stefan wrote:

I managed to play movies, even HD movies, on BM5. You can read about that in older threads here in he BS5 forum.

Thanks for this useful information. I'll go through those threads.

stefan wrote:

 BS5 is a music player, just with audio functions N.MUSIC and N.RADIO. So I don`t think LaCinema Black can`t be an alternative to BS5. I can understand that you are disappointed, because you expected a media player and Beo made (just) a music player (for now).

Well,  'for now' is a widely usable notion for B&O. I'm really looking forward to see how B&O will expand this concept, because with the licensed software and todays digital components it's not a big deal.

stefan wrote:

 For me the BS5 is a great device for music - I don`t listen to mp3s - and the Tvix a great device for movies. This way I have the best integration for music with timer control, automatic standby and even links to my macs incl. Beoplayer and Itunes. And I can watch a movie in a linkroom and listen to N.RADIO/N.MUSIC  in another linkroom or in the mainroom or vice versa...at the same time.

Sounds great.

stefan wrote:

I don`t like the windows system on the BM5 - I`m a mac user - but BS5 don`t let me see or feel it....

Me too. That's probably why I was upset when I heard about Win XP in the box. 😁

stefan wrote:

So for me BS5 seems to be right. After trying popcorn, mac mini, BM1, Tvix6500, BS5 ...I will keep Tvix6500 and BS5.

Great experience. Maybe you can agree with me on the Beomedia 1. 

Stefan,

what made you choose the Tvix 6500 in place of the Mac Mini ?

E.

>>BTW why are video functions disabled?>>

It seems simple to do but if we look carefully what all is missing to make it a decent music player and how complicated that seems to be it might have been a good idea.

WMA beeing the only choice for gapless playing is just one example. Just doesn't fly when you are on  a Mac.

B&O is planning on having a video access similar to tivx installed on future B&O tvs.  Until then, B&O is having dealers recommend that clients set up a wired network and use the tivx 6500 for video media. This could explain why B&O didn't focus on the Beomaster 5 for video media. Still, I don't see why it couldn't accomplish this in the future. I'm actually glad to see B&O focussing on ironing out the bugs for audio first before tackling video. I see the Beomaster 5/BeoSound 5 as an evolving product with a lot of future potential.

Another reason why B&O may have held off on using the Beomaster 5 for video media (at the moment at any rate) could be that there is not yet the capability to add an external network drive. Customers could start complaining that the 500 GB internal drive gets filled very quickly when adding video media. B&O IS adding the capability to add an external network drive in a software update in the near future. We should watch to see what happens.

IF B&O is planning on making the Beomaster 5 an access point for network video distribution in the future, this could explain the omission of wifi in the Beomaster 5. B&O is encouraging a wired ethernet network for video distribution with the tivx 6500. For anyone who has used Boxee with an Apple TV for streaming high def video, this makes a lot of sense. When we start distributing high def video, the quality is just much more consistent and stable with a wired network. Sure, we can use a wifi network if we so choose, but B&O certainly wouldn't want to be blamed for the loss in quality.

erg4000 wrote:

Stefan,

what made you choose the Tvix 6500 in place of the Mac Mini ?

E.

 

E.,

like a lot of people here I wanted the mac mini as a media center. But the mac is too much computer and not so much media player. I planned to use Front Row for music, movies and web. Front Row uses Quicktime player for video, but QT doesn`t play mkv HD movies ...(!) VLC can do it, but not properly. Second thing was remote control. The Beo PUC does a fine job to translate the apple remote, but this six button remote can be a pain in...for navgation. So I tried the Tvix. Great interface, easy to configure, automatic standby, plays everything I want, a really great PUC for the Tvix remote with direct access to audio, subtitle, main menu. It even plays two different HD movies at the same time. First via HDMI on my BV7, 2nd via network (wireless!) on my macbook. Tvix is able to output digital and analogue audio simultanously - important for linkroom use.

The mac mini is back in my home office connected to a Mermaid monitor and does a nice job as a computer and music player with Beoplayer - using it to rip CDs and transfer music to BS5 and movies to the Tvix.

Stefan

jk1002 wrote:

WMA beeing the only choice for gapless playing is just one example. Just doesn't fly when you are on  a Mac.

AFAIK gapless playing is possible in iTunes too. Apple lossless plays on Windows Media Player as well. I don't see a reason to exclude Apple Lossless in the BS 5.

beojeff wrote:

B&O is planning on having a video access similar to tivx installed on future B&O tvs.  Until then, B&O is having dealers recommend that clients set up a wired network and use the tivx 6500 for video media. This could explain why B&O didn't focus on the Beomaster 5 for video media. Still, I don't see why it couldn't accomplish this in the future. 

I'm looking forward to see B&O adding video access.

beojeff wrote:

Another reason why B&O may have held off on using the Beomaster 5 for video media (at the moment at any rate) could be that there is not yet the capability to add an external network drive. Customers could start complaining that the 500 GB internal drive gets filled very quickly when adding video media. B&O IS adding the capability to add an external network drive in a software update in the near future. We should watch to see what happens.

Why wouldn't they just enable the connection of external drives from the start ?

stefan wrote:

erg4000 wrote:

Stefan,

what made you choose the Tvix 6500 in place of the Mac Mini ?

E.

 

E.,

...

The mac mini is back in my home office connected to a Mermaid monitor and does a nice job as a computer and music player with Beoplayer - using it to rip CDs and transfer music to BS5 and movies to the Tvix.

Stefan

I went to my local dealer yesterday to get the newest information on BS5. Currently they are waiting for a software update that will enable the BeoMaster 5 to be controlled by the Beo4. They want to sell the Beomaster 5 as an add-on for the Beovision 9. I was really looking for some reasons to buy a Beosound 5, but the dealer couldn't give them to me. Their MacMini integration was more convincing than their Beosound 5 installation, but I agree on the problems with VLC. 

What I'm missing on the Beosound 5 is a connectable disc player for converting my audiophile CD's into WMA directly. This would attract many B&O customers who don't want to deal with PC's. Maybe a Beosound 5 with an integrated slot drive for DVD/CD would have been the best solution. 

erg4000 wrote:

What I'm missing on the Beosound 5 is a connectable disc player for converting my audiophile CD's into WMA directly.

You don't have a computer?

Stan wrote:

You don't have a computer?

Why would you think that ? 

B&O could have adressed two different types of customers:

- Solution for computer enthusiasts: Easy synchronisation like Apple TV or full access with all media formats, open interfaces

- Solution for non-technical customers: Integrated CD slot that digitizes audio files automatically to WMA

Both solutions are not realized forceful in the Beomaster / Beosound 5 concept.