I have 2 subscriptions. Qobuz for the main system and Apple for more mobile devices.
I don’t download. If there is an album I’m really serious about I buy it on cd or vinyl.
The cost of the subscriptions is minor compared to the cost of the hardware and it actually saves money because I can listen before I commit to buying.
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You must do multi-room or you have no chance in h*ll listening through all those 100 million songs.
When I heard the glorious Spatial soundstage I could get from the AppleTV 4K connected losslessy via HDMI to the Klimax DSM (brand withheld) I realized Apple Music is the future. You just dont know it yet man 
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I’ve resurrected one of the original Amazon Echo Show devices in the kitchen (I plugged it in after a long time of being unplugged!). It’s surprisingly good and more than enjoyable enough for music while pottering around.
My original Apple Homepod pair surprised the hell out of me with their sound which was more than good enough to enjoy with the projector playback from the AppleTV 4k. Real shame they didn’t have ethernet ports as the wi-fi simply isn’t stable enough currently (need a mesh system I suspect).
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I have Apple HomePods dotted about and they offer good sq when carrying out other tasks around the house. They are not in competition with my main system. They are a convenient and pleasurable extension of my love of music.
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There are rumours of a new model though I suspect they won’t do what I’d want!
The Homepods could be bass heavy at times, but they had several deficiencies for the consumer otherwise happy to pay a premium:
- no bluetooth only Airplay or Siri based playback
- no simple aux in
- no ethernet
- fiddly setup via the Home app which I still poorly understand and seems illogical to me
Lack of bluetooth or a 3.5mm analogue input is typical Apple but really limiting in practice, I just don’t get their design and marketing sometimes. Add to that Siri being woeful compared to Alexa.
Have you tried a pair in stereo?
I pinched my daughter’s Homepod and added another to use with the projector around the time they got discontinued, she’s happy enough with music on Beats wireless headphones (they sound great to me) or even played from her iPhone speaker! She deserves a stereo pair back.
I have another set of unopened Homepods I nabbed from the local Apple store before they sold out, crazy really I haven’t opened them but I have so many sets of small/larger dock speakers or similar. They vary significantly in SQ but often in use music is enjoyable whatever you play it on.
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No, they are really only used for convenience in rooms when I’m multi tasking eg the kitchen. You mention no Bluetooth but I have those speakers available where I can’t use a fixed speaker. In fact tonight I’m listening to music from my iPad to a uroll.
Airplay is a quick way to transfer from an Apple device to your HomePod when Siri is acting dumb
Airplay is good just that it and the Apple device require a local wi-fi connection whereas many will have Bluetooth capable devices which may not do Airplay and don’t need wi-fi - I might not use it but I think the absence of BT and an aux in are significant omissions which do nothing other than tie users to the Apple ecosystem which then excluded people who might buy an otherwise good product.
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Uroll?
Uroll boom. It’s just one of my Bluetooth speakers. They are waterproof which makes them useful when having long soak in the bath.
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Thanks, my Google search turned up unrelated things.
I got a pair of cheap rechargeable BT speakers with aux in from Philips a year or so ago - also waterproof, have aux in and some pointless flashing LEDs. Under £40 and quite adequate for holiday use.
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Stop being tightwads and buy a few Muso’s. 
.
All jokes aside I love the way Naim streamers hook up in multi play, there’s absolutely no timing issues. You can drift from one part of the house to another and the only difference is in the speakers themselves. It’s seamless and mighty impressive to newcomers.
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Naim multiroom is great, but as this is an Apple Music thread I guess it’s only fair to mention that Apple have had multiroom for donkeys years. Most other streaming platforms have it too - Chromecast, Yamaha, Roon, etc etc.
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True and my first encounter was with Apple but it is a Naim forum and it is tongue in cheek. 
They try cross-sell within their own universe, where they think they get through with it. And with them in the business for services these days, they have even more options.
That’s more important to them, then maximizing sales of individual products. And maybe at the time hey thought is strategic to either sell Apple Music along (to beat Spotify) or at least sell iPhones and iPads long (for great margins).
They don’t want to sell to the average user, the HomePod is for all-Apple households. (And obviously the niche for the first iteration was too small - all Apple, significant extra cash to spend, high quality but low versatility).
But yes, some choices look a bit random in their portfolio. E.g. if/which services they keep Apple only, and which they offer on other platforms.
PS: I really hope they never dare to lockdown MacOS as they do iOS.
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