Preface
If you are the type prone to writing nasty comments on the internet, please do not read any further. Otherwise, keep calm and carry on. While this is meant to provide a professional opinion on music quality, it is not meant to make anyone cranky, grumpy or just downright cantankerous. *Spoiler alert* my sincere apologies to Sonos. I am a fan and owner, but… oh never mind keep reading and you will see.
Overview
I am very aware that there have been many, many, many articles written about the music experience delivered by smart speaker products from Apple, Google and Sonos. However, this review takes a different approach than the traditional musical shootouts from tech bloggers and self-proclaimed audiophiles. So, if this review does not follow the “Pepsi Challenge” format, then what makes it different? I am so happy you asked and now on to the Audio Olympics.
Musical Ground Truth
The first difference from most other comparisons is that we provided a ground truth reference for the listening panel. Huh what? OK let me break it down. This may get a bit wordy so feel free to skip ahead if you are eager to get to the results. When music is created it is a collaborative effort between musicians, producers and sound engineers. This trinity of creativity crafts an artistic expression through sound. What they create, mix and master is the truest representation of the artist’s intent. This is what I am calling the “ground truth.” Not convinced? Check out the linked article on the effort and attention to detail from Arcade Fire’s last album, Everything Now. The fact is that most of us never really get to hear the ground truth. What we hear through lossy streaming codecs and bass thumping headsets is very different from the end product coming out of the studio. This is not necessarily a bad thing because music enjoyment is very subjective. We can all curate music and listen to it in a way that we individually enjoy. But there is no getting around that what most of us are listening to is very different from the artist’s vision. Picture going to a gourmet restaurant only to get your meal reheated several times in the microwave. A little flavor and texture removed at each reheat cycle. Make sense? To address this, we play a reference song through a reference system. We are using the setup pictured below which consists of two ATC SCM150ASL Pro speakers with ATC SCM0.1/15SL subwoofer inside of Studio A at Airship Laboratories. In addition to the professional hardware, we are using Tidal with lossless HiFi codec. The bottom line is we are recreating the artist’s intent with industry gear and a lossless codec, in a professionally designed sound studio. This is the truth… the ground truth.
Signal Chain: Tidal Software -> Computer Connected Digitally via USB to Crane Song Solaris D/A -> Meyer CP10 EQ -> Split to both -> Subwoofer (ATC .1/15) AND Speakers (ATC SCM150 ASL) with EQ / Room Calibration of CP10 performed by Bob Hodas.
The Judges — Professional Listening Panel
The second difference from the usual format is a panel of judges that includes artists, producers and sound engineers. These are true music industry professionals and NOT hobbyists. Michael Rosen, Neil Godbole, Mike Blankenship and Nahuel Bronzini represented a terrific cross section of the San Francisco music scene. These are the people that get paid to create good music and make music sound good. Think about it like the Olympics. In sports you want professional judges who intimately know and understand what they are judging. The same concept applies here with our music quality experience. Sound reasonable? Pun?
I have included brief bios for the listening panel at the end of the article. Please check them out because it is an impressive group. While I am at it, thanks to each of them for taking the time to provide their opinions!
Scoring
Each judge was given two votes. One vote for reproduction and one vote for enjoyment. Which are loosely defined as follows.
Reproduction — How well did the smart speaker reproduce the sound experienced with the ground truth setup? To assess this each judge listened to the same song: Everything Now by Arcade Fire. The song was played on the reference system and then played again on each of the smart speakers. Judges individually provided comments and voted on which smart speaker provided the closest level of sound reproduction. For example, Speaker A compared to ground truth, Speaker B compared to ground truth, Speaker C compared to ground truth.
Enjoyment — How enjoyable is the listening experience for your personal preferred genre? For this assessment each judge listened to a song of their choosing on each of the speakers. The judges were asked to choose songs they worked on or just plain enjoyed. For example, compare your selected song on Speaker A to Speaker B to Speaker C. The song breakdown and genre groupings for this session are listed below.
Judge — Genre — Song — Artist
Mike Blankenship — R&B/Soul — Something Beautiful — Mike Blankenship
Neil Godbole — Indie/Alt — Titus Was Born — Young The Giant
Michael Rosen — Rock/Punk — Time Bomb — Rancid
Nahuel Bronzini — Strings/Folk — Libre y Serena — Diana Gameros
The Contenders
Each of the contenders was chosen to represent the premium smart speaker music experience for their respective virtual assistants: Siri, Alexa, and Google.
1. Speaker A: Apple HomePod with Apple Music for “Hey Siri.”
2. Speaker B: Sonos One with Spotify for “Alexa.”
3. Speaker C: Google Home Max with Google Play Music for “OK Google.”
The Results
Gold Medal Winner
Apple HomePod with 5 votes total. (2 for reproduction plus 3 for enjoyment)
Silver Medal Winner
Google Home Max 3 votes total. (2 for reproduction plus 1 for enjoyment)
Bronze Medal Winner
None
In a perfect world the Bronze would have gone to Sonos One, but in reality, that speaker did not get a single vote. So, it was disqualified from the from the competition. Kind of like not making through the qualification round for the Olympics. I know it is a lower price point than the other two, but for the premium music experience this Alexa based speaker just couldn’t keep up with Google and Apple. This leaves a void for Alexa enthusiasts and no Bronze awarded. Having said that, I expect that the Sonos One would easily best the lower tiered Amazon Echo and Google Home speakers. Maybe we will do another round with the lower tier, but for now the Sonos One is in some state of limbo between basic audio and premium audio.
In an attempt to describe the sound from each smart speaker, I am including some of the judges’ comments on pros and cons. This should be helpful for readers to make their own informed decisions when considering which system best matches their personal tastes. Comments have been sanitized and names removed to protect the innocent.
Apple HomePod: Pros — Punchy, fun, big bottom, vocals more upfront, projected strong, very present. Cons — Bit scooped.
Google Max: Pros — Balanced safe sound, bigger sound, feels wider, more midrange. Cons — Less detail.
Sonos One: Pros — None (I said I was sorry). Cons — Sounds brittle, doesn’t sound balanced.
About vocalize.ai
This article was brought to you by vocalize.ai. A software company developing tools and processes designed to assess AI powered virtual assistants with a more humanized approach. Additional info on that coming very soon. Our workspace is co-located inside of Airship Laboratories. Some thought I was crazy to open a software company inside of a recording studio, but a review like this is a fun byproduct of the intersection of art and engineering. Music quality evaluations are not a core service, but new contenders are encouraged to step up. If you would like to contact us, please visit www.vocalize.ai and be vocal!
Judge Bios
Michael Rosen — A Grammy winning producer/engineer who has worked with Santana, Rancid, Papa Roach, Tesla, AFI, The Donnas, Journey, Death Angel, Tony Macalpine, and more. In addition to recording and producing he also teaches at Chabot College. https://www.facebook.com/EastBayRecorders/
Neil Godbole — In 2011, Neil was named successor to the long enduring Bayview Studios in the East Bay. After renovations and updates were complete, the studio reopened in mid-2011 as Airship Laboratories. At Airship Laboratories, Neil brings his interdisciplinary experience and background to production and engineering. Neil has collaborated with producers, songwriters, film directors, dance companies, and many musicians. He has worked with artists such as Zakir Hussain, Larry Coryell, George Brooks, Alam Khan, Jim Santi Owen, Salar Nader, Osam Ezzeldin, Selva Ganesh, The Chitresh Das Dance Company, Farah Yasmeen Shaikh, Midi Matilda, Cosmic Machine, The Greening, and many others. https://www.airshiplaboratories.com
Mike Blankenship — Known for being an exceptional talent and an accomplished musician, Mike continues to be one of the most sought-after musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area. Mike is trained extensively in jazz styles and well versed in many styles such as Gospel, R&B, Afro-Cuban, Funk and Reggae. In addition to his own musical accomplishments, Mike has made a name for himself traveling the world touring for high profile recording artists such as six-time Grammy winner Lauryn Hill, two-time Grammy-nominated artist Ledisi, and smooth-jazz recording artists The Braxton Brothers. He is currently touring with Michael Franti and Spearhead. https://mikeblankenship.bandcamp.com
Nahuel Bronzini — Argentinean arranger and music producer living in the Bay Area and working with his production company, Studio Burgundio, since 2010. He is a Governor for the Recording Academy, San Francisco Chapter and a member of the Producers and Engineers Wing Committee, as well as a committee member for the AES SF Chapter. Nahuel has worked with groups and artists such as Fantastic Negrito, Tony Toni Toné!, MagikMagik Orchestra, Diana Gameros, D’Wayne Wiggins and Kendra McKinley. He works off of Airship Laboratories Studios in Richmond, CA. http://www.nahuelbronzini.com/