ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
A few days ago our new family member - amazons´ "alexa" arrived. Two echo dots and two more echos. For living room, bathroom, kitchen and sleeping room. The idea behind is very nice - control via voice and listen to different sources in different rooms. One of the echo dots will power up some beolab (maybe 4000 or 8000) in future. For today the echo brings music into the living room. After listening to it for the whole evening tried to find an answer about how we listen to music today and what quality of that music we expect.
The idea of echo (and all other) is brilliant but sound quality is poor and boring. A speaker not bigger than a water bottle has to give same a power as a Beolab 8000 15 years ago. What happend to us? To those times, we tried to get best stereo sound? Are we more indifferent?
thoughtfoul regards,
Adrian
So....why did you purchase these ‘water bottles’?
Have you become more ‘indifferent’ - or was it out of pure curiousity?
You might have asked yourself these questions before.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
good answer. It was pure curiousity and the idea behind: simplicitiy. Soundwise the "new technology" is no comparison to the old one.
...and in the end you keep asking for the same music to play - or rely on some dumb playlist, that ‘the machine’ picks for you.
I’d rather spend my ‘curiousity’ on exploring music and artists on the web (in my case my iPad) - this intermediate step gives me inspiration to choose and listen to music in all it’s varietes.
And it has become sooo easy these days just to type your request in the search field of your prefered music streaming service ;-)
But, OK....for casual listening/background listening - if you are not as ‘demanding’ as I am, voie control and a small speaker will certainly do the job.
Mrs P loves her Google home in the kitchen, it plays the music she asks for and also answers her questions while she is baking/cake decorating etc. without having to clean her hands or reach for her phone etc. It also doesn't use her phone battery.
I on the otherhand can ask it to play my music on "My Hifi" (as I have called the Chromecast Audio in the back of my BM5000) - no typing required!. I defy anyone to fire up an App and select the same music any quicker! Instant access, again without any impact on my phones wellbeing.
Ban boring signatures!
I find I use streaming for the sitting room (BL8000), kitchen (BL3500), garden (yamaha in the garage), study (BL2000) and it streams from my Mac to a Playmaker and internet radio. I use the remote app and it works flawlessly. When I have friends round they can stream form whatever phone they have. So it's a good solution for day to day listening.
For music evenings though I listen mainly in my study to vinyl through a valve amp and into M100-2's, I also use the USB output from the mac to a DAC and into the amp for itunes and a Revox tape recorder to record playlists!. That system completely blows away any of the others in my house, but, would look terrible in the sitting room due to the size of it all.
Recently I have found that I have bought more vinyl and discovering new music that way. But day to day is streaming.
can definitely see scenarios where it makes sense, but for some the interaction of talking to a machine, is (a) odd and a hurdle, and (b) especially when each interaction starts with a Hey Google, or Hey Siri or whatever, which makes the interaction super weird and odd, to me at least.
Maybe i'll be motivated to get over that hurdle one day, when voice control becomes better, and the connected devices get better.
Sandyb: can definitely see scenarios where it makes sense, but for some the interaction of talking to a machine, is (a) odd and a hurdle, and (b) especially when each interaction starts with a Hey Google, or Hey Siri or whatever, which makes the interaction super weird and odd, to me at least. Maybe i'll be motivated to get over that hurdle one day, when voice control becomes better, and the connected devices get better.
Its not really the issue you think it is, in the comfort of your own home you'll not even notice you're saying it after a day or two! (and, unlike Apple, it does amazingly well, considering my NE accent - I don't have to attempt a 1930's BBC Presenter's voice in an effort to be understood)!!
Different story using voice assistant on your phone in public - I agree you will feel and look a complete tool!
And that may well be the case, that i'd just get used to it quickly. And one day i suspect i'll be voice activating various things, i'm just in no great hurry and i'll wait, as (hopefully) the overall capability improves in the future.
I'll amble on with my Moment for a while, or using the app, which is decent now.
And see how B&O integrate voice into their products - while its easy to cringe at this like future development, i'd be more relaxed. B&O will be using existing voice assistants, from what i understand, so having a BS2 you can talk to with a "Hey Google" etc shouldnt be a bad thing.
https://youtu.be/e2R0NSKtVA0
People are more and more stupid, they would better imagine a system in order to voice activating them.
4 beolab 5, beolab 9, beolab 10, beolab 5000, beolab 8000 mk2, beolab 6002, beolab 3500, beovision 7 55 mk2, 2 beovision 11 46 mk4, beotime, beosound ouverture, beosound essence, beoplay A8, beomaster 900 RG de luxe and the collection continues...
Hi,
I was thinking the same thing, I just bought a dot, a small one. I will probably hate the sound, (comming per mail tomorrow) to integrate with my new Beolink gateway comming in 2 weeks. I want to integrate them with my kitchen Beolab 4000 which are currently on an active kit. Can I use a simple Bluetooth receiver on it or shall I get the Core. Not really happy to bet a Core after reading some posts.i have also an NL/ML coverter hanging but not using it, but after the post that it was discontonued I purchased one the same day. I can use this as an active kit but what about bluetooth.
A shame B&O does not make a smart speaker however you can use bluetooth speakers for sound, I just want my beolabs 4000 to as I do not want an additional speaker on my countertop.
Thanks Chucky
I have both my Beolab 5000 system and Beomaster 4401 with echo dots attached. Sound very good . Also have a couple of echos floating about - useful for the radio and also information. Completely sold on them. I didn't find that they were that good straight into Beolabs though - the gain seemed not quite right.
Peter
I have 200 records and 300+ CDs so my primary way of listening is via my hifi system (McIntosh/BS900/BL1s) or connected headphones. It took me a while to get used to get up and change sides of a record (had not done that in probably 20 years). But now I enjoy the break, listening to an entire record, remembering over time where the scratches are. It gives character and it is nice to see the spinning record. The CDs on the BS9000 are also beautiful to look at. I have 96k/192K sitting on my Mac streaming through the system, but the visual is not there and for me I prefer the physical media. It is like making espresso on a olympia express machine (which I have). I have an echo that I received as a present and I really used for the weather d will use it for lights - I cant imagine using it for music.
But I am in deeply in the minority I realize.
BV11-55, BS9000, BL1, BL19, Transmitter 1, Beo4, Beocom 6000, BeoTalk1 200, Sennheiser HD600, McIntosh MHA100
The NL/ML Converter has a line-in connection (this means that you can hear, what is connected there, through the connected BL’s).
Connecting an Echo Dot there is a standart procedure - as described here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202011840
If you want the Playmaker in that chain, first connect the Playmaker to the converter (you will need a RJ45/PL to R/L-cinch cable for that - and you will have to set the output of the PM to ‘fixed’).
Then connect the Dot as described above (in the link).
N.B. ‘then connect the Dot to the Playmaker as described....
BeoNut since '75
chucky: I have patched Alexa to the playmaker using minijack to double cinch and the powerlink of the playmaker connected to the aux in (RJ45 to double cinch) into the NL ML converter. Is this OK?
I have patched Alexa to the playmaker using minijack to double cinch and the powerlink of the playmaker connected to the aux in (RJ45 to double cinch) into the NL ML converter. Is this OK?
Seems ok to me!
I’d set the PL of the Playmaker to ‘fixed line-out’ and set it to option 0 —-- using the app.
I suppose that you will have an ir-eye connected to the NL/ML Converter - otherweise it will be hard to control it as ‘an active link’.
Or did you attend to control the volume via the connected devices (Alexa/Playmaker)?
There might be some settings in the converter for the line-in sense there - which I don’t remember right now.
Please note!
In my post above (or below...if you use the Beoworld-app) I mentioned ‘if you want the Playmaker in the chain’.
DO you need it? Otherweise there is no real use for it!
You gain DLNA and AirPlay streaming with it, and maybe you also want that in that room.
If you are content with what the Alexa offers, you might as well leave it out....and use less cables ;-))))
@chucky
P.S. Your Converter will be hardwired to the network.
In case you have the Playmaker there as well, you are adviced to hardwire that too!
chucky:How do you use your smart speakers Elephant, as singe systems?