Incorporating beautiful design in the era of digital music

... Display in every room - yes

YES!

... Movable and usable as control tool - yes

NO! I have already got my iPad and the BeoRemote app!

... Like IPAD and MLGW with Beolink App

No use for MLGW and the Beolink app - that is what NL can (or might) do!

Just do it B&O!!!

GRRR! Millemissen

 

Combine the BS5E with the playmaker and you have "both worlds" in one device.

Millemissen:

Just do it B&O!!!

Nope - that's Nike!!

Puncher:

Millemissen:

Just do it B&O!!!

 

Nope - that's Nike!!

Seems that I am not well educated - is that from Nike.

I thought I had invented it

G! MM

Millemissen:

"....but at a fraction of cost - yes".

Money for nothing, and chicks for free!

Grrr! MM

No need to grumble. As stated, most building tools would exist for the perfect bridge. But more than 2000 EUR for MLGW as entry ticket to have a perfect tablet control solution is indeed too steep, hence the vision with fraction of cost ( of MLGW ). 

Why the MLGW?

Miaw MM

Millemissen:

Puncher:

Millemissen:

Just do it B&O!!!

 

Nope - that's Nike!!

Seems that I am not well educated - is that from Nike.

I thought I had invented it

G! MM

'fraid not! Nevermind, they still should!!!

 

Millemissen:

Why the MLGW?

Miaw MM

Is there already a better way to control BS5 than Beo6.  I thought beolink App and MLGW are the only way.

Is Puncher missing a sense of humor or is he taking the joke a step further?

Or is MM serious...

So many questions....

Just noticed this unit by Loewe:

http://loewe-gallery.lv/fileadmin/user_filestorage/de-int/products/equipment/Mediacenter/documents/Individual_Mediacenter_en.pdf

If B&O could make something similar but with a brilliant high quality audio streamer it would be great. As much as Loewe use high quality materials I am not impressed by the look of this. Lacks the B&O magic and touch. This Loewe thing is too mainstream in its looks and far from a design icon.

If you want to control the BM/BS5, you of cource need the BeoLink app and the MLGW - as it is today.

i was writing about a NL setup, which does not nescesarily includes a BM/BS5 - talking about how the BeoRemote app (probably) will be the universal app remote/controlpoint in the future.

For a NL setup you don't need a MLGW!

My thoughts were about how we might realice some 'beutiful design in the era of digital music. That is why I suggested the displays for linkrooms, for me it would be magic to see 'what is playing' whereever I am in my house.

I wasn't thinking of the BM/BS5 at all.

MM

Rivenflush:

Is Puncher missing a sense of humor or is he taking the joke a step further?

Or is MM serious...

So many questions....

I see only 2 questions!

1: ask Puncher.

2: me being serious: not always, as you might have noticed

Greetings Millemissen

seethroughyou:

Just noticed this unit by Loewe:

http://loewe-gallery.lv/fileadmin/user_filestorage/de-int/products/equipment/Mediacenter/documents/Individual_Mediacenter_en.pdf

If B&O could make something similar but with a brilliant high quality audio streamer it would be great. As much as Loewe use high quality materials I am not impressed by the look of this. Lacks the B&O magic and touch. This Loewe thing is too mainstream in its looks and far from a design icon.

The big question is: do we need a physical (B&O) hub?

With players built into the tv's (BV11/V1/BSys4 and more to come) and a 'Playmaker NG' (which could be a small black box), the server software together with the media on a NAS or internetbased services (Spotify/Netflix/netradio, and a control app (BeoRemote).....we do not need any shiny magical thing.

If Bang & Olufsen would support playing from the physical media (CD/DVD/Bluray) in the future, then yes - but I don't expect this to happen.

As long as B&O gives us full control over 3th party devices via PUC we certainly don't nescesarelly need it for DVD/Bluray.

All we need are screens for viewing the content (the tv's and 'my linkroom screens'), linkroom players ('Playmakers NG'), loudspeakers and remotes (Beo4/6, BeoRemote).

I would say: today a NL-based Bang & Olufsen tv is the best way to "incorporate beautiful design in the era of digital music"

Seriously Millemissen

 

 

Except I don't want a TV in my lounge and using a mobile phone or tablet to play music sucks and reminds me of work. Putting your phone or tablet away for the evening, pouring a glass of whiskey and having music through a dedicated machine that doesn't remind you of work or distraction of TV helps you relax and decontaminates you from a busy day. Secondly, the playmaker can't stream FLAC let alone high def 24 bit music.

Just buy a turntable and plug it into the line in socket of a PM - should be nice along with a glass of scotch.

Or keep your recent 'dedicated maschine'/ buy a secondhand B&O audiosystem (for cd/vinyl) - it can fit well into a NL based setup via converter as well

But do not expect Bang & Olufsen to fullfill your dreams with future products - I am afraid.

 

Besides: There are "ways" to let  any PM play FLAC files.

Blame Bang & Olufsen for the 24/96 limitation/FlLAC limitation of the PM version 2!!!

 

And my iPad does not remind me of work, at all.

MM

Why would I buy a turntable? I have never owned or played records. They were well before my time.

CDs possibly but by the time i started accumulating CDs computer music came into being in mid 2000s so I ripped all the CDs i could and turned them into digital music files in 2009 for a Bs5 which i later sold as it was a disappointment but let's not bring that up... Yes Millemissen, you are right about blaming B&O for the limitation of the playmaker but on speaking to B&O dealer the playmaker is more a play device than a serious audio unit so until something succeeds the Bs5 I am stuck. May be the NG Playmaker will be a serious and well thoughtout unit but from what i hear it will be the B&O equivalent of an apple AE with all its compromises but ease of use primarily for computer music.

Millemissen, you are the lucky few if your phone and tablet do not remind you of work. On the tube at 8am every morning and the way back on the train i can see a carriage full of people working on the computers, large Samsungy smart phones and ipads. The ipad was once a device of recreation but now i see it at every meeting at work. I don't have an ipad but everyone has gone ipad crazy. When i say i haven't got one, colleagues look at me rather strangely.That is the rationale for not wanting it in my lounge and listening room. If I were to have a computer or tablet in my lounge, I might as well stay at work, put my feet up there and stay in the office.

Yes, the thing is if B&O depart forever from a dedicated audio unit there are other solutions such a Naim digital preamp, Cambridge Audio Magic 6, Cyrus streamer...etc but they all look rather ugly... Given that nearly every hifi manufacturer is investing in audio streaming devices and making money out of it, I'm confident that B&O will as well. I doubt B&O will want to go down the streaming music through a TV with a tablet route. I am very loyal to B&O and like the way they build beautiful hifi (most of the time...) so I am reluctant to go down this alternative route from another manufacturer.

I am also not convinced that sticking a 24 or 32 bit ladder digital analogue converter, sensitive preamp circuitry, streaming buffers into a TV with all that is going on there is best for sound quality. When you listen to the old Beomasters and Beosounds the quality is impressive - this is due to the components used and the PCB layout compared to other hifi of that era. Its the attention to detail and quality of the methodology that gave B&O a brilliant sound that you never tire of.

.

seethroughyou:

Secondly, the playmaker can't stream FLAC let alone high def 24 bit music.

I posted a really positive overview of my Playmaker (MKI) experience when I bought the device. Sadly I would say that it's flaky with streaming radio to the device, never mind 24-bit music. I's not a great experience. With the Playmaker, using an 802.11n wireless setup, you still get regular dropouts from the PM MK1, even if it's in the same room as the wireless router (an Airport Express).

I have other devices - such as the BS8, with an iPad - on other floors, many metres from the router, which perform better than the Playmaker. Rarely get any dropouts on either the BS8 or the Apple TV connected to the BV11. Not sure why, but B&O's wireless devices do seem to have issues with Airplay. When we stream radio to the PM, we get regular dropouts of 15-20 seconds at a time.

Doesn't make any difference if we fix the wireless channel (it's normally set to automatic) and, as I said, it's metres from the router.

Streaming high-quality audio, wouldn't necessarily give you the performance that would match any beautiful design as implied by this thread.

I would never steam wirelessly. I would always stream from a NAS using a network cable. I agree Moxxey, wireless is flaky at best. I think wireless streaming without dropouts is many years away until its reliable.

Simonbeo:

A "TV"where the only bit visible is the screen, with no obtrusive frame. The Screen should be a translucent plate which only becomes visible when necessary . Otherwise it shows a picture of the wall behind it . It would be totally convergent. That would be a b&o product as I understood them; a part of the house and not a showy bit of jewellery .

Actually I like a TV to have a frame. It acts in my opinion just as paint on canvas, usually it needs to have a frame to contain the contents. 

seethroughyou:

Except I don't want a TV in my lounge and using a mobile phone or tablet to play music sucks and reminds me of work. Putting your phone or tablet away for the evening, pouring a glass of whiskey and having music through a dedicated machine that doesn't remind you of work or distraction of TV helps you relax and decontaminates you from a busy day.

 

I agree with that.
I would like a well designed audio (media) device with a small screen to show the radio station/coverart/track/volume etc. (and, no - i'm not talking 'bout a BS 5 ) instead of having to turn on the tv (no need to watch that info on a 42" or 55" or whatever big screen) - or to have to tap on the phone/tablet (and drain the battery) to watch the music info.
Ofcourse this media device shoud be able to be controlled with both Beo remotes and tablets/phones - and directly on the sceen. 

Puncher:

Chris Townsend:

Maybe the gadget itself is now a redundant object, with the media itself being the crucial bought into item.

 

 

For example, one of my best bits of hardware is my Apple TV which sits completely hidden on the back of my 11-46. What makes it such a good gadget is its ability to seamlessly stream great content with the mini IPad itself being the only hardware i use, and it is a familiar and fantastic interface. What lets it down is some of the picture quality and most of the sound quality.

 

 

Does nothing for me - I don't want to pay Apple for content, I don't want to buy Apple hardware - I'd prefer a B&O controller and B&O hardware. " What lets it down is some of the picture quality and most of the sound quality " - the antithesis of B&O and why they shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath!!!