[CharlieWednesday]

Good idea – will do.

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Following the above, I changed Beolink Converter settings back so that N.Music is now set to ‘Bluetooth’ rather than ‘Music’.  This means that when I hit the N.Music button on my Beo4 (from Standby), nothing starts playing, but at least this way, I can listen to either Spotify or my music library, initiated from the B&O app, and controllable with my Beo4 once it’s already playing.

One annoyance for me – when you view an album in the B&O app, it show the tracks in alphabetic order according to track title, rather than by track order.  That’s just rubbish!

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

I’m so glad you asked me to check this, because I FOUND IT!  Although the Music folder was shared, when I checked the Streaming Options and scrolled down, I found that the Essence was there and it was ticked for sharing, but below that was another item ‘Unknown Device’. I checked the IP address and this was my phone (upon which I run the B&O app), so enabling this solved it!  Guy had also tried to tell me this earlier, but I had missed it.  I just needed to scroll down and see it.  What a bloody idiot.

So, in the web portal for my BLC I have set the N.Music source to ‘Music’ now, instead of ‘Bluetooth’.  Now, if I start playing from my music library using the B&O app, my system comes out of standby and it plays.  If I press N.Music on my Beo4, my system starts playing whatever was last played.  I can play, pause, skip tracks with my Beo4.

Unfortunately however, this seems to have stopped Spotify from working.  If I use Spotify to play to my Essence (with either N.Music or N.Radio selected as the source on my system), it plays for about 10 seconds, but then the sound goes off.  Spotify shows it is still playing, and the B&O app also shows that it is still playing, but no sound is heard.

So, it seems I can have either my media library or Spotify, but not both.  Further experimentation required, it seems!

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Yes, I’m not an Apple user at all, so I use an Android phone (Pixel 6).  I also dug out an old Android tablet to try it on that, but it was too old – the B&O app would not install.

Might be worth a try – next time I have a visitor to the house who uses an iPhone, I’ll see if they’ll let me borrow it for half an hour.

I know that B&O have always integrated better with Apple rather than Android, but I’m just not an Apple fan.  Can’t say I’m really much of an Android fan either for that matter, but there’s no other alternative!

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Update – I still have not been able to get my shared music folder on my PC to show on the B&O app.  It shows the device (a tablet PC running Win11), but not the contents.  I’m sure this will be a Win11 issue (who is surprised!?).  I think I’ll look on eBay for a cheap NAS and see if I can get it working that way.

One good thing though – I did discover I can control music (including Spotify) from that PC, simply using a Bluetooth connection.  If I initiate playback via Spotify (or MP3s with Windows Music app), with the PC connected to the BS Essence via Bluetooth, my Beo4 will allow basic control – play, pause, skip tracks.  If the PC is on and I select N.Music with my Beo4, it will start playback from the PC, of whatever track was last playing in whichever app is open.

I’m still waiting for the adapter cable to arrive to connect my BS Essence to my Beolink Passive, then connect an MCL2A and MCL2AV to perform the other suggested tests – I’ll keep you posted.

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Oh, and Happy New Year to you too!  Where are my manners…

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

I’m not familiar with the Philips R12 (I can’t find that model on Google) but perhaps it has a built-in phono pre-amp?  I may be wrong about the Yamaha DSP-A5 but when I looked at its specs, it didn’t have a phono input.  I assume you are using your Philips deck plugged into Aux?

As for the RX2, I happen to be restoring an RX2 at the moment myself, and I also have another in full working order.  It has two adjustments which depend upon which cartridge you have – usually it would be an MMC5 in an RX2, but could also be an MMC4.  On the underside of the deck there is a small dial you adjust with a screwdriver to point to the correct type of cartridge, and then on the tonearm itself, you adjust the counterweight depending on the type of cartridge.  Turn it all the way past zero as far as it will go, then turn it back to the right pressure fo the stylus.  For an MMC4 that’s 1.2g, or for an MMC5 that’s 1.5g.

 

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

I do not have any 2-way equipment to test it with.  I do have an MCL2A and MCL2AV, but the only thing I have to connect those to is a Beocenter 8500.

Still, even without compatible equipment, I can be confident the MCP5000 isn’t working, as even without compatible equipment, I’m sure the display should respond in some way when the buttons are pressed.  There’s no display response at all.

I have had a look inside and it is very clean – like new in fact.  No trace of leaked batteries.

I’ll probably have to give up on it then, shame.

 

 

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Thanks, and Happy New Yeat to you too.

I don’t really need it to work with my BS4, I just want it to work, as it seems a shame that such a perfect pierce of design, in such great condition, is not functioning.

If I could get it working I’d probably buy a Beomaster 5000 (they do come up quite cheap sometimes) just for the hell of it!  I also have a Beogram 5000 I am trying to restore at the moment, so it would be nice to put together a small system controlled with the MCP5000.

No big deal if I can’t get it working though; I’ll probably just end up listing it on eBay for parts.

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Thanks Guy

I always forget to check the old forum!

Yes, that did help thanks. I just needed to be a bit more confident levering the covers off – they were stuck fast, probably never having been removed before.  Happy to say the drivers are in great condition now I’ve checked them.

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

I’ve looked at the specs for the Yamaha DSP-A5 and from what I can see, it has no built in phono stage.  You would need a phono stage to connect the RX2 to the Yamaha amp.

To test the turntable, I would suggest you just get a cheap RCA to DIN adapter from eBay (I bought this one for a similar test), and connect the RX2 to the Beomaster 2000.

Note that you’ll get a lot of hum if you don’t connect a ground.  The RX2 should have a ground cable with a spade connector on the end – connecting that to one of the screws on the back of the Beomaster 2000 that is in contact with the metal case should work (that’s what I did when I had the exact same setup, anyway).

Good luck.

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

One thing I didn’t realise by the way was that I would be able to select any of my ML sources (CD, TV and so on) via the app, and then also have basic remote control via my phone of those sources (skip tracks, play/pause, volume).  That’s really nice!

I have an old Masterlink gateway which allows me to do that kind of thing via a web interface on my PC too, so now I can control everything from everywhere!  I’m looking to upgrade that to the newer Beolink Gateway, but I haven’t found one at a good enough price yet.

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Ah, I don’t want to connect my speakers direct to the BLC because I have my speakers in a surround setup, connected to my Beovision 7 (BL Penta front, BL6000 back, BL7.4 cinema centre, and BV Cona subwoofer, driven with a BL Passive).

The BV7 is in Opt2, the Beosound 4 in Opt0, so the BLC has been set as ‘Source Center’, as it cannot be set as an A or V Master in that setup.

I’m a little disappointed that I cannot select Spotify as a source with my Beo4 and control it, but it’s not the end of the world; I can control it after a fashion if I use Bluetooth.

I’ve only had the thing since this morning so I’ll be experimenting further, but I am seriously considering a move from Spotify to Deezer.

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Going back to the original reason for this thread, my Beolink Converter NL/ML arrived today.  I connected it to my router via a network cable, then connected it into my ML network.  It recognises my Essence, even though that is only connected via WiFi – I had assumed I would need to make a wired connection to the Essence, but that is not the case, which is useful.

It was quite easy to set up but I cannot control Spotify Connect via remote control, which is what I was hoping.

I have set the BL Converter’s ML Role as ‘Source Center’, and this allows me to select my Essence as the NL product for N.Music and N.Radio.  I was able to set N.Radio to link to ‘B&O Radio’ on the Essence, and that works – I can select that with my Beo4, and use the number keys to choose favourite stations.

I cannot however select Spotify, as it isn’t available – when it gives me Essence sources available to use, Spotify is not listed (but Deezer is):

It’s a shame, as the setup manual for the BL Converter shows that Spotify is available as a source, but in the example given that is when using a Beoplay V1 rather than an Essence.  Seems odd that it’s not available on the Essence Mk2, given that it does have Spotify connect?

I did find a way around it, kind of.  Instead of using Spotify Connect to play music to my Essence, I can just connect via Bluetooth instead, having set the N.Radio source to ‘Bluetooth’ in the BL Converter.  Once connected, if I play Spotify on the connected device, I can use my Beo4 to pause, play, skip tracks.

So, I might decide to cancel my Spotify subscription and sign up to Deezer instead!

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Don’t worry it wasn’t obvious (I’m not familiar with media sharing in Windows), but yes I had found that, and I had added my Music folder to the library.

I have other devices on the network which can see the music on that PC (it’s shown on other devices as a ‘Media Device’).  It’s only the B&O app that can’t see the content on it, so far.

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Yes I did see that, it is definitely added and the HomeMedia server shows as added in the app, I just can’t get it to show any of the music that’s stored on it – yet!

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Thanks for all of the experimentation, it’s really helpful.  I have renamed my media library (removing an apostrophe and a space), removed it in the app, and tried to re-add it.  I’m still not getting anything, but at least I know it worked for you after some trial and error, so I’m sure I’ll get there in the end!

All of my digital music is ripped from my CDs anyway, but I think it would be handy to be able to access the digital music from a media server for link rooms – I intend to set up 2 link rooms with Beolab 2000 or 3500 (1 in bathroom, 1 in garage-used-as-gym), and it would be nice to have a full digital music library available in both.

My Beolink NL/ML converter arrives tomorrow, so I want to solve this before I have to move on to solving that!

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

I’ve had another look this morning and maybe it needed some time – the app now shows that PC as s source in the Music section (if you scroll down past the crappy Deezer content I never use), but it doesn’t show any albums/tracks.

I know that PC is working okay as a streaming device as I can see the device (and its content) on other devices, just not on the B&O app.

Screenshot:

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Steve/Sounds Heavenly are closed until 6th January anyway so I won’t be able to perform the test until they open again and send the cable.

One other question while I am on though – I have a Windows 11 PC which I have set up to be discoverable as a media server, and I have a lot of digital music on it.  When I go to the Music options in the B&O app, and select the HomeMedia option, it discovers that PC and it is added the app as a media server.  Despite this, it doesn’t seem to have made any difference – I assumed this would mean that I would be able to browse music stored on that PC/media server directly in the B&O app and initiate playback from there, but I can’t – the only way I have found to play music from that PC to the Essence is via Bluetooth.

The user guide for the Essence is quite vague, but it does seem to indicate that once a media server is successfully added (albeit in the old Beomusic app), you could select music from that source directly in the app.  Should this also be possible in the newer B&O app?

Location: Liverpool

[CharlieWednesday]

Yes, I read the full product description on Steve’s site and it does say they are fully wired Mk2 cables, so I’ve ordered one, as it’s bound to come in useful.

When it arrives, I’ll try this experiment.

Location: Liverpool

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