zottel wrote:

I recently bought a Besound Level, and I love it. :-)

I chose the version with Google Voice Assistant, not because I actually want to use it, but because I thought I might maybe want to use it in the future.

I have GVA on my BeoSound 2(s) and Balance and use it all the time. I just walk in to the room and tell the speaker to do or play something or simply up the volume. If a call comes in, no looking for a remote, simply tell it to stop the music.

I have another BeoSound 2 - and older one - without GVA. I'm selling it. Utter madness someone would decide not to have the feature (even if you don't use it).

So good, so simple.

Utter madness or not, and I could elaborate if you are interested, I don’t want «noize» in my B&O either. I want the design and the sound essentially. The only tech I want in it is sound tech and not «IT» like GVA. Another example I like is the buttons on the Stage. Nevertheless I think it is great that B&O offers us a choice so that you can have either.

You should just be glad that it has a phycial bluetooth button. 

On the A9 GVA you can only start pairing with GVA is setup AND connected to the internet. Which means that whenever I actually need Bluetooth, my device phone needs to be paired beforehand. This is a one time thing, but sometimes I forget to do that after a reset, new phone etc.  
So I've been in situations where I've brought along my A9 to a party held at a place without wifi and no preparied device. In that case the Bluetooth function becomes totally useless. Just because B&O decided to cost cut on a button.

I purchased the Level GVA in oak the day it was announced. I didn't plan on using the Google Assistant and planned on turning the microphone off until I needed to do a room calibration.

I am not a fan of placing listening devices all over my house for the little convenience that it offers.

I was unable to configure the Level with the B&O app, but was able to do the initial configuration from my MacBook Air since it sees it as a new Airplay device.  I then could "finish" the configuration with the B&O app, or so I thought!  It works fine but I noticed the following issues, some reported above.

Pairing an Essence Remote... It shows an Essence Remote when adding a new remote, but attempting to do so the Level announces that it is not fully configured and I need the Google Home app to finish the configuration.  Trying it anyway did not work, and I really don't want to register everything to Google by loading their Home app.

The bluetooth issue as discussed above.  I tried by pressing the bluetooth "button" but it never shows up as a discoverable device.

The proximity sensor did not work on my unit.

This was enough for me to send it back and order the non-GVA version instead.  I feel much better about this option!  I am hoping to use an Essence Remote until the Halo will work with it.

Thanks to B&O Mainline for all their help!

=:-O

Has the non-GVA version been postponed, or is it already sold out?

I just started the returns process for my GVA Level and then wanted to preorder the non GVA version. For all the past weeks, there was the option to pay € 500,- now and the rest when the device becomes available, and it should be available by end of March. Now I can only choose to be informed when the Level is available again.

Does anybody know what the state of the non-GVA version is?

Now I'm wondering if I should keep my Google version after all ...

I've been interested in upgrading my non-GVA BeoSound 1 to a GVA BeoSound 2 in my kitchen. I'm interested in this topic as it could impact my decision. Please forgive me for injecting the BeoSound 2 into this thread.

1. So is the main reason against having a GVA B&O device just this preference not to have microphones listening in your home? Therefore, for someone who already uses and is comfortable with Alexa or Google this wouldn't be an issue at all?

2. Does enabling GVA preclude us from using Airplay or BeoLink Multiroom (for the BeoSound 2)? I'm so reliant on BeoLink Multiroom that I can't imagine not being able to use the "Join" feature.

Hi beojeff,

Beosound Balance and Level use a different software platform from previous products such as Beosound 1/2, so these will differ with regards to the functions that rely on Google Home access.  It may be a good option to start a new thread with Beosound 1 and 2 in the title to get input from owners of these products regarding Google related features.

For the Level and Balance, I would suggest that you should consider the non-GVA version unless you have a Google Home setup, use Chromecast Audio for streaming, or wish to use voice control for the speakers.  The non-GVA version of these speakers allow for room compensation, Airplay 2 and Bluetooth without needing Google Home setup.  With all the reports of Google updates affecting the functionality of third party speakers in recent weeks (there is a long Beoworld thread covering this in more detail!), there could be benefits in staying outside the Google ecosystem unless you wish to specificallay make use of the features that it offers.

I hope to be able to make a full comparison of GVA vs. non-GVA functionality in the Level once my dealer gets a non-GVA model into stock.

Kind regards, Steve.

Thanks for this post Steve.

Just for clarity, the non-GVA versions (whether of Mozart or pre-Mozart vintage) can still the advantage of Chromecast streaming no?, in a basic sense / use case.

Or have the updates to the CC firmware meant that this v1 BS1s/BS2/s/A9s, which have until now been able to use CC, now had that ability removed?

Apologies if thats been covered elsewhere, but its not clear to me.

(for the record my v1 and non-GVA BS2 and A9 still seem to have CC ability, though its appeared and disappeared at various times over recent weeks, so not sure what the longer term status is for both of these)

Steve at Sounds Heavenly wrote:

Hi beojeff,

Beosound Balance and Level use a different software platform from previous products such as Beosound 1/2, so these will differ with regards to the functions that rely on Google Home access.  It may be a good option to start a new thread with Beosound 1 and 2 in the title to get input from owners of these products regarding Google related features.

For the Level and Balance, I would suggest that you should consider the non-GVA version unless you have a Google Home setup, use Chromecast Audio for streaming, or wish to use voice control for the speakers.  The non-GVA version of these speakers allow for room compensation, Airplay 2 and Bluetooth without needing Google Home setup.  With all the reports of Google updates affecting the functionality of third party speakers in recent weeks (there is a long Beoworld thread covering this in more detail!), there could be benefits in staying outside the Google ecosystem unless you wish to specificallay make use of the features that it offers.

I hope to be able to make a full comparison of GVA vs. non-GVA functionality in the Level once my dealer gets a non-GVA model into stock.

Kind regards, Steve.

I was told by a dealer that non GVA version gold tone /oak is not expected to be available before end of May !! Thats exactly the version I want and a little dissapointing to be honest.

That's indeed a very good question.

On the basic (and rough) view, the main difference is that the user experience the 'google home' features on GVA types, compared non-GVA.  So if you would like to have Google assistant on board + home automations then you will need GVA. Note that there are two microphone switches, a hard switch and a soft switch. You can for example setup a GVA product using google home and B&O app, get the wifi details etc on the product and then mute the mic; hard switch won't be on when you restart the product.  You will still be able to make changes from B&O app and use cast. The Assistant however will be muted. 

In terms of development GVA and non GVA have differences that don't allow to just 'wipe' it with other software. Even if you force that, the product will reject if it's the wrong variant. They are essentially two types of products, they are just made in a way that work similarly. B&O actually develops both in parallel so that the user gets to chose at purchase.

Google cast (audio streaming) is available on both GVA and non-GVA versions, such as the previous products/platforms (M3,M5, Shape etc). Cast is a part of GVA that can run as standalone.