[Stan]

1. AFAIK, you can no longer download the software so I would ask about the version. Unfortunately, my experience is that this is usually answered “I don’t know”. I’ve been in the market on and off for a BLC for a while, and I have not bought anything because of this.
2. Don’t know
3. Aux can be distributed to both ML and NL sides as well as local powerlinks.
4. Yes.

[Stan]

Hi Morten,

I would like to echo Steve’s comments above. It’s great to get information directly from the source.

About the reliability, on the forum, we have long complained about the little (and sometimes no so little) issues we’ve had with the NL speakers and the app. However, in researching wireless speakers from other brands, this is a very common complaint (app hangs, speakers drop out, resets, reconnects, etc.), and, I’d say in the last 2 years, my NL speakers have been quite excellent. Keep up the good work. You definitely seem to be on the right track.

[Stan]

Morten,

I can’t see the version beyond 2.5.3… so I assume it is 2.5.3.131. I do run LC3+. I see it was upgraded fairly recently so maybe the dropouts I recall are from before the upgrade. I’ll keep this in mind. Thanks for the information.

Stan

[Stan]

I definitely considered the Level, but they take up too much space. Not their own footprint, but because I’d need to keep the area in front of them unobstructed.

[Stan]

I listen mostly to Deezer and B&O Radio, and once in a while one of the channels drop for a second or two. I haven’t identified any rhyme or reason to it happening. This with Balances that are hardwired to the router and each other (daisy chained). It happens infrequently so it’s mostly just a little annoying. Software 2.5.3.

[Stan]

If they had been available in the US last year, I probably would have bought a pair for my office. I even downloaded a sound meter to verify that I typically listened within Steve’s recommendations (and I did). However, I got tired of waiting and sprung for a pair of Balances which have really impressed me. However, I’m pretty sure I would have been fine with the Emerge… aside from the fact that I’ve never actually heard them. I may someday replace my Bl4s in my bedroom, but no budget for that today (after busting the budget on the Balances).

 

So I guess B&O won this round since I bought a

much more expensive system because I was impatient

[Stan]

Yes, it’s definitely a GVA thing. My 1 ASE GVA device (a BS1 New York edition that i bought on a deep discount) doesn’t have the alarm option. Why allow a setting when you can just ask your technical overlord?

[Stan]

Great information. Thanks!

[Stan]

I prefer the sound of a single BS2 to a single Balance. However, I absolutely love my stereo paired Balances. I have not heard a stereo pair of BS2s, but I was concerned that the side firing midrange drivers wound mess up the stereo. I can’t really put to words why I have these preferences, but I hope this helps.

[Stan]

Please report back with your progress. I’m on the fence about re-adding a BLC to my setup, but I worry about whether it will still work in a couple years.

[Stan]

Hi Steve,

Is there a reason you suggest PL to Aux rather than using the AUX output of the BS9000?

Thanks.

[Stan]

How are they connected? PL to Aux-in? If so, I’d turn up the volume on the BS9000.

I think it’s also possible to connect from the BS’s AUX port… you just need to make sure to find an RCA to DIN cable with 4 RCA leads (2 input/2 output). However, as others have mentioned, the BS9000 needs to think it has speakers connected to it.

The auto-sense line-in works fine on my Balance (another Mozart speaker) – I have a turn table connected to it.

[Stan]

Times change. Tastes change. I have a fair bit of b&o – bl4000, bl8000, bl1, bl2, bs1, bd2, bs balances, eclipse,bs9000, bs5. Add some headphones, and BT speakers. I don’t much use my 4000s or 8000s, but my kids don’t want them. Too flashy, Dad. I’d say if b&o had stuck with the Lewis design, they might not have many young customers. My 9000 is broken, and I’m seriously challenged justifying getting it fixed. While timeless, maybe it’s time has passed (for me).

[Stan]

I also have mk1s, and thought they were much improved with a BS2. In fact, the BS2 was my favorite B&O purchase for quite some years – as in sound improvement for $ spent.

I haven’t used them in a few years because I replaced them with a pair of Balances because they allowed more optimal placement (and sound better).

[Stan]

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

Here’s the process that I worked out last night that seems to work pretty well (for my future reference, or other forum readers):

1. Use MediaMonkey to rip CD to disk flac files. MM’s tagging seems broken, or some is stored in the MM music server vs. embedded as tags in the files. I just skip any of that and bring it in as Unknown Album with Track01 – Trackxx.
2. Use mp3tag can grab the CD metadata from “freedb” (not sure where it’s really getting it since freedb is supposedly turned off, but that’s what the menu says) and configure the tags in the file. You can also touch up any tags that you might want to change from what is downloaded.
3. Use mp3tag to convert the “Track01” filename to the track name from the metadata. Mp3tag has a feature that allows you to do this.
4. Use mp3tag to find album cover art
5. Copy the folder to the BS5’s Music folder using the convention <Artist>\<Album>\
6. On the BS5, find the album in RECENTLY ADDED under FAVORITES and add it to the “RED” playlist (red=Christmas, am I right?) and add it to the EXCLUDED list so MOTS doesn’t play Christmas music in July. You need to long press GO while pointing to the album to get this option.

Wife selects N.Music and presses “red” button on Beo4. Win!

[Stan]

I was going to try CDEX as there was an article on the gnudb site for making it work with gnudb, but Chrome, Edge and MalwareBytes said it was malware. I also read some comments in a forum speculating that the project may have been “taken over” by bad guys. I’m already running on an older PC so I didn’t want to risk inviting unfriendly software visitors so I passed. Can I ask what version of CDEX you’re using?

I sort of remember working with dbpoweram many years ago.

[Stan]

I am having no luck.

I have manual updates turned on, and the automatic/manual slider button is not displayed I assume because it’s ready to do the update.

I tried removing it from the app, and re-adding it. This fixes most Balance problems.

I tried with an apple device, and it doesn’t even have a greyed out “install now” button. It takes me to the software update screen and there’s nothing to do.

I’ve verified that I have the newest app software.

I tried rebooting the TV through the app.

I don’t want to factory reset because I don’t exactly remember all that was required to setup the PUC.

I don’t understand the above comment about there being two menus. I always updated the screen through the TV and the sound center through the app. When I open the Eclipse on the app, there’s a big box that says “New Software Available”. I click the box, and it takes me to a screen that shows the new software version and has a link for previous releases and a non-working “install now” button.

[Stan]

Update: I got the update going through the TV rather than the app.

Thanks jvezina, your note directed me in the correct direction.

[Stan]

geoffmartin wrote:

Stereomensch wrote:

I really would like to know if Geoff Marin uses an old Beovox speaker secretly at home

I don’t. Now you know. -geoff marin

Although, if he actually told us the truth, it would no longer be a secret 😀

[Stan]

I have always struggled with descriptions of audio systems that “sound like the band is there”. I see quite a bit of live music of many genres, and rarely does it sound nearly as good as my home system. The mix isn’t perfect, it’s too loud, the venue has weird acoustics, the audience is noisy, etc.

I would think the perfect case is a symphony playing in a well-designed symphony hall, but even supposedly perfect auditoriums will have sound differences between sitting in front (where individual instruments near the listener might overpower the rest of the symphony) vs more toward the back where the entire symphony’s sounds are better balanced.

As someone said above, it’s all personal preference. The music doesn’t “sound like the band is there”, but rather like your idealized perception of how the band might sound if there.

[Author]

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