Beolab 50 gone wobbly!

13 replies
BE
Beofile7
Bronze
302 posts
Posted May 4, 2020 at 18:29 GMT
#2137953

The last 36 hours I have been questioning my ears a little. Something doesn't sound right.... 

I listen to narrow on the 50's maybe 60% of the time but also like the huge soundstage that the wide gives you. So it depends on what music I am listening to?

But narrow has been sounding better and better, fuller and fuller. Then I go to wide and it's all gone! Weak and very low in high frequencies,  What have I done? Well nothing actually as I haven't touched a thing.

Has it wondered off on it's own? Has anyone else had this?

The app was updated a few days ago so I am pointing my finger at this right now but unless I can find a way out of this I may be looking at another calibration? 

Any ideas?

M(
Mikipedia (archived2)
Bronze
2150 posts
Posted May 4, 2020 at 19:41 GMT
#2137954
No never heard of this, sounds like a calibration issue but i can’t judge from here. What happens if you take the mic calibration settings away?
E(
Esax (archived2)
Bronze
337 posts
Posted May 4, 2020 at 22:49 GMT
#2137955
Check your settings. If that don’t do the trick, reset.

1. Which driver is playing and how depends on different things like volume, frequency, latency mode and beam setting etc. Here is some technical explanation:

In low latency mode, only tweeter, one midrange, front woofer is working + both rear woofers below 80 Hz.

In high latency mode, all drivers are working

In low latency, narrow mode, all drivers are working

however..

- the amount that each driver working is different from mode to mode

- depending on the mode, different drivers will be working in different bandwidths – so (for example) if you play a sine wave at some frequency, one or more drivers won’t do anything – but they will at a different frequency

- the relationship of signals from the drivers doesn’t change with volume. They all go up and down together – even though they’re different from each other.
BE
Beofile7
Bronze
302 posts
Posted May 5, 2020 at 10:01 GMT
#2137956

Thanks for the replies.

Mikipedia.. I am not sure how to remove the calibrations other than a reset which I don't want to do as I know from experience you lose everything and have to start again?

Esax. I have always set latency to auto. 

It's very strange. Like all the detail has been removed from wide but added to narrow?

I unplugged them last night so will power up again later today and report back.

M(
Mikipedia (archived2)
Bronze
2150 posts
Posted May 5, 2020 at 10:46 GMT
#2137957
If you go in to the app, go in to your bl50’s, go to product settings, go to configure, go to preset: in top right corner you can press the 3 ... logo. At the bottom a + will appear, this is where you can add a new profile. Just call is test/or what ever as you can delete it.

In the new preset go to beam control and set it to wide if it isn’t already. Go to room compensation and make sure no boxes are checked. Go to advanced and set latency mode to high. Here you will also see “speaker preset” followed by a number, remember that number if you have a bv eclipse/harmony.

These should be factory wide settings and you can apply them either via the tv in speaker group by going changing the preset number or you can tap the preset name in the app once you’re playing something.

Let us know how you get on, as these should be factory settings(make sure to not play anything other speakers when testing). Is it still weird now?
M(
Mikipedia (archived2)
Bronze
2150 posts
Posted May 5, 2020 at 17:15 GMT
#2137958

apparently my last comment went to moderation...

RA
Razlaw
Bronze
4757 posts
Posted May 5, 2020 at 18:12 GMT
#2137959
A bit off topic, but I have noticed a problem with my 50s this week, or perhaps it is the app. If I use the Beam Control settings in the app, the ones that appear on the home screen, not in the configuration menu, the app locks up with respect to the 50s. Only way to solve it is to unplug the 50s and then plug back in.
BE
Beofile7
Bronze
302 posts
Posted May 6, 2020 at 09:48 GMT
#2137960

Well, last night I got home, plugged it all in and put the kettle on. 5 minutes later power up and everything is back to normal. All the "colour" in wide mode is back. Everything is functioning as it should.

I have come to the conclusion over the last year of owning Beolab 50  that these are not speakers. They are computers that make sound! They are very complicated and every now and then require a reboot. 

I do worry about the long term longevity in the same way as most computer driven tech has a very short usable life these days?

But at least, for now, the wobble has gone.

S(
Severian (archived2)
Bronze
3771 posts
Posted May 6, 2020 at 16:23 GMT
#2137961

Beofile7 wrote:

I have come to the conclusion over the last year of owning Beolab 50  that these are not speakers. They are computers that make sound! They are very complicated and every now and then require a reboot. 

I do worry about the long term longevity in the same way as most computer driven tech has a very short usable life these days?

Quite true, and you hit upon a philosophical issue that cuts to the heart of things. With software/computers, it's possible to do things never doable before, variable dispersion/width, room correction, etc. But at what cost, and are the improvements really worth the downsides?

Remember the days when your audio system just worked, reliably, until some component really broke, something that often took years or even decades? Now we've invited all the things we find frustrating about smart phones and computers into aspects of our lives that used to be simple. S/w updates, bugs, etc. It's easy to understand why a lot of people go backwards into vinyl and simpler setups.

JA
Jaffrey
Bronze
529 posts
Posted May 6, 2020 at 21:47 GMT
#2137962

In general, the only limitation of SSD-based devices is the inability of the hardware to keep up with the software demands. That is not a problem speakers would have. In general, rebooting a device is a pain but it should not impact the longevity of a device. My first gen BL6000 were probably more short lived than any computer I have owned :)

Smartphones unfortunately are designed with 2-3 year obsolescence in mind...

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