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This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hello everyone,
I have a pair of BeoLab 6000 and I would like to be able to stream music over WiFi to the speakers. I know that the "B&O" way would be to get a Playmaker and indeed I wouldn't think twice about it... IF it had a better design. But in its current form, I can't say that the Playmaker is something that I would proudly display on my home and I don't really care for DLNA connectivity since I only use AirPlay anyway. So why spend close to five times more for something that will remain hidden anyway?
My only "concern" is about sound quality since I read somewhere that (the newer versions of) Airport Express use a low-quality DAC and thus that Playmaker has a significantly improved performance over AE (if you use the analog connection). Since I have no way to test both, I would like to hear your opinion on the matter. Playmaker is not that expensive (in B&O terms at least) but why not save if possible?
Thanks in advance for your help and insights!
PS: I don't really care about the ability to control the speakers with a Beo4/5 either, just the sound quality
I changed my AirPortExpress to a Playmaker to get rid of the DAC, that I needed on the APE to get a decent sound from it.
But that wasn't the only reason, so maybe it is not enough for you to choose the Playmaker.
As always my advice would be to test it in your combination at home!
N.B. With the Playmaker you can use the PowerLink connections as they are - and you can daisy-chain from one 6000 to the other.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
I don't think there is any doubt that the sound quality from the Playmaker is superior to the Airport Express. If that's your only criteria then the Playmaker is the obvious choice however I would also search the forums and ask other owners about the reliability of the Airplay connection. I have read that some people mention dropouts etc. I'm not an owner and so can't comment on the frequency of occurrence or whether it would be often enough to be a nuisance in use.
Ban boring signatures!
It is difficult to test both since I don't own an Airport Express. I'm sure my B&O dealer would not object to me testing it on my setup, but i'm not sure they would be as understanding in the Apple store.
It seems like I will be going towards the Playmaker (playing it safe). Thanks for all the prompt suggestions/opinions!
I changed an Airport Express out for the Playmaker, and there is a significant change in the quality of the sound. Significantly better with the Playmaker. I use it with a BeoSound 2300 and Penta MkIII speakers, I think you will have no problems hearing the difference even with the BeoLab 6000s. I agree, the looks and quality of the build of the Playmaker is not of the usual B&O standard, but you can hide the Playmaker in a cabinet. I've had no problems with dropouts of Airplay.
Cheers, -Peter
- Flere
smile and enjoy the moment
Flere:I have a PM wired to a TimeCapsule. So the PM does not do wifi itself, thats taken care of by the TC. No drop outs.
No drop outs.
Sadly I get long and annoying dropouts all the time from my Playmaker. It's quite poor over wifi. And, yes, I have a Time Capsule. The three AE's in my home never have any dropouts and are all further from the router.
But....the sound quality is superb. Far exceeds that of the AE. The difference is audibly obvious on the first play.
My advice would be to get a PM, but consider using a powerline connector, with ethernet, rather than wifi.
moxxey: My advice would be to get a PM, but consider using a powerline connector, with ethernet, rather than wifi.
Do you mean a better-designed PM? How valid is this information and when is it expected? Because then maybe it would be worth to "settle" for an AEE for now and get the next PM when it comes out (if it is a reasonable amount of time).
Cheers!
Harry Adraktas-Rentis: Do you mean a better-designed PM? How valid is this information and when is it expected? Because then maybe it would be worth to "settle" for an AEE for now and get the next PM when it comes out (if it is a reasonable amount of time).
Bear in mind that the new PM's (so-called 'MKII') on-sale now, are not compatible with FLAC. Maybe this will be re-addressed with the forthcoming major PM refresh?
One advantage of an AE is that it can extend your wifi network and also ethernet through ports for connecting to other devices. I found this handy for connecting to my BV11, for example. Powerline adapters do the same thing though.
The DAC in the AE is cheap and not very good, a cheap upgrade is to use the Digital Output from the AE and feed this into an external DAC, I did this and the sound quality went up massively - everything was clear with superb bass and midrange etc - practically breathed new life into my Penta II's and sounds much better now than the BS3000 (which is now redundant). This is a good option I'd say if you have an audio master or some way of controlling the volume and gives you felxibility in upgrading the DAC in the future which playmaker perhaps doesn't. I now have AE plugged into a Beolink Converter and speakers into the TV, you can access all of this via link rooms too. If you have an AE I would recommend trying the MUSE Mini HiFI DIR 9001 - uses 4 x TDA 1543 Philips chips - at £40 odd on ebay/amazon it is well worth the outlay. Anyway, that's just my experience. It connects via the optical output on the AE (which is in the line out socket, you just need a 3.5mm optical plug/converter)
On the flip side Playmaker offers more faciliaties if you don't have an audio master or connecting to a link system.
ajames...
i have had a AE for a while as quick stop gap and now need to make it better and being a luddite i found your post illuminating !
currently i have the AE connected to the phono socket on an Ouverture, if i buy a new DAC i assume that it will sit between the AE and Ouverture ? can you adise what plugs i need to make this happen.
also i see you dont connect into your 3000, but a beoconverter, could you expalin....))
cheers
andy
Hi Andy,
a BeoLink converter (16xx) can act as an AudioMaster - so if you do not have an AudioMaster you can use that in the MasterLink chain instead.
In your case the DAC would sit between the APE/(optical) digital output - which is the same as the analog out - and the 7 pin Audio-Aux in (A-Tape/Phono).
From the output of the DAC, which is probably a stereo/phono/cinch output, you need an adapter (or a cable with the right plugs). You can get these from your dealer or from Steve at Sounds Heavenly.
The small converter mentioned is for the APE to 'make the sound-out digital' - those are cheap and can be bought at many places.
Greetings Millemissen
ah, many thanks for that, now all i need is the time to get my 8000 system up and running.....
I just want to feedback some info on using the Playmaker with a powerline device, rather than wifi.
A couple of days ago, moved the Playmaker to a powerline device, via ethernet. Much improved. No dropouts, disconnections, nothing. One problem I found with the Playmaker over wifi is that the PM would sometimes disconnect as an Airplay device. It would disappear and you'd have to turn it off and then on again or wait a while for it to reappear.
Since moving to an ethernet powerline connection, no issues like this at all.
Just wanted to say that I decided to get a Playmaker after all since it was the easier way to get what I wanted from my setup. I got it today and it works perfectly! I currently use it over wifi but might change to Ethernet if I experience dropouts (I also have an A8 and I have to admit that the signal seems to get lost every once in a while).
Thank you all for your answers and if a new - better designed - Playmaker comes out ... well ... I guess we are not fans of B&O for no reason ;)
Moxxey, that's a great idea. When i had the BS5e, I connected that through Power Over Ethernet and find it great.
I've only had success with Power Over Ethernet.
Hi Harry,
I think you made a wise decision to select on how you want to integrate your system rather than supposed differences in sound quality. Playmaker and AE are similar in what they do but each has some unique functions that may or may not be of significance to an individual user.
I've not heard my system running with a Playmaker, only with AEs. But, to be honest, I don't notice a loss of quality compared with CDs when streaming via an AE. Maybe I've got damaged ears but I suspect they are no worse than those of the average middle-aged male. So I am a little sceptical about the whole DAC argument.
I understand the current AE uses an Asahi Kasei AKM4430 DAC, which is nothing particularly special, and as Apple has decided its only lossless option is 16bit/44.1kHz I suppose it is no good for anyone with a collection of high resolution files. I don't know what DAC the Playmaker uses or what file formats it can handle, but I'm not convinced I'd hear a benefit from its supposedly 'better' quality with my digital library.
If B&O does, as some have suggested, decide to introduce a better looking Playmaker in the future I may find out! If that happens I'll report back!
Michael: Moxxey, that's a great idea. When i had the BS5e, I connected that through Power Over Ethernet and find it great. I've only had success with Power Over Ethernet.
But....there's an issue/bug with the PM over ethernet.
Each time you disconnect after playing via AirPlay, when you come to reconnect, the PM has disappeared from the list of AirPlay devices :( Only way to get it to reappear is to turn it off and then back on again. Does it every single time.
Anyone else experienced this?
Hi Hardwriter,
I completely agree with you. Ultimately I chose to go with PM since it offers "superior" functionality and integration with other B&O systems and I can also connect my laptop with PM directly which I find very convenient. I have to say that I have no complaints with the sound quality through PM, but the same could be true with AEE as well so it all depends on what you're looking for.
Having said that, if you hear something about a new PM please report back on this thread, I would greatly appreciate it!