New Brennan

[Brennan Support]

Hi All

This is to let you know that there is a new Brennan in the pipeline - see this page.

The new Brennan is an addition to the Brennan range so B2 will continue to be manufactured for years to come.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Martin

[RaymondO]

It looks good Martin - as a side issue, will it use Tags for the display artwork and titles or ignore them (like the b2 does)!

[Daniel Taylor]

Wow.  Looks impressive.  I'm excited - I want one! 

But it raises questions:

Will there be a version for the US market?

How big will the HDD be?  Or is it SSD?

Raymond already asked about tags.

Will it rip directly to FLAC or MP3 like my computer, or will it continue with the separate compression step.

Big question for me:  Can I play it thru my car stereo?  And not via Bluetooth, directly, please.

Can I connect it to my B2 and transfer all my files to the new unit?

Will it play through external speakers or audio systems?  With the same connection options as the B2?

I like the fact that it does not include an internal CD player, but does include the option to connect one externally.

[Daniel Taylor]

I'm guessing the primary draw for the screen is album artwork and YouTube videos.  I suspect there is a market for this new device.  And probably Mr.Brennan does too.

For me, the fact that it's portable is a big deal.  I want to take my entire music library on the road in my car.  Very much hoping for an interface that will allow that.

[RaymondO]

Whilst I continue my monumental task of ensuring my cover art and name tags are all correct (I had hooked up to my Sonos and was appalled at how truly bad the stored data actually was (something the b2 never made use of). Whilst doing this, I imagined the next Brennan would have an inbuilt screen so I wanted to ensure that I had chosen the optimum resolution so that I would not have to revisit the process again.

Now with the reveal, I see my wish has become a reality - as to the screen location, there aren’t many other options apart from the one shown. Even so, I doubt out of choice I would wish to view many YT videos, it will be for navigation and and cover art which to my mind makes the whole enterprise a satisfactory one for the listener.

We’re still a bit light on the specifics (which I hope will follow shortly) but at the end of the day this makes my music library more portable - and that’s a great step forward.

[Martin Turley]

Sorry, Martin, but I can't get the video to run. Could you re-send.

Thanks

Martin

[PMB]

Hi Martin T,

Here's the link to the video.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Martin Turley]

Thanks Paul. It looks great. My iPods won't keep going forever. I'm going to need more than 10 000 songs, though! :)

[Brian R]

It looks to be an interesting device.

 I assume it's stored on SSD, What size drives will be available? (already partly asked by Daniel)

Can the storage be upgraded easily if full capacity is reached?

Can we see a picture of the connection sockets available?

At comfortable listening volume how long will a fully charged set of max capacity AAs last, roughly? 

Can the display be turned off to maximise audio playing time?

Mono?

As an aside the background music on the video is a bit overpowering.

Brian

[Edwyn Corteen]

Awesome next gen radio, I want one!

[Steve Ramsey]

Hi Martin
The new Brennan looks very good Why don't you equip it with a rechargeable battery pack similar to the ones in a Pure One Mini DAB radio. They're really good and I would assume that they are more environmentally friendly than batteries especially in this day and age?
Regards
Steve

[Mark Fishman]

Rechargeable battery packs that (a) don't have a "standard" form factor and connectors, or (b) can't be properly discharged to cycle them for full capacity, are a plague and a disposal nightmare. They are an excuse to charge outrageous sums for replacements with the alleged purpose of saving an ounce or two of weight. Plus, lithium or cadmium batteries must be recycled appropriately to avoid them leaching into ground water.

By all means, make it able to use rechargeable batteries -- but make them standard AA, C, or D cells. "Smart" chargers abound for those, and they can be obtained on nearly every street corner. And, in a pinch, primary alkaline cells -- which are now mercury-free and can be disposed of in the normal waste stream -- could be used in an emergency.

[Robin]

Is there any chance of incorporating DAB radio, which would make the new Brennan truly portable for radio listening and not totally relying on hotspots

[RaymondO]

Going by my experience with my Roberts 93i Radio which offers DAB/FM and web connectivity, if the new Brennan added a DAB tuner it would ass to the cost without Ant real benefit. It could even be argued that an FM tuner would be far better as I’ve not come across a DAB station that did not offer streaming. I must admit I’m no fan of DAB, as the number of stations that broadcast with minimal bandwidth is nothing sort of a con but the Govt feel that it’s much better to boast about quantity than quality.

My Roberts DAB will continue to be unused especially as coverage remains at an abysmal level of penetration even in urban areas FM remains King!

[Michael Sneade]

Internet radio is the way forward. All DAB/FM stations are available on the internet.

[Robin]

DAB or FM would be great when internet/hotspot are not available

[Mark Fishman]

If I recall correctly, DAB is used primarily in the UK. Most other countries have implemented DAB+, which is not backward-compatible with DAB: a DAB radio cannot decode DAB+. Also, neither is available in North America: Canada and the USA have adopted a unique system that piggybacks on existing FM allocations. The developer, Ibiquity, calls it "HD radio". Originally they marketed it as "high definition", but as the bit rates are in many cases quite low it is decidedly not that, so now it's either "hybrid digital" or the initials don't mean anything.

Apart from Norway, though, an analog FM receiver is usable in most of the world.

[RaymondO]

DAB+ is already part of the UK offering as several of the national multiplexes already have stations using the format - if you have an old DAB (non +) Radio, The new stations are invisible. I believe all the latest modules handle it, but for the new Brennan, I doubt it’s worth bothering about.

[Jonathan Knights]

Looks good to me.
Need some more information regarding storage options. I think SSD is a better option but will increase price but would make this more desirable as a portable music player.
I would like a v2 of the Brennan B2 which allowed >4TB storage.

[Mark Fishman]

"I would like a v2 of the Brennan B2 which allowed >4TB storage."

As I have pointed out several times, the easiest way to do this would be for Brennan to change from using FAT32 to using NTFS for their disk format. NTFS has excellent support in Linux, which is the B2 operating system, and would retain the compatibility with Microsoft Windows that seems to be important to Brennan for troubleshooting.

[Michael Sneade]

Yes you might want a new Brennan B2 but this section is about a new model completely, nothing to do what you want, that’s probably for a new question.

[Jonathan Marsh]

If this new brennan is portable, could you transfer tracks,albums from the b2 or create a playlist and copy those tracks over. As both devices have a USB lead could they be connected to send the data?

[Brennan Support]

Hi All

I thanks for the feedback. I just wanted to note a couple of extra reasons for my use of replaceable batteries.

1) If batteries are fixed then you are obliged to carry the whole unit in hand baggage on airlines - it can't go in the hold.

2) If batteries are fixed then when the batteries wear out you have to dismantle the product and often this is difficult or prone to damage - or discard the entire product.

Martin

[Nick Hickson]

DAB radios are battery sapping though so as used as a portable would not last very long before batteries needed replacing or charging.

[Spike Haward]

Looks, great Martin. Appears to be a complete portability solution for my music.

Agree that the unit should be powered by replaceable batteries - gives complete flexibility. Would be nice if rechargeable cells could be recharged in situ - but not a show stopper - so many recharging units available cheaply and a second spare set of cells is not going to break the bank!

Glad that the unit does not have the additional costs of DAB radio, which is still not really viable - despite claims - there are so many areas in UK where reception is almost non-existent. Will be very interested to see how this new unit's internet radio performs away from a home network using a hotspot. For info, I regularly use my iPhone as a personal hotspot when I have a 4G signal - I use it in my camper to connect a TV Firestick to the internet. If I can stream TV then I feel sure that internet radio should not be a problem and I am guessing here - less data usage?

[Chris A]

Hi Martin

I really like the sound of this. It will be interesting to learn to what extent it can complement/integrate with my B2.

Chris.

[RaymondO]

Anyone received one yet? The info said the first units will go out in June..... also all the Limited Edition models (signed by Martin) are gone - yet I expressed an interest within 30 minutes of the info release and have heard not a dickie-bird since!

[Robin]

Will a carrying case with handle be available for the new portable Brennan?

[john Henrick]

Any more news?

[Dennis Lefebvre]

As a matter of interest, is this product based on the Raspberry Pi 4, which seems to have a non-standard USB-C power implementation?

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/07/raspberry-pi-4-uses-incorrect-usb-c-design-wont-work-with-some-chargers/

[Tobias Brunner]

HI all,

Looks very classy, love it.

Two comments:

• Would be a no-brainer for me to buy if it wasn't limited to 10,000 songs. Would need the same size storage as B2 in order for me to be interesting as I detest "pre-selecting" songs from my large collection
• The design, with the good screen and sense of class would be the perfect starting point for the "B3" - a product that works just like B2 but larger in size and with a bigger screen to display video and cover art. This would be truly groundbreaking. Imagine it as a central piece in your living room - a jukebox for 2020 and beyond. Personally, though I like the B2's compactness, I've always wished it were a little bigger and more of a design element as well, much in the way that amplifiers and audio equipment used to be before the age of digital.
  

Tobias

[Martin Turley]

Two comments:

1) I agree wholeheartedly with Tobias about the 10,000 song limitation. Ther was once a machine called Archos or something like that had a capacity of 300 Gb, but unfortunately it was ahead of its time and so died a death. I'm currently using 3 iPod classics but it's not ideal.

2) I don't care about the design element; what interests me is that the latest update has made it easier for me to compress large numbers of tracks without freezing. I'd concentrate on getting the technical aspects sorted first.

Martin

[Stuart Gillies]

On the subject of rechargeable batteries for a future model, consider 18650 lithiums. They have a high energy density, are readily available (most laptop battery packs contain them), as are chargers. Also brilliant (literally) for torches and bike lights, and mobile power packs. Much better than NiMH and any bespoke battery arrangement. Rip open your old laptop packs, retrieve the good cells, and buy far fewer batteries.

[Nick Hickson]

I believe most electric cars have these in shed loads. I'll get my Tesla!

[RaymondO]

Happy August everyone! - Anyone remember this?

Shipping estimated August 2019
Price TBD estimated starting at £199

Any update Martin? 🤠

[Leslie Brownlee]

Raymond, I think I saw on one of the posts today that Paul mentioned Martin should be back in the office on Monday. Maybe get an update then.

[RaymondO]

I do hope so - since the reveal on May 21st, there has been little (no?) information on the product in the intervening period! Clearly, not everyone with a b2 (or J7) will be in the market for one even though there’s no crossover, I find I grow weary of supposed new innovations that engender interest then hardly any progress is made in capitalising on that interest!

[Mike Keehan]

Looks very interesting:)  The one thing that I miss on my B2 is to be able to resume a playlist where it was playing last.  I would be really pleased to see this capability on the new machine.

[joemcm]

It looks good.Does it include all the features of the B2?

[Dennis Lefebvre]

I see that a PDF User Guide for this product is available:

https://www.brennan.co.uk/imagprod/newBrennan/BrennanUserGuideWEB.pdf

[Daniel Taylor]

When this was first announced, I was really excited about it.  But now that it's been made clear that it has no audio output, it's useless to me.  I wanted to be able to take a hard disk's worth of music in my car.  But since there's no way to connect it to the car, I'll have to find something else.

[Mark Fishman]

Presumably folks will tell you that you can connect it to your car over Bluetooth (that assumes that your car has Bluetooth). Or you can strap it into the passenger seat and just play it.

No, I agree with you: without a wired audio output it has much more limited appeal.

[Nick Hickson]

I don't know what make or year your car is but my VW Golf has SD card inputs or USB ones thus enabling one to get a fair number of music played over the entertainment system on high capacity USB or SD memory devices.

[Dennis Lefebvre]

On Saturday, August 17, 2019 at 12:47:38 PM UTC-4, Daniel Taylor wrote:

....take a hard disk's worth of music in my car

This can already be done using a phone or tablet with an SD card slot. I have copied all of the tracks from our B2 to micro SD cards.  This won't work if the music collection exceeds a certain size (depending on the largest SD card the device will read), but the new Brennan will have the same limitation because there is no hard drive, only an SD card to host both the OS and the music files, which also raises a reliability question. 

I have today succeeded in pairing the B2 with Libratone Bluetooth headphones (and the phones are simultaneously paired with an app which makes it slightly easier to control some settings). This gives me some confidence that the portable Brennan will work with Bluetooth headphones, but omitting line out from a portable device is a curious choice.

 

[Daniel Taylor]

The new Brennan is said to be a Bluetooth receiver - you can send songs to it from your phone.  There has been nothing said about it being able to transmit to a car.  And even if it could, BT is not a high fidelity method of data transfer.

My car has an SD card slot.  What's the largest capacity SD card you can get?  The biggest I see on Amazon is 256 GB.  My B2 has a 2 TB hard disk and it will be full before I exhaust my CD collection.  I was not aware that the music would be stored on an SD card in the new Brennan - I thought it was going to have a higher capacity SSD.  Regardless, if I have to to copy a lot of music onto an SD card, why would I need the new Brennan?

In the video for the new Brennan, there is one screen shot showing the display that says 16GB.  So that seems to indicate that the music would be stored on the SD card.  That's not very much space.  I have not seen anything definitive on that.

[Dennis Lefebvre]

In THIS post Paul mentions support for Bluetooth headphones. If  the mobile Brennan can act as a Bluetooth speaker -and- transmit music via Bluetooth to headphones or higher quality speakers, I expect it would also be able to pair with a car audio system, but you are quite right that this isn't yet documented.  

Does your car use full size or micro SD cards? There are 512GB micro USB cards, but the device (e.g. your car) must also be able to read a card with that capacity, and you need a way to conveniently navigate the music on the card.

[Dennis Lefebvre]

Actually, I see that there are now 1TB micro SD cards, but not a trivial purchase.

[Daniel Taylor]

Those higher capacity micro-SD cards are encouraging.  I'll have to investigate what size my car can accommodate.  Thanks Dennis.

[Dennis Lefebvre]

If the portable Brennan has a low capacity internal SD card, one strategy could be to use it only for the operating system and store all music on a low profile USB drive, like THIS. The USB drive could be removed and connected to a B2 to refresh the music library. 

[Daniel Taylor]

I just received an e-mail from Martin that says the new Brennan will be available with 16GB or 32GB storage.

[Dennis Lefebvre]

Some additional information about the "BB1" has been added to the website.

Online User Guide: https://www.brennan.co.uk/itemcontent.php/content/nbGuide

How to Load Music: https://www.brennan.co.uk/itemcontent.php/content/nbLoad

Menu Summary: https://www.brennan.co.uk/itemcontent.php/content/nbMenus

The How to Load Music section explains how to transfer tracks from a USB device to internal storage, but does not mention if it is possible to play music directly from an attached USB device. I am guessing that this can be done by pressing [Play] rather than the Knob, but I do not find any indication.

[Spike Haward]

All very well, but still no release date news, even for those of us who have registered interest for the priority waiting list - it was after all announced in May!

[Daniel Taylor]

Spike,

I had registered my interest and I got an e-mail.  You should be getting one soon.

[Edwyn Corteen]

Update on the BB1 site today

Update 22nd August

Pre production units have been in the hands of volunteer testers for two months now. We are just waiting to hear from the factory for precise delivery dates for the mass production units.

[MRB]

It's encouraging that they posted on the first page that the SD card will be able to be swapped out for a bigger card.  32GB is just not enough space. Hopefully they post the instructions before the release of the BB1.

-Mark

[PMB]

Hi MRB,

Martin has confirmed that he has tested upto 64GB cards so far and thinks larger sizes should be possible (not confirmed yet).

He has also said that some sort of USB DAC will be developed in the next couple of months - after the BB1's launch.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Daniel Taylor]

I was asked privately if the new Brennan (BB1) would also store FLAC files.  I replied:

"Although I cannot say for sure, I'd be very surprised if it didn't.  Right now, that's the most popular format for combining reduced filesize with full CD resolution."

It'd be nice to get this answered for certain publicly.

[Dennis Lefebvre]

The brennan will import music files with type wav, flac, mp3 or m4a.

Source: https://www.brennan.co.uk/itemcontent.php/content/nbLoad 

[Dennis Lefebvre]

On Saturday, August 17, 2019 at 7:59:22 PM UTC-4, Dennis Lefebvre wrote:

If the portable Brennan has a low capacity internal SD card, one strategy could be to use it only for the operating system and store all music on a low profile USB drive, like THIS. The USB drive could be removed and connected to a B2 to refresh the music library. 

This paragraph on the Brennan website seems to confirm that this approach would work:

The easiest way to transfer music is to plug your B2/JB7 backup disk into BB1 and use the Browse USB function. In fact BB1 will play the music directly from the backup disk - so there is no need to transfer. 

[PMB]

Hi All,

As Dennis says, the BB1 will play directly off the connected USB device, so you can play your JB7/B2 backups.

Files on the USB device are displayed in blue (ones on the SD Card are shown in white).

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Dennis Lefebvre]

Is the BB1 10,000 track limit a storage restriction or a software indexing maximum?

[Daniel Taylor]

Good question, Dennis.

I read it as being dependent on the size of the SD card.  But if it's a software limitation, it wouldn't make any sense to upgrade to a bigger capacity SD card.

[PMB]

Hi Dennis and Daniel,

I understand tests are being done with larger capacity (400GB) SD Cards. Will let you know.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[AndyC]

This is what I hoped the new Brennan would be - totally portable. It also addresses the issue that modern cars don't have CD players any more, so streaming from phones is what most owners do. 

It complements the b2 as the home or office based player with immense capacity. The b2 is getting better all the time with faster Rasperry Pi processors and cheaper SSDs to replace slower HDD so no need for a b3 just at the moment.

Well done, Martin, can't wait to receive mine! Andy

[PMB]

Hi All,

I understand that the BB1 has been tested with 128Gb, 256GB and 400GB micro SD Cards and there is now a command to generate a bootable SD Card.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[MRB]

Thanks Paul. Any updates regarding availability?

[PMB]

Hi MRB,

The production button was pressed some time ago. I'll check on progress and report back.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[PMB]

Hi All,

Martin tells me we have received BB1's and the warehouse is working through the list of those who registered.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Daniel Taylor]

Regarding analog audio output on the new BB1:  can you plug in headphones?

[Dennis Lefebvre]

I think it was previously established that there is no analog output, and it is not clear if the initial software supports Bluetooth OUT. 

[Daniel Taylor]

Yeah, I guess there really isn't anything.  I just saw on the website that they recommend using USB out to an external DAC/headphone amp.  I'm disappointed.  I can't see spending that kind of money and not have a way to listen in stereo with larger speakers or headphones.  It's a neat little box, but that omission is a deal-breaker for me. 

Originally, I was anticipating being able to take my music collection in the car.  If I ever get a car with a USB input, maybe that will work.

[Dennis Lefebvre]

On Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at 9:50:35 AM UTC-4, Daniel Taylor wrote:

....recommend using USB out to an external DAC/headphone amp. 

It's good to see that support for USB headphone DAC is already complete, and Bluetooth OUT is planned. It looks as if (some) USB headphone adapters are $10 items, but it would be helpful if Brennan would mention the models they tested. 

[PMB]

Hi Dennis,

USB DAC/Headphone amp testing is ongoing. So far all have worked, from cheap to expensive, without a problem but I bet there's one somewhere out there that won't - probably the one the first customer buys!!!!

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Daniel Taylor]

Have they tried the USB output plugged into a car system yet?

[Dennis Lefebvre]

On Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 4:14:59 AM UTC-4, PMB wrote:

USB DAC/Headphone amp testing 

Does it require an "amplifier" or should a simple "adapter" like THIS work? To be clear, I am not asking if this specific adapter works, only if this is in the class of devices that would be expected to work, or it it needs to be something with its own power source and amplification.

[Daniel Taylor]

Dennis,

That's a great find.  Looks like it could be just the thing.  I hope we find out. 

[PMB]

Hi Dennis,

That's the sort of thing but that specific one is meant for phones which have a microphone connection - TRRS means Tip, Ring, Ring, Sleeve i.e. a four pole connector whereas normal stereo (headphones, Line Out, etc) have a three pole connector - Tip, Ring, Sleeve.

Perhaps this one or this one would be better (I've not tested these) - the mic channel will be ignored when used with the BB1.

Go for one that says it doesn't need a driver (which should be most).

Paul

Brennan Support.

[L Ahlberg]

In the text beside the picture, https://www.amazon.com/TROND-External-Adapter-Integrated-Microphone/dp/B07L56C28R?pldnSite=1 one can read "Does NOT work with the USB port of TV, amplifier, CD player, car or truck" whatever that can mean in connection to the new Brennan.

Lennart

[PMB]

Hi Lennart,

Perhaps avoid that one then.

We will publish a list of the ones we have tested in due course but really almost all should work OK as long as they do not require a driver (software).

A word on the TRRS jack - headphones use a TRS (Tip = left channel, Ring = right channel, Sleeve = ground (common)) jack. A TRRS jack has a extra contact (ring) which is used for the Microphone signal. Plugging headphones or a stereo jack cable (TRS) into a TRRS socket will work OK.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Daniel Taylor]

Regarding Lennart's comment:

"In the text beside the picture, https://www.amazon.com/TROND-External-Adapter-Integrated-Microphone/dp/B07L56C28R?pldnSite=1 one can read "Does NOT work with the USB port of TV, amplifier, CD player, car or truck" whatever that can mean in connection to the new Brennan."

The adapter is intended to be plugged into a USB port that is an output.  The ports mentioned in the quote are all inputs.  So the adapter should not be intended to work in those cases.  But since the USB port on the BB1 is an output, then it's reasonable to expect the adapter to work.

[PMB]

Hi Daniel,

Well spotted, thanks.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[L Ahlberg]

Thank you Daniel, this I didn´t realize/ Lennart

[Dennis Lefebvre]

I am beginning to see online Ads for the BB1, positioning it as an alternative to a bluetooth speaker, which is a crowded category.

[Chris Midgley]

Hi Paul

Just updated with the DAC software update, but upon startup after turning off and on again the screen freezes on BRENNAN and goes no further.

Only way out of it is to hold the power button down.

Any resolution available to get started again?

[Chris Midgley]

[PMB]

Hi Chris,

After removing power (unplug the power supply and/or remove batteries), waiting a minute or so and powering up again, does the BB1 start normally?

If not please email me.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Chris Midgley]

Hi Paul

Unfortunately, your suggestion of removing all power and leaving ten minutes or so does not solve the start-up problem.

Does it require a reinstall of software?

[Reiverjack]

Hello, I’m new to using forums and hope this is going to the right place! I love the concept of the bb1 and would dearly like to buy one. Before doing so I have one query. Will bb1 act as a source of music for my Sonos like a B2 would? If not, is there some physical reason (like some element not being included in the design) or might a future software upgrade make this possible?
Thanks
Rieverjack

[john Henrick]

Hi I believe there is a Nas option on the BB1 which once started can be linked to sonos

Haven't tested yet

[MRB]

Greetings,

I'm quite sure the BB1 has an option to turn on NAS (like the B2), but I'm at work and can't confirm, nor have I tried it on the BB1 since my B2 is functioning as a NAS for my Sonos system. The BB1 menu summary on the website doesn't show it, but it must have been added in later.  For Sonos to display your music properly you need to be sure the tags in the files are as you want them, since the brennan equipment only uses the artist, album folder names.

[PMB]

Hi Chris,

We are organising a replacement BB1 for you and have written to you email address.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[PMB]

Hi All,

There is a 'Start NAS' option in the Maintenance menu and as the BB1 shares software with the B2 I would expect the BB1 to also work with Sonos.

Paul

Brennan Support.