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
Yes, I forgot to mention Apple Watch which can be a very useful addition to this airplay 2 conversation. With the Now Playing screen on the watch you have access to each of the speakers in your house. For instance, those earlier discussing if you go to the bathroom and you don’t have your phone with you and you didn’t already select stream to bathroom from your phone. You have the option on your watch to add the bathroom to the stream. And of course you don’t need to do it all through voice either. You can just add any speaker with a few touches and there is no audio feedback from Siri.
1990:Indeed. You can't do that from the same iOS-device. And for Apple Music, you can only stream multiple songs at once if you have a Family account.
You can't n even with local stored media. The player dont allow this.
If B&O is going to focus their business around people with locally stored media at the expense of other features they will sure fail. There may be a very small minority that prefer NL to AirPlay 2 or other platforms, but that is not the market they should be going after IMHO. Already, I see people here claiming that you can’t do this or that with AP2 that you can with NL. Other than playing stuff locally stored (which I believe there are better options like Roon) you get more functionality and easier integration with major platforms like AP2, CC and even with where Bluetooth is going. It is not worth investing on maintaining their own proprietary platform unless there is a clear differentiator. For instance, the Mood wheel on the Essence is cool, but it comes at a huge premium over using an iPad to stream to a compatible speaker. The market for such products are very very limited.
I love the fact the current B&O products work so well with AP2. Basically seamless.
my 2 cents worth.
B&O in my life 😊:
Solidsnake: you go to the bathroom and you don’t have your phone with you and you didn’t already select stream to bathroom from your phone.
I think there is some sort of confusion based on the use (as i understand it) of NL.
The source is ALWAYS streaming to the different speakers (Standalone or Airport bases), you join or leave just by turning the speaker/center on.
In the case of the bathroom, the "source" is ALWAYS streaming to that room. If i turn on the output device (in that case a Beoplay A1 via Aux-in, I ear music. If I turn it off when I leave, the music stops.
No need to plan the journey thru the house! just turn on and off the output device or the airplay speaker if its the case.
It's true than appart from standalone speakers with remote or built in control, I can't skip tracks without my phone. But main rooms have dedicated iPads to remote control the central server, just like a BS5 or a moment would do. So not a big deal to go shower with my phone
1990:You can do this from every iDevice on the network. Via your screen or Siri. And perhaps from your Apple Watch too.
BS Moment, BS Core, BG 4002, BC 4500, BS1, BL18, BL19, BL8000 + RCV1, A6, M5, M3, A1, P6 (tks Botty), H5, TR1
1990:Are you using iTunes or the new Music app?
mbolo01: 1990: You can do this from every iDevice on the network. Via your screen or Siri. And perhaps from your Apple Watch too. Assuming the iDevice1 is streaming to AP receiver1 I didn’t find where on the iDevice2 I could request AP receiver2 to be added to iDevice1 AP targets list. If you could help, I would appreciate.
1990: You can do this from every iDevice on the network. Via your screen or Siri. And perhaps from your Apple Watch too.
You can do this from every iDevice on the network. Via your screen or Siri. And perhaps from your Apple Watch too.
Assuming the iDevice1 is streaming to AP receiver1
I didn’t find where on the iDevice2 I could request AP receiver2 to be added to iDevice1 AP targets list.
If you could help, I would appreciate.
Hi mbolo,
If your streaming from a mac (iTunes), you can via the iTunes remote app.
matador43:If your streaming from a mac (iTunes), you can via the iTunes remote app.
Ah yes. Now I understand. As far as I know, the only way to move the music around or to add a speaker would be using Siri and not control center UI. Here are some options you can use. I use voice commands all the time and it works fine...
https://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/05/31/siri-airplay-2-commands/
I believe Hey Siri is also supported on the Mac now. Of course you can use your Watch, iPhone, iPad etc...
Is this a wired or wireless connection? AirPlay 2 is wireless so you can place your speakers anywhere you choose. If it's wireless, I am curious how they solved the problem of always streaming to all speakers. If it's wired, then it's a mess of wires from what I can tell and it limits your placement options.
Jaffrey2230: If B&O is going to focus their business around people with locally stored media at the expense of other features they will sure fail. There may be a very small minority that prefer NL to AirPlay 2 or other platforms, but that is not the market they should be going after IMHO. Already, I see people here claiming that you can’t do this or that with AP2 that you can with NL. Other than playing stuff locally stored (which I believe there are better options like Roon) you get more functionality and easier integration with major platforms like AP2, CC and even with where Bluetooth is going. It is not worth investing on maintaining their own proprietary platform unless there is a clear differentiator. For instance, the Mood wheel on the Essence is cool, but it comes at a huge premium over using an iPad to stream to a compatible speaker. The market for such products are very very limited. I love the fact the current B&O products work so well with AP2. Basically seamless. my 2 cents worth.
I am quite sure that you have all the right arguments.
And I am sure, that you can have a multiroom audio setup with just AP2 and/or CC.
However, this ‘proprietary platform’ - in addition to AP(2) and CC - is a big part of what costumers have paid for up til now.
The B&O devices are not cheap - and people may expect something special for their money.
The big question is, will people keep on paying these premium prices for the design/material (with which not all agree) and for the above average acoustic performance?
The acoustic performance is one of the major forces of B&O, as we all know.
But is the new target group really interested in that.....there are a lot of decent sounding CC/AP2 speakers out there.....for lot less money.
People tend to use their speakers for casual/background listening - does it matter that much then, one might ask?
I just ask, why should people buy B&O CC/AP2 devices at premium prices in the future....don’t ever expect them to get cheaper just because they don’t have to maintain a proprietary platform including things like the Essence Remote etc.
Concidering the premium prices.....will the excellent sound performance be enough to compete in a very tough mainstream market - their design philosophy being only for the few.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Jaffrey2230:Is this a wired or wireless connection? AirPlay 2 is wireless so you can place your speakers anywhere you choose. If it's wireless, I am curious how they solved the problem of always streaming to all speakers. If it's wired, then it's a mess of wires from what I can tell and it limits your placement options.
Sorry, I meant is NL wired or wireless in that do you need a hardwired connection to the device? I was responding to the poster who said that NL works by sending the music to all devices, except some are playing vs others not. With AirPlay you can send different music to different speakers and it is all wireless.
mbolo01: matador43: If your streaming from a mac (iTunes), you can via the iTunes remote app. Thanks, but iTunes+Remote = 1 device for me, but it works indeed
matador43: If your streaming from a mac (iTunes), you can via the iTunes remote app.
Yes of course, I mean you dont need to be in front of the actual streaming device to join or leave any other remote speaker.
Jaffrey2230:Sorry, I meant is NL wired or wireless in that do you need a hardwired connection to the device? I was responding to the poster who said that NL works by sending the music to all devices, except some are playing vs others not. With AirPlay you can send different music to different speakers and it is all wireless.
Jaffrey2230:It is not worth investing on maintaining their own proprietary platform unless there is a clear differentiator.
As long as B&O is not able or willing to invest heavily into the B&O app regarding the management of content (TuneIn and a very limited interface to Deezer and DNLA is not sufficient) it is a good decision to give up on NL (NetLink) in order to save money.
„Touch to join“ is a really nice feature. But without content to stream / to follow there is no need for this functionality.
To attract audio enthusiasts B&O should think about supporting RAAT the streaming protocol from Roon. At least Roon knows how to manage music content. But I do not know, how high the investment will be to include RAAT in the B&O „platform“ and if it is possible to integrate RAAT into existing products.
To go on dreaming the Beosound Moment SoundHeart would give a very nice Roon Core and the Beosound Moment Jukebox a very nice Roon Control. And with this set-up you even would not need a second device like iPhone / iPad to stream music.
Alsfeld:Touch to join“ is a really nice feature. But without content to stream / to follow there is no need for this functionality.
I disagree here, or i misinterpreted you, but I think that there are lot of contents to stream within the B&O ecosystem and that can be shared in a multiroom experience thanks to Beolink, such as TuneIn, Deezer, DLNA, Spotify, Qplay services included in all or part the recents products on top of which you can add BT, Airplay, line-in and other ML/NL sources, isn't it enough?
The B&O app is not perfect for sure, but considering it is just a controller, with maybe the Apple music content exception that can be streamed from the app (I've never used it), it does the job. In my case, when I want a more user friendly UI to enjoy my large digital library, I use PLEX or PLEXamp to stream to one or another B&O Airplay product and I join the others via Beolink (using CC or AP multiroom works but are not as stable than one Airplay source propagated via Beolink)
I agree with you on the fact that B&O should have been inspired by Roon or Plex and integrate them in the Moment as UI alternative, offloading the processing of the digital libraries to the respectives vendor solution, keeping the Jukebox as a simple controller, I dreamed about it too .....
Absolutely agreed - B&O shoudl make their devices Roon ready.
So many other brands have, and the Roon software / UI makes B&O's look like a school project.
I completely agree Roon ready would be an excellent move for B&O. Roon is a small company out of NY (I believe they only have around 20 people who work from home), but the quality of their software is excellent. Unfortunately, it works with TIDAL and Qobuz but not Apple Music or Spotify or Deezer...it's also $120/year. But well worth it if you have a lot of locally stored music.
Sure, but Roon readiness needn't be exclusive of other services.
Many Roon ready streamers / endpoints are both Roon ready and Airplay capable.
All about choices I guess.
Jaffrey2230: I completely agree Roon ready would be an excellent move for B&O. Roon is a small company out of NY (I believe they only have around 20 people who work from home), but the quality of their software is excellent. Unfortunately, it works with TIDAL and Qobuz but not Apple Music or Spotify or Deezer...it's also $120/year. But well worth it if you have a lot of locally stored music.
I find the AP2 on B&O products reliable and performing well. Out of curiosity, I "integrated" Airport Express via optical cable with B&O Transmitter 1. This is how I listen now Apple Music on my Beolab 17.
Works flawlessly, makes me consider selling Beosound Moment at a low price as I don't use it anymore.
Drawback: volume is only controlled in Music app and it plays loud even at low volume setting (would be a disaster to play at 50% or so).
Sandyb, I again completely agree with you. B&O should take something like Roon and combine it with their available services and offer customers with the best of all worlds when it comes to streaming/ multi room music. Unfortunately, like what happened in the DSLR vs phone camera market, convenience is going to beat pure quality. However, there will be a competition between hardware, software and design when it comes to multi room/streaming speakers just as there is for smartphone cameras.
Roons software both in terms of functionality and design is awesome!
mbolo01:I disagree here, or i misinterpreted you, but I think that there are lot of contents to stream within the B&O ecosystem
I am not aware how to distribute / stream Tidal or Qobuz via NetLink (NL). And the usability of DLNA and Deezer within the B&O app is really limited, for me no joy to use.Additionally I have to use Chromecast, because B&O ist not able to display the meta data of Airplay on my Beosounds 35. With Chromecast no „touch to join“. So no need / no use for NL.And this meta data issue is for me unbelievable, why is B&O supporting ChromeCast meta data but not Airplay meta data at the Beosound 35 display?
Not sure what your B&O setup is, but for Tidal I Airplay it to one B&O product.
I generally then use NL (either touch to join physically, or the B&O app itself) to expand to other B&O products afterwards. Often I will walk into a different room, and if staying there for a while, touch my (for ex) A9 so it joins the Tidal stream that I started in another room.
Metadata is not that important to me, though I concede its patchy within the B&O app. Of course some of that metadata issue may well be down to Apple restrictions.
The above you may well know - and I agree the DLNA servicing in the B&O app is terrible, borderline unusable.
There are other ecosystems - be Roon, or others - that manage the job miles better.
But the NL architecture is excellent at certain things, and B&Os decision to restore Touch to Join and some form of their own NL back into future products has rightly been welcomed.
Alsfeld: I am not aware how to distribute / stream Tidal or Qobuz via NetLink (NL). And the usability of DLNA and Deezer within the B&O app is really limited, for me no joy to use.Additionally I have to use Chromecast, because B&O ist not able to display the meta data of Airplay on my Beosounds 35. With Chromecast no „touch to join“. So no need / no use for NL.And this meta data issue is for me unbelievable, why is B&O supporting ChromeCast meta data but not Airplay meta data at the Beosound 35 display?
There is a difference between your first statement "without content to stream" and your second statement "I am not aware how to distribute / stream Tidal or Qobuz via NetLink (NL)" which is about the two contents you use when NL supports many others listed in my previous post, but I better understand your opinion on NL now, as well as your frustration. But for other users like me, NL is currently the best and the most stable way to distribute content into a B&O ecosystem, also bringing the largest content options, from internet radios to your good old reel-to-reel.
B&O failure on displaying some AP metadata on their products or their app is a real shame I agree, I recently asked support about the status of it and their answer had no sense again, but we can hope that this will change if B&O strategy is to focus more on AP and CC.
Failure to properly manage DLNA source is also a shame, Moment would have been the solution to better develop, but we all know the story. I balance this lack of service with a well curated digital library and a tailored minimserver to quickly find what I want to play when controlling it with the B&O App. When I want a richer digital music experience, I use PLEX server/apps against the same digital content. That said, the DLNA customers population isn't significative enough to get the focus from B&O, and potentially other vendors. DLNA is too complex for some, too much work to maintain a curated library for others and internet music streaming is the trend isn't it. I personally see my digital library like a large vinyle or CD library, largely internet independent and which is my property, maybe an old school way, but I like it this way.
mbolo01:Failure to properly manage DLNA source
What often is confused is the sauce over the DLNA content profided. The Moment has its own sauce, the same with the exellent Roon sauce.
What one get in the B&o app is depending on the used DLNA server. Some servers can be tweaked, such as Minimserver, others can't such as Twonky.
This way the user has a choice. A choice which I prefer.
Carolpa:Is this a failure? B&o shows exactly what your DLNA server has to offer. This is comform the specs of the DLNA.
mbolo01:I personally see my digital library like a large vinyle or CD library, largely internet independent and which is my property,
Could'nt have it said better. I want to be able to listen music by myself without depending on a third party service.
mbolo01: features that you can find in free DLNA controller/player app.
mbolo01:basic caching of information for simple indexing, a-b-c ..
Carolpa:This is what I decribed as sauce!
Hi mbolo01,
I know what you mean. But B&o did choose to see the data in their app without the additional "sauce". And frankly I'm happy with that, because it gives me freedom.
Your example app doesn't give you possibilities to tweak.
I agree, Minimserver gives you alot, but you have to dig in the program to understand what you are doing (and with Minimserver 2 - artist pictures are back on the list).
Carolpa:Hi mbolo01,I know what you mean. But B&o did choose to see the data in their app without the additional "sauce". And frankly I'm happy with that, because it gives me freedom.Your example app doesn't give you possibilities to tweak. I agree, Minimserver gives you alot, but you have to dig in the program to understand what you are doing (and with Minimserver 2 - artist pictures are back on the list).
mbolo01:I recently asked support about the status of it and their answer had no sense again, but we can hope that this will change if B&O strategy is to focus more on AP and CC.
... interesting. I placed this issue nearly two years ago. The feedback I got was, that it will be put on the change request list. In the beginning that made me confident that something will happen one day. But after more than 1,5 years nothing changed. In my eyes a big disappointment.
It would be great, if B&O could solve the issue one day, so that my Beosound 35 will display Airplay Meta-Data (like my BS35 does by streaming via Chromecast or Netlink/BeoLink)
Mostly I listen to my music library on Beolink Multiroom. Sometimes I play my songs through Airplay 2 and the experience has been smooth. Dropouts are rareIn fact, Airplay 2 is more responsive than Beolink Multiroom and it has the capability to connect to another Airplay 2 device.The only problem I can see with Airplay 2 until now is not about its reliability. It is the feature. Airplay 2 has not been able to play different music in a multiroom setup. I asked Apple support about this and they told me to have 2 iOS or MacOS devices to connect to 2 Airplay 2 equipped devices if I want to play different music.
Best Regards, Mit freundlichen Grüßen, 감사합니다Antonius Robin Iriawan, 로빈 올림
Beosound 35, Beoplay E8 3rd Gen, and Beoplay Earset 3i.
No longer in use: Beoplay H5
Yeah, that's what I end up doing as well to play different content in different devices using AirPlay 2. However, for me it is rare. I usually use the multi-room to follow me from one room to another or to play the same music or audio in different rooms (like Apple TV). I use an Apple TV App for TV/News etc instead of a STB so it works for me. I started with a mix of devices buy now except for 2 Apple TVs and 2 HomePods all my devices around my home are B&O. I. have tried Beolink as well, but may be I am not using it correctly, but it seems to not work as well in my set up as AirPlay 2.
One reason I added a Core to my Beolab 6000/11 was to enable AirPlay 2 for music without. turning on the TV
HH1971: It would be great, if B&O could solve the issue one day, so that my Beosound 35 will display Airplay Meta-Data (like my BS35 does by streaming via Chromecast or Netlink/BeoLink)
I would love to see that as well. One of the reasons I am still using Beolink Multiroom instead of Airplay 2 is no Airplay Meta-Data like Chromecast or Beolink Multiroom. However, if that happens, my preference would change in favour of Airplay 2.
Jaffrey2230: Yeah, that's what I end up doing as well to play different content in different devices using AirPlay 2. However, for me it is rare. I usually use the multi-room to follow me from one room to another or to play the same music or audio in different rooms (like Apple TV). I use an Apple TV App for TV/News etc instead of a STB so it works for me. I started with a mix of devices buy now except for 2 Apple TVs and 2 HomePods all my devices around my home are B&O. I. have tried Beolink as well, but may be I am not using it correctly, but it seems to not work as well in my set up as AirPlay 2. One reason I added a Core to my Beolab 6000/11 was to enable AirPlay 2 for music without. turning on the TV
I can see why Airplay 2 would work much much more reliably. After all, Apple, which owns like unending resources, can develop Airplay 2 so well that it has almost no problem at all. Any new problems would be dealt immediately.I can't really comment on the Beolink Multiroom on your side. Although I play music through Beolink Multiroom, I only have one product to play. However I admit that the software could be improved
As I surely already wrote, I personally use AP2 as another music source and distribute it through my B&O devices via Beolink.
Why? Because controlling AP2 multiroom is not as convenient for me than controlling Beolink multiroom. I can join, leave a Beolink multiroom experience, change tracks forward/backward directly from the devices themselves (except with the M3) or from their paired remote without the need to carry a smartphone/tablet or to speak/repeat/shout to a voice controlled device supporting AP control.
I usually start music from an old iPad mini running Plex/Plexamp or Deezer as both have far better UI, and reacher search/play options, than the B&O App. I can then join any B&O device in my house to the music experience with the help of a simple physical touch on the device itself, and music starts within 3 secs. If i want to change track, I don't need to go back to the iPad, a simple touch/swipe on the device itself also does the job. If I want to listen to another source in this particular device, assuming it is part of the device locally configured sources, a few touches on the device itself and I'm where I want to be .... all these without the need to constantly use a smartphone/tablet/voice controlled kit. This is what I like in the Beolink ecosystem, simple, efficient and a good relay to AP 2
Antonius Robin Iriawan: HH1971: It would be great, if B&O could solve the issue one day, so that my Beosound 35 will display Airplay Meta-Data (like my BS35 does by streaming via Chromecast or Netlink/BeoLink) I would love to see that as well. One of the reasons I am still using Beolink Multiroom instead of Airplay 2 is no Airplay Meta-Data like Chromecast or Beolink Multiroom. However, if that happens, my preference would change in favour of Airplay 2.
I found an interesting but very inefficient work-around (I would expect to find at low-priced products, at high-priced B&O products I expect that it just works), when I „touch to join“ on the Beosound 35 to connect it to the Beosound Core. Than I get the Airplay meta-data shown on the display of my Beosound 35 AND in the B&O iOS app.
Is this a bug or a feature?
Could the B&O Airplay developer please implement this bug of the Beosound Core into the Beosound 35, too! That would be really helpful, because it it not very user-friendly when I want to listen to the Beosound 35 to send the Airplay music stream first to my Beosound Core to read the Airplay meta-data (for B&O iOS app and BS35 display) and forward the Airplay stream to the Beosound 35 for listening.