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
New: Beovision Harmony, Beolab 50's, Beolab 28's, Beolab 18's, Beolab 17's, Beosound Stage & LG, Beosound 2, Beoplay M3, Beoplay A1, Beoplay Portal, Beoplay H4 gen 2, Beoplay E8 3.0
Mikipedia on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Mikipedia
Mikipedi4 on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/mikipedi4
Mikipedia on Intagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikipedi4/
Old: Beosound 9000 mk3, Beolab 3's, Beovision Eclipse, Beolab 1's, Beolab 2, Beovision 10-46, Overture 2300, beolab 8000's, Beolab 4000's, Beovision avant 32" etc. etc.
live in 5 :D
Hi everyone,
We'll be live again tomorrow at out usual time. We have next to no topic other than what comes up organically. (I know, I am really selling this well ) So if anybody has any ideas and or questions, feel free to leave them here or bring them up in the live chat tomorrow. Alternately you could also email me at mikipedi4@gmail.com if you have any links, youtube doesn't like links in the livechat for some reason.
Hope to see you all tomorrow at 8pm/7pm/1pm AMS/UK/CST USA time, link down below.
Also for those that follow it, who are you routing for in tomorrow nights Super Bowl? It's going to be a close one by the looks of it.
Michael
Get the ‘new My Home guy’ on the show.
How about letting Willie (and you) show how to set up a BS1 - less talking, more action!
P.S. If there is too much Super Ball in the episode I’m off and gone 🙄
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Regards
Kiran
Born in NL; I ride ML
I would like to set up a 5.1 surround system with an LG OLED.
The speakers I have for this are as follows.
Front - Beolab 5's
Rear - Beolab 3's
Center Channel - Beolab 10
Subwoofer - Beolab 2 (not sure I will need this with a pair of 5's up front?)
As I see it I have a number of options
(1) Beosystem 3 or 4 for sound only. If I buy a Beosystem 3 will I be able to see the onscreen menus on a non B&O screen?
(2) Almando Multiplay Surround
(3) 2019 LG OLED Wisa with lots of Beolab Receiver 1's
(4) Surround sound processor with some way of triggering the speakers
I would welcome any thoughts you guys have.
Not around this evening for the podcast, but...
1. With a BS4 (and perhaps 3 as well), you won't get sound from the LG's in built apps (Netflix, Youtube etc). This is what is explained in the Beo Integration catalogue (version 3, page 33). Guess this is because the BS4 doesn't support HDMI arc.
That may or may not matter to you, though I suspect for most it would.
While an Apple TV 4 could be attached to the BS4 to get access to a full suite of apps, an Apple TV 4K won't obviously pass through 4K HDR video - so this is a constrained work around to me.
2. Others have used Almando, and seemingly pretty happy with it. Downside it that the audio can't be shared in a multi-room setup - there may be an additional Almando multi room box / solution, but not aware myself.
3 Sounds fiddly to me - would question how solid an experience that would be.
Option 4 has a similar limitation to option 2 - in that if you have B&O speakers in other rooms that you use for multi-room and share the TV room audio, that can't be done (or not easily to my mind) using Network Link.
This is the whole issue / debate with B&O perhaps not (or maybe still) producing BV's in the future - people want not just a B&O sound bar (to act as a centre) but a way of connecting easily to BL speakers, both local and in the rooms with NL.
Hi David,
I saw a question on the Beotalk podcast this weekend about integrating a non B&O TV with existing and older generation B&O speakers in setup a 5.1 surround sound setup. Michael mentioned my setup using the Almando Box so I thought I'd write a review of my experiences.
Background:
In 2016 I was after a new OLED TV and there were a few players in the game namely LGs B6, C6, E6 and G6. I then found another premium option offered by Loewe, the German company who was the first to invent the TV and often played second fiddle to B&O in terms of Style, Features and integrations with speakers. I fell in love with the design of the Bild 7.55 with its moving screen that raised to reveal a 120-watt sound bar. At £4500 it wasn't cheap but certainly cheaper than the Beovision Eclipse which at £8300 plus without a stand seemed expensive. My Loewe TV has custom panels from LG and used Loewe picture processing, has full use Bluetooth, Motorised Stand, moving curtains, a HDD included and a few other things the Eclipse doesn't from a Picture and features point of view.
Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with Almando, B&O or any other company mentioned here I am simply an AV enthusiast who wanted to Mix B&O speakers with a non B&O TV.
Pricing: All pricing is Based on UK GBP and based on buying the items NEW.
Review and Feedback:
Below is a review of the Almando Surround Switch for Loewe TV's which connects via Loewe's Digital Audio Link (DAL). I've had two versions of the Almando Box the WiSA and non WiSA box. The other unit Almando sells called the Almando Multiplay Surround Decoder connects via HDMI ARC and works in a very similar way except it doesn't come in a WiSA option.
My Setup:
TV: Loewe Bild 7.55 OLED (Calibrated to Broadcast & Movie Standards)
FRONTS: Beolab 50's Connected Wireless via WISA
REAR: Beolab 18s Connected Wireless via WISA
Centre: Bild7.55 Centre Speaker 120 Watts
AV Sources: Oppo 205 4k Blu-ray Player, Apple TV 4K.
Sound Bridge: Almando Surround Switch WISA version & non WISA version
Other Sound Bridges in my cupboard: Klipcsh Wireless HD, B&O Transmitter 1
I also used the Almando Box when I had two pairs of Beolab 18's for front speakers and a pair of 18s for the rear and also a Beolab 19 for the Subwoofer, after getting the Beolab 50's I sold my Beolab 19 Subwoofer as it wasn't required. Consider the below a review of the Almando Boxes which so far I haven't seen online. For a start there two main versions of the Almando Box.
Almando App:
Almando have their own app available for IOS and Android. Originally there was only an Android up but later on they created an IOs version. I took park in testing the IOS version of the app in April 2018. The App is gives you access to all the Almando boxes features and setup options. You get options to setup speakers, inputs, speaker configurations. You also get access to optimisations such as speaker Distances, Volume, Gain, Bass, Treble, Lip-sync, Loudness etc. The same app used for the Almando Surround Decoder and the Almando Surround Switch.
Almando Multiplay Surround Decoder:
This is the probably the one sold to most customers as they can be used by any TV via HDMI and costs 899 Euros. This unit has a 5.1 surround Decoder built in. There is also no remote which is a good thing as you can control the volume using the TV remote which is a nice feature. You can steam music directly from devices that have Bluetooth or input audio from the optical or RCA connections at the back.
You can connect the Almando in a hardwired fashion to any older generation B&O speaker such as the Beolab 5, 3, 8000, 4000 etc. using an Ethernet cable which then connects physically to the speakers using a DIN to Ethernet adapter. These converter cables are sold by Almando or 3rd parties around Europe. This relatively small box comes in a white or black box option is a very light.
There is no built in WiSA option so all speakers must be connected via Ethernet. If you want to make the older speaker connect via WiSA you will need to buy a B&O transmitter 1 and a receiver 1 for every speaker, you wish to connect Wirelessly. If you want to connect older speakers that use the DIN connector you will again need a DIN to Ethernet cable adapters sold separately.
A great bonus is you can also connect older B&O AV equipment that connect via 8Pin DIN like the Beosound 9000
Link to product: https://almando.com/index.php/almando-multiplay-surround-decoder.html
Product Manual (English): https://almando.com/media/documents/almando-multiplay-surround-decoder_en.pdf to see all connection options
Disadvantages:
The price is high at 899 Euros & NO WISA option is currently available
If you want a 5.1 WISA setup using non WiSA enabled products the costs get higher as you need to buy a B&O WiSA Transmitter 1 (£385 New) and a number of Receiver 1's. So for example using a Pair of Beolab 5's for the fronts and a pair of Beolab 3's as rears will require two Receiver 1's for the rears. (£199 Euros x 2 NEW), four DIN to Ethernet cable adapters (£20 Euros x 4), CAT 7 cables to run wire from the Almando box to the speakers £70 -£150 depending on the lengths required. TOTAL SPEND = £1013 or £1798 including the cost of the Almando Multiplay Surround Decoder (£785) and excluding any installation costs.
You are not able to use the TVs sound bar as the Centre speaker as all speakers need to be connected to the Almando Box for 5.1 Surround.
If you want to connect older speaker that use the DIN connector you will again need a DIN to Ethernet cable adapters sold separately.
You will need additional space for the Transmitter 1 which takes away the clean and simple look. Also the Receiver 1's connected to non WiSA enables speakers will have to be hidden or hang off the back of the speakers.
No option for 7.1 or above setups and there is no multi-room option. There is no support for Dolby Atmos or DTS-X as expected.
Also when I tried to connect an optical into the Almando from my Oppo Blu-ray player the sound comes out at MAX volume. I tried reducing the volume on the Oppo Blu-ray player and the Almando (via the App) but no luck so far. Checking the Almando manual you can only connect volume-controllable optical output devices like a Apple Airport Express, Google Chromecast Audio, Sonos etc
Almando Multiplay Surround Switch: Loewe TV's ONLY:
The second version of the Almando Box is made for just Loewe TVs that have a Digital Audio Link port. I believe this option is cheaper as the unit relies on the 5.1 Decoder from the Loewe TV which decodes Dolby Digital and DTS codecs internally.
The Almando Switch comes with the option of having a WISA chip built in for 899 Euros and a non WISA option which is cheaper 699 Euros. I've had both of these devices. If you pay an extra 200 Euros you can have the version with integrated WiSA for newer generation speakers such as the Beolab 17, 18, 19, 20 & 50's. I would buy this for WiSA speakers as it is cheaper than buying a separate Transmitter 1 which costs £349 in the UK.
Again there no remote required which is a good thing as you can control the volume using the TV remote which is a nice feature. You can steam music directly from devices that have Bluetooth or input audio from the optical or RCA connections at the back.
To connect to this unit simply take an Ethernet cable and connect one end to the DAL port located behind Loewe Bild TV with the other end connecting to the Almando Surround Switch. Some of the older Loewe TV's don't have a DAL port and you will need to buy a converter cable from Almando.
This relatively small box comes in a white or black box option is a very light. If you want to connect older speaker that use the old DIN connector you will still need a DIN to Ethernet cable adapters sold separately. Again you can also connect older B&O AV equipment that connect via 8Pin DIN like the Beosound 9000.
Another advantage for this option offered to Loewe TV's is the ability to use the TV's speaker as a centre which is great. The Loewe Bild 7's also has a comprehensive audio menu's solution to set distances, Gain, Volume, Frequency responses etc so I don't need to use the Almando App for that. For my setup I don't need to use these options this as the Loewe Bild 7 already gives me these options.
Link to Product: https://almando.com/index.php/almando-multiplay-surround-powerlink-switch.html
Link to Manual (German Only): https://almando.com/media/documents/almando-multiplay-surround-switch_en.pdf
BEOLAB 50's Wear and Tear on the Acoustic Lenses. The biggest issue I have encountered is that the Almando Surround Switch turns off the speakers after a short interval of 1 - 2 minutes if no audio is detected the TV or Bluetooth source. This won't be a problem for most speakers outside the 50's (and maybe the 90's is they have moving parts) as they don't have mechanical moving parts but for me, the 50's acoustic lens is endlessly moving up and down allot during the day and I worry about the mechanism will wearing out causing my speaker to require servicing more often and frankly its annoying. I have fed back this issue to the Almando team twice in the last 6 months but this has not been addressed. I'm pretty sure this can be fixed with a firmware update that gives me the option to set a time delay for when the speakers go off after not detecting any sound. The official B&O Transmitter 1 has a 15/30 minutes' timer for turning off speakers if the unit doesn't detect any sounds. Due to this reason alone I will be going back to using the B&O Transmitter 1 WITH an Almando surround Switch which does work but annoying as I have yet another AV device in my setup. The main reason I sent for the WISA version was for a one box solution but sadly here Almando has failed on that front.
The Cost is still relatively high at 699 Euros without for the version without WISA or 899 Euros with WISA.
You still need to buy DIN to Ethernet adapters for older speakers and Receiver 1's for Non WiSA enabled speakers
You can't use this box as its designed only for Loewe TVs but it has better value in my opinion ONLY IF you buy a Loewe TV.
Weirdly There is no English version of the manual according to Almando so they recommend using the version for the Almando Surround Decoder.
Not really a disadvantage but Loew TVs has all the same options to control Distance, Volume, Gains, Bass, Treble, Lip-sync, Loudness etc. and more. These options are also on the Almando so the question is - WHICH DEVICE SHOULD I USE TO SET THE AUDIO PARAMETERS?? I'm using the Loewe TV personally but not sure how much the Almando Colours the audio with its own audio processing even when all settings are off. This is not an issue for the Almando Multiplay Surround Decoder
Other connection options I've tried or are aware of WISA only
Klipcsh Wireless HD box - This was made to power the Klipsch Wireless Home Speaker System but will work with any B&O speaker connected via the Transmitter 1, except Beolab 5'. Here you connect the TV via the HDMI input on the unit and all other sources such as Blu-ray players, Games consoles etc. to the other HDMI Ports. The unit comes with a small remote to change volume and the sources. The unit also supports Bluetooth streaming.
Disadvantages: I have this unit and regret buying it as the WISA is very unreliable. The unit also does not support HDR pass through The unit takes 2-3 minutes to start up every time you turn it on. They are made in the US hard to find in European countries.
Axim Q WiSA wireless AVR - Another HDMI based unit that has built in WISA but no way to hardwire the Beolab 5' but you are able to connect the Beolab 17's, 18's 19's, 20's and any old B&O speaker such as the Beolab 3's as you can use B&O receiver 1's to connect them. I think these are $999 US dollars.
Disadvantage: You are not able to connect Beolab 5's to the unit. I'm not sure if there are other disadvantages as I don't own one.
Final Thoughts
If you want to buy a non B&O TV and use B&O Speakers, consider the options above but for me I found the Almando offered best integration solution. You can easily connect the old and new speakers using CAT 7 cables and WiSA except the aforementioned Beolab 5's. The App is great and the units almost have some of the same functionality of the Beosound core. The price is a bit on the high side and you only get up to 5.1 Surround. Almando seem to have a well thought out approach except for the issues I mentioned above, the key one being the issue for Beolab 50 owners.
Knowing what I know now maybe I would have Bought or taken the BEOVISION Eclipse as a serious option back in 2017 for ease of use, simplicity and sound options. At the time I thought I was saving some money on the Loewe but with the money I spent on the Almando and cables I probably would now have considered the Eclipse.
In 2017 The "B&O Tax" would only be about £2000 extra which is not bad to me for the elegance, simplicity, speaker profiles, multi-room, Beoremote one and general B&O'ness. Although from a pure picture point of view the Loewe beats the Eclipse the eclipse used a regular C7 OLED from LG paired with a great design and sound station.
In 2019 there are much better screens out there with better processing so buying an Eclipse now for the Panel is not the easiest thing to justify so I can see why some people want the B&O speakers and a non B&O screen.
Any questions let me know.
John
Beovision Eclipse 55 Brass Edition with Oak covers and Brass Orbital stand
Beolab 50s silver & Oak, Beolab 18 Brass with Smoked Oak, Beolab 18 Rose Gold with Maple Covers, Beolab 19 Black.
Hi John
Thanks for such a detailed explanation of how you made the Almando box work for you.
You have answered so many questions so I only have one left.
It's a new build so all of the connections can be wired with cat7, no need for wisa.
Bang & Olufsen
From this page do I need the Multiplay Surround Decoder # 1006 €899.00 or the Multiplay Surround Switch # 1003 €699.00?
I have written to Almando before and not received a response. Just wish I could buy a product like this from Bang & Olufsen.
David
David :Hi John Thanks for such a detailed explanation of how you made the Almando box work for you. You have answered so many questions so I only have one left. It's a new build so all of the connections can be wired with cat7, no need for wisa. Bang & Olufsen From this page do I need the Multiplay Surround Decoder # 1006 €899.00 or the Multiplay Surround Switch # 1003 €699.00? I have written to Almando before and not received a response. Just wish I could buy a product like this from Bang & Olufsen. David
We'll be live again tomorrow at our usual hour on YouTube, 8pm/7pm/1pm AMS/UK/CST USA.
Thanks to John/Epsilon20 we've got the most comprehensive Almando box review to date in this thread and dare I say anywhere on the internet. So obviously we'll be talking about that and some other stuff like some construction updates on my new place. As this thread and the podcast itself is very much a community effort, if any of you have any questions what so ever feel free to leave them here on the forum or join us live in the chat. The same goes for topics you'd like us to touch upon and or give our thoughts about.
So we hope to see you all tomorrow live and if not, shortly afterwards(usually about an hour) it'll be up for you to watch at your own leisure!
In the episode last sunday you were talking about the small ‘display project’, that Christian presented.
I like that sort of thing, too!
Way back, when the Playmaker came out, there was a wish for a version with a display - and the Essence Remote could (?) have been designed with a display.......’
I wondered why you did not mention the display of the BS35 at this occation. I find that nice and have since then wished for a similar ‘standalone’ display.
B&O taking the idea of Christian a step further for a version in a Shape tile could be awesome.
Willie said that he misses some kind of ‘Reference Point’ in his setup to ‘display what is currently playing’
’....when you don’t have a Moment to see what is currently playing’ (quotes from the video)
He talked about ‘the shape of an iPadish idea’.
Here is how I do it - and have been doing it for a while now.
My old IPad Mini has merged into a dedicated ‘app remote’ - it is always on/connected to the mains.
This way I alway see, what is playing - as far as it is possible.
Using Spotify as my main music source, I am informed about the artist, title.......and see the album cover.
Some radio stations present their logo, and some even artist, title...
I can control my main player (my Essence box) there and switch to another, if needed - I can pause/play, skip tracks, expand to another system etc
Ecactly like when using the app on a phone, of course......
......just that it is always there and active!!!
That is my Reference Point in my setup.
Just as an idea for someone with similar needs 😉
Great information on last weeks cast and on here from John about Almando.
Would be interesting to hear about any experience you have with the other companies who supply and make components designed specifically to work with B&O.
Here is my list.
Atlona Bang and Olufsen
@Miki
Feel free to ‘rip off’ my idea with the iPad Mini.
Actually it’s just a dedicated iPad in a stand 🙂
(Could run in landscape mode, but because of the the connector it’s more practical in portrait mode - and it look better in portrait mode imo).
There is nothing else running there but the Bang Olufsen app.....and - in my case - the Spotify app.
And there is noone in our house messing with that mini-pad.
Can I suggest one more link for your list? Sounds Heavenly - audio cables and accessories for B&O
Kind regards, Steve.
Steve.
www.soundsheavenly.com
Founder of Sounds Heavenly Cables and Brand Ambassador for Bang & Olufsen
Sounds Heavenly are proud to sponsor BeoWorld!
Please check out my YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/soundsheavenlycables
I'm so sorry Steve. Not sure how I managed to miss you from the list having purchased from you many times.
The advice service and quality of product you offer is amazing,
Kind regards David
And of course:
https://shop.oneremote.dk/
Kind regards
Allan
@millemissen
Thats exactly what i want out of it, I wish it was abit more B&O like a beo6 or a new beo7 remote or somtehing like that, but this'll have to do until then unfortunately.
@Steve
You should always be on the list! If you'd ever like to come on the podcast as a guest, dm me! we'd love to have you on as a guest :D
Thanks David and Michael!
Yes, I would be very interested to join the podcast as a guest one day - please let me know how we can do this and I will be happy to help!
Hi Steve,
I DM'ed you. Hope it finds you well?!
Thanks Michael!
I will be back in touch in a few minutes once I have had a coffee!
Hope all is well? Are you guys ready for another podcast tomorrow/today? We'll be live again at our usual time 8pm/7pm/1pm AMS/UK/CST USA live on YouTube.
As per usual we have some loosely gathered topic (lol) but we always value your input, so if any of you have any questions and or topic suggestions feel free to leave them here or bring them up in the live chat on YouTube. Also at some point we should have a (B&O) joke competition for the best joke in the live chat :p
Anyway, we'll see you all tomorrow, so get your beverage of choice and or snacks ready :p
Have the B&O devices slowly merged from NL devices into ChromeCast devices?
....and why?
That would be something to discuss.
By the way - I find that a bad joke 😠
Thanks, we shall discuss it and I think I have an answer for you :D
Regarding the Sandy question about Dolby TrueHD decoding.
There is no need for decoding capacities for TrueHD (or DTS Master) in the B&O tv’s (or BeoSystems).
These sound formats are only (legally) available on bluray discs.
Just let the player do the job and feed the tv with the decoded stream = PCM.
However some players don’t decode to multi channel (5.1/7.1), but only to 2.0.
These are mostly the cheaper ones!!!
Would have been nice, if Sandy had mentioned the brand and model of his player!
By the way these two formats are compressed, but lossless (just like FLAC).
Netflix and co normally use the lossy compressed (but rather good) Dolby Digital Plus, which can be decoded in the tv’s based on the BeoSystem 4 audio engine.
The ‘Fury’ disc also contains an Atmos soundtrack (maybe not true for all disc versions).
Since the Atmos part is merely an add-on to the actual stream, the player would pick the core of the soundtrack, which is the HD track, then decode it to multi channel PCM (in case Sandy only to 2.0, obviously).
P.S. The Atmos version in streamed content is built on Dolby Digital Plus (DD+).
Millemissen: Regarding the Sandy question about Dolby TrueHD decoding. There is no need for decoding capacities for TrueHD (or DTS Master) in the B&O tv’s (or BeoSystems). These sound formats are only (legally) available on bluray discs. Just let the player do the job and feed the tv with the decoded stream = PCM. However some players don’t decode to multi channel (5.1/7.1), but only to 2.0. These are mostly the cheaper ones!!! Would have been nice, if Sandy had mentioned the brand and model of his player! By the way these two formats are compressed, but lossless (just like FLAC). Netflix and co normally use the lossy compressed (but rather good) Dolby Digital Plus, which can be decoded in the tv’s based on the BeoSystem 4 audio engine. The ‘Fury’ disc also contains an Atmos soundtrack (maybe not true for all disc versions). Since the Atmos part is merely an add-on to the actual stream, the player would pick the core of the soundtrack, which is the HD track, then decode it to multi channel PCM (in case Sandy only to 2.0, obviously). P.S. The Atmos version in streamed content is built on Dolby Digital Plus (DD+). MM
Indeed - it was an odd situation.
I've used my Pioneer player for a few years here and there, without paying much attention to whether it was doing the decoding or not. Everything sounded great, so never felt the need to dig around in settings / sound info.
For whatever reason, the player seemed dead, so I bought a new Panasonic player (UB320), hooked it up in the same way through my matrix to the BV12-65 / BS4. The player can send bitstream or PCM - and settings can be specified for both Dolby and DTS audio.
For some reason though, and this never happened with my Pioneer 450 player, movies with their main track (English language) in multi channel DTS were fine (even DTS Master 7.1), but those with Dolby True HD were not.
Those Dolby True HD movies couldn't be bitstreamed - the BS4 would be silent and the sound info says PCM 0.0. And if PCM'd to the BS4, would only play in PCM 2.0.......this may be a player issue, as it "seems" to be only outputting PCM 2.0. I can't get it to PCM multi channel - perhaps it can't down mix a Dolby True HD 7.1 to 5.1....manual / menu options suggests it should be able to.
And then my Pioneer woke up! And the above problem disappeared....i.e. irrespective of whether a movie was Dolby True HD or DTS Master 7.1, the Pioneer would output PCM 5.1......so all good again, and my Dolby True HD movies could be enjoyed in 5.1, not a PCM 2.0.
**while the Panasonic I bought is a relatively cheap (UHD) player now, the menu options do suggest it can output multi channel PCM.....it does so for DTS material, but refused to for Dolby True HD tracks (regular Dolby 5.1 it was happy to PCM out in multi channel).
*** So glad the Pioneer woke up again - it's audio reproduction is so damned good, the new Panasonic was ordinary by comparison.
**** Still love a good Blu-Ray, despite the above hi-jinks. The soundtracks are just so rich and immersive.Bought a bunch of discs for 7-8 GBP each, no regrets.
Maybe some time inviting this guy to the podcast could be an idea
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOlU6gU6TCho4GTG76s7shw
Please notice, these videos are in danish - but I am sure that he will be able to communicate quite well in english.
He has had B&O gear for many years and knows a thing or two.
He is one of those who ventures 100% down the GA and ChromeCast route for his B&O setup and the home automation/light.
I am sure that this could be a starting point for a discussion between Willie and him (and you being more into AirPlay)
N.B. I don’t know him personally. I have read some of his posts on some of the danish forums earlier - he also posted questions on the Geoff (Martin) blog, when it was still open for comments.
He runs a (closed) facebook group about B&O, which I don’t know more of, since I am not into facebooking.
As you may know, I don’t agree with him on his take on modern B&O....I am more a NL guy.
In addition - he is wild into cars.....which also would fit in with what you guys of spend plenty of time on in the podcast 😉
Just an idea - if you are in need of guests on the show.
Guys i wasnt able to finish the live show but there was a questionon MQA which is basicaly the latest flavour of the month in terms of audio codecs. Its meant to given recording studios and steaming sites the ability to encode audio using smaller file sizes.
Its a proprietaty coded and some manufactuers are licenced to process this codes on hardware like Oppo, Audioquest. This is currently supported on Tidal
https://www.mqa.co.uk/customer/our-partners
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Quality_Authenticated
As far as i know no B&O equipement can decode this musis but can obviously play the music once decoded by another player.
There was also a question as to whether the Almando has a Dolby sound decoder. The answer is only once verison which is the HDMI version, the other version for Loewe TVs use the decoder found in the TV. This is partly why the HDMI almando box is more expensive.
Lastly i was not able to find a way to set the time the Beolab 50's are triggered ON and OFF so will be retiring my Almando from WISA duties and using the transmitter 1.
For those interested, or not fully informed like myself, these 2 links are very useful.
Even my limited intelligence could understand the basics of the process.
http://bobtalks.co.uk/blog/science-mqa/mqa-playback/#
https://www.mqa.co.uk/customer/how-it-works
Seems as if the decoding of an MQA stream is done in 2 parts - one to unpack / unfold the stream, and a second to render it.
The first unfolding is necessary, and presents a higher than CD quality 88.2/96 stream along the chain (MQA Core)
The rendering is not necessary, as the DAC that is next in the chain will take it from there.
MQA Renderers will do the second unfold - seems as if it applies some fine tuning (as it will know the characteristics of your DAC) and deliver >96k music.
Tidal's desktop app, for example, does the first unfold, being MQA Core capable. Same with Roon servers.
Anyway, seems like digital audiophiles argue over whether there is just a lot of upsampling going on in the process, especially the Rendering stage. I saw on a forum someone had a Meridian spreadsheet of the source files, and because some were only 48 (i.e. CD quality), cue a big argument over how much of the MQA special sauce is just upsampling.
At which point I got bored, and put on some vinyl instead!
**Most tend to agree that even the first unfold into 88.2 / 96 sounds quite a bit better than Apple Music / Spotify, and somewhat better than Hifi (ie. CD quality) streams on things like Tidal / Deezer Hifi.
The short version is that MQA makes it possible for the content owner (i.e. record companies) to sell yet another version of the same files...
....and that Meridian Audio has a chance to keep the money rolling in.
The long version is this:
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/mqa-a-review-of-controversies-concerns-and-cautions-r701/
The even longer version you can find on the Archimago website (several postings there - just do a search):
http://archimago.blogspot.com/
You don't have to buy the higher bit rate streams though, no one forcing anyone to....
And other hi-res sources are available, Qobuz etc.
I have no idea how much if any of MQA is just upsampling snake oil - seems as if people disagree on audiophile forums.
Though where most of those would agree is that better streaming quality than Spotify or Apple Music (or whoever's) basic paid tier is achievable.
Whether it matters to individuals is a separate matter.
Though as I have mentioned before, I don't believe the majority of forum members here are really audiophiles (and probably a good thing, hardcore audiophiles can be tiresome imho).
Sandyb: Though as I have mentioned before, I don't believe the majority of forum members here are really audiophiles (and probably a good thing, hardcore audiophiles can be tiresome imho).
And B&O never was an audiophile company.
My point is: give us 16/44.1 FLAC files/streaming at resonable prices....
.....AND start to focus on the recording and mastering quality - then the magic starts.
Millemissen: Sandyb: Though as I have mentioned before, I don't believe the majority of forum members here are really audiophiles (and probably a good thing, hardcore audiophiles can be tiresome imho). And B&O never was an audiophile company. My point is: give us 16/44.1 FLAC files/streaming at resonable prices.... .....AND start to focus on the recording and mastering quality - then the magic starts. MM
Agreed - but while I'd love to think FLAC streaming prices come down, I wouldn't hold my breath. While mainstream consumers are happy enough for 10 per month for MP3s, how cheap will the next tier really be?
And yes, recording and mastering is paramount - fully agree there.
And while I'm thinking about getting a better streaming solution for home use (looking at a Linn streamer / DAC + Roon), the motivation is as much wanting to use the Roon UI as it is about some never ending quest for the highest bitrate.
But many moving parts to my thinking, and as said before, I'm not keen to break up my B&O multi room setup on a whim.
Like you, I use NL every day, and overall convenience and usability is not to be cast aside lightly.
Just been using my BR One with my A9 MK2 - simple but a small joy!
Well Miki, you already have an A9 in place 🙃