I must be odd!  I can't see any reason why I would want to stream something from my phone to my BS5 which already has my entire music collection on it.

However, being able to stream stuff from the BS5 to my phone which I can't fit my whole collection on, is cool!  That way I can isten on the A8s in the garden, or the BS8 in the kitchen.

Like I say I must be odd, or maybe I just don't buy into this thing where a system must do airplay, even if there's no real benefit to it, just because some other manufacturer has done it.

rednik wrote:

Like I say I must be odd, or maybe I just don't buy into this thing where a system must do airplay, even if there's no real benefit to it, just because some other manufacturer has done it.

I've explained the benefits. 

One key advantage of supporting AirPlay is that you can use your iPhone or iPad (or computer) as a remote. You can then assign your music to stream to multiple AirPlay devices, without anything being connected. For example, the Zeppelin has, effectively, the Airport Express built in to it. This means you could walk from room to room, or from house to outdoors, listening to the same streamed track from multiple AirPlay devices. 

You can even use AirPlay to stream audio to your iPhone from your computer, exactly what you have asked for above!

AirPlay support enables a device to tap in to an iTunes library which, as people have said, doesn't support the UPnP standards, so can't be accessed from something like the Beosound 5, without another media server on top (Twonky or similar).

There are advantages. Just as you can't see them, doesn't mean they don't exist. And for a £2500 device, I expect it to support as many standards as possible....including "closed" licensed standards! Frankly, I don't care if some people don't want it on their system, if B&W can license it on a £400 device, I'm sure B&O could.

rednik wrote:

 
I must be odd!  I can't see any reason why I would want to stream something from
my phone to my BS5 which already has my entire music collection on it.

I agree, regarding your own phone  -  🙂 but it might impress your guests, beeing able to play
music from THEIR phones wirelessly ...

moxxey wrote:

One key advantage of supporting AirPlay is that you can use your iPhone or iPad (or computer) as a remote. You can then assign your music to stream to multiple AirPlay devices, without anything being connected. For example, the Zeppelin has, effectively, the Airport Express built in to it. This means you could walk from room to room, or from house to outdoors, listening to the same streamed track from multiple AirPlay devices. 

I can do all that with a BS5 and plugplayer.

So the only thing I can't do is stream directly from an itunes libary, which if I really wanted to requires me to spend about £100 on an airport express.

We will never agree, I just don't see the advantages in the same way you don't see why it shouldn't be built in.  I think the solution B&O have provided suits me down to the ground and gives flexibility for my family with a mix of Aplle, Android, and windows phones, to store our music on one shared library but with us each being able to easily navigate to our own music, and distribute it round the house and mobile devices.

The way our family works, we couldn't do that as easily if we were just tied to airplay.  If we do want airplay (my son does) we just add a couple of airports.

To me, a BS5, playing from the BM5 with a lovely BM5 interface in the lounge which I can control from any of the phones in the house(we never do, it takes longer to pick the phone up, unlock it, reply to a text, get distracted by an e-mail etc etc than just use the BeouSound) (plus, I find when I have a phone in my hand I just skip from one track to another because I can, rather than listening) is the perfect solution.  That's why I bought one.

I love MOTS.

Maybe one day i will be able to justify spending that much money to have it at home! For now, i will have to stick to using my computer hooked up to the B&O system i have, via a DAC.
Costs me nothing, but i do miss out on getting the most out of my entire collection...

MOTS is the only thing that really interests me in this heated thread.

I look forward to B&Os next attempt at making the digital media dream come true, they aren't there yet, but they are getting closer :)

I am not sure how often anyone would want to do this, but it is nice that it can be done.....I was able to stream music from my iPad to the Beosound 5 and then use the iPhone to control it.

Vienna wrote:

rednik wrote:

 
I must be odd!  I can't see any reason why I would want to stream something from
my phone to my BS5 which already has my entire music collection on it.

I agree, regarding your own phone  -  🙂 but it might impress your guests, beeing able to play
music from THEIR phones wirelessly ...

 

 

See, I still don't get it.

If thats's a requirement, then you add an airport express, give your guests your wifi password, allow them to join your home sharing network, and then listen to music from their phone with interuptions when they get a text, e-mail, callender reminder or phone call.  When you are done they can take their phone with them, but can't call anyone because they have drained the battery using wifi.

I understand what airplay does and why people like the "idea" of it.  I just can't think on many practical uses for it where ther isn't already a better solution (in the case above, an iPod dock plugged into the aux in, which will automatically puy the phone into airplane mode and charge it while it plays music.)

The user getting a phone call/calendar reminder/text doesn't stop the music from playing so it's not really an interruption.

Furthermore, the improved notification system in the soon-to-be-released iOS5 wouldn't even stop the user from browsing and listening to their music if they recieved an alert of any kind.

Having said that, I have a Beosound 9000 through which I use Airplay. I don't really use CDs anymore and I miss being able to just press play on the unit itself and instaneously start playing music. Selecting A-Aux on the Beo 4 and then opening up the Remote app is still more steps than I'd like.

For that reason the Encore is appealling. But £2500 appealing? I'm not yet decided...

Looking at the full length video, it seems to me that B&O's vision is that EVERY room will have an Encore in it.  I do love the Beosound 5 (even played with one today) and its successor the Encore, but I don't think I could justify 2++ units !

But I can see myself walking around the house with an iPad and selecting indiviual pieces of music in the rooms that way (assuming we can move away from Masterlink and its single source mode).

elephant wrote:

Looking at the full length video, it seems to me that B&O's vision is that EVERY room will have an Encore in it.  I do love the Beosound 5 (even played with one today) and its successor the Encore, but I don't think I could justify 2++ units !

I was told a year or so ago that the Encore was originally designed as a basic version of the Beosound 5/Master that would enable other rooms to source your stored music, without the need for a masterlink connection. You could have one in multiple rooms etc etc.

For me, selecting music from my iPad is superb. I can take it to work, too, and access music from a remote location. Doesn't even need to be stored in the office! You can stream your audio across the net, particularly when iCloud is rolled out internationally. Store it in one location and make it available in another.