[XavierItzmann]

Stoobie, that looks like a great practical solution!

[XavierItzmann]

Phil’s remarkable software displayed beautiful scrolling metadata N.MUSIC:song name/artist/album and N.RADIO radio station/song name on BS3000, but not on BL3500.

I think Phil said at the time that the BL3500 just didn’t have the functionality.

[XavierItzmann]

Hello Stan! Yes, I must say, most B&O equipment tends to be solidly built, but sometimes misfortune happens! I wonder what’s B&O’s designed lifetime.

Mads, I tried using the Beo4, again the (R) now connected to the BL2000 fails to wake up this BLW1 connected as an (R). And unfortunately I have no other IR Eye. So I’ve claimed a refund from the seller.

Given the difficulty in ascertaining sw version, this could very well be the end of my explorations into the BLW1 world.

Cheerio!

 

[XavierItzmann]

Exchanging the units, factory re-setting them, and re-syncing them:

The BLW1 formerly ML’d to the Audio Master as T; now ML’d to the BL2000 as R: The BL2000’s buttons fail to wake up this BLW1.

Hypothesis: the ML circuitry on this BLW1 has failed, or its mechanical ML connection. When the now R was the T, it was getting a wireless wake up signal from the other BLW1, and perhaps trying to wake up the Audiomaster, but it “found” no detectable Masterlink.

I wish I could test if the Powerlink (R) works from the (T) ML’d to the Audiomaster —which is all I really wanted out of this set-up—, but apparently this functionality is non-testable in the absence of a compatible IR Eye. I have an IR Eye, but its termination is on an ethernet-like connector (RJ-45), not on a Powerlink connector (DIN).

Sad!

[XavierItzmann]

Thank you Mads, great comments!

The serial numbers are separated by a mere 30 units at the very top of the 20810900 range.

Worth mentioning that both T and R go to sleep (solid red) after about 20 seconds, but pressing buttons such as “Play” or “CD” on the BL2000 immediately wakes up both the T and the R;

… ergo, it appears ML traffic is sent, or at least an activity wake-up; however, the audio master BS3000 fails to wake up. Also of note, having the CD already playing on BS3000 and then trying to get the BL2000 to merely JOIN has no effect.

Sad! Have to assume the BLWs are duds.

 

 

[XavierItzmann]

I bought a Beo6 for very little money. I twice read the Guide (v.2) generously written by hfat in 2012. I installed the CTSetup program, version 6.84.

I played with the software and with my remote. I couldn’t quite get it to do what I wanted; in particular, the Beo6 works nicely with my BS5 N.MUSIC, but I could not make N.RADIO even start on the BS5. I asked for help in the forum but apparently not very many people are familiar with the system anymore.

It must be said, the Beo6 has the very nicest volume control of all B&O devices that I know.

[XavierItzmann]

Reporting for duty!

😉

[XavierItzmann]

For years I tried to use RCA connectors to my Beolab 4000’s. No matter what I did, no matter what cables, or how short, or how long, or what price, what amp —indeed, even when connected via RCA to one or another B&O audiomaster, the “pop” was always there at on/off time, always disagreeable.

As my location changed, I simply went back to Powerlink. It works. You do have your speakers set to Powerlink, and not to LINE, right?

[XavierItzmann]

My favorite radio station, which I got to know when we spent a winter in Venice in 2016-2017.

It beggars belief that in 2024 the B&O app is unable to properly render the French alphabet: instead of displaying the composer’s name «Théodore Dubois», B&O shows it as «ThA©odore Dubois».

Anyway, the music is good!

[XavierItzmann]

In my BLC NL/ML, the following sources appear. Words [between square parentheses] not displayed by the App, and added only for clarity:

• CD [from BS3000]
• N.MUSIC [from BS5]
• N.RADIO [from BS5]
• B&O Radio Beoplay A6
• Deezer Beoplay A6

From my extensive tinkering with the system in the last year or so, in the absence of the Beoplay A6, my BLC NL/ML will simply refuse to play B&O Radio and Deezer. In fact, as I was typing this, I was playing B&O Radio from the BLC and went and turned off the A6 (I have it on a switch, English-style).

The audio stopped.

[XavierItzmann]

No worries, I appreciate all your help!

I’ve written Jasmine, we’ll see what she says.

[XavierItzmann]

??????

Wow. I even have a friend with a Digi-Key account! Of course you are right that that must be a standard industrial part. But all OEMs (including B&O!) do this: they use a propietary part No. when it’s probably something from Würth like the image below.

If I get it from B&O it’s going to end up being $50 for 2, I just know it! Which is fine, I wouldn’t mind. But today, for instance, B&O Scottsdale didn’t even get back to me.

I’ll contact tekmg.

Digi-Key apparently would sell something along the same lines (if I had the measurements!) for 6¢! See below.

[XavierItzmann]

I have contacted the Scottsdale, Arizona dealership. I did not realize how fast these stores have closed! The stores I used to patronize, Miami (The Falls), Miami Beach, and Charlotte (Carolina), are no more.

I’m travelling to Europe in a few weeks, will try my luck with a store there if the US is unable to supply parts anymore.

[XavierItzmann]

sw version?

[XavierItzmann]

I am not familiar with Windows Media Player.

On iTunes, here is how I do it: once I have extracted the music from the CD and iTunes has completed all of the metadata, I select all the songs in the album and ⌘i (command-I), which is equivalent to the menu item > Song > Get info…

On the dialog window which appears, I select the tab “artwork”. And then I choose “Add Artwork” and select the square image I have saved somewhere in my disk.

It works perfectly every time.

[XavierItzmann]

It means: which software version is installed on the device?

[XavierItzmann]

On my system, I always use images that are perfectly square. I may have made an exception or two and imported for instance 500×499 once —maybe twice— only because I was not able to find anything else on the internet.

I add the images to the songs using iTunes (also known as Apple Music).

The representation on the BS5 is always that of a perfect square, using this procedure.

[XavierItzmann]

Paolo,

I am not a network expert but from what I know, yes, generally speaking, in most homes, the IP address of your computer should be very similar to the IP address of the BS5. For example:

computer: 192.168.10.55
BS5: 192.168.10.120

This similarity is critical because if the first 3 numbers (example: 192.160.10) are different between the two devices, communications are impossible unless special protocols are deployed.

A thing to keep in mind is that when a device loses contact with the gateway, the device self-assigns a random address. So, for instance, if your BS loses contact (which could be physical due to a faulty wire or connector, or virtual due to a protocol change), it is possible it will self-assign to itself a strange IP such as 0.0.0.0 or 211.35.162.92. Such a self-assigned IP will not be able to connect to the PC, unless special measures are deployed.

The symptoms you describe are better analyzed with a person who knows computers, rather than a person who knows B&O!

Good luck,

 

[XavierItzmann]

Non ricordo se si debba usare Beoconnect con il BM5. In ogni caso, non è obbligatorio e non l’ho mai usato.

iTunes non si connetterà mai al BM5. La procedura è la seguente: (1) si collega il PC via Ethernet o Wi-Fi al BM5. Una volta collegato, il BM5 appare come un “disco rigido” o “server” collegato al PC. È quindi possibile trascinare i brani dal disco del PC al BM5.

Provate con un brano che possedete o che avete rippato su iTunes, in modo che non sia “protetto”, cioè non abbia una gestione dei diritti digitali, ma sia semplicemente un file musicale aperto, ad esempio .MP3, .WAV o .AAC. Su iTunes, selezionate “mostra file” per quel brano e vi mostrerà dove si trova il brano sul disco. A questo punto è possibile trascinare il brano dal disco alla cartella “Musica” del BM5… e una copia verrà inserita nel BM5.

Buona fortuna!

INGLESE:

I cannot remember if one was supposed to use Beoconnect with the BM5. In any event, it is not necessary, and I have never used it.

iTunes will never connect to the BM5. The procedure is this: (1) you connect your PC via ethernet/Wi-Fi to the BM5. Once you are connected, the BM5 appears as a “hard drive” or “server” connected to your PC. You can then drag songs from your PC’s disk to the BM5.

Try with one song you own or have ripped yourself on iTunes, so that it is not “protected” —this means, it has no digital rights management; instead, it is simply a n open music file, such as .MP3, or .WAV, or .AAC, for example. On iTunes, select “show file” for that song, and it will show where on your disk the song is. You can then drag the song from your disk to the BM5 “Music” folder… and a copy will be made into the BM5.

Good luck!

[XavierItzmann]

• XavierItzmann wrote on February 25, 2023 at 5:55 am:
  I have a BS5/BM5, not a BS5 Encore, and store my music on the BS5/BM5. My tagging I do via iTunes on a Mac: I use the Mac to import from CD, I let the Mac deal with all the metadata, except the album art —because the album art the Mac assigns doesn’t get copied when I export the music to the BS5/BM5. Instead, I import my own album art into iTunes. I then export the music to the BS5/BM5. As long as the album art is 600 x 600 or smaller, the BS5 is very happy with the metadata and it all stores and displays correctly on the BS5.

I have since been advised that the maximum size is 1000×1000.

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