This is indeed very exciting. and yet the second initiative to eventually re-engineer NL. Rpi software like volumio would greatly benefit from a NL receiver plugin. maybe this could be a positive side product of this project?
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Bang & Olufsen CREATE
83 replies
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I'm one of the team members at B&O Create
Thank you Tuomas for sharing these information 🙂
Hi Tuomas,
Thanks for the informative post.
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I do differ between powered and active speakers :) but still appreciate that you elaborate on the topic.
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It all sounds very cool and even helpfull for us mixing old and new B&O as well as old and new technology.
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I have some more questions as well:
1: would 3 channels be used in the case of CX100 implementation?
2: in which application or user case is the digital out (toslink) being used?
3: for sure a separate question, but would it be possible to get multi channel pcm decoded and amplified by the raspberry and your board?
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Thanks in advance
BR
Goran
Hi Tuomas,Thanks for the informative post.-I do differ between powered and active speakers :) but still appreciate that you elaborate on the topic.-It all sounds very cool and even helpfull for us mixing old and new B&O as well as old and new technology.-I have some more questions as well:1: would 3 channels be used in the case of CX100 implementation?2: in which application or user case is the digital out (toslink) being used?3: for sure a separate question, but would it be possible to get multi channel pcm decoded and amplified by the raspberry and your board?-Thanks in advanceBRGoran
Thanks! 😊 To answer some of your questions:
1: Yes, for CX100 you use three channels. The woofers plug to the 60W channels and the tweeter to a 30W channel.
2: Most obvious case for digital out is to daisy-chain multiple boards together if you need more amplifier channels – a lot like how amplifiers connect together in BeoSound Shape. This is not really defined that clearly by us at the moment. Toslink is connected directly to the DSP, so it can be repurposed to route audio as needed.
3: I'll have to ask about this, off the top of my head I can't say.
Location: Denmark
Human interface designer at Bang & Olufsen.
This sounds like a great initiative! Will 3 way speakers like the S45/S45.2 be accommodated?
Graham
Perhaps I can tell you more about this – I'm one of the team members at B&O Create.
What the BeoCreate 4-Channel Amplifier allows you to do is to convert your classic Bang & Olufsen passive speakers into fully active systems. This means we don't just connect a passive speaker with its passive crossover to an amplifier, but instead the idea is to bypass the original crossover entirely and power each driver (a woofer and a tweeter in case of a CX50, for example) separately, like in BeoLabs of today. Crossover is handled by an onboard Analog Devices DSP that's fully user-programmable, wirelessly. DSP also allows us to tune the speakers for a better-than-original sound performance. For example, the CX50 was measured in the Cube in Struer and filters were designed for it by our acoustical magicians. I can tell you it sounds unlike any CX50 you've ever heard.
The board is designed to work with a Raspberry Pi (or similar) single-board computer. This is our streaming engine, enabling Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The amplifier board also has Toslink in and out, so you can use the Pi for just programming if you don't care about streaming features.
Programming is where the Bang & Olufsen app comes in. It will talk to the Raspberry Pi that's seated on the amplifier board and allows you to select which of the supported B&O models you have placed the board into. The app will then download the appropriate settings for that particular model and program the DSP with Bang & Olufsen-designed filters. We're working on this.
At release time we will likely just provide preinstalled Bluetooth support, but the great thing about this being Raspberry Pi-based is that you can install and run any software you want – we won't lock it down in any way. We're currently showcasing six upcycled Beovox speakers at TechBBQ (2x CX50, 2x CX100, RL45.2, RL6000) and we have installed AirPlay for the demo. NL support is in the plans – nothing else to announce there yet.
The amplifier board will soon enter limited beta testing. Release is projected before the end of the year.
If you have questions, I'll try to answer them the best I can!
Hi Tuomas,
Good to hear from you, this sounds like a very interesting project - perfect to help us fans of classic B&O products keep up to date with the latest technology...... If you want any help with beta testing the new product, please let me know! 👍
Are Christian and Anders still working with the Create team? I had some good discussions with them earlier in the year, but I haven't heard from either of them for a few months.
Look forward to hearing more about your projects!
Kind regards, Steve.
Location: The cable workshop, England
My B&O Icons:
Cables, friendly advice and great ideas for connecting Bang & Olufsen! Ask any questions at https://soundsheavenly.com to get the best from your B&O! Please visit my B&O YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/soundsheavenlycables
Please try do it as basic as possible. The best soulution would be that BO Create would supply their clients with Speakers that is already upgraded. I belive it would be an success. Even upgraded speakers like Beolab 8000, Beolab 4000, BL5 etc. Would be fantastic to connect them wireless and use the Bang Olufsen Multi room app.....
Thanks for all the enthusiasm and questions so far. I'm glad you're excited, because we are too! 🙂
This sounds like a great initiative! Will 3 way speakers like the S45/S45.2 be accommodated?
Graham
Yes! The RL6000 we demoed is a three-way speaker and it was tuned as such – no issue there 🙂 At launch we will be providing sound profiles for select CX and RL models, but more will be added later. Of course, nothing is stopping you from putting the board into any passive speaker you want and then tuning it by ear (or just setting up a crossover and living with the natural tuning of the enclosure). This is what we did with the RLs for the demo, because they have not been in the Cube yet.
Good to hear from you, this sounds like a very interesting project - perfect to help us fans of classic B&O products keep up to date with the latest technology...... If you want any help with beta testing the new product, please let me know! 👍
Are Christian and Anders still working with the Create team? I had some good discussions with them earlier in the year, but I haven't heard from either of them for a few months.
Look forward to hearing more about your projects!
Kind regards, Steve.
As for beta testing, the official path to sign up for that is through HiFiBerry website, over link. I don't know how many beta testers we'll be taking, but no harm sending a mail if you're interested – and we would certainly love to hear the thoughts of Beoworlders on this!
Christian is the head of Create – maybe he'll chime in a bit later 😕 Anders has moved to other projects, but we do have interactions with him from time to time.
Please try do it as basic as possible. The best soulution would be that BO Create would supply their clients with Speakers that is already upgraded. I belive it would be an success. Even upgraded speakers like Beolab 8000, Beolab 4000, BL5 etc. Would be fantastic to connect them wireless and use the Bang Olufsen Multi room app.....
We recognise that due to the DIY nature of the Re:Create project it's not going to be for everyone, and we've certainly heard people expressing interest towards the kind of service you describe. At present there are no plans to do that (that I know of), however if the project takes off, someone else might. I could also see B&O collaborating there in some way. That said, we are trying to make it as easy to do this yourself as possible – anyone capable of holding a screwdriver should be able to do it quite easily with our illustrated guides and pre-setup software that will be available (extra effort might have to be put in to repair drivers with foam rot, which seems to be quite common).
Upgrading some of our active models to support BeoLink Multiroom directly is an idea that excites me personally. The 4-Channel Amplifier is really geared towards our passive models, so I think a bit different board would be a better match for BeoLab models – you wouldn't need amplifiers on the board, so you could get away with something a lot smaller that would better fit inside them. Though it could be that replacing the old class-A/B amplifiers in certain models with the efficient class-D is a sensible thing to do. But this is all just entertaining the thought on my part, don't quote me on promising this! 😁
Location: Denmark
Human interface designer at Bang & Olufsen.
Thanks Tuomas,
I have signed up! 🤒
Kind regards, Steve.
Location: The cable workshop, England
My B&O Icons:
Cables, friendly advice and great ideas for connecting Bang & Olufsen! Ask any questions at https://soundsheavenly.com to get the best from your B&O! Please visit my B&O YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/soundsheavenlycables
Thanks. As long its only need a screwdriver and some basic cable connections I am on. Sounds really interesting! I suppose that it will be impossible to fit into BL3 but imagine these with up to date wireless and multi room function, would be fantastic speakers.
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