I was an early adopter of the Beosound 5.  I loved the design but hated the slow implementation of updates and poor communication from B&O.  My Beosound 5 now is on a shelf with a defective motherboard.  I am not sure what I am going to do but ultimately I will probably sell it for parts.  If I had a functioning Beosound 5, my concern today would be security updates for the imbedded Windows XP.  It  may not be a problem but Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP in 2014.

Bang and Olufsen is terrible at keeping customers informed.  Besides sending an email about new products, they should also let everyone know about updates and the reason for the updates.

As for loading software from the command line, I have only done it once and that was a driver.

Ultimately everyone should remember that Beosound 5 is a computer designed in the mid 2000s.  I am reasonably certain that B&O thought Beosound 5 was a good idea at the time but failed to understand that software like Windows XP would not be supported after maybe 8 year or sooner.  My new player is a recent 10,5 inch iPad pro using Airplay.  Of course there are other music player products available.  I still like Bang and Olufsen products but going forward, I will only buy B&O speakers or maybe a TV.

 

linder wrote:

It  may not be a problem but Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP in 2014.

Windows XP Embedded until January 2016

linder wrote:

Ultimately everyone should remember that Beosound 5 is a computer designed in the mid 2000s.

Correct ........and no Spotify in the early years

linder wrote:

My new player is a recent 10,5 inch iPad pro using Airplay

will it stream with same functionalities over 8 years?

that's the general problem nowadays ....  

Thanks Carolpa.  You are correct about imbedded Windows support.  It ended in 2016 with service pack 3.

As with any computer, continued support requires updates and replacement.  I traded in my previous iPad and got a $300 credit from Apple.  I can do that for many years and not come close to the $6000 I paid for the Beosound 5.  My new iPad has 512 GB of SSD storage which is the same amount of storage Beosound 5 had.

 

 

 

 

Carolpa wrote:

linder wrote:

Ultimately everyone should remember that Beosound 5 is a computer designed in the mid 2000s.

Correct ........and no Spotify in the early yearsthat's the general problem nowadays ....  

ok you may be right on the underlying facts, but in real life (non-beoworld) normal customers don't know/care/want to know, they paid 5000$ for a stereo that should last maybe not 15y but at least 10y using all the functionalities. You can add some during but never (!) remove some some.

I really doubt that the internet radio still willl function in three years time, they will come with a lame excuse that the server stopped !

 

Don't forget that for maybe a big part of the clients (like me) the BS5 is part of my interior and fixed to the wall. If it would be dead, it would be a constant reminder of the B&O failure, Or have it removed and repaint a whole wall !  I know I sound like an old boring man (41y) but my Beosystem 7000 in my study still works like the first day (everyday!)

 

 

 

 

Dealing with B&O through their dealer network is extremely frustrating.  After following B&O’s suggestion - relayed to me through their regional dealer (ABT Electronics in Glenview, Illinois) - and buying (with no hint regarding reimbursement at the time) both the specified Chromecast Audio and the Behringer USB audio interface, I find the two devices will not connect to each other without now ordering a 3.5mm to RCA cable.  (Thankfully, Amazon and Google can make quick deliveries.)  All of these items are relatively cheap, but B&O Denmark didn’t take the time to offer end users a complete solution.

Although far from perfect, I would support Apple acquiring Band & Olufsen.  Apple’s technical expertise and experience with consumers, software, upgrades, legacy systems, etc. married with B&O audio abilities might lead to stronger audio systems that are stable, secure, and more easily upgradable.  I know there may be howls about involving a big company like Apple, but it really is time to satisfy the end consumer willing to pay for a great sound system that doesn’t involve so much angst and technical ability.

https://www.bang-olufsen.com/~/mediaV3/Files/PDF/Newsroom/Corporate/03042013-Spotify_BS5.pdf

 

 

See this link to a press release showing the relaunch of the BeoSound5 in 2013.

 

 

So if this date is correct, some poor consumers have had only 4 years or less worth of use?

 

 

If so this is utterly disgusting and shameful.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Bang & Olufsen owners told us they wanted Spotify, and we listened,” says
Bang & Olufsen’s category manager Theis Moerk.

 

“We’re thrilled to start streaming with Bang & Olufsen,” says Riad Hawa,
Spotify’s global hardware partnerships manager.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Would be nice if Bang & Olufsen listen again to their loyal customers...

maybe B&O should pay for a few of these and a Sonos box for their customers!

https://tinyurl.com/ycptdt9a

Now my home Beosysem is transformed, where we have pairs of speakers. Fantastically my wife and family, who hated the BS5, can enjoy multi room/multi source Sonos music through the lovely B&O speakers and I can still ML when I want. 

NL is OK but I am hardly going to rip out an entire ML system!

A bit pricey but a perfect solutuion for us.

But a Happy Wife Means a Happy Life xxx

Got this reply from B&O related to that I was informed by Spotify that B&O had the new software development kit (SDK) that replace the old one that is now not working.

"Hi Stefan,

I have conferred with the Product Manager for the BeoSound 5, who has informed me of the following:

We have been working with Spotify on finding the best solution for mitigating the removal of libSpotify support. The commercial solutions that we provide to our customers were found to be the best, from all the alternatives available, including the eSDK. Of course, there are many other elements that we had to take in consideration, apart from the technical feasibility (such as development time, development setup, user experience, etc).

The final decision was to offer the three choices I mentioned in my previous reply, which I am sure that your Bang & Olufsen dealer will be happy to elaborate on."

Stefan

StUrrock wrote:

maybe B&O should pay for a few of these and a Sonos box for their customers!

https://tinyurl.com/ycptdt9a

Now my home Beosysem is transformed, where we have pairs of speakers. Fantastically my wife and family, who hated the BS5, can enjoy multi room/multi source Sonos music through the lovely B&O speakers and I can still ML when I want. 

NL is OK but I am hardly going to rip out an entire ML system!

A bit pricey but a perfect solutuion for us.

But a Happy Wife Means a Happy Life xxx

Hmm, it's kind of the same solution that B&O suggested with the Behringer USB-Audiointerface + Google Chromecast but this time it's a perfect solution? How can this be?
Ok, you can inject a local "AUX" signal to every active speaker but you still need a phone/tablet to control it, you can't control it with B&O remote control and it's only a local source, not available on the ML or NL.