So if there is no manual EQ, how do users choose what to use for their music? If you don’t mind relinquishing control, this is actually a nifty feature because according to Cue, the HomePod will rely on analytics to set the EQ levels for individual songs. In a way this is better because it also means that users can listen to a variety of genres, with the “correct” EQ supposedly being chosen for that particular genre of song.
At #PollstarLive Apple’s Eddy Cue discusses how and why the #HomePod will sound so good… user won’t be able to toggle settings as analytics will have the bass, treble, etc set correctly for each individual song
— Patrick Ryan (@PRyanTexas) February 7, 2018
The downside is obviously the lack of control, where users who might prefer having a bass-boosting EQ will no longer have that choice. However the HomePod has been designed to be a smart speaker, but not in the digital assistant sense like the Echo or Google Home, but smart in the sense that it can detect its placement thanks to built-in sensors.
This in turn will help the speakers pump out the best quality audio it can to suit its location in a room. So far early reviews of the HomePod have been largely positive where many are praising the speaker’s audio quality. The speakers are set for a release on the 9th of February and in some parts of the world, they have already been sold out online.