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
Just bought a Beosound 2 mk2, and I cannot spot Spotify Connect in my list of cast options. Only Google Cast appears, which I don’t want to use. Compare it to my beoplay M5 which works like a charm with Spotify Connect.
Has true Spotify Connect disappeared for Beosound 2?
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https://photos.app.goo.gl/SBMGN4sCV2rytegy5
Are you sure that you have configured the device to use Spotify Connect?
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Hi. How do I do that. I am not familiar wirh any devices have to be setup specifically for Spotify connect. If they are on the network, and I have.A premium account, then it should work.
I had the same reaction when going from a mk2 A9 to mk4 A9. At first I assumed a bug or misconfiguration but then found out that it is as removed... Such a fail by B&O. Even budget brands have spotify connect. Also creates this total mess.within their product range, where you have different streaming capabilities. Balance, M3/M5, Core, BS2 all have a different mix of streaming capability. So frustrating and injustifiable. Their obsession with Deezer and Chromecast is annoying.
As far as I know the BS2 Mk2 has support for Spotify Connect.....but I don’t have one here to test it.
Please look for something similar to this (from my Essence 2nd gen) - see screenshot.
The benefit of ‘integrating’ Spotify this way is, that you can redistribute Spotify using Beolink - however, only to B&O devices that already have support for Spotify Connect.
I use it to play from my Essence and to join-in on my BV Avant/2014 and the V1-32.
You should put in your Spotify Premium credentials there:
No sign of Spotify under configuration, so it is gone.
Hi Michael..
Did you find a solution to this? One idea I thought could work was to start a Spotify Connect session on your M5, and then join on your BeoSound 2? I do this to play music on my BeoSystem 4 based TV and works perfectly - my TV remote changes the Spotify tracks. I mute the speaker where I start the stream. A tad clunky, but it works.
I would like add another BeoSound2 for my office/gym situation but Spotify connect is a bit of a non-negotiable for me, especially as I am trying to de-google my life!
I wonder if I need to wait for a MKIII BeoSound 2 with the new platform.
Having just worked through a purchasing decision between BS1 and Level, B&O sure doesn't make it easy. Just when you think they've given up on Spotify and are going all in with Deezer, they release the Balance and Level which don't support Deezer, and only support Spotify, but no NL (so Spotify Connect doesn't really matter that much to me as I want Spotify Connect so my devices can "join" Spotify streams over NL). All in with GVA? Nope, A1 now does Alexa. At least they've standardized on TuneIn. Nope, Level/Balance does B&O Radio instead. What a mess.
I think their plan was to go all in with GVA (and they may have even said this at one point) so, if you're using GVA as the primary interface, then built-in streaming services and NL do not really add much. You just say "Hey Google", and Chromecast figures it out, and it also handles multi-room. I'm sure there is licensing associated with including built-in services so why pay for that (and all those engineers working on NL) when Google will do it. Another strike against NL is that Chromecast and NL don't get along well (if you're playing something via CC, you can't distribute it via NL). Why confuse customers? Get rid of NL and everyone will be happy with GVA/CC.
However, corporate plans don't always match what customer want. Enough customers said NO to Google so B&O had to pivot. With all the recent Chromecast problems, maybe (I'm optimistic) they've learned that putting all their eggs in the Chromecast basket isn't a great long term strategy as you're at the mercy of a vendor who doesn't necessarily care whether their choices ruin your business. Now, they're bringing back Spotify (see Balance and Level) and dumping TuneIn because who needs it when you've had your own internet radio service for DECADES so you're no longer at the mercy of TuneIn to keep popular stations on their platform. One question, though, is when (if) the Balance/Level get NL, will they be able to play TuneIn sourced from older devices, and will older devices be able to "Join" B&O Radio?
So, it is a mess, and it makes it difficult for those of us with existing equipment to easily add something new. I finally chose the BS1 GVA over the Level because it fit the space in my kitchen better, sounded almost as good, was cheaper and supported NL today. Every device I have supports Deezer so I can do multi-room with that (or CC + Spotify... when CC works, which lately has been very sporatic). Had the Level supported NL, I probably would not have even looked at the BS1. I just hope I don't miss Spotify too much. They seem to do better at creating playlists that can be distributed via NL, but I will give Deezer a chance (so far, the Deezer playlist I can see in the B&O app are pretty generic).
mrCTE:One idea I thought could work was to start a Spotify Connect session on your M5, and then join on your BeoSound 2?
This doesn't work. When you go into the "multi-room" page in the B&O app, if you're playing spotify, it only shows other devices that have spotify connect built in. At least this is how it works with my BS2 (mk1 - with Spotify Connect) and BS1 GVA (no Spotify Connect). If you press the "join" button on the BS1, it "joins" (the B&O app shows the two rectangles by the device), but it doesn't play anything, nor does it show up in the list of joined devices on the multi-room page. You probably get away with it in your setup because the BeoSystem 4 doesn't tell the network it's playing Spotify (which the M5 will).
It is a confusing mess, no doubt.
As I have written before numerous times, they made the decision to ditch NL over 2 years ago, and to ask customers to focus on Airplay and CC (and voice). This was communicated to dealers back then - perhaps without the communication emphasising the decision to ditch NL, and are emphasis placed on the reliance on AP and CC.
I spoke at reasonable length to my dealer recently, who confirmed as much and at the presentation he attended (I think for the Balance, when the absence of NL became obvious), dealers were told, in response to the "where is NL?" question, to educate customers to use AP or CC.
So it is no surprise that the two recent products have had (a) no Touch to Join, (b) no Network Link and (c) no inbuilt sources. All of these absences flow directly from the decision above taken a while back.
Now of course we are assured that NL or something of that ilk will be added in the future, and while I'm sure they are working on it, I have no expectation that this will come soon, or indeed on the Q3/4 timeframe that has been indicated to Henryk and / or others. My dealer was told little in terms of timeframe, and told also something that adding / building back the capability was "very hard", and that they were working on other things.
I'd think about it as follows : they'd clearly in their minds moved on from NL, so hauling themselves all the way back from that headspace to rebuilding NL (seemingly on the new Mozart platform) will be more of a long slog than we may like.
If the Balance, Level and soon to be announced third speaker of this type all sell well enough in B&O terms, this won't add to the pressure to restore NL, in my opinion. The Balance is a year from release, and almost as long since the NL reversal announcement in the launch's aftermath. And we're close to 6 months from the Halo release (different issue I know), but where is the further transformative functionality? There were those who thought the Halo would receive such updates within a few months! No chance.
It would not shock me at all (not my base case though), if we get towards the year end, we see no NL update, and then get confirmation that NL is being officially discontinued. Again, not my base case, but I'd give it a good 30-40% probability.
Thanks for confirming Stan! I start a stream on my BeoSound 2 (MK1) and hit join on the TV, but your point still stands. They removed native Spotify Connect from BeoSystem 4, hence my slightly clunky workaround.
Your analysis is absolutely spot on, I hope they’ve recognised the error of their ways and we’ll keep to their NL v2 plans and make sure it remains in house. Software development is no easy undertaking, especially at the current pace of innovation and change in hardware. I get the sense that B&O are working on getting it right this time around, hence the slow roll out on Level and Balance. I just hope they can crack backwards compatibility.
Sandyb:If the Balance, Level and soon to be announced third speaker of this type all sell well enough in B&O terms, this won't add to the pressure to restore NL, in my opinion.
I have similar thoughts/concerns; hence, my choice to buy the BS1 now vs. buying the Level and hoping for NL at some point in the future.
Although, with my luck, this choice probably just guarantees B&O will deliver NL on schedule (according to the rumors). My poor timing is something of a family joke now. If a stock my son owns goes down, he'll ask if I bought it, and if it goes up, he'll ask if I sold. So, to everybody waiting on NL for the Mozart platform, you're welcome ... and in the mean time, I'll enjoy my BS1.
And actually we could add the Stage to that list.
So come the release of the Emerge, that'll make 4 recent releases all without NL.
I can just imagine the internal thoughts B&O are having re this : so, Chromecast now allows dynamic adding / removing of speakers to / from groups? Why are we rebuilding NL again?
Dont get me wrong, I use it here and there, and would like it maintained. But its usage isn't as compelling as it once was - wandering up to a product and tapping it to touch to join is very nice, though none of the recent product designs have touch joining as part of their design - AP2 was a huge imrpovement stability wise over AP1, and CC offers plenty of voice control flexbility. It would be great to have as a third (even if only as a fallback) option, but given the hassle / efforts / dealing with 3rd party services involved, I can see why their minds have turned away from maintaining NL.
So yes, I'm sure they're looking into reintroducing something, but I suspect given their philosophical evolution, I wouldn't hold my breath.
Stan: Sandyb:If the Balance, Level and soon to be announced third speaker of this type all sell well enough in B&O terms, this won't add to the pressure to restore NL, in my opinion. I have similar thoughts/concerns; hence, my choice to buy the BS1 now vs. buying the Level and hoping for NL at some point in the future. Although, with my luck, this choice probably just guarantees B&O will deliver NL on schedule (according to the rumors). My poor timing is something of a family joke now. If a stock my son owns goes down, he'll ask if I bought it, and if it goes up, he'll ask if I sold. So, to everybody waiting on NL for the Mozart platform, you're welcome ... and in the mean time, I'll enjoy my BS1.
According to the website, the Stage DOES have BeoLink Multiroom, but no Deezer or Spotify, just TuneIn.
There are numerous problems with Chromecast and older beosounds (although the M5 and M3 have been affected so not just discontinued products) right now so I'm hoping they are learning the errors in their ways about relying on a 3rd party for mission critical functionality.