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
Hi,
I just bought the Beo sound 5 and the new bel 18"s and 19. I love the look overall but frankly I am coming from Meridian Digital Equipment and expect the sound to be not quite as good. Need to go to wall mounted speakers drove the decision. I also love B&O don't get me wrong but they do seem geared more to style than sound etc????? could be wrong?
Ok, heres my question. Given all the above I want the best quality files i can get onto the system. I have read about flac and wma etc.
My files are AAC iTunes one source
the better source is on my back up drive straight from my Sooloss digital meridian system in AIFF files
What is the best way to move the Aiff file into the Beo 5?
Should I just rip the cd direct to the bel ( 800 of them)
etc
Appreciate any help at all
Hi and welcome to Beoworld,
why not just convert the Aiff files to FLAC and import them to the BM5 drive.
On a Mac XLD does the job - in Windows use dbPowerAMP Music Converter.
Be sure that they are tagged well - coverpics an so on - otherweise it won't be fun to use the BS5.
And keep your Aiff's as backup.
P.S. Seems that you haven't heard the BS5/BL18/19 combo yet!
Would be nice if you could post your impressions after having your new setup for a couple of weeks
Greetings Millemissen
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Thanks, for the quick response. In contacting B&O tech , they indicate the CD rip direct to the Beo 5 is WMA format. They indicate flac to be better sound. However it also indicates that the Beo5 down samples files to 44k anyway??????
Guess the question then is what is the highest format the Beo 5 will play? if its WMA then is it worth the conversion trouble to Flac? etc
A CD is 16/44.1 - you won't get more, no matter what the ripping format would be.
MM
I went quit the same route. I used to play with meridian g91 and five channel power amplifier with Piega speakers, after that a complete linn setup with the streaming device (Linn DS) with sonus faber speaker. Now I am playing beosound 5 with the new beolab 18.
i choose this mostly for the design and easy to use with 1 remote. The sound is better then I was expecting. The alt lens is great for copper, brass instruments and voices. The thing I miss is the soundstage and the depth in the music. Linn and meridian did there a better job in my opinion.
after owning and playing a lot of equipment I must say that the combo beolab 18 with the beosound 5 is capable to play a decent quality music and i consider it as a good deal compare to a traditional setup (pre, power, streamer, speakers and interlinks).
so enjoy it
Thanks, for the reply's. The conversion process is frankly a pain. I have tried several mac/pc programs. They are inconsistent at best. For me having the metadata is a big part of putting your collection on digital. You want to sit down with and iPad or remote and browse and select albums and tracks etc.
I was a bit disappointed to learn the Beo5 needs a second box to use for Beo software control, at this price that just does not make sense especially when the entire industry has moved to devices like iPad. Now it did get some iPad software called creative 5. It looks terrific and all but it too is not 100% consistent with Metadata and the app flow is choppy and not always smooth. By now these things should be set up flawless. Buy the equiptmtny, load, connect and play............its not there yet
So bottom line seems for me to be to rip the CD's all over again directly using the Beo5. Evn that misses album art on CDs that I had on every other system with no issues.......frustrating a bit.
Now to the good stuff. I went from Meridian Digital (formally sooloss) with DSP 5200 speakers to the Beo 5 with Beo 18's and the 19 sub.
My expectations were kind of low as the move was mainly to not have floor standing speakers for grandkids to run into on every vista and not have a family room full of equipment as the entire B&O experience is focused towards. I won't say the B&O's are as good as my previous sound in total. The meridians were frankly a bit richer in overall sound depth.
HOWEVER I AM LOVING THEM......YEP LOVING THEM. ITS DIFFERENT BUT THE SOUND IS SPECTACULAR IN THEIR OWN RIGHT. CRISP AND CLEAR NOT DIGITAL FATIGUE AT ALL WHEN LISTENING FOR A LONG TIME AND IM AM THRILLED WITH NOT ARRANGING MY ROOM (AND LIFE) AROUND A SWEET SPOT. THESE THINGS ROCK AND VOCAL ARE CRYSTAL CLEAR AND THEY LOOK UNREAL,ACTUALLY ADDS TO THE DECOR AND ARE A NO FUSS GREAT SOUNDING SET UP. NOT A COMPROMISE AT ALL REALLY JUST DIFFERENT. I AM REALLY HAPPY I MADE THE SWITCH.......
WISH LIST....
BETTER REMOTE INTERFACES,LESS EXPENSIVE AND EASY APPS. SPEND $$$ ON EQUIPMENT LIKE THIS IS ONE THING FOOLING AROUND WITH FUNCTIONALITY ISSUES AT MORE EXPENSE AND TIME IS INSULTING AFTER BUYING AT THIS LEVEL
EASIER FILE CONVERSION SET UP AND BETTER MANUALS.
THE FACTS ARE THERE BUT NO REAL EXPLANATIONS ON THE FEATURES AND SET UP IN THE KIND OF DETAIL THAT SAVES BUSY PEOPLE SET UP TIME. ALSO THE WEB REFERRALS ARE THE SAME DOCUMENTS.IF YOU ARE GOING TO SAY IN A MANUAL TO GO TO A WEBSITE FOR MORE BUT ITS THE SAME BOOKLET INFO WHATS THE POINT?
BOTTOM LINE B&O HAS AN OUTSTANDING PRODUCT ON THEIR HANDS THAT IS THEY LISTEN TO THEIR CONSUMERS CAN GIVE COMPANIES LIKE MERIDIAN A REAL RUN FOR THE MONEY........NO ONE CLOMES CLOSE TO THE DESIGN, NOW THE SOUND IS WORTHY GET THE ACCESSORIES AND SET UP FUNCTIONS UP TO THE SAME LEVEL AND FOR MY MONEY THIS IS THE SYSTEM FOR MUSIC LOVERS WITHOUT ALL THE BULK AND HASSEL
PS THIS IS THE FIRST SYSTEM MY WIFE ACTUALLY LIKES...............NOT A BAD SIDE NOTE
Wow - that is a statement
I'm sure the heart of any BeoWorlder beats faster reading this.
You have descibed exacltly why WE LOVE B&O.
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As for the 'file conversion problem' I guess that is the problem in any music system based on digital flies!
At least B&O offers direct ripping to WMA Losless for those, who don't want to mess with a pc/mac and different file formats. Just pop in your cd's and let the BM5 do the job.
Sure we/most of us would like to have an iPad as remote/browse option. But the fact is, that you won't get a system that reacts as quick and smooth as the BM5/BS5 combo with a tablet and an app..
Finally - as for the 'second box' - you will need to have your files (and connections) somewhere in your setup/on the network anyway, and the BM5 (which is nothing more than a small pc with the B&O software running on top) is the reason why the experience of using the BS5 is that extraordinary.
Purchase Update********************************
First, let me say I remain satisfied overall with my decision to purchase and the the sound. The Dealer in West Palm Beach Florida, Jim is terrific really going all out to help me get things right!
Having said this system wont make it in my view unless serious work is done on the interface. Its way to counterintuitive, messy, and some things just don't plain work at all! Moving, your music with art and metadata, ripping CD's and generally getting set up is a full time chore and lackluster many time unusable results. I gave completely up on file transfers went to ripping cd's and that also problematic.
1-The remote is a joke in terms of functionality, any of them no real way to manage a playing session without getting up and going to the console.
2- The iPad program available 3rd party CREATION 5 is hit and miss as well. Has more functions and graphics but messy and not fluid in use and again something just don't work.
3- Beoconnect needs more work getting the art and metadata than its worth using
4- Auto rip just plain does not work no matter what we try. It loads, goes to working,stops then you need to press go again- With means you need to stand at the console for a couple of minutes just to start ripping one CD at a time. With some effort and time I have managed to rip about 200 of my 1000 in a months time not good
5- Every Album with tracks that have other artist credits on songs shows up separate in a list so any duets albums you have for example will have 12 separate albums art cover listing for the one album
In short the interface compared say to Meridian solos and dare I say even I tunes is really MICKEY MOUSE for a product at this price point and for this targeted consumer. Giving up some audiofile Sound quality for design and ascetics is fine, having a cumbersome, quirky and sometime unusable interface flies right in the face of the needs of this targeted customer a this price point!
The 18's and 19 speakers are better than expected. The interface is much worse and frankly surprising for the reasons I said. If it were not for the dealer follow up and the speakers I would have boxed it up returned it and looked for other options. I am rooting for this product to succeed. I think if it can get this stuff addressed it could actually be a home run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!