Brennan B2 Issues and distortion.

[linda hoyland]

Hi, have been using my B2 now for nearly four years and am quite happy in general however, about 6-8 weeks ago i did an upgrade without paying too much attention. I had not been sat listening but using the machine to load and archive my Cd collection.

More recently after forgetting all about the upgrade i have been getting distortion at

 the high end and have turned the system inside out trying to find the problem which actually was the graphic equalizer that had been loaded and turned on! this i found by accident just by scrolling through the settings, the last time i looked was when the bass and treble controls were introduced. Now the Eq was flat but had a definite impact when turned off, it was as though the Eq was overloading the output? any idea why?

Trying to find the above problem i went and purchased a Cambridge DAC magic and optical cable, good results with this however the Graphic Eq can still be turned on even when using the optical out so surely the digital output is not pure if you  can intercept it to use an Eq? can someone explain this please.

The next issue is also related and is the fact that the optical out is always on? why? the DAC I purchased relies on no signal to go into sleep mode so why when there is nothing playing is this still active, the drive has the capability of going on standby?

Apologies if these issues have been covered before as i have just skimmed the site whilst trying to sort my issues. I was meaning to sort the cables out anyway, i just needed to get a round tuit.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Davywhizz]

Good morning

I've spent far too much of my life with graphic equalisers and have found the one on the B2 to be very good. I only use my B2 via optical output to my hifi and the eq works as I'd expect: graphic eqs can be analogue or digital, so that's not a surprise nor a problem.

I've found it's easy enough to get distortion on the B2 eq, as it is with all of them, but also easy to avoid it. One minor irritation with the design is that when you first enable the eq the volume drops, because the central position is not at "unity gain". I first moved all the sliders gradually to the right, keeping them in a flat line, until the volume was the same whether the eq is on or off. I found the unity gain position is just under two thirds of the way between the extreme left and right of the scale. Paul at Brennan estimated it at 62 on a 100 point scale. That should be the starting point for any adjustments (still taking care to avoid any overall volume boost) but, if you don't need them, leave the eq off. 

I wasn't clear if part of your issue is the eq switching itself on: if it is, or if you're getting distortion after setting the volume level as above, there may be a problem which I'm sure the forum will try to help with.

Re the optical output being on all the time: when my B2 is off but the hifi is on, the display on the amp shows "optical 1: signal unlock". I take this to mean only that I have an optical input selected but the B2 is not actually being seen. However, when the B2 is on, even before any music is played, the message changes to "optical 1: PCM 44.1kHz". Thus the hifi now seems to be reading "something" from the B2, as it seems to know what sort of signal to expect? PCM is a generic term I think, covering various file types, but we know the B2 is capped at 44.1, whereas my hifi can deal with far higher resolution. Others here will know far more about this than I do, but, based on the above,  I'd guess that your DAC may go into sleep mode if you shut down your B2 after use, if this is an option for you.

[linda hoyland]

Thanks for your quick input. My issue with the graphic is that I do not understand how the output can be "pure" if the facility to insert or delete the graphic is there?

The Point i am trying to make with the optical out is that the facility to turn it off must be available so why not switch it off? I use my B2 remotely and like the idea that it is switched on all the time "I get the fact that it will burn the display" all of my equipment is ready to roll from my armchair so getting up to physically switch on and wait does not bode well. Also the transmission of nothing keeps the other equipment from going to sleep.

The Brennan is such a great looking piece of kit it does spark many conversations, and I do so like the clock!

[Davywhizz]

I'm not a computer or hifi expert, so can't give a technical explanation, but I don't find anything incongruous in a digital graphic eq manipulating a signal any more than if I hard wire an analogue eq into a signal chain for recording or live sound.  I think you're right, though,  in the sense that if any eq is not needed it should be left off, ideally out. If I had a dedicated hifi room and top quality kit I'd do that, but I've found the B2 very good for compensating for the acoustics in my house and the less desirable characteristics of my speakers. It's set and stays that way until next time I change something: too many people use them as fancy tone controls. I'm more concerned you're hearing distortion that you attribute to the eq, hopefully that can be resolved.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

I may be able to help.

I have a B2 using the optical out to my Quad amplifier.

The graphic equaliser DOES affect the optical output (while the volume control does not) when you enable it.

Thus I would conjecture that the Graphic equalisation is delivered in software before the output is sent on to either the Brennan Amplifier or to the digital optical output.

This means that the the optical output is pure digital BUT when the equaliser is in operation the output is a processed digital signal while when it is not in operation is it an unprocessed digital signal.

Seems a reasonable implementation to me ?

Fred

[Daniel Taylor]

I agree that the equalizer should be able to be completely turned off.  I have never turned it on on my B2.  If you cannot get it properly turned off, one solution might be to build another SD card (or rebuild the one you have), and then never turn the EQ on.

[Davywhizz]

Paul from Brennan confirmed to me in a previous thread that the eq on the B2 is completely out of the signal path when it's  off.

[linda hoyland]

Davywhizz, I agree with your comments and also think that the eq option should be able to be totally removed as an option, when i first got my B2 it did not have any tone control whatsoever, then the bass and treble was introduced , this I installed but  did not like so did not use then the graphic came that i did not want! I did not install it  it just appeared after an update. then of course my problem occurred but went unnoticed  as the graphic was enabled without my knowledge and there is no indication it is or was active.
Fred w, again agree, allow it to be removed.

Daniel, agree but i never switched it on! it appeared I think because i had enabled the bass and treble that you cannot go back to if you were to wish it.

[linda hoyland]

After reading this thread again I feel that i sound so negative, let me assure you all this is not so.

I do think the Brennan B2 is a cracking little big machine that I would be lost without.

BIG THANKS to all involved.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi mr.s

Looking at my B2's UI gain it is clear that in the latest software release (from the web upgrade) when you press The graphic equaliser the new window that opens has a radio button at the top left which enables/disables the equaliser and that this toggle works. So you can turn the function off (disable it).

[PMB]

Hi Mr Spike,

When the graphic EQ is not 'enabled' it is completely out of the signal path.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[linda hoyland]

Hello Paul, Thanks for your reply. The bit i can't figure is how the grapic got enabled in the first place, I did try it and decided it sounded better without (made the bass muddy or non existent, a difficult position to find correct) so disabled the Eq. Then i notice the distortion problem but thought nothing about the Eq as it was switched out! A a small icon on the display would help , or even one dot to give indication of it being enabled. My post also asked about the optical out being on all the time, cannot this be put to sleep? if not are LED sales going on the up for the future as they wont last forever>

Spike.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Spike

The combined audio out and Toslink connection would indeed always be providing "light". As I understand it such connectors can not be turned off and are designed to be economical (in terms of power consumption) and robust in terms of life expectancy. I do not think you need to worry about it being "on" all the time.

[PMB]

Hi Spike,

Did you do anything like a software update (Web Upgrade) recently that may have enabled the EQ?

As far as I know the LED is always on for any equipment with optical out.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[linda hoyland]

Again Greetings.

I think it was a software update that enabled the EQ, If This is so and i think it is, it means that you HAVE to check all your settings after an update. I have had the

 random play turn on after an update but that was easily spotted/heard.

I know this stuff is minor but it is so annoying.

As for the optical side, my Cambridge DAC Magic turns off when no signal detected so not a bad idea?

[PMB]

Hi Spike,

Thanks, I'll check the 'Settings' vs 'Software update'.

Paul

Brennan Support.