HomePod (v.14.3) boomy bass

I know there are posts for this already going back to 2018, but I have found a work around, sort of.

I’m an Apple product fan and have only just got a HomePod in December 2020. I have had other well known non-smart multi-room speaker brands as well as smart systems. After a certain manufacturer stopped supporting my older gen product and killing it in recycle mode (wasn’t aware of it before) I decided to move away from this brand. I ventured in to the ‘A’ brand and was not impressed. I like products for ease of use, convenience and long support life. With speakers I seek quality sound.

I got 3 HomePod Minis as soon as they were available and was well impressed with the sound. I set 2 up in stereo mode and they sang sweetly. I appreciate they would lack a low end but they did sound nice when placed on a sturdy wooden side unit. I guess the wood helped boost the bass a little. I then got a HomePod. As I had now lost my soundbar due to moving away from another brand I wanted better sound (didn’t need to be surround sound but better than TV speakers) and set as default speaker with my ATV 4K. I was immediately impressed with movies. Deep bass rumblings and clear speech. Great. I unfortunately cannot position the HomePod as Apple recommend and it sits on a wooden TV corner unit below the TV in the centre and on the TV stands glass base. The TV unit sits forward of an alcove but not ideal for keeping the bass boom down. I found when placed on wood it would affect the sweetness/crispness of the treble and mids. On the glass stand helps keep this. The down side, and my digressed reason for writing is bass for some music can be very boomy. I have tried airplay with the Music app EQ bass reducer on but doesn’t work. I have also tried other music apps from my iPhone 12 and from my ATV 4K. While one music service does have an impact on this boomy bass it is only on the Hi-Res subscription (which the HomePod down samples to CD bitrate) and I have to ‘up’ the volume higher than the Apple Music app but when I do play something from elsewhere I get deafened as I forget to turn it down.

I have a thick slate hearth for my log burner and have sat the HomePod on this and the sound is great. The bass is controlled and also the recommended distance from a wall. Its position doesn’t suit TV/movie watching at all though.

My work-a-round solution is to have my stereo paired Minis either side of the TV and I have a Scene set up in the Home app that when I press the shortcut it plays a music station and automatically plays through the HomePod and the paired Minis. I have the volume set to be at a certain level in case I forget to turn it down. I can’t explain it but with this setup (works with a single Mini) the bass is a little less boomy (quite a lot less to be fair) and in this setup the paired Minis give a wider soundstage, stereo separation (sort of as the HomePod is mono) and the treble and mids sound far better to. I can, but not often, up the paired Minis volume a little higher than the HomePod and this gives a better sound (to my ears as sound is a personal preference/experience).

While I admit Apple have made (IMHO) the best smart speaker for smarts and sound I am a little puzzled why there is no manual control over Tone and loudness. I feel there is a clear need for this based on people’s similar less than ideal placement like me.

Another small trick, but looks daft, is put a kids woolly hat over the speaker and pull it down to just below the 6 microphones. This helps somehow.

I may go one step further and get a similar piece of thick slate and put it on the TV unit and/or get another HomePod for a better Dolby Atmos TV experience.

Apple - Can we have manual Tone controls as our ears and preferences differ to those who tuned the speakers?! Or have I missed something. FWIW - I use to have (still have parts) a sub £8K stereo system that was magical to my ears so I feel I can comment fairly as I do not expect to replicate the same sound signature from a £280 speaker, but it does sound great to my tinnitus ears.