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Essence with Beolab 8000 - volume too low - help needed

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garybullard
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garybullard Posted: Sun, Jun 29 2014 6:10 PM

I have just bought a B&O Essence to replace the CD/Radio I have with my Beolab 8000 speakers. I had to buy adaptors which simply convert the DIN plugs to the ethernet type connectors. Have managed to connect it all and it seems to work fine, playing via airdrop from my iphone. The problem I have is that the volume even at maximum is too quiet. It is in a large room and the CD player worked fine even for parties etc. Now it's too quiet even for me to listen to normally. Any ideas?

Thanks

Jeff
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Jeff replied on Sun, Jun 29 2014 6:23 PM

When streaming, you wind up with two volume controls, the one in the Essence or Playmaker, and the one on the device streaming to the Essence or Playmaker. What is the volume set to on your PC or tablet or whatever you're using to stream from? There's a slider bar in things like Spotify and iTunes, maybe it's not set high enough?

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

Millemissen
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The usual recomendation is to have the volume on the player (the airplay-ing iPad etc) set to max, and then control the volumen in the pre-amp - that is with the wheel on the 'knob'.

MM

There is a tv - and there is a BV

elephant
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elephant replied on Sun, Jun 29 2014 11:13 PM
Millemissen:

The usual recomendation is to have the volume on the player (the airplay-ing iPad etc) set to max, and then control the volumen in the pre-amp - that is with the wheel on the 'knob'.

MM

There is a tv - and there is a BV.

Correct about setting the sources systems to max and the essence to low so that you don't blow your speakers the first time they come on Sad

At one time the recommendation was not to stress the source and so to have the setting at MAX-1 ... which I still do although that is probably not relevant for Airplay / Airdrop

BeoNut since '75

RussR
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RussR replied on Mon, Jun 30 2014 2:36 AM
Please do not set player volume to max. You leave no space for dynamic headroom. You will be more likely to get some distortion. Start with player volume at 60-75% and adjust from there.

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Jeff
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Jeff replied on Mon, Jun 30 2014 5:32 AM

RussR:
Please do not set player volume to max. You leave no space for dynamic headroom. You will be more likely to get some distortion. Start with player volume at 60-75% and adjust from there.

Not true for a digital streaming source. The output is a digital signal, not an analog one that can have headroom. If you run the digital source at less than maximum volume, the volume reduction is done by shifting the most significant bit down, losing the least significant bits. It can be done well, bit that depends on the software, not all of it does OT well. 

You can wind up with, say, instead of 16 bit resolution, 14, or 12, or lower depending on how much you reduce the volume in the digital source. 

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

BeoMotion
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BeoMotion replied on Mon, Jun 30 2014 8:01 AM
Hi,

as far as I know there is only ONE volume control in AirPlay mode. If you stream music from your iDevice and change the volume via the Essence Remote you will see the volume slider moving on your phone.

Please make sure that your Essence is running on the very latest SW. It might also help to remove the power and replug it after a while.

BR

BeoMotion.
Geoff Martin
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RussR:
Please do not set player volume to max. You leave no space for dynamic headroom. You will be more likely to get some distortion. Start with player volume at 60-75% and adjust from there.

 

Assuming that you are using an analogue connection between devices:

The only reason I can think of why this might be true is if the output level of your source (or "player") can clip the input of the input (of the Essence).

So, unless you are coming in the line input, and your source can deliver more than 2 V rms, then this is not true. In order to maximise dynamic range, you should set the output level of your source to maximum and control the volume downstream.

Cheers

-geoff

Geoff Martin
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garybullard:
playing via airdrop from my iphone. The problem I have is that the volume even at maximum is too quiet. It is in a large room and the CD player worked fine even for parties etc. Now it's too quiet even for me to listen to normally. Any ideas?

The Essence is shipped in a volume-limited mode.

Go to the "Settings" tab in the BeoSetup app and you should be able to increase the maximum allowable volume setting there.

Cheers

-geoff

 

 

garybullard
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Thanks everyone - I can verify that there is only one volume control - moving either the iphone or Essence control has the same effect, and I have tried at maximum. I'll try the settings suggestion and report back!

garybullard
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Thanks - yes you are correct only one single volume, as you move the Essence it changes the volume on the device, also yes can see software is quite out of date so am updating that. 

garybullard
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Hi everyone - problem fixed. The Essence seems to be shipped with the volume limited to "Loud" - changing it to "Maximum"  under the settings tab fixed the problem - dramatically higher volume available (scared my cats out of the room). Thanks to everyone - especially for the right answer!

garybullard
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Hi everyone - problem fixed. The Essence seems to be shipped with the volume limited to "Loud" - changing it to "Maximum"  under the settings tab fixed the problem - dramatically higher volume available (scared my cats out of the room). Thanks to everyone - especially for the right answer!

Millemissen
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Congrats with the solution!

So this ended up being another helpfull thread on the forum Yes - thumbs up

I guess we all learned a bit.

MM

There is a tv - and there is a BV

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