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I am stopping the tests for today. Some may have noticed that I have deliberately avoided anything that involves soldering, but I will be forced to make up a few leads to try most other options!
I am happy to repeat anything that I have tried so far if you want more info or there is something that I have missed.
Attached is a fresh copy of the test schedule with new notes in Blue.
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Whilst a lot of people talk about the 8 pin din being a PowerLink socket we all know that is not really true. It just used the old MCL din socket so that a new module would not need to be designed.
I may be missing something, but that diagram shows pins 6 and 7 transposed with pins 4 and 5. Is that a typo?
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Further report on Test 8: PL trigger of BL1611
Part B, BL3500:
BL3500 behaves exactly as BL2000 above. The only ‘funny’ is that when the PL voltage forces a switch from video to audio, the BL3500 display continues showing the original video source.
Note that the BL1611 does require at least 10 seconds of ‘power off’ to clear the audio-only mode. It then takes about another 10 seconds to re-configure when the power is re-connected.
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So cute, you didnt vacuum today but you still protected the carpet under the converter and the 2000!
Hey, I am in a rental house and who knows what may burst into flames ?. The cardboard will protect the carpet!
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Quick report on Test 8: PL trigger of BL1611
Part A, BL2000:
So I rigged up a 3v source (2x 1.5V cells). I then tested this with BL2000 (in L.OPT 6), injecting the voltage between pins 4 (+) and 2 of the BL1611’s PL socket with the usual two audio sources connected to AAL.
With the BL2000 powered down, applying 3v does nothing. The BL2000 does not switch on.
If playing an audio source, this is unaffected by voltage application.
If playing a video source, with voltage application the BL2000 switches to an audio source.
Having injected and then removed the voltage to the BL1611, it remains ‘audio source only’. I cannot then get a video source on the BL2000 with either the remote or the front panel. It stays like this until I disconnect the mains power to the BL1611, wait a few seconds (EDIT: minimum 10 seconds), re-connect mains power and wait a few seconds more. It then returns to normal dual input behaviour.
Hence the PL trigger voltage seems to force BL1611 into audio mode which is only then cleared with a power cycle.
Again, any suggestions for further testing are welcome whilst I repeat the above with BL3500.
EDIT 2: I repeated the above with the BL2000 in L.OPT 0. No change to behaviour. I see no merit in trying L.OPTs 4 or 5.
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OK so Test 7 ongoing – I had to tidy my test setup!
- BL1611, BL2000 and BL3500 connected by ML
- To avoid putting BeoLabs in separate rooms, BL3500 is in L.OPT 4 and BL2000 is in L.OPT 6:
- Left Beo4 is in permanent LINK mode, to control BL3500
- Right Beo4 normal mode, to control BL2000
- BL1611 audio source is iPhone 5s
- BL1611 video source is iPad
It all works pretty much as I would expect to work with a ‘normal’ audiomaster. I can select video (iPad) or audio (iPhone) sources with both Beolabs, including the front panel on the BL2000. I am unable to have ‘video’ source on one Beolab with ‘audio’ source on the other – but I expected this because ML can only carry a single source in each direction.
Two observations:
- With both Beolabs playing a video (iPad) source, pressing PC (or A.AUX) on the BL3500 remote switches both Beolabs to the audio (iPhone) source. In the same situation, pressing PC (or A.AUX) on the BL2000 does nothing. This confirms the inability of my BL2000 to do anything with those two commands.
- If I change the source using the BL2000 remote, the source also changes on the BL3500 (as expected) but the display continues to show the original source. (It may well behave like this with a normal audiomaster.)
I will leave it running for a while in case anyone has anything further to suggest or test.
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I need to clarify my earlier statement about the latest version of software being 3.3. The upgrade to version 3.3 was to allow wireless link, so unless a Beolab 3500 mark 2 has been used with a wireless link most will either be version 2.0 or 2.1
Thanks Keith – I have no intention of going anywhere near a Wireless 1! ?
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Guy wrote:
Quick question: Do you know if BL3500 SW 2.1 will also make it show PC in the display? (rather than V.AUX which is currently displayed on my SW 2.0 version when I press PC)Not a far as I am aware. The final software version of the Beolab 3500 mark 2 was version 3.3, but currently I cannot find details of the changes between 2.1 and 3.3
Thanks Keith. I will wait for Matador to confirm the SW version of his ‘test’ BL3500.
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regarding test 8: the powersource doesnt has to be 5V. The specifications states >2.5V, so maybe a coincell battery or two AA will do for testing.
Regarding test 12: single components may not work because og the difference in Audio Link, And Audio Aux lin. Dont know which the DVD use though, so might be something working.
Regarding test 13: Take a look on the diagram of the BS1 in the servicemanual. Pin 7 is called dataOut, so might control a tape recorder. Pin 6 is called data in, so I guess its not two way communicationif it works at all. Actually pin 6 and 7 is stated as not connected in the specifications for the BS1. Therefore its only on the diagram its shown
Thanks for all this Mads – very useful.
I don’t hold out much hope for the BS1, but who knows with B&O!
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Point 3 – I’ll add to the document ready for Amdt 2.
Point 5 – answer is ‘yes*’ and I will add a note to the doc.
Too cold to wear just a blouse/shirt here! I have several layer on including army surplus long-johns! I need to power-up a few B&O black boxes to warm the room up!
* EDIT: Apart from volume, but that makes sense as the BL3500 is supposed to be in a link room. The volume will of course adjust on the BL3500.
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I decided to get a little better organised and prepare a list of setups tested, and those still to test. They are numbered so that we can refer to them easily. I have uploaded as a pdf but am happy to upload as a word doc if you want to amend for your own use.
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This post is intended to provide additional information related to the Beolab 3500 mark 2 and the Beolink type 1611 converter rather than answer any particular question raised in this excellent thread.
Many thanks Keith – that’s really useful to have in this thread for reference.
Quick question: Do you know if BL3500 SW 2.1 will also make it show PC in the display? (rather than V.AUX which is currently displayed on my SW 2.0 version when I press PC)
(EDIT: And my SW2.0 version does already show DVD rather than CDV. Other sources display the ‘older’ input names)
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Morning all!
Blimey, all these things to test! I need to text my wife (who’s at work) and let her know the vacuuming isn’t going to get done today!
Firstly great to have Steve on board, able to cast a professional eye over our attempts to push the boundaries of the B&O black boxes in our collections! Great to hear that your wife is back home recovering Steve.
@Guy: if you are willing to try it, I would be very interested to hear what reaction the BL 2000 and BL3500 has if you apply some voltage to the powerlink connector on the 1611 as I did. Do they turn on, and maybe off when power is removed?
I’ll add that to the test list – sounds like I am being forced to get my soldering iron out ☹
Guy, do you have a Beolink Active 1636 (or 163x)?
Yes!! And the good news is that I know what box it is in! According to my records it’s a 1636 at SW version 1.1.
I was told 163x converter replaced 1611 and I would like to know if it can drive the 3500 as standalone the same way the 1611 does.
I have never heard of a BL Active being used without it’s IR sensor attached, but am willing to try! I also suspect that the Active’s PC socket input will only respond to PC source selection.
Coffee required first, then into the boxes to find some bits …
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So tonight I made an attempt at Test 12 – making use of the BL1611 AAL pin 6 datalink input.
I don’t have any pure datalink source devices other than my BG6500 turntable and that is packed away so carefully that I am not prepared to get it out for this project!
However, I do have a DVD1 for which I previously made a special SCART to 7-pin DIN cable for the project described here: https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/p/45162/327485.aspx#327485
Basically, the cable connects SCART data pin 8 to DIN pin 6, plus audio to DIN pins 3 and 5. It previously worked well to connect an extra ‘CD’ player (the DVD1) directly to my BC9500’s AUX/TV socket, which also uses pin 6 for data.
Anyway, for this test I used the BL3500 as the controlling ML device and the DVD1 was connected to the BL1611’s AAL socket. Audio (a CD) played fine with a video source connected, but no datalink control of the DVD1 was possible (I couldn’t start up the DVD1, play, stop, or change tracks with the remote, hence had to use the DVD1’s front panel). However, when I tried a long-press of the Beo4’s ‘off’ button, the entire system did shut down including the DVD1.
Hence some data is being passed from BL3500 to the DVD1 via the BL1611, but just not the full spectrum of normal datalink commands.
I hope that Test 15 (Control of OneRemote radio) will be more successful, once I have made that (nameless) adaptor!
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Hi Guy, Yes, thanks for correcting my poor description in the video! The IR codes for CD and Phono are different, but any Beogram with Datalink can respond to either the PHONO or CD codes. This means that on an MCL system such as Beosystem 3500, 4500, 6500 or 7000, you can connect two Beograms to the mains system (one in the PHONO socket and one in the CD socket), plus two more into the local CD and PHONO inputs on the MCL2AV box in a link room. The link room sources can only play in that room but this does mean that you could potentially have remote control access to up to four Beograms from your bathtub (as in the video) with two in the main room and two in the link room. If anyone is feeling pedantic, the MCL2AV and extra Beogram for my bathroom are actually located outside the bathroom, with only the passive speakers and the IR remote receiver in the bathroom. This ensures that UK electrical safety rules are complied with! Hope this helps… Kind regards, Steve.
Thanks Steve – all totally clear, and it would be a great setup as described!
Good to see your website back up and running this evening – I hope all is well!
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Guy wrote:
A.AUX doesn’t work (nor does PC)I don’t understand: is it that the commande from remote does not call an audio source?
Sorry, I missed this post earlier. The BL2000 just doesn’t respond to PC or A.AUX at all. I have now tried this both when connected to BL1611 in the dual-input setup, and also when connected to my Beoport by ML.
And yes a little cactus for the BL2000’s shelf in the middle would be great – should also keep prying fingers away!
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PC shows PC and open the audio/audio port of the 1611.
In that case I think yours may be SW2.1, whereas mine is 2.0. You may have told us your SW version, but I can’t remember!
Just guessing but wasn’t the PC command added for the Beoport or when computers became an usual source of sound? Then it would make sense it shared the V.AUX entry like if it was the audio part of an AV source (sound plus picture i.e computer screen). Maybe related to the beomedia implementation? I don’t know.
That makes perfect sense and I vaguely remember something similar. I just can’t find anything in the archives. I’ll keep looking. (Of course that would explain why PC didn’t even exist on older Beo4s, although BL1000 allowed you to press SHIFT STORE for PC)
It would be interesting maybe to have a little timeline with beosources names changes and equivalent over time?
That would be very useful. The closest I have is a list of Beo4 SW updates (mostly in Danish) showing at what SW level new sources were introduced – the early part of this has dates. For example, PC was introduced to the Beo4 at SW EE3.2 (but there’s no date for this one!)
would be sad and surprinsing that there is no standby mode even if I dont hear any click when the speaker turns on.
There is a click on the BL3500 (and a much louder one on the BL2000) but it would be interesting to know if there is a difference between mute and stand-by for link room Beolabs.
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Great work – a BC9500 is well worth restoring. I have never tried re-threading those door strings, but it is supposed to be quite tricky. There’s some instructions in the service manual I think. Here’s some photos showing mine if that helps! (click to enlarge)
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I am now trying the BL3500 with BL1611 and it seems to behave exactly as Matador’s. A.AUX works fine. However, when I select ‘PC’ it plays an audio source but shows V.AUX in the display.
Confusingly, if I use LIST to select V.AUX it plays a video source but shows V.AUX in the display!
Is that the same on yours Matador?
EDIT: Just saw a very old post of Keith’s that says you can turn on the BL3500 using the volume wheel of the BeoCom 6000 phone. I suppose that when it’s off, the BL3500 is really only muted so that makes perfect sense.
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Hope it didnt ruin you
About the price of 60kWh of electricity – that’s my new measure!
Selectable with the front key!
Congrats on your new toys, may we make the interest to this understated speaker rise, make it the poor man’s Beosound 35…
Thanks Matador, and the first test is complete: The BL2000 behaves exactly like the BL3500. Front button source selection very useful, and I was quite lucky that it wasn’t the A.TAPE button version. Volume control wheel also useful. A.AUX doesn’t work (nor does PC) but I am not fussed about that. Only downside is Wife Acceptance Factor – she doesn’t like the look, and thinks there’s something missing from the middle.
One interesting test with your new equipment couldbe if both the BL2000, and BL3500 can coexist with the 1611 and acces both sources
Great idea – I’ll add it to the list. That does however mean I need to dive back into the cardboard box pile to search for an ML distr box that I know is in there somewhere!
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