[Stan]

Thanks for posting those product sheets.  I was having difficulty finding gen2 information now that it seems to have been scrubbed from B&O’s website.

Additional differences I haven’t seen mentioned in any articles:

• No more Alexa. I believe Amazon has mostly given up on this as well. Never used this on my Gen2.
• A *fabric* USB cable. Luxury all the way.
• 18 g heavier. Must be the bigger battery.

[Stan]

I actually had 2 gen 2s. A stereo pair of A1s sound far better than they should. I highly recommend!!!

However, I ultimately found the pairing process too fiddly for every day use  so I gave my daughter one, and I use the other for conference calls on my computer and for travel. No room for 2 speakers in my travel bag. I still have a gen 1 that I have connected to TV in a small guest house… Maybe when my daughter’s A1’s battery eventually dies and she comes around asking for my other one, I will go with the gen 3.

[Stan]

gburgess – tried sending you a PM, it looked like to worked on my end.

[Stan]

Thanks for your replies.

B&O did actually respond to my request and asked me for more information. When I went to look for this information, the line-in settings now appeared again in the App just like it used to be. Not sure what happened because I didn’t change anything, and I don’t recall updating the app, nor the Balance, but, whatever, it is all working again just like before. I did leave the house for a day and a 1/2 so who knows what the cat did while I was away :D.

@gburgess – About repairing my BS9000. What repair shops have you worked with in the US? I used to have B&O service center about 30 minutes away so I was spoiled. Unfortunately, he retired. B&O says to talk with the Cincinnati store as that is the closest to Chicago, but I found it easier to deal directly with the repair shop without the dealer sitting in between.

Also, I’m not excited about joining the beta program. There are enough quirks with the regular software. However, I am glad that you find it useful and worth your time. Ultimately, users like you should make the software better. I definitely don’t want to do anything to confuse my BLC.  When I reboot it, I need to leave it unpowered for ~24+ hours or else it doesn’t boot up correctly.

[Stan]

I’ll just keep talking to myself about this. Maybe someone might benefit some day.

Now, I’m remebering that the Balance always had a delayed line-in input which stopped it from being used with a TV. Now, it seems like they’ve eliminated this delay (i’m only comparing time from needle drop to audio so there may still be some lip sync issues). Yeah, for the TV people. Boo, for people who want to send their TT audio to other rooms.

In any event, I sent a strongly worded email to B&O support about this. That will show them! /sarcasm.

I think connecting the TT to the BLC will fix my issues… so I have to fiddle with the app to listen to my LPs… I have to do that regardless since line-in sensing doesn’t seem to work anymore.

Still curious if BeoLiving with a Halo can help anything here.

[Stan]

I think I figured out what happened to the Line-In on the Balance. It used to be that you could set the Line In for no-delay or delay, and only with a delay would it allow you to distribute the audio via NL It was a limitation I could very easily live with. Now, there is no delay, and they seem to have removed the ability to modify the line in – that is, there was a line-in sensitivity or delay settings. No more line-in sensing either. I can no longer find these settings in the app. You must select “Line-In” vs. starting the LP and it automatically switches over.

IIRC, there was a problem with the line sensitivity not working correctly. The non-default setting would not always “stick”. I guess B&O’s solution was to remove all of the line sensitivity settings.  Grrrr. 🙁

[Stan]

I don’t have a Video Master so I have the NL source mapped to TV controls like DVD, DVD2 and V.MEM. I have a BS9000 that is normally the Audio Master, but it is not currently working so I’ve set the BS5 to be the Audio Master. This was all working a few months ago.

A few days ago, I tried to start listening to my Balance sources on my BS5 and none of them were there. The BS1 sources were still there, and they still worked. I looked at my BLC configuration and the Balance mappings had disappeared. I tried to re-add them, but noticed that Balance->Line In was no longer available as an option, only B&O Radio, Qplay, Tone generator and USB. I have no clue what Tone generator does – I’ve tried it hoping it might still map to Line In, but no luck. Same with USB… although I assume it’s audio coming in over the USB connection which I didn’t think was possible. B&O Radio usually works… although sometimes it seems the Balance loses the plot when it comes to NL. Right now, I cannot see any other devices to send audio from the Balance. Rebooting will probably fix it, but rebooting a stereo pair can be a pain. They don’t always come back the way they left.

Connecting the TT to the BS5 is not an option as there’s no room for a TT near the BS5. If I connect the TT to the BLC, then I can see the Converter->LINE IN in the NL configuration panel on the BLC, but I don’t see how to get the audio to the Balance. Getting ML sources to the Balance, say N.Music from the BS5, has always been spotty at best – sometimes it works, other times it boops once, other times it boops twice. It boops more often than it works. Is the Line In on a BLC considered a ML source or a NL source? Maybe I can just configure it in the app – join the Balance to the Converter?

[Stan]

I have a question about it working in the other direction – sending Mozart sources to ML. At one time, I was able to play my turntable connected to my Balances and then also listen on my BS5 in another room. I even went so far as to program the ML selection on my BeoRemote One to say “Office-LP” (as the turntable and Balances are in my office). This no longer seems to work. In fact, the Balance -> “Line In” option has disappeared from the BLC configuration screen.  So it seems B&O giveth and also taketh away.

What are my option?  If I connect the TT to the BLC (no speakers), can I easily send the audio to both my Balances and my BS5? I say easily because I’d rather not have to fiddle to get the TT playing on my Balances as this is my most common way to listen to the TT.  It it takes a bit to get the audio to the BS5, that’s not ideal, but I can probably live with it.

What of this BeoLiving that Carolpa mentions? I do have a Halo, but have no need for home automation.. and I always thought that was the point of BeoLiving.  However, if it can make my audio system more capable (and doesn’t require me to hire someone to program it).

Thoughts?

Stan

[Stan]

What do you mean by no difference between Spotify Connect and Chromecast? I always found Chromecast to be buggy and unreliable while Spotify Connect usually works fine.  I gave up on Chromecast a few years ago so maybe it’s better now.

[Stan]

You can’t plug BL4000s (or any other speaker) into a BL3500. The Bl4000s need to be plugged into the BS3000 or you need a beolink active + IR eye + another masterlink connection.

[Stan]

Here in the US, I’d be happy to have any dealer closer than 700 miles – the distance to my current closest dealer –  or even better, a service center within driving distance! It’s not like I live in a small city, but i guess the market just isn’t here any longer 😕

I may have to order some foam and give this a shot… as usual, I should have thought of this *before* I gave them to my son… when they were simply collecting dust in my office.

 

[Stan]

Ok, I should have searched. There’s a very good thread here:

https://forum.beoworld.org/forums/topic/beolab-8000-preventive-care/

To save a click, there’s still no definitive answer about a serial number cut-off, but, as of 2023, the highest serial number it has been seen on is 154x xxxx. The thought is that the deterioration has to do with heat so not using them should help (but, then, what’s the point of having speakers and not using them?).

[Stan]

I’ve been using this one for the last 6 months: https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Extractor-Converter-Soundbar-Amplifier/dp/B07CJ96MQV

Works quite well (so far)… although I only have mine connected to a BeoLit 20 so I can’t comment too much on the sound quality aside from it sounds great to me.

You do need to read the fine print to make sure the unit allows volume control. Not all do. I also had to fiddle with the digital audio output format on the TV, IIRC.

Also, I feel your pain. It took me far too long to find this device. Searching Google and Amazon with what I thought were good keywords just kept coming back with the HDMI splitters, and every other HDMI device except for this one. I eventually found a similar device mentioned deep in a home theater forum. The one under discussion wasn’t available, but that one brought me to this one.

[Stan]

Why do you say Balances cannot be “very competent speakers in stereo pair”?

I’m very happy with my stereo pair of Balances.

[Stan]

I don’t have an IR eye for my BLC so I don’t know.

[Stan]

I also tested Bluetooth, and it operates the same as Airplay. Send BT to a BS1 casting to ML, and ML device shuts off.

The external streamer solution sounds very reasonable, or you could also switch to Deezer vs Airplay.

 

[Stan]

@BeoMedia,

I borrowed my wife’s iphone and verified that one CANNOT share Airplay from an ASE (BS1) or Mozart (Balance) device to a ML device (BS5) via ML/NL converter.  Some sources, you can switch. If I’m listening to Deezer or B&O Radio, and start my turntable, then the audio sent to the ML device changes to the turntable. However, with Airplay, the ML device switches off as soon as I start playing Airplay on the linked ASE/Mozart device.

Stan

[Stan]

L1no wrote:

Not agreeing on his loathing review of the app, quite questionable response (sponsored?).

I do not understand your loathing comment. I believe he said it’s the “standard by which all apps should be measured”.  I think this comment says more about the generally bad state of most speaker apps vs how great the B&O app is.

[Stan]

You cannot share Spotify with a NL/ML converter because Spotify can only be shared with other speakers licensed Spotify which the NL/ML is not.

Airplay should not be a problem, but I don’t use Airplay so I do not know for sure. I regularly share Deezer from a ASE BS1 and the line-in from an ASE BS2 with my BS9000 via NL/ML converter.

[Stan]

My first vote is that the cable isn’t right. Note that the AUX port supports input and output (back in the day, you’d connect a tape deck and record while you were listening) so if your AUX cable only has 2 RCA leads, it could be an AUX output vs AUX input cable. If it has 4 leads you could potentially be connecting the output leads… or it could just be wired wrong.

On the list of stupid things I’ve done that you can check before ordering a new cable:

1. Make sure you’re plugged into the AUX port, and not one of the PL ports. It’s very tight back there and if you’re doing it “by feel” because it’s too hard to get into a position to see what you’re doing, this can happen (actually, I plugged a PL in to the AUX and then couldn’t figure out why it was so loud and I couldn’t control the volume, but it’s the same concept).
2. Make sure you the DIN is oriented correctly so, for example, pin1 on the connector lines up with hole1 on the BS9000. The Din connectors are not supposed to let you do this, but I have an AUX cable that allows one to plug it in wrong.

I had a Google Chromecast wired to my BS9000 until I gave up on its drop outs so you’re on the right track.

[Author]

Posts