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This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
So, i am in the process of considering changing my Airport Express connected to my BS3000 to an Sonos connect. My entire B&O setup is masterlinked and everything works like a charm. My upgrade has to do with my wish to add another Zone in my kitchen (the only place with no B&O and therefore no masterlink) connected to a pair of say BL3´s. NOW the introduction of Playmaker has had me wondering if this is actually a better solution. For once, i guess the playmaker DAC outperforms Sonos (??). Seccondly, the integration in my kicthen (PM+BL3) should IMO work better than connect + BL3´s. On the other hand, Sonos is a multiroom system giving me the opportunity to play different things in different zones. (Chilling to Jack johnson in the kicthen while my girlfriend listens to something else in the livingroom at the same time). Furthermore, sonos supports spotify which is my main source for music.
Now i have heard that B&O is making an app, supposedly something quite similar to the sonos app, althoug i am not expecting something quite as userfriendly at first. I guess this app, when introduced, will give you the opportunity to play different content simultaniously on different playmakers. Furthermore, i have heard that B&O also might be planning to support Spotify in their products at some recent point in time, making the PM solution quite similar to that of Sonos.
What do you guys think or know about this app and evenly important my general thoughts above?
P.s. I have been browsing the forum for playmaker related posts without finding anything on the particular subject above.
/ehlerz
Ehlerz:On the other hand, Sonos is a multiroom system giving me the opportunity to play different things in different zones. (Chilling to Jack johnson in the kicthen while my girlfriend listens to something else in the livingroom at the same time). Furthermore, sonos supports spotify which is my main source for music.
I have only been playing with a loan Playmaker for a few hours. but I will say its audio distribution is quite separate from the MasterLink - unlink the BeoLink Wireless 1 which extends the ML.
So you can either broadcast from iTunes to all Airplay devices ... I had two ATVs and the Playmaker playing the same track at one point ... BUT there was lag - the PlayMaker seemed fastest, or "firstest" ... the ATV2 on the BV8-32 came next ... and the slowest/lastest/worst lag was the ATV3 on the BV8-40
I could have had all three playing separate music ... by using any mixture of iTunes on different computers or different iDevices ... a test for later today is to test the A3/iPad1 combination
And I noted elsewhere ....Apple have just upgraded their ATV software to add support of Airplay speakers
And the PlayMaker appears on the ATV's list as a target speaker
But seems you can only have one set of speakers on at once, the native ATV or the Playmaker ... or the other ATV in the other room !
However unless B&O come up with a Playmaker that broadcasts from the ML I don;t think you will get your BeoMaster/BeoSOund audio into the kitchen
BeoNut since '75
Hi Elephant
Thanks for your thoughts. I have myself been experienting with more than one airplay unit (Airport Express connected to BS3000 and Beolit 12) I must say that i experience no lag what so ever when streaming to both devices at the same time (that is all 3 linkrooms through BS3000 connected Airport Express, and Beolit in the kicthen). So your experience surprises me a bit, especially your lag experience on 2 different apple products. As far as i know however, your different lag experiences might come from your Beovisions taking different time to proces the digital signal feed to them through what i pressume is HDMI connections. Then it also makes perfect sense when you say that your playmaker was first responder. In my setup, none om my Playmakers or Sonos Connect units will be connected to a tv so i dont think i will have the same difficulties as you.
But the lack of abillity to stream to more than one unit at the time from IOS devices makes me hessitate a bit at this point. My plan is to wall mount my ipad, using spotify (through the sonos app or the B&O app) and then control all my music distriution this way. Today i have itunes constantly running on my mac mini, using the itunes remote on the Ipad to distribute the music.
So lets see what happens in the near future. If nothing comes up, i might have to go with sonos.
Ehlerz: As far as i know however, your different lag experiences might come from your Beovisions taking different time to proces the digital signal feed to them through what i pressume is HDMI connections.
I agree - that was the assumption I had come to and the expectation I had had -- so the difference between the BV8-40 and BV8-32 did not surprise me.
Ehlerz:My plan is to wall mount my ipad, using spotify (through the sonos app or the B&O app) and then control all my music distriution this way.
I have a similar ambition for my now quite dated iPad 1 -- it is now left out in the cold, no iOS 6 upgrade path for the iPad 1
Ehlerz:But the lack of abillity to stream to more than one unit at the time from IOS devices makes me hessitate a bit at this point.
I understand, but the iTunes on my Mac does support multiple speakers ...
Ehlerz:Today i have itunes constantly running on my mac mini, using the itunes remote on the Ipad to distribute the music.
Yes I also use the Mac/iPad combo that way but I use the iPad as the controller, not the distributor ... so I have just tested setting the Mac(book) to use multiple speakers and then used the Apple Remote App to control the Mac(book)'s playlists -- and I can change tracks, albums, artists (via search), and so on
So each change affected both of the "multiple" speakers I had going ... the Playmaker and an ATV (3)
Perhaps that solves the iTunes issue (but not the Spotify)
And here is something I did not know / learned today from this test !!
There is a playlist in iTunes called "Remote" ... and it shows what the current select on the Remote App on the iPad is !!!!!
Seems like we have quite similar setups at this moment. I also distribute my music from itunes using the remote app, sorry if that was unclear. This as you also experience gives me the possibillity to stream to multiple speakers at the same time. My point is, that selling the Playmaker as a "Wireless Speakersetup in each and every room" solution is only gonna work for B&O if they introduce an app that will stream to multiple speakers from an IOS device. B&O dont want to rely in people always having Itunes running somewhere in the setup. They need to have their own Sonos equivalent app, alowing streaming from NAS and better yet, also supporting Spotify and other streaming services. If this was the case, i would gladly buy a Playmaker for every room and cancle my current masterlink setup. Why? Obviously to avoid cables, and as i do not use masterlink for videodistribution any longer, wired Masterlink for radio and Mp3 listening seems a bit overdone. Furthermore, and most important, different music in every room!!!
So B&O, hopefully this is your vision with Playmaker. Actually i think you should take it even further and like sonos introduce your own wireless network protocol having it run on a seperate network. Why limit yourself to airplay capabillities when there is no need to. AND why you are at it anyway, wireless HD video would also be a welcome addition.
/Ehlerz
I really hope they will do this.. Just what i am hoping for..
Ehlerz:Seems like we have quite similar setups at this moment.
Ehlerz:as i do not use masterlink for videodistribution any longe
may I ask what do you use ?
Well, to be honest, it would surprise me if B&O could ever make an app that can compete with the Sonos. The interface of the Sonos Controller app is so well thought and makes it very easy to select music from any source you want to play, including Spotify.
Alternative to Airplay without running iTunes on your PC is a NAS with Twonky installed and install a 3rd-party app on your iPad, ie iMediashare, and go from there. But my guess is this will not make you happy
You could be right that the Playmaker DAC will outperform the Sonos. I never compared those. But both of them will certainly outperform the Airport Express DAC. At my dealer I had the opportunity to compare an AE connected to BL8002, with the Playmaker connected to BL6002. Playing Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams, a great album to demo Beolabs. Guess what, the combo PM - BL6002 sounded so much better. So the question remains if Sonos DAC can compete with the PM...
But one thing is for sure, in your setup the Sonos Controller app is hard to beat.
As an alternative, it seems B&W have recently introduced a couple of new wireless speakers, the A7 & A5, which allegedly include high quality DAC's with ethernet and optical in.
Ban boring signatures!
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.
MartinW:The Sonos app is indeed extreeeeeeeemly good. Recently though I have been using the official Spotify app to stream to an A8 - thats a good app too. No need for a B&O Spotify app. You just use the Spotify app and airplay out to the A8, PM, Blit or whatever. I do wish Apple would enable you to Airplay to multiple devices though without having to use iTunes, which i loathe!
That is my point. There was no need for a B&O ish Sonos app supporting Spotify if it was possible to stream to multiple speakers from the native spotify app. Incorporating Spotify support in the sonos app and the sonos system makes is possible!
elephant: may I ask what do you use ?
I only watch my media in my mainroom so have no need for video distribution at this point. When DVD´s was the main media, i sometimes watched a dvd in my bedroom linked from mainroom.