Sign up for AirPlay2 beta testing

elephant:

What I have observed, and it is quite noticeable, is that the BV8-40 lags the Essence and the Core. That is the delay is inside the BV8 (my rudimentary analysing) — if the BV8 was an Eclipse receiving an AP2 stream it might be in synch !

I notice that if I have ATV as source (connected to BV11) sound is not in sync if I add e.g my BS1.

If I do the same thing with an ATV I have connected to a non B&O TV (with sound over surround receiver) and add e.g my BS1, sound is in sync.

So the Beovisions add delay in their sound processing.

Now we see that it is meaningfull to do some beta testing, before a general B&O release is done.

A lot of the B&O owners wil have and use the combo BV/ATV4 for music.

This is more complicated than setting up ATV2 with a couple of compatible speakers

I hope the testing helps the guys in Struer....and I would gladly participate, when I am home from my journey (currently in warm/hot Nueremberg in Germany).

MM

Hiort:

I notice that if I have ATV as source (connected to BV11) sound is not in sync if I add e.g my BS1.

If I do the same thing with an ATV I have connected to a non B&O TV (with sound over surround receiver) and add e.g my BS1, sound is in sync.

So the Beovisions add delay in their sound processing.

for your analysis

for pesky BeoVisions !

Progress by other brands on the AP2 front

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/08/09/denon-marantz-airplay-2-support/

AnalogPlanet:

Big thanks for this insight and all pics elephant! Could you be so kind to confirm my two assuptions: a) if Homepod is set to be in (for example) Corridor and I say “play music in Living Room” while A9 being mapped in the living room - then only A9 will play? And b) in such case Homepod will be streaming source so my iPhone will not drain its battery and it actually does not to be on the WIFI at all?

The reason I’m asking is that I’d like to play music only on B&O Airplay2 devices while Homepod would be only the listening device/microphone and streaming unit. Thanks again. :)

I’ll get back to you

elephant:

AnalogPlanet:

Big thanks for this insight and all pics elephant! Could you be so kind to confirm my two assuptions: a) if Homepod is set to be in (for example) Corridor and I say “play music in Living Room” while A9 being mapped in the living room - then only A9 will play? And b) in such case Homepod will be streaming source so my iPhone will not drain its battery and it actually does not to be on the WIFI at all?

The reason I’m asking is that I’d like to play music only on B&O Airplay2 devices while Homepod would be only the listening device/microphone and streaming unit. Thanks again. :)

Elephant:

I’ll get back to you

Analog planet I have to thank you!

Without your question I wouldn’t of had the adventures I’ve had today

You caused me to do some reconfiguration of my Home App’s definitions of rooms and speakers. Please I am not complying ! It was great fun.

The great news from my beta perspective is that I was able to add both the Essence and the Core.

At least I presume that’s the result of AirPlay 2.

I also able to play music on the various devices and in the different rooms. Activating something on the HomePod to play on another room was easy to achieve.

However I don’t think it’s possible to join rooms to the HomePod using Siri. Probably possible by overriding the visual controls on the iPhone’s control centre.

I had to talk to the HomePod’s Siri to achieve this.

Trying to get the iPhones Siri to connect up to the HomePod and then send the music to another speaker didn’t seem to work. But I couldn’t get the iPhone to send music via Siri to either the Core or the Essence.

However I was able to instruct the iPhone Siri to send music to both the BL11+6000s and my BL 20s.

And also “stop” the stream - however the speakers remained active, as Siri only paused the music from the iPhone.

One complication that I have which I think may have made some of the testing difficult is the use of three Apple Time Capsule was to provide meshed network through my house.

So at times I am in one room with the Core connected to one Time Capsule communicating to another Time Capsule in another room then communicating to the third time capsule which is near the HomePod. This is why you will see the phrase “connecting...” on some of the screenshots.

I have taken lots of various screenshots and I will post them separately.

Download warning ⚠️ ⚠️

Screenshots below ... lots of them !!!!

Three separate streams - system confused by what is on the BL20s

“System” (it is not really a system it’s a collection of disparate intelligences) is no longer confused after an automatic stream track change.

Note the connecting issue from this room to the other, further by two time capsules, room where the HomePod actually is.

HomePod streaming to the core and it’s beollab 20s

I probably could’ve use the following screenshot to do some joining of the Apple AirPlay stream from the HomePod

Instead there was some joining via the BeoLink controller to the ATV’s music stream via the BV40’s ML connection:

Examples of various Siri commands obviously from the screenshots these were on the iPhone Siri

Which was technically true ... the speaker was silent but HomePod controller was broadcasting to the other room

So I tried stopping that [:\'(]

Connecting issues ?

Or something else ?

Some stopping worked

Some joining worked

Marvellous ... must repeat this technique with the HomePod !

Using the HomePod Siri to start playing music and then add different rooms at different times and have the HomePod stream to all of them ... unfortunately the BV8 connected speakers are not in sync with the others ...

Wow, that was some extensive testing of many different scenarios - glad you managed to add both Essence and the Core... ...and looks like BV8 sound will remain a bit of a challenge for the time being. Again: big thanks and you confirmed exactly what I hoped for. :) And now I just need to wait for B&O’s IFA press conference and Apple’s autumn event. ;) 

Argh my last post which I forgot to save just got lost !

Because I have been signed out maybe because I’ve done too many posts and too many photographs today.

And it was maybe the best, most insightful, instructive, and exciting of the lot !

Murphy’s Law of course.

AnalogPlanet:

Big thanks for this insight and all pics elephant! Could you be so kind to confirm my two assuptions: a) if Homepod is set to be in (for example) Corridor and I say “play music in Living Room” while A9 being mapped in the living room - then only A9 will play? And b) in such case Homepod will be streaming source so my iPhone will not drain its battery and it actually does not to be on the WIFI at all?

The reason I’m asking is that I’d like to play music only on B&O Airplay2 devices while Homepod would be only the listening device/microphone and streaming unit. Thanks again. :)

Select may make another attempt to posting my insightful constructive comments.

This time I’ll break it up ride some degree of structure.

Firstly to answer Analog Planet’s original questions:

1. Yes you can

2. Yes it does

However I discovered many many other things

First insight

Naming of the room and the speakers is very important.

Here is my set up at the end of the day

You can address your commands to Siri either by Speaker or by Room

Making the names long such as “living room” room is less useful than having “living”.

Clearly a spoken name like “beo lab twenty” is not useful to Siri. “20” and “6000” are.

However I could’ve called them core (the 20s) and essence (6000s) !

However I don’t think it will make any difference to our families what we name these things: I think they will just want to say “hey Siri play music in the kitchen”

So some food for thought for all of you

Following observation: that without knowing the detail of speakers in rooms and knowing how things are named and knowing how the system works I suspect most of our family will not be able to use things the way I have done today.

And the starting, adding/joining and stopping of rooms is complex and requires careful use of Siri commands.

I wonder whether the way to go is simply to inject the HomePod stream into one part of the B&O network and then use all the technology we already have to add and join rooms: such as the Essence’s Wheely.

Nonetheless I found myself excited by the possibilities.

Many of us have iPhones and some also iPads, some of us have Apple TV, a few of us have Essence Mark IIs - Core Mark Is and IIs, and fewer still have HomePods.

And of course somewhere in the above is the sub-/super- set of users of the Philips Hue lights, bridge, and HomeKit.

Some of us (Moi included) have google mini speakers, chrome audios, and chrome videos which would complicate/enrich and frustrate/delight our family/selves.

Then add Amazon, Apple, and Google voice in the future to speakers like BeoSound 1s 2s and various BeoPlay products and the possibilities compound exponentially.

I will leave it to others to ponder about home automation devices and B&O’s various gateways. That topic is well beyond me.

Now much of these additions to what was meant to be a simple AP2 beta thread may be unwelcome.

If they are please say so!

I can always start a new thread.

And finally ?

You can ask Siri what’s playing where ...

One of my exciting discoveries was how the Apple TV can be initiated from the HomePod (sadly I have not had a repeat of yesterday’s excitement the ATV waking up also woke up my BV8-40) yet runs autonomously from that point on. So you can actually have two separate content AirPlay streams without using your phone’s battery:

Also how the ATV can volume control speakers being played by the HomePod.

Note the volume hint on the bottom of the screen above — then use your Apple remote to tweak the volume, and ...

elephant:

One of my exciting discoveries was how the Apple TV can be initiated from the HomePod (sadly I have not had a repeat of yesterday’s excitement the ATV waking up also woke up my BV8-40)

The only way I can think of that would make this happen is if the Apple TV remote is sending an IR command (TV) to the BV8 as HDMI-CEC is nonexistent on the B&O televisions.  For this to work the Apple remote might have to point in direction of the BV8 unless it works as good as B&O remotes. So maybe the apple remote was placed in an opportune way the first time you tried it?

 

 

 

 

I believe you could be right madskp. I actually use Apple TV Remote daily to adjust my LG LCD TV volume with +/- buttons on the remote. Since I mostly watch whetever I stream from the ATV4K, then I practically don’t even touch TV’s remote (ATV also set up to “wake” the TV). 

Just tried it with my simple setup Beoplay V1 and ATV4. No other Airplay devices.

I placed the Apple remote in front of the tv and tried to play music from my iphone to the Apple TV without turning the V1 on. Nothing happened. Then i tried with video to see if the Apple TV would react differently. Nothing happened. 

Next thing I activated the Apple remote (which turned the TV on) and turned of the TV again. Now when I started airplaying music or video from the Iphone to the Apple TV the V1 turned on.

So here is what I think is happening: The Apple TV remote might go into som kind of sleep mode to preserve battery (I rarely use mine but it has keept the charge for several months without use) after a while and will only respond if you activate it by a button press. This makes sense from a normal use case. When the remote is in sleep mode it will not recive commands from the ATV and can not relay IR signals to the TV. 

I Will try to connect the Apple remote with a lightning cable and see if charging is preventing it from going to sleep. Will wait a couple of hours before i try again as I dont know how fast the remote will go to sleep under normal circumstances.   

This could be very interesting in order to turn on Beovisions with airplay

AnalogPlanet:

I believe you could be right madskp. I actually use Apple TV Remote daily to adjust my LG LCD TV volume with +/- buttons on the remote. Since I mostly watch whetever I stream from the ATV4K, then I practically don’t even touch TV’s remote (ATV also set up to “wake” the TV). 

Oh and this might also work with other brands of TV's than B&O. For TVs with HDMI-CEC it might actually work without the Apple remote being part of it. Can not test it though as I only have the V1 

madskp:

Just tried it with my simple setup Beoplay V1 and ATV4. No other Airplay devices.

I placed the Apple remote in front of the tv and tried to play music from my iphone to the Apple TV without turning the V1 on. Nothing happened. Then i tried with video to see if the Apple TV would react differently. Nothing happened. 

Next thing I activated the Apple remote (which turned the TV on) and turned of the TV again. Now when I started airplaying music or video from the Iphone to the Apple TV the V1 turned on.

So here is what I think is happening: The Apple TV remote might go into som kind of sleep mode to preserve battery (I rarely use mine but it has keept the charge for several months without use) after a while and will only respond if you activate it by a button press. This makes sense from a normal use case. When the remote is in sleep mode it will not recive commands from the ATV and can not relay IR signals to the TV. 

I Will try to connect the Apple remote with a lightning cable and see if charging is preventing it from going to sleep. Will wait a couple of hours before i try again as I dont know how fast the remote will go to sleep under normal circumstances.   

This could be very interesting in order to turn on Beovisions with airplay

Great thinking / detective work !

I think you are on to something ... the first use was in the morning after everything (including me) had been asleep for 6 to 8 hours.

I will try tomorrow :) as well as checking my apple remote's charge level (I last checked this week, and it was about 75% (you can check yours via the ATV's configuration App where all the remote & IR settings are also kept)).

And now some AIrPlay2 (I believe) testing from the ATV itself to the Core (BL20s) and the Essence (BL6000), from my MacBook Pro (2015), and from my Mac mini (2010) both running High Sierra ....

The ATV worked a treat - no screen shots, I'd have to use the iPhone's camera, and besides which you have seen the basic screen already.

Just start a track, go to "What's Playing", use the Apple Remote to go to the AirPlay symbol on the top left, click it and you get a list of all AirPlay(2) addressable speakers include the HomePod and now the beta B&O streamers of the Essence and the Core. After that you just mix and match the speakers you want. 

But with the Macs I get different results !

From the MacBook Pro ........

1/ The BeoLab 20 volumes were painfully loud even at the smallest setting (but thankfully no ARMAGEDDON!!!!).

2/ So too were the BL11+2xBL6K volumes!

However from the Mac mini the same test produced volumes that were reasonable and pleasant to listen too and definitely controllable without going deaf.

I have mentioned this is my JIRA to Struer.

MacBook Pro screen shot below :)

 

Ran into some problems.

I managed to setup all B&O speakers in the Home app, configure different rooms and so on. Everything seemed to work and I could direct where the music was played using Siri.

I then added AppleTV. Then all configuration in Home app disappeared. All rooms and everything.

When I then tried to add the B&O speakers once more the app said it was unable to do so even if they appeared nicely in a row to select from.

Tried to restart app, router and even one of the speakers. Still not possible to add speakers.

Any advice?

elephant:

Following observation: that without knowing the detail of speakers in rooms and knowing how things are named and knowing how the system works I suspect most of our family will not be able to use things the way I have done today.

And the starting, adding/joining and stopping of rooms is complex and requires careful use of Siri commands.

I wonder whether the way to go is simply to inject the HomePod stream into one part of the B&O network and then use all the technology we already have to add and join rooms: such as the Essence’s Wheely.

Nonetheless I found myself excited by the possibilities.

Many of us have iPhones and some also iPads, some of us have Apple TV, a few of us have Essence Mark IIs - Core Mark Is and IIs, and fewer still have HomePods.

And of course somewhere in the above is the sub-/super- set of users of the Philips Hue lights, bridge, and HomeKit.

Some of us (Moi included) have google mini speakers, chrome audios, and chrome videos which would complicate/enrich and frustrate/delight our family/selves.

Then add Amazon, Apple, and Google voice in the future to speakers like BeoSound 1s 2s and various BeoPlay products and the possibilities compound exponentially.

I will leave it to others to ponder about home automation devices and B&O’s various gateways. That topic is well beyond me.

Now much of these additions to what was meant to be a simple AP2 beta thread may be unwelcome.

If they are please say so!

I can always start a new thread.

Of course what you do is very extreme, complicated and therefore nerdy.

Everyone will have to find his way with his mix of devices - and he will have to are for a way to use these,

that everyone in the household understands and accepts.

Often less is more!

However - nice to read about your tests, learning from them (and from anyone, who does testing)

Keep them coming....here, I’d say.

MM

Hiort:

I managed to setup all B&O speakers in the Home app, configure different rooms and so on. Everything seemed to work and I could direct where the music was played using Siri.

I then added AppleTV. Then all configuration in Home app disappeared. All rooms and everything.

When I then tried to add the B&O speakers once more the app said it was unable to do so even if they appeared nicely in a row to select from.

Tried to restart app, router and even one of the speakers. Still not possible to add speakers.

Wow 😲

I have never had anything like that.

However my ATV was there before I added the BeoLab streamers.

Are you using AP2 smart speakers, or only have Essence/Core streamer(s)?

I hate to say this (you’ve seen how many definitions my HomeKit setup has) but can you try deleting objects

Or even deleting the App itself [:\'(]

I have some “rooms” from my HomePod testing but which I can’t delete ... maybe I should take some of my own medicine 🤢

Millemissen:

what you do is very extreme, complicated and therefore nerdy

yup

that’s me

Mr 🤓

🤣

madskp:

Just tried it with my simple setup Beoplay V1 and ATV4. No other Airplay devices.

I placed the Apple remote in front of the tv and tried to play music from my iphone to the Apple TV without turning the V1 on. Nothing happened. Then i tried with video to see if the Apple TV would react differently. Nothing happened. 

Next thing I activated the Apple remote (which turned the TV on) and turned of the TV again. Now when I started airplaying music or video from the Iphone to the Apple TV the V1 turned on.

So here is what I think is happening: The Apple TV remote might go into som kind of sleep mode to preserve battery (I rarely use mine but it has keept the charge for several months without use) after a while and will only respond if you activate it by a button press. This makes sense from a normal use case. When the remote is in sleep mode it will not recive commands from the ATV and can not relay IR signals to the TV. 

I Will try to connect the Apple remote with a lightning cable and see if charging is preventing it from going to sleep. Will wait a couple of hours before i try again as I dont know how fast the remote will go to sleep under normal circumstances.   

This could be very interesting in order to turn on Beovisions with airplay

elephant:

Great thinking / detective work !

I think you are on to something ... the first use was in the morning after everything (including me) had been asleep for 6 to 8 hours.

I will try tomorrow :) as well as checking my apple remote's charge level (I last checked this week, and it was about 75% (you can check yours via the ATV's configuration App where all the remote & IR settings are also kept)).

Congratulations on the solution madskp !

I charged my ATV’s remote overnight.

It had gotten down to 42% (yikes)

This morning (after already using the BV, the Beo 4, the ATV, and it’s remote) I tried this test:

0/ setup the ATV remote to point towards the BV8’s IR eye

1/ active the iPhone remote app

2/ ATV comes on

3/ use iPhone remote ... cannot see anything as BV is not on

4/ click ATV remote and hold one’s breath ... yes there it is the BV relay click

5/ keep on waiting for the usual 30 seconds or so

6/ yes ... there we have the ATV display on (with a YouTube channel from earlier today) the BV with the L+R BL3s powered on ... but not the BL4 rears

7/ and sound system setting is ... SPEAKER 2 with PCM input

Now repeat test with ATV remote flat (horizontal) on the coffee table ...

3/ jump straight to clicking volume + on ATV remote

4/ ATV light comes on ... BV relay clicks ... BV display opens with YT running ... so probably lost a minute of dialogue

Try again to confirm loss of dialogue ...

0/ pause 🤓 lecture at 27:48

1/ put ATV to sleep

2/ wait to see if BV goes to sleep

3/ yes in the time it does in the time one thumb took to type 2/ ... 3/

4/ press +

5/ ATV ... one BV click (relay) ... a softer click (screen static energising) ... catch BL19 light coming on

6/ after 20 seconds we have the YT display, but not running, and the BL19 light off

So a bit random with the ATV’s precise behaviour with YT but none the less a great result.

Thanks madskp !

Do you have an essence integrated with your bv8? I can’t reproduce this behavior at home!

elephant:

Are you using AP2 smart speakers, or only have Essence/Core streamer(s)?

I’m using BS1, M5, M3 and A6 with the AirPlay 2 beta.

Have tried to power off devices, delete app, reinstall app, resetting router, but no luck.

mbee:

Do you have an essence integrated with your bv8? I can’t reproduce this behavior at home!

For airplay from aTV to turn on a Beovision you have to make sure that the setting for turning on tv is enabled in the Apple TV settings app/menu. See more here: http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/02/how-to-set-apple-tv-to-automatically-turn-television-on.html 

 

elephant:

Congratulations on the solution madskp !

 

 

I charged my ATV’s remote overnight.

 

It had gotten down to 42% (yikes)

 

 

This morning (after already using the BV, the Beo 4, the ATV, and it’s remote) I tried this test:

 

0/ setup the ATV remote to point towards the BV8’s IR eye

 

1/ active the iPhone remote app

 

2/ ATV comes on

 

3/ use iPhone remote ... cannot see anything as BV is not on

 

4/ click ATV remote and hold one’s breath ... yes there it is the BV relay click

 

5/ keep on waiting for the usual 30 seconds or so

 

6/ yes ... there we have the ATV display on (with a YouTube channel from earlier today) the BV with the L+R BL3s powered on ... but not the BL4 rears

 

7/ and sound system setting is ... SPEAKER 2 with PCM input

 

 

Now repeat test with ATV remote flat (horizontal) on the coffee table ...

 

3/ jump straight to clicking volume + on ATV remote

 

4/ ATV light comes on ... BV relay clicks ... BV display opens with YT running ... so probably lost a minute of dialogue

 

 

Try again to confirm loss of dialogue ...

 

0/ pause 🤓 lecture at 27:48

 

1/ put ATV to sleep

 

2/ wait to see if BV goes to sleep

 

3/ yes in the time it does in the time one thumb took to type 2/ ... 3/

 

4/ press +

 

5/ ATV ... one BV click (relay) ... a softer click (screen static energising) ... catch BL19 light coming on

 

6/ after 20 seconds we have the YT display, but not running, and the BL19 light off

 

 

So a bit random with the ATV’s precise behaviour with YT but none the less a great result.

 

 

Thanks madskp !

Sound a bit random what you experience with youtube. I guess one thing that will always be a problem is the Beovision startuptime. The Youtube vide will start as soon as the Apple TV is varmed up and the vide has buffered. This will ususaly be faster than the startup time of the BV. Same goes for music. 

Here is what I have tried since yesterday. 

1) When the ATV goes to sleep it will loose the connection with the ATV remote (also if the Apple remote is charging). It is still possible to control the ATV with a BEO remote via PUC. The Apple remote will not connect again before a button on it is pressed.

2) If the ATV is set to newer go to sleep at, some point it will loose connection to the Apple TV remote. I am not sure how long it takes before the remote goes to sleep. I guees this is in order to preserve battery on the remote. The Apple remote will not connect again before a button is pressed.

3) If the ATV is set to never go to sleep  and the remote is charging with a ligtning cable the connection will stay alive. I tried to check the connection after 10 hours idle time over night. 

So in conclusion. If you wan't to Airplay music og Video to an Apple TV 4(K) and turn on the BEO TV you have to set the ATV to never go to sleep, have the Apple remote charging all the time, and have the Apple remote pointing at the TV.

If the apple TV never goes to sleep the power consumption will raise from arround 0.4W at sleep to arround 2.1W at idle with screensaver according to https://www.flatpanelshd.com/review.php?subaction=showfull&id=1447825664

mbee:

Do you have an essence integrated with your bv8? I can’t reproduce this behavior at home!

diisign.com

Integration is via BLC NL/ML however I don’t think I used it apart from standard functions; so I am not sure which behaviour you are referring to !

Please specify so I can solution something for you.

Hiort:

I’m using BS1, M5, M3 and A6 with the AirPlay 2 beta.

Have tried to power off devices, delete app, reinstall app, resetting router, but no luck.

Maybe we need to focus on the ATV as a culprit ?

What generation do you have, and what version of software is it ?

And are any HomeKit TVOS Apps installed on it ?

madskp:

So in conclusion. If you wan't to Airplay music og Video to an Apple TV 4(K) and turn on the BEO TV you have to set the ATV to never go to sleep, have the Apple remote charging all the time, and have the Apple remote pointing at the TV.

I have the previous ATV however I believe your analyse is valid.

I also have the ATV4 but pretty sire it works the sam for the ATV 4K therefore the 4(K) naming . Anyway I hope it will be usefull in your testing

elephant:

Maybe we need to focus on the ATV as a culprit ?

What generation do you have, and what version of software is it ?

And are any HomeKit TVOS Apps installed on it ? BeoNut since '75

It’s the latest ATV (non 4K) with latest TVOS installed.

No HomeKit apps installed on the ATV.

It seems that Sonos users experience similar problems:

https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/trouble-adding-play-ones-to-home-app-ios-6809384

elephant:

Integration is via BLC NL/ML however I don’t think I used it apart from standard functions; so I am not sure which behaviour you are referring to !

Ok, no integration more than BLC.

What I can't do (and I've double-checked that everything is good on the ATV settings) is wake up my BV8 with the ATV/ATV Remote/Airplay. Completely impossible. I can control the BV8 volume with the ATV remote but that's all.

mbee:

Ok, no integration more than BLC.

What I can't do (and I've double-checked that everything is good on the ATV settings) is wake up my BV8 with the ATV/ATV Remote/Airplay. Completely impossible. I can control the BV8 volume with the ATV remote but that's all.

diisign.com

Is the TV Source in use on your BV8? TV is the only B&O IR command the Apple remote sends appart from volume. So for this to work optimal you have to select TV as the source button for the HDMI port the Apple TV is connected to.