Beolab 3s & Playmaker - new user report, plus tech details re Playmaker + Linux, Skifta etc.

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muppetsrock Posted: Sun, Dec 23 2012 8:38 PM

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So encouraged by feedback on Beoworld about the Beolab 3s, I finally sprung for a used pair from MoreThanAV. My gf and I took a trip out there last week, they're a couple of minutes from Gatwick, and it was a really enjoyable experience.

They're in a warehouse a little off the beaten track, and it's a wonderland. Half a dozen Beolab 5s dotted around the place ("Daleks!"), Ian's dad made us a cup of tea, and then it was down to a quick listen.

Sure enough, the Beolab 3's are as amazing as I remembered them from the B&O store in Dublin, but substantially less intimidating to the wallet. I play a variety of obnoxious crap to make sure there are no sudden holes ("bass... check." "treble... check." "imaging... bloody hell... check!"

I'm about to escape for a couple of months rent when the topic of DACs comes up. "Well, have you considered the Playmaker?"

Now this gives me pause. It's not a cheap piece of kit, it's very much Apple-oriented, and I'm on not-even-Windows, I'm on Ubuntu Linux. Used to be a programmer by trade, that's just how I work these days. I know, for sure, that if it works at all, it's going to be three days of messing around to get the Playmaker talking to the Linux laptop.

(I don't use CDs. Too hard to back up. Buy 'em, rip 'em, play from the HD as Turing intended.)

But... well... at some point, you've gotta trust the people who make your things, so I say "OK!" and figure I'll use an analogue wire for the moment and sort it out and/or use the mac. If they can make speakers like that, and they say The Way is this funny looking bathroom tile, who am I to doubt it?

=====

So I get the rig home, unbox, strew cables all over the living room (longer mains leads! longer mains leads!) and plug everything in. The setup is:

Ubuntu Linux PC -> Focusrite VRM box (headphone amp) -> Playmaker Line In -> Beolab 3

or

Mac -> wifi -> Playmaker DAC -> Beolab 3

And, by Santa's beard, it's absolutely great. I've done sod all to the room, the speaker placement is terrible, the Focusrite box is a sodding headphone amp, and in spite of all that... even playing from compressed sources... very very very nice indeed. Good, good.

Off the mac, however, it's double plus bonus points good. There are a couple of annoying glitches.

a) Mac's on older operating system, so only iTunes can talk Airplay - no Airplay Mirroring or "send all audio over Airplay" option. If I upgrade to Snow Leopard, it'll do "send all audio over airplay" but, for the moment, it's gotta go through iTunes. This means no Spotify on the mac for now, or through the Focusrite box.

b) I can't remember how to use a mac, it's been so long.

However... blow me down, losslessly ripped CDs going straight to the Playmaker sound... cut-your-fingers-on-them sharp, and full, and rich, and beautiful.

But you knew the gear sounds like that already, that's why you're here, right?

Here's the kicker.

a) I finally figure out the front of the Playmaker is a volume control. Who knew? With aesthetics like that, I assumed it was meant to be stuck beside yer wifi box and never seen again but, no, no, it's got uses. Shame, it looks like network infrastructure, not a B&O user interface, but that's life.

b) I figure out, with some messing about, that you can play decent quality audio right off the iPhone.

Girlfriend thinks this is just about the best thing in human history and, at that point, is entirely sold on this B&O stuff. The "you spent how much?" goes right the heck away, and it is very clear that we have crossed the domain marker from technology to magick now. Who cares how it works or how much it cost, I can play this right off my phone with a click!

So Ian got that one right, the Right Answer is the Playmaker. It's still a pain in the butt - won't talk to Linux by AirPlay or by DLNA, won't talk to Andriod by DLNA either. I had high hopes for Skifta but, no, that doesn't work either. The Playmaker picks up that it's being sent audio and stops playing whatever's coming in on the analogue port but... no sound. Nothing. This is almost certainly due to crap implementations on one end or the other, and I'm prone to suspecting it's Linux/Android that's at fault, but...

UPDATE: Skifta on Android WORKS. Turns out the default volume on the Playmaker for DLNA is zero, so it's playing, but silently. Turned it up, Hunky Dory, works. Now I at least have some pathway through the Playmaker from the Free World. And, by god, the Playmaker accepts FLAC files right off Skifta and plays them. There are still some issues (albums/folders etc), but in principle, it's all there. And it sounds great.

=====

So, there's my (entirely too techie) user report: it's all great, and I've held off nearly 10 years buying real audio (I was on a Cambridge Soundworks Model 12 for a long time, which is pretty close, but that's another tale.) Only thing I'm really missing now is a hardcase for the speakers, but that can wait another year.

Thanks again to Ian, and I'll give you a call when I figure out what I need cable-wise!

Now, anybody got any idea how to make Linux play ball? ;-)

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Millemissen replied on Sun, Dec 23 2012 10:49 PM

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Hi,

glad you like the Playmaker.

A lot of B&O-people are enjoying this little beast.

I play my FLAC-files from a NAS/Mediaserver (whitch is Linux as you know) controlled by the app PlugPlayer on iPad. PlugPlayer is also avaible for Android-devices.

Also check out the Vortexbox (a genuine Linux-solution):

www.vortexbox.co.uk/

Happy-discovering new possibilities

Greetings Millemissen

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YannChris replied on Mon, Dec 24 2012 9:21 AM

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Hello!

I'm on the way to add a Playmaker in my Master Link sytem, which also includes a Beo6.

Is there a way to search the music in my NAS and display album artwork on the Beo6?

To Millemissen, I saw more negative than positive opinions on PlugPlayer in the french appstore, especially about the fact that this app is not updated since a long time.

Are you fully satisfied with it?

Kind regards,

Yann.

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Millemissen replied on Mon, Dec 24 2012 10:10 AM

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Hello Yann,

PlugPlayer for iPad was last updated august 2012.

In fact I use multible solutions with my Playmaker or rather with my audiosystem at home.

Besides my collection of not-yet-rippet-cd's, all my music is on a Synology-NAS.

I use the PlugPlayer mostly for listening with headphones through my iPod Touch.

My Playmaker is connected to my AudioMaster and thus reachable in all linkrooms.

When I use the PlugPlayer, I use the DLNA-part of the PM - works rather good indeed.

Only problem is that (as almost all DLNA-solutions) you can't have gaplessplay.

Mostly (for heavy-listening) I use my Squeezebox Touch controlled by the Squeezepad-app. The iPeng-app also works very well.

The LogitechServer is on my Synology-NAS - the Squeezebox is attached to the line-in of the PM.

I actually never "touch" it - it is just there as an extra display (for the albuma-art).

That is in fact my favorite solution, and makes it possible to listen to even highres-files without any gaps (very important for concerts and conceptalbums:Pink Floyd as an example).

Discovering new music and for easylistenig I use the AirPlay-part of the PM and Spotify Premium on the iPad - and also for netradio (I prefer the TuneIN-app).

Might be interesting to look at my system in this thread:

www.hifi4all.dk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=46053&PN=0&TPN=235

It is in danish, but you might "get the picture" - use google translate if you please.

I have no experience with the Beo6 - but if you have a good server (Twonky or so) running in your system, it might be possible to use it with the PM/DLNA.

Please let us know if you try it out

I would prefer the big display of the iPad/iPadMini - and a Beo4.

Greetings Millemissen

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YannChris replied on Mon, Dec 24 2012 12:40 PM

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Millemissen,

We have a very similar system.

Mine contains a BV9 as master, connected to a BC2.

Several link rooms, including a Beolink PC2 in the study.

For the time being, an Ipod is connected to the BC2 aux-in.

My music is stored on a Synology NAS with DSM 4.1 in WMA Lossless format.

My wish: replace the Ipod by a Playmaker and read the music stored on the NAS in all rooms.

NAS and computers are on a router, Ethernet + Wireless.

I read the post you mentioned, Google translation to french is nearly un-understandable.

I would like to use wired connections between NAS and Playmaker, other connection as follows:

NAS  --Ethernet--> Router --Ethernet--> Playmaker --> RJ45 output to RCA adapter as shown in your post---> BC2 Aux-in ---> Master Link ---> Link rooms.

Beo6, IPhone or Beo4 control.

Should I add a package on the Synology (for the time being Synology Audio Station is installed)?

What is a twonky server?

Can you read lossless formats with the Playmaker?

A lot of questions, sorry, but thanks for your help in any case.

Have a nice Christmas,

Yann.

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Millemissen replied on Mon, Dec 24 2012 2:34 PM

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"NAS  --Ethernet--> Router --Ethernet--> Playmaker --> RJ45 output to RCA adapter as shown in your post---> BC2 Aux-in ---> Master Link ---> Link rooms."

That is exactly the way to do it!!!

The iPod-directconnection is a nogo - depending on your loudspeakers the sound improves a great deal  when you switch to a PM.

Twonky server is a powerfull mediaserversolution for audio and especially video. It can also be installed on some NAS'es, although one should prefer a powerful, modern NAS. The Qnaps come with it installed, and there are solutions for Synology as well. You must search for it/Google you know....

Mediaserver is a complicated matter - you need time to learn and understand how they work, and which one is good for your purpose.

The Media Server (download the package from the Synology-website) is quite good. The PM can very well handle losless files - my files are all FLAC, which is losless.

You might get a problem with your WMA Losless-files? Do you have a lot of them? You might consider converting them to FLAC with Foobar 2000 or dbPoweramp (http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm). That would make all a bit easier.

My advice: buy the PM and start experimenting with AirPlay for internetradio/Spotify/Deezer and also the PlugPlayer/Synolygy-server to see if it handles your WMA Losless-files.

Sorry, at the moment I do not have the time to test the WMA Losless-files/SynologyMediaServer-combo - will do it as soon as possible.

You might also try out different audio-servers on your computer. On a Win-PC the Windows-Mediaplyer is a server too.

Notice the program "Airfoil" (http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/windows/) lets you airplay ALL audio from your Win-PC!

The subject good audio-servers is a long-life-lerning-process

Greetings and Happy Nöel

Millemissen

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YannChris replied on Mon, Dec 24 2012 4:37 PM

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Millemissen,

According to these informations, adding a Playmaker to my setup is the way to go.

All my CDs are ripped in WMA Lossless since it is the highest quality supported by Beoplayer/BeolinkPC2 installed in the study.

If necessary, converting the files to FLAC or Apple lossless is only a matter of computer-time, so not a real problem.

As my main speakers are BL5, I guess the improvement will be noticeable when compared to the Ipod solution.

Thanks again for your kind help, and merry Christmas!!

Yann

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DoubleU replied on Tue, Dec 25 2012 6:41 AM

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@ Millemissen

Nice setup you have there!. Although it looks like you have combined different solutions in one setup. Just trying to understand why.. 

For example, I see you have your SB Touch connected to the line-in of your Playmaker which is connected to your Audiomaster. What’s the purpose of the PM? Do you just have it so you can Airplay your music from your iOS devivice?

Why do you use Plugplayer? You could activate the iPeng Playback (0,89 Euro) which allows you to listen music from your LogitechServer to your iOS device.

And final, which Synology do you have? Because I like to replace my Qnap for a Synology. Do you also use it to stream movies? I just want to find out how much power I need.

Thanks!

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Millemissen replied on Tue, Dec 25 2012 12:20 PM

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Thanks for your interest in my system.

The PM has 3 inputs.

As most people know - and also use - firstly the AirPlay. It is well known that AirPlay provides good sound quality, because the transmission is losless. If you use losless-files, and a good DAC (the DAC in the PM is in fact quite good), you might be satisfied with this solution. Pro is also the ease of use - only Con is that AirPlay is limited to 16/44.1-quality (AppleTV=16/48)

Before the PM arrived I had already used the Squeezebox Touch for a while - it was attached to the A-Tape-input of my AudioMaster with a manual-switch. I also had an AirPortExpress (with an external DacMagic- DAC) on that switch. Therefore I had to manually switch between my sources - in the mainroom.

The PM makes the switching automatic, autosense (as you might know) - so now I don't need the APE+DAC-solution anymore.

With the Squeezebox/line-in of the PM it is possible to play my highres-files (without downsampling) direct from the device (networkcabled). You use the iPad/Squeezepad-app only as remotecontrol (with a large display). And the wireless-traffic is limited - important because we already have a lot of wireless-traffic in our house!

The DLNA-part is rarely used by me - in fact only for testing of different DLNA-audioservers. I use the best DLNA-audio-app (PlugPlayer) I know - but there are others as well. Nice feature, if you need it. Mostly (as noted) I use the PlugPlayer for listening via headphones on my iPodTouch.

The iPeng-playback-solution is well known. But it would involve two iPads, and the iPad, which should be connected to my audiosystem, would need some kind of DAC ( which could be the Nuforce iDo) as he headphoneoutput of the iPad is not good (or good enough for me).

OR I could AirPlay from one iPad/iPeng-playback to the PM, which then would be with the limits of AirPlay (as described above).

One might see my system as "different solutions in one setup". But with the Playmaker all works seemlessly - no manual switching. The SqueezeboxTouch is just there (in fact I could hide it away), when it is activated. And AirPlay is there if I want that. All I have to do is to activate A-Tape/A-Mem in any (link)room, and choose whatever I want from my iDevice. In fact I could hide the PM away as well, because is is "fixed-lineout and Option 0".

As described:AirPlay is mostly for netradio, podcasts, Spotify.... what I call "easylistening",

And line-in/Squeezebox is for my music-files on the NAS...what I call "heavylistening"

My NAS is a DS110j - not the newest and most powerfull. But I use it only for music.

Movies are - in my opinion - best seen as Bluray (and I have no desires to rip all my BR's). Or once in a while as download from iTunes/Netflix.

If you want to use a NAS for videostreaming as well, you need a powerfull NAS, one with more cpu and ram! You should go for one wit the TwonkyServer already installed.

Finally: my setup is a work in progress, but it is based on my beloved B&O-system, which has served me well for years.

Greetings Millemissen

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DoubleU replied on Tue, Dec 25 2012 5:14 PM

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Okay, that made a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing this!

I also had a Squeezebox and in combination with iPeng it is a great system. Too bad the Squeezebox platform is recently officially discontinued, so we’ll have to see how that ends. I allready moved to their biggest competitor. 

For my NAS, I’m probably still good. I have a Qnap TS-110. I can still stream HD-content without hick-ups. But now I want a raid1 or maybe raid5, and while I'm on it add more CPU and RAM. It’s like you said, setups are always work in progress.. 

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Millemissen replied on Tue, Dec 25 2012 5:43 PM

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As long as the LogitechMedia-server is running in my system - and it may run for a long time to come - and the hardware/the Sq.Touch is okay, there is no reason for me to chance to anything else. 

Even if my Sq.Touch should give up life, I might find a used one - or use an "old" iPad with the playback-solution and a Nuforce iDo - or connect a Vortexbox to the line-in of the PM controlled by the MPaD-app

You can use any good audio-system for the line-in of the PM - how about the Core 200 from Meridian controlled by the excellent Meridian iPad-app: 

www.meridian-audio.com/features/media-core-200-–-a-complete-digital-media-system.aspx

www.meridian-audio.com/sooloos/mcca.php

If I had the money it might be my favorite 

Greetings Millemissen

P.S. and I am looking forward to see if B&O soon will present a new NetworkLink-based audiosystem