[Stan]

I was going to try CDEX as there was an article on the gnudb site for making it work with gnudb, but Chrome, Edge and MalwareBytes said it was malware.  I also read some comments in a forum speculating that the project may have been “taken over” by bad guys.  I’m already running on an older PC so I didn’t want to risk inviting unfriendly software visitors so I passed.  Can I ask what version of CDEX you’re using?

I sort of remember working with dbpoweram many years ago.

[Stan]

I am having no luck.

I have manual updates turned on, and the automatic/manual slider button is not displayed I assume because it’s ready to do the update.

I tried removing it from the app, and re-adding it.  This fixes most Balance problems.

I tried with an apple device, and it doesn’t even have a greyed out “install now” button.  It takes me to the software update screen and there’s nothing to do.

I’ve verified that I have the newest app software.

I tried rebooting the TV through the app.

I don’t want to factory reset because I don’t exactly remember all that was required to setup the PUC.

I don’t understand the above comment about there being two menus.  I always updated the screen through the TV and the sound center through the app.  When I open the Eclipse on the app, there’s a big box that says “New Software Available”.  I click the box, and it takes me to a screen that shows the new software version and has a link for previous releases and a non-working “install now” button.

[Stan]

Update:  I got the update going through the TV rather than the app.

Thanks jvezina, your note directed me in the correct direction.

[Stan]

geoffmartin wrote:

Stereomensch wrote:

I really would like to know if Geoff Marin uses an old Beovox speaker secretly at home

I don’t. Now you know. -geoff marin

Although, if he actually told us the truth, it would no longer be a secret 😀

[Stan]

I have always struggled with descriptions of audio systems that “sound like the band is there”.  I see quite a bit of live music of many genres, and rarely does it sound nearly as good as my home system.  The mix isn’t perfect, it’s too loud, the venue has weird acoustics, the audience is noisy, etc.

I would think the perfect case is a symphony playing in a well-designed symphony hall, but even supposedly perfect auditoriums will have sound differences between sitting in front (where individual instruments near the listener might overpower the rest of the symphony) vs more toward the back where the entire symphony’s sounds are better balanced.

As someone said above, it’s all personal preference.  The music doesn’t “sound like the band is there”, but rather like your idealized perception of how the band might sound if there.

[Stan]

I am no longer young so my hearing is not as good as it once was.  With that out of the way, I prefer my pair of Balances to both my BL8000s and BL1s (being driven by a BS9000).  I hear them pull out sounds and textures that I had never heard with the same music on the 1s or 8000s.  It’s like music through the Balances reaches out and grabs me whereas the 1s give me a very pretty picture.  I can also fairly reliably hear the difference between Spotify and ripped CDs (on well recorded music) with the Balances, but not with my other speakers.  Spotify sounds flat, not as dynamic or punchy… kind of like the BLs relative to the Balances.  It didn’t surprise me that they were better than the 8000s, but I was shocked when I found them better than the 1s.

It could be the rooms in which they are located.  I have pretty optimal placement for my Balances because they are in my office, and I have full control of their placement.  The 1s are in a common living area so there could are some compromises in their location, but I always like them a lot.  The 1s get shrieky at very high volumes, but I rarely turn up the volume that loud.  I have been tempted to test the Balances in the 1s location, but I’ve been too lazy to set them up (and does it really matter?).

One other odd opinion:  I thought a single BS2 sounded a bit better than a single Balance.  However, when I added the 2nd Balance and created a stereo pair.  Wow!

I’ve never heard B&O passive speakers so I cannot comment on the Balances relative to those.  However, I vote for the new speakers.

[Stan]

I have a stereo pair of Balances that I listen to daily.  I really like them, and think the stereo pair sounds so much better (more than 2x) than a single.  I also much prefer them to the Level.  I’m not a “bass head”, but find the well controlled bass of the Balance tremendous.  I don’t know why one would want to run a stereo pair in omni mode.  This seems to defeat the purpose of stereo pairing – just run them individually if you want Omni mode.  I also don’t think the mids are washed out, but we all hear differently.

I have no experience with the Bl17s

[Stan]

Not available to me in the US yet.  It’s always a bit of a roll of the dice, but I don’t think there’s been a “bad” release in a few years.  I will probably upgrade when I am able.

[Stan]

I have both Deezer and Spotify.  I mostly use Deezer because it sounds better on my Bs Balance pair, and this is my primary music system at the moment.   I was surprised that it sounded better because I couldn’t hear much of a difference with my older systems.

[Stan]

A black BS1 was in fact my gateway to B&O.  As Steve suggests, it has since gone to university (and back) with my son.  I had a turntable connected at one point, but my son has always had it connected to his computer.   I recently offered him some BL4000s as an upgrade, but he thought they were too flashy.  He said he likes the BS1 because no one in his age group has ever seen one (quite rare in the us)…and it does all the audio stuff quite well.

[Stan]

Looks great.  Solves the biggest issue with my Eclipse gen1 – what happens when the screen dies?  I wish they had this 5? years ago when I bought my Eclipse…

[Stan]

An M3 works fine to extend the NL network so devices (turntable, receiver, etc.) not near your speakers can be used.  However, in most cases, it’s easier to just connect the device directly to the speaker system.  BS2, Balance, Level, Core, Essence MK2 all have line-in capability.

[Stan]

Higher frequency sound tends to be directional.  This means that speakers tend to sound best when the high frequency drivers are pointed at your head (where your ears live).  In this case, the higher frequencies will be directed toward the ceiling rather than your head.  It would probably sound best in that position if it were pointed down toward your sitting area (maybe put the rear leg on a book (or two) if this doesn’t make it too unsteady or look too weird).

You should definitely run the room calibration given it’s in the corner and close to the ceiling, but that will not help the higher frequencies going toward the ceiling rather than the sitting area.

[Stan]

I’m sure B&O considered the “delay problem”, but decided they were not going to solve it with these “lower end” (for B&O) speakers.  Perhaps it would have required an upgraded processor and related components which would have raised the price too much.  Engineering/Product Development is all about trade-offs, and weighing the cost vs. benefit of thousands of design decisions.  Sometimes, they get it right, sometimes they don’t.  If they don’t get it right for you, don’t buy the product… or learn to live with the limitation.  Get a pair of BL28s if you don’t want a delay (I wish).

About the fact that GVA does not allow the distribution of line-in audio, I haven’t seen an explanation for this, and I can’t think of a reasonable one, except for it being some kind of weird licensing restriction imposed by Google.  When in doubt, blame the lawyers. 😀

 

[Stan]

The line-in to my non-GVA Balance (which I assume is the same as a Level since both are Mozart devices) has a perceptible delay that cannot be eliminated.  This is one reason it is sold as a “music only” speaker (lip synching issues for TV audio).

With the older devices (i.e.  Essence mk2, BS2 gen1, possibly core), there is an option to remove the delay at the cost of not being able to distribute the line-in audio via NL.  I have not found a similar configuration setting for the Balance.  Of course, if your Levels have GVA, then they will not distribute the line-in audio (not that this is needed for your application, but it’s a weird limitation that needs to be mentioned whenever possible) so there is an ever so slight possibility that there is no delay.  However, I’m pretty sure that regardless of GVA status there is still a delay as there needs to be time for the DSP to work its magic (something not happening in an Essence mk2, and to a lesser extend in the BS2)

To my knowledge, the BL-transmitter doesn’t provide any cross over settings.  It simply sends whatever the source provides.

[Stan]

A Level can join a core/essence mk2 with no perceptible delay via Network Link… I can listen to multiple NL devices, one being a Balance, without an “echo”.   Not the path I went…  I bought two Balances, but you do you.  If you like the sound that is all that matters.

[Stan]

Google would be required to use Chromecast, but if you’re using Chromecast, you’re already in deep with Google so one more device shouldn’t be a problem (I would think).

[Stan]

I don’t have any advice for this specific problem, but here are some things I’ve had to do to make various B&O products work.

1. Reboot your phone
2. Drop and re-add the BT pairing in your phone.
3. Drop the device from the app, delete the BT pairing, restart the app, add the device to the app “from scratch”.
4. Do all of 3) above, but also reset the A1.
5. If you have multiple A1s, delete them all and try 3) and 4) above
6. Try all of the above in an area with little BT interference.  For example, in my office, I have a BT keyboard and mouse, a laptop, a tablet, a phone, a smart watch, all using BT from time to time.  I’ve had to leave my office for another room there are no other devices to get some things to work (not necessarily with B&O, but other BT devices).

[Stan]

I looked at my wife’s iPhone, and it did not have this option. However, I upgraded the software to a version released in mid-July, and it appeared. Therefore, I’d recommend upgrading the app (if you haven’t already).

[Stan]

Did you scroll down all the way?  (Sarcasm)

My software version is 4.1.0.45586 on Android.

I have not had time to play with it.

[Author]

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