by the new shiny and them throw them away, like an elderly Greek slave...
For demanding that a halfway decent system lives up to the DIN HiFi norm of the early 70s, with 31.5-16kHz frequency response with +- 4dB for midrange and less than -10dB falloff on the high end and -8 dB falloff on the low end? That's hardly much to ask - pretty much any speakers from the 70s and early 80s qualified; even the crappiest ones that only did 50-12.5 kHz managed to stay within those limits.
The trash they make today, not so much. These days, you'll be hard pressed to find something that is even audible down to 50 Hz. The days of high fidelity are over. Both in music production and music systems.
I repeat: You're insane. Here's the frequency response of the HomePod:
"What we can immediately see is that the HomePod has an incredibly flat frequency response at multiple volumes. It doesn’t try to over emphasize the lows, mids, or highs. This is both ideal, and impressive because it allows the HomePod to accurately reproduce audio that’s sent to it. All the way from 40Hz to 20,000Hz it's ±3dB, and from 60Hz to 13.5Khz, it's less than ±1dB... Hold on while I pick my jaw up off the floor."
I know you will automatically try to gainsay anything I Post; but this Sounds fairly "HiFi" to me.
CSR 867x is a self contained Bluetooth SoC. That might be the only solution that makes sense for wireless headphones, but for a device like the Homepod, using a separate SoC and HCI Bluetooth IC, and decoding the audio on the SoC is also an option. LDAC is available in source code form in Android, so there is no reason for it to be limited to the CSR SoC.
1. THD is VERY hard to hear. IM distortion is what is annoying.
False. Go and check any of the AES papers by gentlemen like Louis Fielder, Grant Davidson, or Dane Grant (all gentlemen I work with weekly). THD audibility is dependent upon SPL and frequency, and levels as low as 0.5% are not only audible, but objectionable based upon the spectrum of the THD.
Don't believe that? Perhaps Dr. Earl Geddes' presentation on the audibility of distortion will help. Of course, when you live in a reality distortion field, I guess THD might be a good thing!
Interesting you cited Geddes' paper. Because, on or about page 13, there is the following "pulled quote":
"Distortion byproducts of any kind are likely to be more perceptible at lower signal levels than at higher signal levels. (Less masking occurs at lower signal levels)."
So, at the levels where the distortion is highest with the HomePod, human hearing is simply less sensitive to distortion of any kind.
And I can attest to that in my own experience. Distortion is ALWAYS easier to hear at lower volume levels.
And further, on or about page 23, Geddes further observes:
"THD and IMD have no correlation to the perception of the distortion that they are intended to represent. Correlation is possible with a metric that takes into account the way the ear actually functions One of the most important implications is that distortion in loudspeakers could well be an insignificant factor"
Yep, that Geddes paper sure does support your assertions alright! Hehe...
2. Even Audiophile-quality (whatever THAT means!) Subwoofers generate around 25-30% THD when they are crankin'.
Really? In 2004 I was well below that level, and later I took it to >100 dB SPL with single digit THD. You're flailing here. Oh - and these SPL levels are a solid 20+ dB beyond the HomePod, meaning literally 100 times the sonic power, with one quarter - or less - the THD.
Oh, so your sub can outdo a 4" speaker driven by a 7.5 W integrated amplifier. You must be SOOO proud!
3. To get that 56%, he was driving the woofer to within an inch of its life.
Funny, because it can't move even close to an inch, or even half an inch.
Haha. Good one!
And here are his comments in the "Distortion" Section:
"If we look at the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) at various sound pressure levels (SPLs) we see that Apple begins to “reign in” the woofer when THD approaches 10db below the woofer output. Since decibels are on a log scale, Apple’s limit on the woofer is to restrict excursion when the harmonic distortion approaches HALF the intensity of the primary sound, effectively meaning you will not hear it. What apple has achieved here is incredibly impressive — such tight control on bass from within a speaker is unheard of in the audio industry. [...] Even though Distortion rises for the woofer, it's imperceptible. The (lack of) bass distortion is beyond spectacular, and I honestly don't think there is any bookshelf-sized speaker that doesn't employ computational audio that will beat it right now."
So he likes the sounds of the compressor kicking in, and he believes that you cannot hear which, provably, you can. And he's - like you - a self-admitted Apple fan. The bottom line is his measurements are middling performance at best. And yes, I work in this industry, I design speakers, and you HAVE heard my work - guaranteed. Probably directly (SONOS, Polk, Genesis, Infinity, Beats, Blue, Audioquest, Mackie, EAW, K
We'll need full access to read (and decrypt) every packet (and all embedded data) it sends out.
Then, prove it can't.
We'll need the same access as above, then unfettered root and physical access to the device to ensure that its code cannot be changed without our consent, that the device is secure against at least remote hacks, etc.
Here's how these devices can spy on you.
1: Always listen - they already do this to enable detection of the activation word/phrase. 2: Analyze everything said - they already do this to enable detection of the activation word/phrase. 3: Filter what it picks up to eliminate silence, reduce noise, etc. - they already do this to enable detection of the activation word/phrase, reduce power demands, etc. 4: Record everything after filtering and store it. This can be the audio (Opus is quite good even down to 6 kbps), or a text-based version based on the speech it was able to detect. 5: Upload it later, when the device is supposed to be sending data after the activation word/phrase is detected. It's all in an encrypted stream, so the user will never know.
All these devices are literally 2 steps away from 24/7 spying, and that's if you believe that they aren't there already. Further, even if you trust the companies (you fool), they're one national security letter away from remotely updating your device and spying on you for the government.
Like most paranoid delusions, yours requires a few bits of technology that don't exist:
You (conveniently) leave out WHERE all this recording and analysis and other stuff is taking place.
Continuous streaming out of the device, regardless of whether the content can be read, when not "triggered", or after a command was processed, even at a low data rate, would eventually be caught with some enterprising soul with WireShark or WiFi Protocol Analyzer. So there goes your surreptitious always-on monitoring.
Airplay can do Redbook audio if your SOURCE material is that bit rate (good luck getting that on to your phone, though). Apple Music is 256 kbps; you'd have to do your own rips to get to redbook (16/44.1), but you cannot do high resolution audio at all. Period. Nada. Apple doesn't care about high quality audio - just Beats and earpods and a mono speaker it claims can be full stereo (but which, in reality, it is not per lots of reviews, not to mention the laws of physics).
The butt hurt is strong with you!
You might be surprised; but I actually agree with you that, beyond their Pro apps (which are FINALLY getting better), Apple has had very disappointing support for multichannel, and high resolution, Audio. And even when the infrastructure support is there (which it actually has been for some time now), it just doesn't seem to get exposed in "common" Applications.
In fact, Apple does care about high-end audio; but they don't seem to want to mess with it outside the Pro arena.
And Actually, AirPlay itself can do more than Redbook audio: It can do at least 5.1:
And also, my iPhone 6 can still record in the DAW App at up to 24/96; so that means an iOS framework has to support that for audio. But, I sure would like iTunes to allow 24/96 at least. But it would require a LOT of rewiring of a LOT of iTunes code to make that happen.
But it doesn't actually matter; because, like DAW, the VLC Mobile App is available for iTunes, and it supports, well, a LOT of audio formats, and reportedly does multichannel and high resolution audio.
And Apple most assuredly supports high resolution and multichannel audio, even in iOS!
Prove that Google and Amazon send constant update to their own servers, or STFU. That's the point - we have their "word" - and that's it.
In fact, I would bet that their more recent designs DON'T send constant audio to the mothership. For one thing it benefits BOTH "parties" to not do Wakeup Phrase processing Remotely, But it took Apple to shame them into actually doing the right thing...
They said that Amazon and Google claim the same, not that Apple's claims were false. I think their point is that regardless of whether it's reporting everything back to Apple or not, some people still hate having microphones listening to everything.
I get that; and I can't say that I disagree..
And furthermore, I would bet that Amazon and Google NOW decode their Wakeup Phrase locally; bit I also don't think they WOULD have gone to that extra trouble if Apple hadn't essentially shamed them into doing it... Too.
But, the truth of the matter is, we ARE going to have more and more voice-controlled "assistants"; and until they can store their knowldgebase in Isolinear chips, or Interloid Crystals, or Graphaphone Hololoops, these devices are going to have to offload their voice recognition to off-device servers. And therein lies the rub.
I trust Apple in this regard more than the rest for two reasons:
1. Apple does not datamine for marketing purposes. They even killed-off their iAds Program nearly 2 years ago.
2. Apple is smart, and they realize that Concern for User Privacy is a MARKETABLE Feature (and one that those other guy's CAN'T market!), and they also know how tenuous that Trust is; so they don't DARE risk losing that advantage by spreading User-Identifiable-Data around.
PROVE it sends constant audio to Apple Servers (or to anyone outside your LAN), or STFU.
Why does it have to send "constant" to be a problem?
It certainly captures sound (or it wouldn't react to keywords), and it certainly has the capabilities to connect to the mothership (or it wouldn't be able to look anything up), and whether it combines the two now or not is enough of a potential problem that I won't allow it in my home or my office.
Then have fun sitting at home with your tinfoil hat pulled tight...
There is actually nearly 100 years of data showing that the dynamic range of the auditory system is around 140 dB SPL. So that would imply 24 bits needed to capture that range.
Good luck hearing something at 20 dB SPL, or withstanding anything much above 120 dB SPL for any length of time.
I agree that when recording stuff, go for the gusto as far as bit depth (and sampling frequency) are concerned; but there are exactly ZERO pieces of audio gear that can REPRODUCE 140 dB SPL dynamic range. In fact, even GOOD audio gear has a s/n ratio not much above 120 dBm. Yes, I know I am mixing dB SPL and dBm; but you know exactly what I mean.
Or maybe you don't. After all, you said something REALLY stupid the other day about Transmission Lines and small drivers... (FYI, TLs are ALWAYS used EXCLUSIVELY with SMALL Drivers. They get IMPRACTICALLY HUGE with anything over about 6 inch drivers)...
Nope. It's Apple Music, or Bluetooth/Airplay. You're limited - by the Apple ecosystem - to AAC, or MAYBE 24 bit/48 kHz if you have a Lightning output device. High res audio? 24/192 or 32/384? DSD? Sorry - no love for you in the Apple world. Even decent Bluetooth codecs like AptX HD and Sony's LDAC are barred from iOS (due to it not using/supporting CSR chips). Audiophile and Apple stop at source - and apparently that stoppage is now reinforced with a speaker that has 50%+ THD at average SPL levels.
Quit LYING, FUCKER!
AirPlay is Apple LOSSLESS, not some horrible AptX or other LOSSY format.
"Decent Bluetooth CODECS". Now THERE's and Oxymoron. Apple uses AAC over Bluetooth, which is getting at least SOMEWHERE toward's "Decent".
"The AirTunes part of the AirPlay protocol stack uses UDP for streaming audio and is based on the RTSP network control protocol.[16] The streams are transcoded using the Apple Lossless codec with 44100 Hz and 2 channels symmetrically encrypted with AES, "
THD in the lower frequencies (below ~75 Hz) is between 18% and 56%, per his own graphs. I guess that is audiophile?
Quit with the crap!
1. THD is VERY hard to hear. IM distortion is what is annoying.
2. Even Audiophile-quality (whatever THAT means!) Subwoofers generate around 25-30% THD when they are crankin'.
3. To get that 56%, he was driving the woofer to within an inch of its life.
And here are his comments in the "Distortion" Section:
"If we look at the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) at various sound pressure levels (SPLs) we see that Apple begins to “reign in” the woofer when THD approaches 10db below the woofer output. Since decibels are on a log scale, Apple’s limit on the woofer is to restrict excursion when the harmonic distortion approaches HALF the intensity of the primary sound, effectively meaning you will not hear it. What apple has achieved here is incredibly impressive — such tight control on bass from within a speaker is unheard of in the audio industry. [...] Even though Distortion rises for the woofer, it's imperceptible. The (lack of) bass distortion is beyond spectacular, and I honestly don't think there is any bookshelf-sized speaker that doesn't employ computational audio that will beat it right now."
And yet it can't even play Spotify using voice control A major fail. The walled garden works as long as the services you are tied to are actually competitive with the alternatives. Apple Music sucks in terms of compatibility. I want a service I can use to play music anywhere
Do you have to use Apple software or hardware as a sound source? If so, I won't even bother reading reviews, since I've never once used either of these things and have no desire to.
It uses AirPlay as its audio protocol; but that is available on many devices and applications, including, but not limited to, Spotify.
Here is an AirPlay Server. Also does GoogleCast and Miracast:
So, yeah, it's AirPlay; but, as you can see, that Protocol isn't exactly non-accessible.
So, to say "I can't use a HomePod because it only uses AirPlay" at this point, is like refusing to buy a WiFi router, and then complaining you can't connect to your home network with your smartphone...
Hmm....well, if it does sound that good, AND...if Apple gives me a way to disable the Siri "always listening" parts, I might consider buying one for my office.
I"d like a really good sounding BT set up for my office, but I have no need nor want to bug my surroundings with an always on listening device talking to the internet.
You can disable Siri on HomePod.
Also, it doesn't really start listening until it hears "Hey, Siri", which it decodes locally.
I can confirm that Apple's repair rates are nothing less than abusive. I wanted to upgrade our Mac Minis to SSDs from HDDs. The official repair centre I contacted quote me at $1000CAN for a 256GB SSD. And that's not counting labour. I told them that that was ridiculous and asked about using a non-official drive, and they said that they weren't allowed to. For comparison, the single most expensive consumer-level 256GB SSD I could find was $350CAN. The median price was approximately $150CAN.
So yeah, Apple charges absolutely obscene rates for repairs. I could literally buy a brand new mac mini/w the upgraded drive ($240 on their website) for less than it would cost me to repair an existing computer.
Ever taken a car to a dealership for repairs?
Same thing.
And yes, you should know that an Apple Repair Center can't use aftermarket parts.
And nice try (actually not even that); but that's STILL no proof regarding Repair Costs of "$30 to $50" for the HOMEPOD, which is what I was challenging.
Because they're the ones who started this insanity? Thinness at all costs is not good for the users.
Thinness at ALL costs is not; but I'm sure that Apple (and others) looked at the statistics regarding what percentage of Laptop Owners ACTUALLY Upgraded their RAM and/or File-Storage, and found that it was in the single-digit range. And as an OEM, you don't often make design decisions based on the desires of that low of a percentage of your userbase. At least not if you have stockholders to answer to.
Connectors are expensive, failure-prone, and large. Two of those disadvantages have NOTHING to do with "thinness". And one of them has EVERYTHING to do with percentage of failures (both in and out of warranty). Laptops ARE mobile devices, ya know...
People have accepted without whining for many years that CPUs and GPUs in laptops are VERY rarely upgradeable (and even when they are, it's usually kind of a joke); so what's different here?
Personally, I'd like laptops to be configurable with snap-in/attach-with-a-single-screw Ports. Buy your base unit, and then purchase any combination of up to, say, six "port modules". These would be simple SPI/I2C-connected peripherals, with an ASIC or small SoC on it, just enough to get the signals on/off a peripheral bus. But I am in a small minority of people that would enjoy that.
So, that's why we have TB and USB-C docks and adapters. They answer the same need, without needless expense and physical overcomplication of the laptop itself.
Engineering and Product Design is always ALL about Compromises. This is no different.
So basically the watch is dying and only victims of Apples marketing are still buying what's left of the watch market. Bought a smart phone, took off my watch, never put it back on again, not once and I fell liberated from the discomfort, having no need to pose with a wrist bracelet. As for the phone, I generally strive to use it for the smart features and make calls not so into receiving calls where even I am, I strive to avoid that, very invasive. I am older and jumping in a car to drive to a business trip, the way there and on the way back, was a great escape from the office and the phones. Young people have no idea what they are missing out on. Make the device your tool don't let the device turn you into a tool to be used.
So, in typical Slashtard fashion, your Preferences should be EVERYONE's Preferences, right?
Repair is a fixed price because the factors in "repair" are always the same. 1. support call and approval of "repair" 2. shipment of a refurbish unit from inventory 3. recovery - added to refurbished inventory
It's unlikely that you get your same unit back from any sort of business like this. In some cases the unit may be opened up and the main board(s) are swapped out. In other cases the unit is put into a recovery pile and customer receives an equivalent refurbished unit. This is usually the case for warrant service, but it can happen in cases where customer is paying for repair.
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Ahh, someone doesn't understand levels! The HomePod was doing about 75 dB SPL in that 56% THD test! That's just above audible - that is a lower signal level. See, human auditory systems do NOT change sensitivity with the limits if your speakers! A speaker generating 56% THD @ 75 dB SPL will not be hard to hear at all. Doesn't matter that it's a "high level signal" for the speaker - that is a low level signal for a human! And it is quite audible - just check the FM/RD curves...
If you think that 75 dB SPL is "Just above audible", you need to have some hearing-aids installed!
Conversation is around 60 dB SPL; 75 dB SPL (on what weighting scale?) is certainly not "loud"; but it is WAY above the 30 dB SPL of a whisper.
I like my TV at home around 75-80 dB SPL, and that is most definitely a "comfortable listening level". You'd have to be Pete Townshend to think that 75 dB SPL was "just above audible"!!!
Hell, a moderately-quiet band in a nightclub is usually only around 85-90 dB SPL. I used to like to mix around 100-105 dB SPL, and I would routinely get yelled-at by club-owners. But 75 dB SPL is someone "raising their voice" above a normal conversation. Again, WAY above "Just barely audible".
And besides, if you look at the "-12 dB" graph, the AVERAGE is about 80-83 dB SPL, It dips down to around 75 dB SPL (with a GIANT room-mode dip at around 36 Hz!) only below about 40 Hz. So, I would HARDLY call that only "doing about 75 dB SPL".
https://i.imgur.com/jUyMlYX.pn...
Now, if you had said 30-45 dB was "Just barely audible", I would not have nearly as much to quibble about. But instead, you lied. And you lied in an attempt to deflect the conversation away from the fact that the "Whitepaper" YOU cited COMPLETELY REFUTED your original position!
And speaking of which, what did YOUR Expert say?
"THD and IMD have no correlation to the perception of the distortion that they are intended to represent. Correlation is possible with a metric that takes into account the way the ear actually functions One of the most important implications is that distortion in loudspeakers could well be an insignificant factor"
See, I DO "understand levels". And bullshit.
And posers.
Now go away.
No, he's pretty much correct. Per DIN 45500, the HomePod is not Hi-Fi. Published standards and all...
It's also being measured In-Place, room modes and all, with a pretty low-end "calibrated mic", and a completely untrained tester...
The lumpiness in the low-end is almost assuredly caused by the environment (as I said, "room modes").
You supposedly are an audio professional. You should know that.
Look at the image. There's a +10 dB for most of the bass range, and a -15 dB dip at around 93 Hz. That's not consistent with "All the way from 40Hz to 20,000Hz it's +- 3dB".
Judging by the graph, that's only true for the 1500-7000 Hz range.
My guess is that by "all the way", he means "the average for the range", and not "on every point on the range". If so, that's very misleading - it apparently misled you.
Keep in mind that some of that is due to "Room modes", especially in the lower frequencies. I would bet that, in Apple's anaechoic chamber, it likely looks a little flatter in the low-end.
I just went through this a couple of weeks ago with a friend (who happens to be a degreed Electrical Engineer, and an audio afficianado with decades of experience) that bought a $1800 subwoofer to add to his already great stereo system, and wanted to use an REW setup to help him set it up. The low-end had all SORTS of ugly peaks and valleys (FAR worse-looking than the HomePod graph!), and after much fiddling, EQing, listening, retesting, re-EQing, re-fiddling, relistening, etc. over the course of nearly a MONTH, we both came to the conclusion that a lot of the lumpiness that we saw below about 40 Hz was due to "room modes", and that you could TRY to EQ it out for ONE location; but then, moving 6 inches to the left or right would present an ENTIRELY different picture... Mind you, you cannot HEAR any of that "lumpiness"; but the graph says it's there; so...?
I submit that would be the case here, too. But until we had cheap tools like REW at our disposal, us "normal people" simply haven't had the equipment to actually MEASURE these things "In Place". And I would bet a reasonable amount of money that, if you measured yours, and 10 of your friends-with-good-stereos frequency-response curves, even those with RIDICULOUSLY high-end systems, that NONE of them would literally measure-up to your "ideal", let alone that arbitrary DIN standard...
But upgradable RAM, even if it were in custom form that would require a trip to an Apple store, would at least lower the environmental impact of laptops being discarded because they can't be upgraded. Environment should always come before profits and it should be made into law.
See above. VERY few people actually "upgrade" their Laptops. They use them until they are attracted by the new shiny and them throw them away, like an elderly Greek slave...
You're insane.
For demanding that a halfway decent system lives up to the DIN HiFi norm of the early 70s, with 31.5-16kHz frequency response with +- 4dB for midrange and less than -10dB falloff on the high end and -8 dB falloff on the low end? That's hardly much to ask - pretty much any speakers from the 70s and early 80s qualified; even the crappiest ones that only did 50-12.5 kHz managed to stay within those limits.
The trash they make today, not so much. These days, you'll be hard pressed to find something that is even audible down to 50 Hz. The days of high fidelity are over. Both in music production and music systems.
I repeat: You're insane. Here's the frequency response of the HomePod:
https://i.imgur.com/lmAel7t.pn...
And here's what the tester said:
"What we can immediately see is that the HomePod has an incredibly flat frequency response at multiple volumes. It doesn’t try to over emphasize the lows, mids, or highs. This is both ideal, and impressive because it allows the HomePod to accurately reproduce audio that’s sent to it. All the way from 40Hz to 20,000Hz it's ±3dB, and from 60Hz to 13.5Khz, it's less than ±1dB... Hold on while I pick my jaw up off the floor."
I know you will automatically try to gainsay anything I Post; but this Sounds fairly "HiFi" to me.
CSR 867x is a self contained Bluetooth SoC. That might be the only solution that makes sense for wireless headphones, but for a device like the Homepod, using a separate SoC and HCI Bluetooth IC, and decoding the audio on the SoC is also an option. LDAC is available in source code form in Android, so there is no reason for it to be limited to the CSR SoC.
Are we still talking about HomePod?
I don't believe it is BT at ALL.
Quit with the crap!
Yes, you should!
1. THD is VERY hard to hear. IM distortion is what is annoying.
False. Go and check any of the AES papers by gentlemen like Louis Fielder, Grant Davidson, or Dane Grant (all gentlemen I work with weekly). THD audibility is dependent upon SPL and frequency, and levels as low as 0.5% are not only audible, but objectionable based upon the spectrum of the THD.
Don't believe that? Perhaps Dr. Earl Geddes' presentation on the audibility of distortion will help. Of course, when you live in a reality distortion field, I guess THD might be a good thing!
Interesting you cited Geddes' paper. Because, on or about page 13, there is the following "pulled quote":
"Distortion byproducts of any kind are likely to be more perceptible at lower signal levels than at higher signal levels. (Less masking occurs at lower signal levels)."
So, at the levels where the distortion is highest with the HomePod, human hearing is simply less sensitive to distortion of any kind.
And I can attest to that in my own experience. Distortion is ALWAYS easier to hear at lower volume levels.
And further, on or about page 23, Geddes further observes:
"THD and IMD have no correlation to the perception of the distortion that they are intended to represent. Correlation is possible with a metric that takes into account the way the ear actually functions One of the most important implications is that distortion in loudspeakers could well be an insignificant factor"
Yep, that Geddes paper sure does support your assertions alright! Hehe...
2. Even Audiophile-quality (whatever THAT means!) Subwoofers generate around 25-30% THD when they are crankin'.
Really? In 2004 I was well below that level, and later I took it to >100 dB SPL with single digit THD. You're flailing here. Oh - and these SPL levels are a solid 20+ dB beyond the HomePod, meaning literally 100 times the sonic power, with one quarter - or less - the THD.
Oh, so your sub can outdo a 4" speaker driven by a 7.5 W integrated amplifier. You must be SOOO proud!
3. To get that 56%, he was driving the woofer to within an inch of its life.
Funny, because it can't move even close to an inch, or even half an inch.
Haha. Good one!
And here are his comments in the "Distortion" Section:
"If we look at the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) at various sound pressure levels (SPLs) we see that Apple begins to “reign in” the woofer when THD approaches 10db below the woofer output. Since decibels are on a log scale, Apple’s limit on the woofer is to restrict excursion when the harmonic distortion approaches HALF the intensity of the primary sound, effectively meaning you will not hear it. What apple has achieved here is incredibly impressive — such tight control on bass from within a speaker is unheard of in the audio industry. [...] Even though Distortion rises for the woofer, it's imperceptible. The (lack of) bass distortion is beyond spectacular, and I honestly don't think there is any bookshelf-sized speaker that doesn't employ computational audio that will beat it right now."
So he likes the sounds of the compressor kicking in, and he believes that you cannot hear which, provably, you can. And he's - like you - a self-admitted Apple fan. The bottom line is his measurements are middling performance at best. And yes, I work in this industry, I design speakers, and you HAVE heard my work - guaranteed. Probably directly (SONOS, Polk, Genesis, Infinity, Beats, Blue, Audioquest, Mackie, EAW, K
It's not even Hi-Fi by the old DIN 45500 standard of the early 70s.
And certainly not by newer standards which require 20-20,000 Hz @+- 3dB, max 10% THD @ 96 dB @1m.
You're insane.
PROVE it doesn't.
We'll need full access to read (and decrypt) every packet (and all embedded data) it sends out.
Then, prove it can't.
We'll need the same access as above, then unfettered root and physical access to the device to ensure that its code cannot be changed without our consent, that the device is secure against at least remote hacks, etc.
Here's how these devices can spy on you.
1: Always listen - they already do this to enable detection of the activation word/phrase.
2: Analyze everything said - they already do this to enable detection of the activation word/phrase.
3: Filter what it picks up to eliminate silence, reduce noise, etc. - they already do this to enable detection of the activation word/phrase, reduce power demands, etc.
4: Record everything after filtering and store it. This can be the audio (Opus is quite good even down to 6 kbps), or a text-based version based on the speech it was able to detect.
5: Upload it later, when the device is supposed to be sending data after the activation word/phrase is detected. It's all in an encrypted stream, so the user will never know.
All these devices are literally 2 steps away from 24/7 spying, and that's if you believe that they aren't there already. Further, even if you trust the companies (you fool), they're one national security letter away from remotely updating your device and spying on you for the government.
Like most paranoid delusions, yours requires a few bits of technology that don't exist:
You (conveniently) leave out WHERE all this recording and analysis and other stuff is taking place.
Continuous streaming out of the device, regardless of whether the content can be read, when not "triggered", or after a command was processed, even at a low data rate, would eventually be caught with some enterprising soul with WireShark or WiFi Protocol Analyzer. So there goes your surreptitious always-on monitoring.
And the rest falls right down after that.
Airplay can do Redbook audio if your SOURCE material is that bit rate (good luck getting that on to your phone, though). Apple Music is 256 kbps; you'd have to do your own rips to get to redbook (16/44.1), but you cannot do high resolution audio at all. Period. Nada. Apple doesn't care about high quality audio - just Beats and earpods and a mono speaker it claims can be full stereo (but which, in reality, it is not per lots of reviews, not to mention the laws of physics).
The butt hurt is strong with you!
You might be surprised; but I actually agree with you that, beyond their Pro apps (which are FINALLY getting better), Apple has had very disappointing support for multichannel, and high resolution, Audio. And even when the infrastructure support is there (which it actually has been for some time now), it just doesn't seem to get exposed in "common" Applications.
In fact, Apple does care about high-end audio; but they don't seem to want to mess with it outside the Pro arena.
And Actually, AirPlay itself can do more than Redbook audio: It can do at least 5.1:
https://www.5kplayer.com/airpl...
And also, my iPhone 6 can still record in the DAW App at up to 24/96; so that means an iOS framework has to support that for audio. But, I sure would like iTunes to allow 24/96 at least. But it would require a LOT of rewiring of a LOT of iTunes code to make that happen.
But it doesn't actually matter; because, like DAW, the VLC Mobile App is available for iTunes, and it supports, well, a LOT of audio formats, and reportedly does multichannel and high resolution audio.
And Apple most assuredly supports high resolution and multichannel audio, even in iOS!
https://developer.apple.com/au...
Prove that Google and Amazon send constant update to their own servers, or STFU. That's the point - we have their "word" - and that's it.
In fact, I would bet that their more recent designs DON'T send constant audio to the mothership. For one thing it benefits BOTH "parties" to not do Wakeup Phrase processing Remotely, But it took Apple to shame them into actually doing the right thing...
Physically - assuming you have an appropriate screwdriver and a pair of wire cutters to cut out the microphone.
Whether it will still work as a speaker or not... No clue
I don't think you are a customer. In fact, if I were you, I'd join an Amish community right now.
They said that Amazon and Google claim the same, not that Apple's claims were false. I think their point is that regardless of whether it's reporting everything back to Apple or not, some people still hate having microphones listening to everything.
I get that; and I can't say that I disagree..
And furthermore, I would bet that Amazon and Google NOW decode their Wakeup Phrase locally; bit I also don't think they WOULD have gone to that extra trouble if Apple hadn't essentially shamed them into doing it... Too.
But, the truth of the matter is, we ARE going to have more and more voice-controlled "assistants"; and until they can store their knowldgebase in Isolinear chips, or Interloid Crystals, or Graphaphone Hololoops, these devices are going to have to offload their voice recognition to off-device servers. And therein lies the rub.
I trust Apple in this regard more than the rest for two reasons:
1. Apple does not datamine for marketing purposes. They even killed-off their iAds Program nearly 2 years ago.
2. Apple is smart, and they realize that Concern for User Privacy is a MARKETABLE Feature (and one that those other guy's CAN'T market!), and they also know how tenuous that Trust is; so they don't DARE risk losing that advantage by spreading User-Identifiable-Data around.
PROVE it sends constant audio to Apple Servers (or to anyone outside your LAN), or STFU.
Why does it have to send "constant" to be a problem?
It certainly captures sound (or it wouldn't react to keywords), and it certainly has the capabilities to connect to the mothership (or it wouldn't be able to look anything up), and whether it combines the two now or not is enough of a potential problem that I won't allow it in my home or my office.
Then have fun sitting at home with your tinfoil hat pulled tight...
There is actually nearly 100 years of data showing that the dynamic range of the auditory system is around 140 dB SPL. So that would imply 24 bits needed to capture that range.
Good luck hearing something at 20 dB SPL, or withstanding anything much above 120 dB SPL for any length of time.
I agree that when recording stuff, go for the gusto as far as bit depth (and sampling frequency) are concerned; but there are exactly ZERO pieces of audio gear that can REPRODUCE 140 dB SPL dynamic range. In fact, even GOOD audio gear has a s/n ratio not much above 120 dBm. Yes, I know I am mixing dB SPL and dBm; but you know exactly what I mean.
Or maybe you don't. After all, you said something REALLY stupid the other day about Transmission Lines and small drivers... (FYI, TLs are ALWAYS used EXCLUSIVELY with SMALL Drivers. They get IMPRACTICALLY HUGE with anything over about 6 inch drivers)...
Nope. It's Apple Music, or Bluetooth/Airplay. You're limited - by the Apple ecosystem - to AAC, or MAYBE 24 bit/48 kHz if you have a Lightning output device. High res audio? 24/192 or 32/384? DSD? Sorry - no love for you in the Apple world. Even decent Bluetooth codecs like AptX HD and Sony's LDAC are barred from iOS (due to it not using/supporting CSR chips). Audiophile and Apple stop at source - and apparently that stoppage is now reinforced with a speaker that has 50%+ THD at average SPL levels.
Quit LYING, FUCKER!
AirPlay is Apple LOSSLESS, not some horrible AptX or other LOSSY format.
"Decent Bluetooth CODECS". Now THERE's and Oxymoron. Apple uses AAC over Bluetooth, which is getting at least SOMEWHERE toward's "Decent".
But Airplay is LOSSLESS, period!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
"The AirTunes part of the AirPlay protocol stack uses UDP for streaming audio and is based on the RTSP network control protocol.[16] The streams are transcoded using the Apple Lossless codec with 44100 Hz and 2 channels symmetrically encrypted with AES, "
THD in the lower frequencies (below ~75 Hz) is between 18% and 56%, per his own graphs. I guess that is audiophile?
Quit with the crap!
1. THD is VERY hard to hear. IM distortion is what is annoying.
2. Even Audiophile-quality (whatever THAT means!) Subwoofers generate around 25-30% THD when they are crankin'.
3. To get that 56%, he was driving the woofer to within an inch of its life.
And here are his comments in the "Distortion" Section:
"If we look at the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) at various sound pressure levels (SPLs) we see that Apple begins to “reign in” the woofer when THD approaches 10db below the woofer output. Since decibels are on a log scale, Apple’s limit on the woofer is to restrict excursion when the harmonic distortion approaches HALF the intensity of the primary sound, effectively meaning you will not hear it. What apple has achieved here is incredibly impressive — such tight control on bass from within a speaker is unheard of in the audio industry. [...] Even though Distortion rises for the woofer, it's imperceptible. The (lack of) bass distortion is beyond spectacular, and I honestly don't think there is any bookshelf-sized speaker that doesn't employ computational audio that will beat it right now."
And yet it can't even play Spotify using voice control
A major fail. The walled garden works as long as the services you are tied to are actually competitive with the alternatives. Apple Music sucks in terms of compatibility. I want a service I can use to play music anywhere
Do you have to use Apple software or hardware as a sound source? If so, I won't even bother reading reviews, since I've never once used either of these things and have no desire to.
It uses AirPlay as its audio protocol; but that is available on many devices and applications, including, but not limited to, Spotify.
Here is an AirPlay Server. Also does GoogleCast and Miracast:
https://www.airserver.com/ ...and another one:
http://www.airsquirrels.com/ai...
Here's a Free one:
https://www.5kplayer.com/airpl...
Here's a money-grubbing one:
http://www.x-mirage.com/x-mira... ...or Roll-Your-Own:
https://github.com/jamesdlow/o...
https://github.com/watson/airp...
So, yeah, it's AirPlay; but, as you can see, that Protocol isn't exactly non-accessible.
So, to say "I can't use a HomePod because it only uses AirPlay" at this point, is like refusing to buy a WiFi router, and then complaining you can't connect to your home network with your smartphone...
That's the same thing that Amazon and Google say, and they're hated around here because of it. But I guess it's because this is Apple, we're all good?
PROVE it sends constant audio to Apple Servers (or to anyone outside your LAN), or STFU.
Hmm....well, if it does sound that good, AND...if Apple gives me a way to disable the Siri "always listening" parts, I might consider buying one for my office.
I"d like a really good sounding BT set up for my office, but I have no need nor want to bug my surroundings with an always on listening device talking to the internet.
You can disable Siri on HomePod.
Also, it doesn't really start listening until it hears "Hey, Siri", which it decodes locally.
https://www.imore.com/how-cust...
I can confirm that Apple's repair rates are nothing less than abusive. I wanted to upgrade our Mac Minis to SSDs from HDDs. The official repair centre I contacted quote me at $1000CAN for a 256GB SSD. And that's not counting labour. I told them that that was ridiculous and asked about using a non-official drive, and they said that they weren't allowed to. For comparison, the single most expensive consumer-level 256GB SSD I could find was $350CAN. The median price was approximately $150CAN.
So yeah, Apple charges absolutely obscene rates for repairs. I could literally buy a brand new mac mini /w the upgraded drive ($240 on their website) for less than it would cost me to repair an existing computer.
Ever taken a car to a dealership for repairs?
Same thing.
And yes, you should know that an Apple Repair Center can't use aftermarket parts.
And nice try (actually not even that); but that's STILL no proof regarding Repair Costs of "$30 to $50" for the HOMEPOD, which is what I was challenging.
Because they're the ones who started this insanity? Thinness at all costs is not good for the users.
Thinness at ALL costs is not; but I'm sure that Apple (and others) looked at the statistics regarding what percentage of Laptop Owners ACTUALLY Upgraded their RAM and/or File-Storage, and found that it was in the single-digit range. And as an OEM, you don't often make design decisions based on the desires of that low of a percentage of your userbase. At least not if you have stockholders to answer to.
Connectors are expensive, failure-prone, and large. Two of those disadvantages have NOTHING to do with "thinness". And one of them has EVERYTHING to do with percentage of failures (both in and out of warranty). Laptops ARE mobile devices, ya know...
People have accepted without whining for many years that CPUs and GPUs in laptops are VERY rarely upgradeable (and even when they are, it's usually kind of a joke); so what's different here?
Personally, I'd like laptops to be configurable with snap-in/attach-with-a-single-screw Ports. Buy your base unit, and then purchase any combination of up to, say, six "port modules". These would be simple SPI/I2C-connected peripherals, with an ASIC or small SoC on it, just enough to get the signals on/off a peripheral bus. But I am in a small minority of people that would enjoy that.
So, that's why we have TB and USB-C docks and adapters. They answer the same need, without needless expense and physical overcomplication of the laptop itself.
Engineering and Product Design is always ALL about Compromises. This is no different.
So basically the watch is dying and only victims of Apples marketing are still buying what's left of the watch market. Bought a smart phone, took off my watch, never put it back on again, not once and I fell liberated from the discomfort, having no need to pose with a wrist bracelet. As for the phone, I generally strive to use it for the smart features and make calls not so into receiving calls where even I am, I strive to avoid that, very invasive. I am older and jumping in a car to drive to a business trip, the way there and on the way back, was a great escape from the office and the phones. Young people have no idea what they are missing out on. Make the device your tool don't let the device turn you into a tool to be used.
So, in typical Slashtard fashion, your Preferences should be EVERYONE's Preferences, right?
Makes no sense. Just spies on you anyway. Why would you want that? Don't even say 'convenience'. Too many of you give up too much for 'convenience'.
Prove that the HOMEPOD spies on you.
I'll wait.
Repair is a fixed price because the factors in "repair" are always the same.
1. support call and approval of "repair"
2. shipment of a refurbish unit from inventory
3. recovery - added to refurbished inventory
It's unlikely that you get your same unit back from any sort of business like this. In some cases the unit may be opened up and the main board(s) are swapped out. In other cases the unit is put into a recovery pile and customer receives an equivalent refurbished unit. This is usually the case for warrant service, but it can happen in cases where customer is paying for repair.
Exactly.