Integrating my BL 3500 into HomeKit via HomeBridge. The controller calls macros from BLGW that activates Radio (BeoRadio from Essence MK2) Music (Deezer from Essence MK2) CD (from BS9000) and TV (audio from Cable source BeoPlay V1). Leverages BLC to integrate ML/NL sources.

Pulled these white pieces off of a nonfunctional Beosystem 5500 in prep for packing them in my suitcase for the trip home to USA.    On the whole, they are not in the prettiest condition, but I’m confident I can make them look decent.  Im planning on retrofitting a silver 5500 system for personal use.  I’ll still need to paint the Beocord tray white, but apart from that, the color change should hopefully  be fairly straightforward. Yeah, yeah, I know - the stickers on the back will reveal my slight-of-hand.  That being said,  I’ve never come across  a white 120v 5500 for sale stateside, so this was the next best thing I could think of.

I have had Philip Voigt‘s link for some weeks now (no, not related to him, just a happy customer). I have since to the software driving the box. Most importantly:

• added sendspin (e.g. Music Assistant) and MPD as audio providers
• added the option to use several providers per B&O source -- e.g. Sendspin and AirPlay sharing N.MUSIC, whoever starts last plays
• added music recognition for the turntable: identifies what's on the record via Shazam (shazamio) from the audio alone and shows title, artist, album and cover - yeah, I know, one could get up from the couch and look at the record cover. This way it‘s more fun, though :-)
• created Home Assistant integration: the Pi reports what each source plays (including AirPlay straight from an iPhone, with cover art, and the recognized record), plus HA automations and one dashboard card for it all (relies partially on the Masterlink Gateway integration - see below)
• built a small web UI: configure sources, providers, turntable, Home Assistant and LIGHT keys in a browser -- validated by the bridge, comments in the config kept
• implemented MasterLink Gateway emulation: the Pi can replace a B&O MLGW for Home Assistant's mlgw integration -- devices, Beo4 commands, ML events. I reverse engineered the functionality from the

My project is progressing. My ML based setup is now fully integrated into Homeassistant. Sources / Devices can be controlled via Beo4 or Homeassistant or both. Using link board I have a reliable connection now between Homeassistant and MasterLink. I have heavily changed and cloned it to a link. Most importantly I have added

• sendspin (Music Assistant default streaming protocol) and MPD as music receivers
• the ability to map more than one streaming protocol to a B&O source (e.g. sendsping and airplay to N.MUSIC)
• a logic that stops the currently playing source if MDTV2 receives a new music stream (e.g. playing something from Music Assistant and then deciding to stream something from your iPhone)
• MasterLink Gateway functionality to the extent that the for Homeassistant recognises MDTV2 as an MLGW - this allows extensive automation and control both ways between homeassistant and Masterlink (e.g. close the shutters in the living room with LIGHT + Down)
• added album / now playing info to be sent to Homeassistant so that whatever source is playing (not limited to e.g. N.MUSIC and N.RADIO) can be displayed in Homeassistant
• added music recognition to Masterlink Sources PHONO (N.RADIO) and CD - in other  words, if you play a record or a CD and shazam can recognise the music, album and title information gets sent to Homeassistant
• Built a tailored media_player card for Homeassistant to display all of this
• ... tons of other shit 😅

Once I got into the flow, I thought why not get your old Beolink PC2 working again. Stumble accross Wolfgang's (@SWO here on Beoworld)  fantastic link package which luckily (for me) runs on a Mac, too. But since Mac people love GUIs (BeoControl has a really nice webfrontend basically projecting a Beo4 or Beo1000 and allows controlling stuff on ML this way) I added - a little piece of SW that adds a Mac MenuBar item allowing you to control your Masterlink and of course a BeoLink PC2 connected to the Mac. It requires Beocontrol and really only is a kind of remote  control for BeoControl. In order to get this working I had to change some bits in BeoControl. If Wolfgang decides to integrate these changes, you can (and should) use his version of BeoControl. While this is not the case, I have set up link containing my changes. Currently working on a small ESP32 based 4 display that shows what's playing (or shows the weather if nothing is playing). Once this runs well, I'll post a follow up here. The whole stuff works well in my Masterlink network. Your mileage may vary. If  you feel comfortable setting up a pi, installing packages on Linux and enjoy playing with code that connects cleverly designed 1980s 1990s technology to todays music world: give it a try. I have tried to document as much as I thought would be needed  (which is probably still not enough). Added a few screenshots displaying how it all looks... cheers Torsten

Hello Torsten,

Nice job ! I got the first version of this interface and had some exchange with Philip.

But I wrote him many times without any answer :-(

I got a little stuck due to a lack of information and my own lack of knowledge, so I gave up on this interface.

But I hope to revisit it someday because it's a really nice product for "ML lover". (I would have loved to be able to send and receive commands via RS232 and integrate a PicorPlayer or something similar.)

 

Cheers

RS232 should be relatively straight forward with the board. All the information is there - just need to add a piece that talks to some serial port (or USB  using a converter)

Hello

Has anyone redesigned a PCB for the BEO4, using the BEO4's keyboard and case but with homemade electronics (e.g., an ESP with a new display)?

I've seen these extra PCBs before.

That would be a nice/crazy project; the BR1 has a nice display, but the keyboard is small and hard to use at night, and it's still very fragile compared to a BEO4.

Following up on my integration of MDTV into my Homeassistant / Masterlink setup, I built a little display (4'') that either show's what's playing (CD, PHONE, N.MUSIC,A.TAPE usually in my case - with music recognition for all sources). The prototype is shown below: