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Courtesy of the BeoTalk Discord:
“Needlenose pliers with pins in the ends are a commonly available tool good for this, although intended for installing or removing snap (retaining) rings. E.g. Channellock # 927. (You must also set its pins long-ish so the angle doesn’t contact the interior of the bracket, but less problematic vs. plain needlenose. There’s plenty of heft in the plier hinge to crank off most any such nut: it’s a plumbing tool, not a tiny lightweight electronics tool circlip-grabber.)”
A later note pointed out that the nose pins which come with that tool include right-angle pins which may be used from the side, because the usual snap-ring tips won’t reach over the 18’s end bolt that long. Also pointed out was that nut is completely hidden underneath a floor base, so one could just use ordinary pliers on it and nevermind the nicks and scratches. (If you’re using wall brackets I’m not sure if it’s totally invisible when installed?)
Here are the pics with those messages:
Surely there’s a B&O solution, likely starting with their old Thorens-mechanism turntable… But the non-B&O path is so well trod and easy to follow! Start by reading https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/best-stylus-cartridge-for-78rpm-records.1129373/ and its ancillary links. The non-hobbyist solution, i.e. spending a moderate amount of money to avoid spending lots of time, seems to be Audio-Technica: LP120XUSB turntable (“USB” thus digitisation included) and their VMN95SP 3-mil stylus & cartridge for 78s (add “-H” w/P-mount headshell).
Consider a Wiim Mini? Used AirPort Express (2nd gen) have been going up in price as the 1st gen have been dying — but as an Apple fan, I really like them: rock solid. But the Wiim has many more features. Belkin SoundForm gets tepid reviews. (I have never used one.)
P.S. Thread title should be changed to “Beosound Century from AirPlay 2″, which is what was asked. Going the other direction is more trouble.
Not the technical help you’re looking for, but: The Klipsch RW-100SW 10″ WiSA Subwoofer is currently a bargain ($274, vs. $580 list). In the USA, they ship free & offer 90-day return — so the cost of simply hooking one up & experimenting yourself would only be the return shipment price!
@Stephen, please be explicit about how “substantial” your discount ends up being. Thanks!
@Steph, if DLNA (UPnP) playback is your principal use, could not a BeoSound 5 Encore “fill the bill”? I guess folks complain about very large libraries taking a long time to work thru, but at least the user interface will be as you have come to know & love (& spin).Someone needs to make clear to @MrAnderson just how unacceptable his response @43:20 was, for streaming from a non-B&O website/radiostation: (1) I do not care to waste an hour with the morons they call “customer support”; (2) The Morons will filter or aggregate the data, and will sooner or later pass whatever they deem “frequently requested” to the Developers, more lossage; (3) the development team will bring it up in a meeting (more lossage) to “request our partners to add the station”.
Oh, be serious. I want to stream it. Now! Not with the “assistance” of intermediating Morons, Developers, and Third Party stream service B&O has contracted with. Doesn’t matter how much you streamline your currently-too-manual process, it’s no substitute for just-let-me-listen-to-this-URL. Preventing this, presages a future with locked-in choices dictated by B&O, and subscriptions.
I’m thinking you would move your Transmitter 1 to the Core, and use the TV as an input to it. But I don’t own Core only 18s, so others, double-check me on that, especially any audio sync/delay settings? Also read https://beoworld.dev.idslogic.net/forums/topic/beosound-core-connectivity-and-alternatives/ which likely contains or implies your answer, along with lots of other useful info.
But a $99 WiiM Mini rather than a $990 Beosound Core would perform just as well, though you would have to put yet another app on your phone to set it up. Also using Bluetooth from your phone might? be a misunderstanding on your part because you would use Spotify Connect direct to the Core or the Mini if you have Spotify Premium. If not, Apple iPhone users would choose to redirect audio using AirPlay rather than Bluetooth (though you could, if you don’t want to connect your phone to the Wi-Fi). Android phone users could use Chromecast to the Core (but would need to buy the $149 WiiM Pro, because the Mini only supports AirPlay and Bluetooth).
Side note, the price on the Core went up to $1100 and it shows not-available on the B&O website, so maybe there’s an updated version in the works?
Heh. “Outing” @Carolpa, who was listening to Peter Gabriel “i/o” (Brightside) …right… then…:
(mine just arrived; no, not unwrapped yet, @geoffmartin:-)
(a) Yes it’s a bug, *if* they are trying to emulate their original user interface, as they have claimed, by so-naming it.
(b) Yes it’s inconvenient now/new, because formerly you could attach to the “main” playing source, but there’s no way in their new regime to return to the device’s own “original” source, i.e. as setup for that given device in its own internal ordered-list of sources, without using the app and !@#$%ing around.
Consider this example: Device #1 has been “primed” (by using the app), to shuffle-play DLNA of all tracks in a particular genre. (“Jazz in the bedroom”) Device #2 has been set to play TuneIn of the local news radio. [Or, if you insist, B&O-Radio, foo.] (“News in the shower”) That’s what you want, every single time you enter that room and press The Button. But tonight, Party! on Device #3, you want to play hip-hop throughout the house so you add the other two devices (and maybe more) — not by running around and long-pressing each, but rather in the app. Either way you did the add, once Device #3 is silenced, come tomorrow morning you want the rest of your house performing as you first set it up. The problem comes in *how long* that timeout should be before devices #1 & #2 revert. It worked fine before, whatever they did choose, and if they made standby on device #3 force it I don’t even know, and never had to learn because it seemed to “just work”.
I can’t help you on the current versions, which I avoid with a passion. But previous versions of the BS1 firmware had a timeout: After stopping playback, if you pressed the top button on “some other” BS1 before the main (i.e. first-activated) playing BS1 had gone into a sleep mode, it would continue playing from the “household source”, i.e. what was playing on the first BS1. But if you waited “long enough” (whatever that was) then tapped the top of “the other” BS1, it would start playing from its own first-selected source.
The behavior you describe means B&O are trying to emulate the classic interface with new software and firmware, and have not considered all the edge cases. Report this behavior as a bug.
Bring back “_StreamURL” as a choice in the “Sources” menu. It was visible in some versions of the Balance firmware (perhaps by mistake). Or a user interface alternate, make [Triple-Dot] or [Gear] / Music/”Open Stream URL…” become standard in the B&O App, alongside Deezer, Spotify, etc.
See the user’s request for some Radio France streams at the top of https://beoworld.dev.idslogic.net/forums/topic/how-to-add-stations-to-bo-radio/. Trying to be nice to B&O, it doesn’t need a whole user interface to add the station to B&O Radio, unless that’s easy or on the roadmap. But *absolutely* one should be able to play a stream proffered by a content provider, without having to use some web browser and then divert its audio output using Airplay or Chromecast. P.S. And save the string so one could then put it onto a MyButton!
Just in case you didn’t receive the e-mail — Thru 11/30, USA & Canada, dealer & website as may be in-stock: Save 36% off retail price on Beosound A1 2nd Gen, 21% off Beosound Emerge, 40% off Beoplay A9 4th Gen Black only, 25% off Beosound Stage, and 25% off Beoplay H95.
(As of 11/20, website already sold out of the A9 4.gen black, but Lunar Red is available at the 40% despite not being mentioned. For once, amazon.com is not behind on list prices or current sales, so you could get your black A9 there at the same price.)
Wasn’t clear which article you referred to, so:
Reference #1: It’s in the comments/Q&A: Search for the string “< 5 ms” (note spaces)
Reference #2: It’s in the table: search for the string “4.4”
5 milliseconds, based upon:
a) B&O’s WiSA product release info as reported by https://www.flatpanelshd.com/review.php?subaction=showfull&id=1383642616 , and
b) Geoff Martin’s blog Q&A about matching delay for a Transmitter 1’ed subwoofer (scroll about half-way down http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/2014/01/10/bo-tech-subwoofer-tweaking-for-beginners/comment-page-1/ ) where he says to move one of the speakers speed-of-sound x 5msec meters forward or backward.
Please note that is not the total latency, because the speakers themselves have some built-in sound processing, though very short in the case of Beolab 18s: 4.4msec, again per Geoff Martin (https://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/2017/12/06/bo-tech-beolab-loudspeakers-and-third-party-systems/)
Understood. But merely saying, “works for me” or “not beta-specific, happened long before” would not have actually *helped* @Mbee. The issue *does* occur, and seems a networking problem not (directly) B&O’s fault.
Did anyone manage to connect to a DLNA server from this app? Here it’s impossible, the server search gives no result even with 2 servers available (Plex & Synology)
Yes, it works flawless on my QNAP using Twonky server and the built-in Qnap app.
Even recent non-beta versions of the app had trouble “seeing” my DLNA servers. My work-around was to shut my Synology NAS down, move it physically to a port on my main router, and restart both it and the router. It took a really long time to show up in the iPad’s B&O app, but finally it did. (Like, a *really* really long time, many minutes!) Yet thereafter, it worked without without hiccups. No, of course you shouldn’t have to horse around with B&O’s software in any case, but I believe this is not specifically beta-version-related. Worth a try anyway…
Alas. See above. The 2- or 3-pin DIN outputs arexxx were speaker-level (amplified) outputs. The RCA inputs of the Beolabs are line-level inputs. Get a portable music player (rather than running the Beomaster in a broken state) and wire up a headphone jack to RCAs, to see if the Beolabs are still functioning. They have an automatic power-up circuit when they hear sound on the RCAs.
4 November 2023 at 05:18 in reply to: Help!! Just bought house with 11 MCL speakers/transceivers #50200Whoever did the previous paint job didn’t even bother to pop them off the wall. I *hate* little rectangular brush strokes in in the middle of a roller-matte-textured wall. Which of course isn’t what you are asking?, sooo…
IMO trash them all since you don’t have any of the central equipment. What you are looking at is the equivalent of Xantech remote-IR receiver/transmitters, only better-made (but still aged plastic switch parts) and at the B&O IR frequency, incompatible with other brands. Maybe keep their wires (which hopefully also go to the central A/V room, you didn’t say?) and use them for DC (USB) power supply to wall-mount a bunch of iPad Mini’s — which you will use to control your Sonos Amp’s, all of which will also be back in that central A/V closet. Home-run speaker wires is great, everybody seems to want all the smarts out in the room but it’s not necessary or even always the best quality. Replace the in-wall speakers on your own pace, as you discover foam rot or place your own furniture in front of the supposed “perfect” locations the previous owner chose. Or if wired iPad Minis are just too much (they will cover those paint marks completely!?!), then repaint and stick up Lutron Pico Audio’s either ganged up with the light switches (iff Decora) or separately just to cover the holes. Then you will have the same button control for your new Sonos Amps, though not IR retransmission of course. (Thus the reason for selecting iPads, source selection was part of the original B&O IR setup via handheld BeoLink remotes.)
It’s a B&O forum, so hopefully someone has a brilliant 20th-century idea for filling in your A/V closet instead of my wimp-out answer. (If death was recent, search eBay listings for “ten great Bang & Olufsen SpeakerLink ‘passive’ kits plus a BeoCenter”.) The stuff really does look cool, nicks and paint drops notwithstanding — but don’t mount B&O Halo’s in each room just because the previous owner left his old keypads there… Nevertheless “audio right next to the light switch in every single room” is luxury, so I’d keep *something*. As would most others here I’ll wager. Good luck, and please post what you decide to do ultimately! For that matter, a photo of the current state of your audio closet would not be amiss — might trigger great ideas from people less didactic and penurious than me!
Summary: search for “mesh” above, maybe try Ubiquiti equipment?
Details: Based solely on Plume’s claimed design, I would expect other mesh systems to hop less frequently. Yes, search here for “mesh” and you’ll see reports of problems, but nothing as frequent as what you were seeing. Personally I installed a Netgear Orbi kit of 3 without issues, but it was older (RBK43?) so irrelevant vs. modern Orbi firmware. At least Orbi can select 2.4GHz for your device connections, though the wireless backhaul might be forced into 5 or 6 GHz. But since it’s new construction, hopefully you pulled communication wires with the power lines to the guest house?
The only brand people seem to agree on is that a single Ubiquiti controller&router with multiple Ubiquiti WAPs seems pretty solid. But it isn’t a consumer-trivial configure, nor is it mesh — and not the same as their Amplifi consumer line. If you have a lot of $B&O$ equipment, perhaps you might $pay$ your dealer (or, in USA, preferably one of the third-party integrators listed on the B&O website) to configure & install you a network, making it their problem?
Hi, Debbie Downer here — The answer is simple: switch back. Put the Plumes back into their cute hexagonal 6-pack and unearth whatever router and/or wireless access points you were using before. CenturyLink doesn’t require you to use their equipment, and the base (Sun!) Plume still uses an Ethernet cable to connect to the perfectly ordinary DSL modem. [Edit: Plume may have pushed OpenSync into the DSL modem nowadays, but that only means you must get help from CenturyLink to bypass or turn it off.]
Maybe the Plume app has gotten better, but it didn’t allow configuration of much really, so prioritizing Airplay is not an option. The fact that you can’t even select 2.4GHz is a warning sign, though there *is* a reason for that, namely they can’t frequency-hop and -multiplex to do a high-speed backhaul without the multiple channels available in 5GHz.
If you want to keep trying, then if you haven’t installed all 6 pods, do so. Line of sight thru doorways will help the 5GHz signal that doesn’t go through walls well. Yes, multi-unit hops slow everything down, but down to *tens* of megabits in the worst case, which is plenty for music distribution. Better to improve coverage at the expense of throughput.
But ultimately Debbie sez “frequency-hopping confuses poorly written networking stacks.” If the Plumes keep forcing the B&O equipment to jump because now they prefer some channel to optimize mesh transmission, you’re just asking for trouble. And Plumes *do* — that’s the point of (so-called) “AI” optimizing. Worse, you don’t know how often they are monitoring the data and saying, “yikes, we must reconfigure for optimal transmission of this new nonstop (audio) stream,” i.e. at the worst possible time. (“Nonstop” depends upon AirPlay(1) vs. Airplay2, but ignore the details.)
Let us hope that someone who is currently using CenturyLink and Plumes jumps in here and saves the day, making Debbie’s advice irrelevant!
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