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MadskpGOLD MemberWhilst 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 don’t understand. Apparently, MCL Beolabs can be started with a 5V trigger voltage. MK2 (or beyond a certain SW can’t). But it is often mentioned that the DIN socket was changed from MCL to Powerlink to comply with Beolink Wireless 1, even if the BLW1 guide say it must be connected through ML and not PL. So the question is what is this socket, what was it along the evolution of the speaker and what is it for? Please note that this is just out of curiosity since I now know that the 3500 will never be as better as with a 1611 to drive it!
I dont undestand it either. The MCL pinouts on the Beotech page has a DC supply of 7.5-8.5 Volt on pin 2 where powerlink on/off pins can be either pin 1 or 4. Furthermore MCL normally caries speaker level signals, where powerlink caries line level signals.
Im confused
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberQuick 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.
Just a note. In my experiment I injected the power on pin 4 and 7, but as mentioned pin 2 and 7 is soldered together in my 1611, and conneted to the ground plane in the 1611. As you see some kind of reaction Im not sure if it will make any difference in your case. But if you have a multimeter handy you could try to measure if pin 2 is connected to the ground i one of the connectors just to verify.
Then again it might not be a thing with the BL2000 and BL3500 as they in all official use cases has to be turned on in the link room.
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberWhilst 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?
to me it seems more like pin 2 is placed in the opposite end of the connector than it should be. But as it only is a block diagram and not a full one it might be a typo
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberOn the other hand i may just be a fully mounted powerlink cable, which was not common anymore at the release of the wireless 1.
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberI have no intention of going anywhere near a Wireless 1
Unless SW 3.3 make the powerlink socket behave like we are used to…
The text on the Beoworld product page regarding Beolink Wireless
suggest that the powelink socket in the BL3500 was first added after release of the Wireless 1 and that a special powerlink cable is needed
BeoLink Wireless 1 can be used with any pair of active loudspeakers except BeoLab 3500. BeoLab 3500 will later be updated to include a PowerLink socket to enable it to be compatible with BeoLink Wireless 1. It will not be possible to upgrade any existing BeoLab 3500 loudspeakers to include this new connection.
To ensure that the control data can pass as well as the sound signals the loudspeakers must be connected using a fully-mounted 3.5mm PowerLink cable. Only BeoLab 5 loudspeakers are supplied with this cable so users should order required cables.
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberThanks for all this Mads – very useful. I don’t hold out much hope for the BS1, but who knows with B&O!
Regarding the BS1, I will try to test it with a Beocord 3500 next time I visit my parents.
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberI 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.
Great idea.
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
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberI did a little extra test with my now limited setup (I almost fell pressured to buy a BL3500 🙂 ).
I wanted to find out if unused Video functions on the BC6 would open pin 3 and 5 in the 1611, thus getting 2 audio inputs from the 1611 on a Beovision. No luck though, tried almost every video command , and unassigned those that were assigned to sources and power cycled inbetween.
On could also Argue that the BC6 has enough sound inputs, 4 if you count the scart connectors.
@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?
If so, with som extra electronics to sense if there is sound this could be a possibility for automatic turning on those speakers when Airplay/Cromecast/bluetooth on that is started.
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberOne interesting test with your new equipment couldbe if both the BL2000, and BL3500 can coexist with the 1611 and acces both sources
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberHope it didnt ruin you ?
But nice and interesting what new things we will learn
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberGreat news. Hope you can solve the hiss with optimized cabling.
Oh yeah forgot that you allready tried the 5v trick. Its wierd that its not a standard powerlink connector.
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberWhat happens if you press Menu 0 3 Go while the 1611 is connected?
will one of the sound inputs from it be open? If not you might be good to go with that solution.
Another thought is the Power link connector on the Beolab 3500.
it should be able to be feed by pressing Menu Menu 0 4 Go according to this https://www.soundsheavenly.com/faq/using-beolab-3500-mk-2-sound-bar-speaker-dock/
But might not work when the Beolab 3500 is connected to ML. Might be Worth trying though.
another source https://www.reddit.com/r/BangandOlufsen/comments/rvr4f4/best_way_to_modernise_a_beolab_3500_soundbar_as/
indicates that the powerlink port. Could be activated with 5v. But again dont know if it would be possible while ML is connected
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberFair enough. We might also have come a little beyond your original topic.
Btw one thing I dont recall seen anyone mention regarding the powerlink connecter on the Beolab 3500 is a direct connection from a Beomaster/beosound/beovision powerlink output. It might have been up in some threads. Just dont recall reading about it.
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberI didn’t think that PL pin 7 was connected to anything inside the BL1611. I presume that you were trying to use it as ground in conjunction with pin 2, or instead of?
In my 1611 the where soldered togheter with a large solder blob, but that that didnt seem to be the case on the photos of the internals of yours.
Guy wrote:
Interesting. This may explain why my OneRemote Radio has a different 3-digit option code when connected to BL1611 to when it is connected to BC9500. (Eg to activate with N.MUSIC on my BC9500 it needs to be set as ‘302’ and with a BL1611 is needs to be ‘402’). I haven’t tested this yet as I need to make up a converter lead to move data to pin 6.
Yes indeed, and also the need for the adapter cables.
Guy wrote:
… but a Beogram with RIAA does use pin 7 apparently. Thus if I connect my BG6500 (with RIAA) to the PHONO socket on my BC9500 (also with RIAA) the mismatch between data pins stops me from activating the Beogram and using a double-RIAA setup.
Yes that may be a way to prevent starting record players that is incorrect connected to the Beomaster
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberThe MCL2 systemnaual 89-90 which can be found i the Beoworld manuals section is also a good read for understanding the difference between datalink usages. In there they are called respectivly Audio Link and Audio Aux Link.
https://www.beoworld.org/manuals_view.asp?pid=973
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberThis site https://github.com/toresbe/datalink explains why I cant use the Beocords datalink with the 1611, as there are two versions of datalink, where one is between components in a stereo system (Beomaster, CD,tape etc. and the other is between systems, beomaster to 1611 or beovision with datalink. Also this seems to be the reason pin 6 and 7 vary although I cannnot see why a Beogram is not communicating on pin 7 like a CD and tape player. If I remember correctly something was mentioned in one of Steve’s videos about CD and Phono commands being the same. That could explain why the are on different pins.
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberNow I tried making a converter cable moving pin 3, 5 and 7 to 1, 4 and 6 and connectiong the Beocord 3500. Sound is going through. fine, but no controls via datalink. It might be that at Beomaster/Beosund has to be between to translate the signals.
But as a bonus I couldent resist to try something with the powerlink conenctor on the 1611.
I don’t have a beomaster with power link on hand, but since its only pin 4 (and 7 and 2 to ground) that is connected internally in the 1611 I made a cable where i could inject voltage on pin 4 and 7.
With the Beocenter 6 and 1611 connected via ML the TV turns on and are on and audio channel when I apply 3V to these pins, and I can play music through the AAL din on the 1611. When i turn of my 3V source the sound will stop, but the TV will stay on.
If the TV is on and on a Video channel to start with I got no reaction from applying the 3V.
So the Powerlink connecter might be usefull for some scenarios, dependent on how it reacts connected to a beolab 3500/2000/active
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberThat is also what I have found out looking in several service manuals for older B&O products. The MX and LX Beovisions (and probably others) has datalink on pin 6, and audio out on pin 1 and 4.
As mentioned earlier in the thread I wanted to try with a Beocord 3500, but when I saw that both the audio pins and the datalink pin needed to be moved in postions i postphoned it. I will try to make a converter cable one of the comming days and repport if that will work.
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD Member@matador: just a suggestion for the drawing. One or both sources can still be a BEO product with datalink. The datalink pin 6 can be relevant to show on the DIN pinout drawing for this usage.
Location: DenmarkMadskpGOLD MemberHello again. Very great findings, glad that it was actual more simple than it seamed. very nice to know how this can be used for other things than it was meant to be.
@Guy: Nice Beocom 6000 you have there ?
Location: Denmark -
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