MasterLink USB adapter

[B3OHACK3R]

Hi,

I have this fancy circuit here that allows easy communication with any ML device out there. In the other thread I was thinking about a light version that would be more or less an USB-ML converter.

https://forum.beoworld.org/forums/topic/universal-link-adapter/

You could e.g. connect it to a single-board-computer (Raspberry Pi, etc) and basically do whatever you want. Use it like a MLGW, inject commands, extract commands and have bidirectional audio transmission.
Some basic software / tinkering skills required. I would release a few examples how to do certain things but the final implementation would be up to you.
It would act like a USB serial converter as well as a USB sound card.

For example I’m using it in a setup where it controls a BSys3 that is connected to a LG TV. You would also be able to record analog ML audio and send it to streaming devices / speakers on your network – but that’s up to you then.

Who is interested in such a thing?

EDIT:
This interface is available now. Please have a look here.

[Glitch]

B3OHACK3R wrote:

Who is interested in such a thing?

I’m interested in the “MasterLink USB adapter” (MUA). I would like to hear more technical details about the hardware and (of course) the price.

I’ve been planning a major redesign of my audio system/network. I’m not sure exactly what it will be, but it will include a mixture of vintage B&O equipment, as well as equipment from other manufacturers (both new, old, and older). About the only thing that I have figured-out is that nobody seems to offer a suitable solution. As such, I expect to have to develop something custom.

Are you still thinking about offering anything based on the “universal link adapter”?

I think that that platform has a lot of potential. However, I’m concerned about the “care and feeding” of it from a software build standpoint.

I like the idea that the MUA could be used from a Raspberry Pi (or other Linux based PC?). Have you considered including a DataLink interface to the MUA?

Glitch

 

[Rolf2]

B3OHACK3R wrote:

Who is interested in such a thing?

I definitely am interested, looking forward that enough guys are joining in.

Kind regards,

Rolf

[B3OHACK3R]

Glitch wrote:

Are you still thinking about offering anything based on the “universal link adapter”?

The problem of a fully integrated solution like the universal link adapter certainly is the long term maintenance. I suspect the demand to be rather low and at certain point probably would not even cover for the ongoing product maintenance. So the product likely would have to be discontinued early leaving customers with outdated devices and me with a bad reputation. Don’t want to go that way.

If it’s really just an easy to use hardware-only product with freely available software examples people would have maximal flexibility for ever and don’t have to rely on a vendor updating its software. Hence the USB idea. USB serial converters and USB sound cards will still work in a long time from now so should this device. Would be nice if a certain community grows around that piece of hardware sharing software configuration examples and advancing the project.

Pricing wise certainly below € 200. Probably closer to 100 than to 200 but let’s see.

Glitch wrote:

or other Linux based PC?

Yes, actually should work on anything having FTDI drivers and pyserial support. I actually don’t know which platform doesn’t. Could even run it from a Mac or a Windows PC.

Glitch wrote:

Have you considered including a DataLink interface to the MUA?

Yes, still thinking about it and how to implement it best in that case. Best case Datalink could be directly driven from a general purpose IO pin the USB-serial adapter chip exposes anyway. Worst case it would require a dedicated MCU. Still have to try that. Actually I would like to separate ML and DL into two independent solutions.

Glitch wrote:

I would like to hear more technical details about the hardware

I’m thinking about a USB-C connector that supplies 5V power. Internally it is then connected to a USB hub chip which then connects to a USB audio codec and the serial converter for data communication. On the ML side it would also contain the “power” circuit so that it could either operate as a master or a slave device.
Programming is pretty easy. I can supply some python scripts for basic communication and protocol analysis. Audio would just work like a normal USB sound card.

[B3OHACK3R]

Rolf2 wrote:

I definitely am interested, looking forward that enough guys are joining in.

Great, sounds good!

[Axel73]

Great idea!

I’m interested too.

Best regards,

Axel

[LukeS]

Sounds interesting ?

[B3OHACK3R]

Great, thanks for confirming.

Meanwhile I  created a block diagram of the solution in question.
More or less copied over the audio block form the universal link adapter project. Just added a simple USB I2S bridge. While there are several other ways implementing it on the audio side –  those two chips (ADC & DAC) are working well with ML and only require minimal surrounding components.

For ML master/slave selection I probably just add a manual switch on the board. I see no application where this needs to be changed programatically during runtime…

[Glitch]

B3OHACK3R wrote:

Glitch wrote: Are you still thinking about offering anything based on the “universal link adapter”?

(snip) Don’t want to go that way.

Fair enough. It seems like the numbers were against the ULA concept. The subset of people that have the need for such a device, would want to pay a fair price for it, and have the skills and motivation to write the supporting code would be pretty small. However, a similar argument can be made for something like the Beolab 90, yet it exists ;-).

Glitch

[beonoma]

B3OHACK3R wrote:

Hi, I have this fancy circuit here that allows easy communication with any ML device out there. In the other thread I was thinking about a light version that would be more or less an USB-ML converter. https://forum.beoworld.org/forums/topic/universal-link-adapter/ You could e.g. connect it to a single-board-computer (Raspberry Pi, etc) and basically do whatever you want. Use it like a MLGW, inject commands, extract commands and have bidirectional audio transmission. Some basic software / tinkering skills required. I would release a few examples how to do certain things but the final implementation would be up to you. It would act like a USB serial converter as well as a USB sound card. For example I’m using it in a setup where it controls a BSys3 that is connected to a LG TV. You would also be able to record analog ML audio and send it to streaming devices / speakers on your network – but that’s up to you then. Who is interested in such a thing? If there are enough people interested I’m happy to build a batch. I’m doing that out of pure fun, there is no commercial intend from my side. Nevertheless of course things do cost money. If it ever materialises I would be happy to tie every sale to some kind of Beoworld donation / sponsorship.

I would LOVE this device!

[B3OHACK3R]

beonoma wrote:

I would LOVE this device!

Great!

[B3OHACK3R]

Went ahead and slightly changed the architecture. It now has the form factor to directly fit on single-board-computers with the common 40 way pin header. Raspberry Pi being the most known one. It also reduces the cost a little as no USB-audio converter is needed. Board is finished so far. Will order a few samples in the coming days. Not expecting major issues as the circuit itself is already know to work.

A rendering of the current shape. There was a little space left so I added Datalink as well. Hence “MasterDataTool”.

[kirin]

Hi all,

the left branch of the diagram would in principal be the functionality of the Beolink PC2 device?

It wouldbe interesting to have a generic driver for the BL PC2 to run it on Linux Systems

Best regards

[B3OHACK3R]

Hi!

kirin wrote:

the left branch of the diagram would in principal be the functionality of the Beolink PC2 device?

The result is the same but works a little different internally. We are directly interfacing the ML bus with a UART-USB bridge chip here. I think BeoPort uses an integrated microcontroller to convert ML messages the PC sends into proper ML telegrams “behind the scenes”. So it would not work 1:1 with the PC2 driver.

kirin wrote:

It would be interesting to have a generic driver for the BL PC2 to run it on Linux Systems

Somebody already did that. I think there was even a much older project enabling PC2 on Linux systems but I can’t recall the name anymore.
https://github.com/toresbe/beoported

[kirin]

Thanks for this information, that sounds interesting!

 

[B3OHACK3R]

Short update here. PCBs arrived and so far everything works as expected.

Also put together a very basic “housing”. Actually just a few small 3d printed plastic parts covering the electronics. The intention is really to not make it a fully polished product. Instead something fun to tinker with and financially also matching the current market value of other ML and DL equipped devices.

Will use a bit of the Christmas time to refactor the software a little and maybe also do a few videos of cool things one could do with the MasterDataTool.

For people not recognising the larger black box in the picture. It’s a BL Video converter and not actually part of that project. Just needed something with a ML socket and that fits in the picture… 😉

 

[B3OHACK3R]

B3OHACK3R wrote:

and maybe also do a few videos of cool things one could do with the MasterDataTool.

One of such cool things attached. Will later show the the title info from Spotify / AirPlay / etc.

[XavierItzmann]

Interesting!

[Millemissen]

B3OHACK3R wrote:

B3OHACK3R wrote:

and maybe also do a few videos of cool things one could do with the MasterDataTool.

One of such cool things attached. Will later show the the title info from Spotify / AirPlay / etc.

 

That really sounds promising.
I guess a lot of us need some daily life examples and maybe videos of what can be done….in order to understand what this is about.

MM

[B3OHACK3R]

One very practical example here. BL2000 converted to an AirPlay receiver.

Automatically switches on when the stream starts and also turns off once it stopped.
The buttons / IR receiver are fully functional and control the source application. Next, previous, play, pause.

Would also be pretty easy adding a couple of pre-programmed radio stations that could be selected independent of any incoming AirPlay stream.

I’m surprised how good the BL2000 actually sounds in that combo. Interesting price/performance ratio. They are traded for very little money…

Works with any other ML linkroom product and will also sync the clock on a BL3500.

Video:

[Author]

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