a few pre-purchase questions, I'm afraid!

[Iain McGregor]

Good Morning,

First of all, thank you for allowing me to take part in the forum - I have looked extensively through the posts and the responses, and have found them illuminating (some a little worrying!)

Having done a fair amount of research, we are minded to purchase the B2 to digitise our 1000+ CD collection (mostly classical).  But we have a number of questions, and I apologise if these questions have been asked before!

We live in France, so a rtb warranty policy may be a problem.  One of the issues we have seen coming up time and again, from the forum and other places, is reliability, both of the machine itself and of the software/updates that go with it. How do you resolve issues like this - you seem to give instructions, and hope people can follow them, but I'm sure, given some of the posts, that it is not always that simple!  In sum, is reliability still an issue - honestly?

Now for some specifics:  We have an Arcam A28 amplifier running Monitor Audio RS6 speakers, with which we are very pleased indeed - are they compatible with the B2, and, given the B2 has a built-in 15x15 amp, can I link up the Arcam to it, or should I just run the speakers with the B2 - my issue is whether the B2 amp will have the power to run the RS6s?  Will the connectors at the back of the B2 be standard jacks, or will I need to invest in non-standard equipment, probably bought from yourselves!)

Are SACDs compatible with the B2?  Will I need to buy a separate DAC to re-process the signal before it gets to the B2?  

Can I connect blue-tooth speakers in the kitchen, though a 50cms thick wall?

Is the B2 supplied with a wi-fi dongle and a bluetooth dongle (there are conflicting reports!), and would the wi-fi give full functionality?  (It would be impossible to hard-wire the B2 to the router, given the nature of the walls and ceilings).

Given that most of the collection is classical (and i know you get more posts on this aspect than any other), I'm intrigued to know more about how the B2 indexes a collection.  To take an example:  Elgar's Dream of Gerontius lasts c90mins, and is spread over 2 CDs.  It is coujp[led most usually with Sea Songs or the Cello Concerto.  Clearly, I would want to play the whole of Gerontius - would the indexing system permit this, or would I have to reload the second disc, and then get up to stop it playing the Concerto, which i may not want to hear at that precise moment?  And would the indexing system be classified by composer, piece, conductor, soloist(s) (there may well be four or more), orchestra, duration etc?  If not, could you help me find an indexing system that would suit me and be compatible with the B2?  Would it index the collection by title of piece, or by section/movement within that piece - as you can imagine, trawling through 1000+ Cds worth of index, organised by musical tracks, to find one particular bit of recording, might become tedious!

There are some CDs I have downloaded and "printed"(mostly from Pristine Audio and other MP3 sources) - will these be compatible with the B2?  I'm assuming that the B2 will store in whatever format you choose, or will it be an automatic choice from within the B2?

I notice this morning that an over-heating issue has been reported - how much space should you leave around the B2 to prevent over-heating?  What are its exact dimensions?

I'm sure these questions will all take a while to answer, and I'm really grateful for the time and trouble you will take in answering them, and your answers will go a very long way to helping us decide if this is the way forward - I hope it is, because I very much like the look of the machine, its seeming versatility and its capacity to take about 1500 CDs on a 2TB storage!

Many thanks indeed for your help

Iain.

[Daniel Taylor]

I will attempt to answer a few of your questions.

My personal opinion is that you should connect the B2 to your Arcam amp from the B2's analog output to the Arcam's Aux input.  Another option would be to connect the B2's Toslink digital output to an external DAC and then connect the DAC to the Arcam.  I would not recommend connecting the B2's speaker connectors to your speakers.

The B2 does not handle SACDs.

You can only know about how your Bluetooth speakers will get on in the kitchen by trying it.  Bluetooth output on the B2 is not officially supported, although there is new experimental software available that seems to bear promise.

The B2 that I bought 13 months ago included both a WiFi dongle and a Bluetooth dongle.  If either of those are not sufficient, there are low cost aftermarket versions available that seem to offer improved performance.

In situations of classical music, such as Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, you can manually group all the movements you want into a "album" folder, and move the movements you don't want into a different album folder, each of which is within the Artist folder.  You can learn more about this later.  But it can be handled quite nicely.

File format can be chosen from the following:  WAV, MP3, FLAC - and I think one type of Apple format as well, but I'm not sure.

[Iain McGregor]

Thank you Daniel, enormously for your reply - I am most grateful and generally reassured!

The only remaining issue, it seems is the question of reliability, and, possibly, the bluetooth speaker issue, and I can probably only assess those when I have bought a B2!

How do I cope with SACDs, I wonder?

Many thanks again!

iain.

[Daniel Taylor]

The possibility of overheating has received a little bit of attention lately.  But for most users, I don't think it's much of an issue.  Most important, do not set anything on top of the unit - let it breathe.  And apparently, keeping it in a closet, with little to no airflow, might not be the best idea.

I keep mine perched on top of my left stereo speaker.  It's out where I can access the back to get at the USB port and the power switch.  Also, it's within one meter of the WiFi router, so I get a good signal.

[Daniel Taylor]

SACDs:

The improved fidelity of SACDs cannot be preserved by the B2.  You could make an analog copy of the album and then import that re-digitized into your computer and then transfer that to the B2.  Not an optimal solution, but you would still get to hear the music.

High resolution audio file downloads:

The B2 will play some of them, but it down converts them to 16 bit 44.1 KHz, so the higher resolution is lost.  For the audiophile who can appreciate the improved fidelity of SACDs and High Res Audio, and who has the equipment to enable such appreciation, I would not recommend the B2.  Don't get me wrong - the B2 sounds quite nice, but it should not be considered "high end."

[JAC]

Hi. 

Don't assume that large high quality loudspeakers need a more powerful amplifier.  Often the opposite is the case, and a large speaker can be more sensitive (louder for a given power input) than a smaller "bookshelf" type.  I suggest you give it a try.  My own setup has the B2 directly driving a pair of large transmission line speakers, and it's plenty loud enough.  The entire sitting room HiFi is thus the B2 and two speakers, keeping things simple. The B2 rear panel loudspeaker connections are 4 mm round sockets so you will need some 4 mm sprung "banana" plugs.  The connectors are rather closely spaced, so choose plugs which don't have too bulky an insulator.

If you decide to retain your amplifier, I recommend using the optical output and an outboard optical DAC, for the primary reason that the plastic optical fibre gives complete electrical isolation from the B2 and precludes any unwanted hum and noise issues.  The optical output is not affected by the B2 volume control (unless the software has changed), so you will need to use the one on the amplifier.

Don't be too put off by tales of woe on this forum.  If you ignore people who haven't read the Brennan Website, or are trying to make the thing do something it wasn't designed to, you are left with some software quirks and occasionally genuine hardware faults.  I have had trouble with imported Album names from CDDB with too many characters, and it is a mystery to me why the B2 software cannot be written in such a way that these are truncated and don't overflow and cause mischief.  There also seems to be an issue with Brennan software keeping up with changes made to Youtube formats.

[Daniel Taylor]

Generally, I agree with what JAC said.  My recommendation to not connect the speakers directly to the B2 is because of my personal opinion of the sound quality of the B2's internal amplifier. 

[Andrew Wilson]

I'm not sure that what you say about SACD discs is right, Daniel. As I understand it, they have two layers, one of which is a 'normal', two channel recording, readable by any CD player. I'm absolutely sure that SACD's I've purchased are all now on my B2, directly ripped, without going through the middle digitising you suggest is necessary. Only the two channel information, of course, the b2 cannot deal with four channel recordings. As far as my collection is concerned, the four channel track on SACD albums is redundant, since I've never had four channel replay equipment.

[Daniel Taylor]

Andrew,

You're right.  But what you're talking about is a hybrid disc that has two layers, a CD layer and a SACD layer.  Not only is the CD layer just two channels, it is also normal CD resolution.  Not only does the SACD layer (sometimes) have four layers, it is also a higher resolution, higher fidelity recording. What you've copied to your Brennan is the CD layer. The CD layer does not have the higher resolution of the SACD layer.  Also, not all SACD discs are hybrid.  Some do not have the CD layer.

Without a player that can play the higher fidelity, Hi Res SACD layer, then what's the point of even buying SACD discs?

[Andrew Wilson]

Well, you live and learn! I didn’t know there are non-hybrid SACDs around, not that I buy cds of any description much, these days, downloads are the thing for me - perfect for the B2.

[Jasper Warwick]

Comments in red!

We live in France, so a rtb warranty policy may be a problem.  One of the issues we have seen coming up time and again, from the forum and other places, is reliability, both of the machine itself and of the software/updates that go with it. How do you resolve issues like this - you seem to give instructions, and hope people can follow them, but I'm sure, given some of the posts, that it is not always that simple!  In sum, is reliability still an issue - honestly? My B2 has failed twice within the three years I have had it, in both cases it was repaired quickly and under warranty even though the warranty had expired by the second time it failed. I have to say though that I am very pleased with the B2 and the service I have received from Brennan and I have no regrets about buying it.  I have a Humax PVR which is of similar complexity and has also failed twice on me, my view is that modern micro processor controlled system will be more fragile than purely transistor based system! I don't also think you can rely on comments from this forum as to the reliability. Since it has been release they must have sold 1000's of units yet only (maybe) a few tens have been reported here so I think you are likely to have a trouble free experience, you just can't guarantee it.

 

Now for some specifics:  We have an Arcam A28 amplifier running Monitor Audio RS6 speakers, with which we are very pleased indeed - are they compatible with the B2, and, given the B2 has a built-in 15x15 amp, can I link up the Arcam to it, or should I just run the speakers with the B2 - my issue is whether the B2 amp will have the power to run the RS6s?  Will the connectors at the back of the B2 be standard jacks, or will I need to invest in non-standard equipment, probably bought from yourselves!) It sounds like you have a good quality HiFi, I found that I needed to upgrade the DAC on the B2 to get the full benefit of my bi-amped Roksan Caspian based system. Personally I would not replace your £1000 am with the £50 amp built into the B2. Start off with the B2 line-out into your amp, if you are not happy with the sound then spend another £150 on an external DAC and you will be amazed at the quality.

Are SACDs compatible with the B2?  Will I need to buy a separate DAC to re-process the signal before it gets to the B2?  The B2 is the source of the music and will only handle CDs. If you want to store SACDs you will need to consider a different player.

Can I connect blue-tooth speakers in the kitchen, though a 50cms thick wall? You should be able to, you might try testing it with a device you already have like a tablet and speakers and see if it works. I was able to connect to my basement amp from my living room B2 using Bluetooth. The quality of the sound will depend on your Bluetooth receiver, I found that I did experience occasional dropouts which was irritating so I switched to a wired system.

Is the B2 supplied with a wi-fi dongle and a bluetooth dongle (there are conflicting reports!), and would the wi-fi give full functionality?  (It would be impossible to hard-wire the B2 to the router, given the nature of the walls and ceilings). I connect my B2 to the network using a cable as it is more reliable thaa wifi. You cannot use the network to play music though, that has to be either bluetooth, line out, or via its own amplifier.

Given that most of the collection is classical (and i know you get more posts on this aspect than any other), I'm intrigued to know more about how the B2 indexes a collection.  To take an example:  Elgar's Dream of Gerontius lasts c90mins, and is spread over 2 CDs.  It is coujp[led most usually with Sea Songs or the Cello Concerto.  Clearly, I would want to play the whole of Gerontius - would the indexing system permit this, or would I have to reload the second disc, and then get up to stop it playing the Concerto, which i may not want to hear at that precise moment?  And would the indexing system be classified by composer, piece, conductor, soloist(s) (there may well be four or more), orchestra, duration etc?  If not, could you help me find an indexing system that would suit me and be compatible with the B2?  Would it index the collection by title of piece, or by section/movement within that piece - as you can imagine, trawling through 1000+ Cds worth of index, organised by musical tracks, to find one particular bit of recording, might become tedious! Music is stored in folders in a hierarchy of Artist/CD/Track. The could be problematic if you want to organise you music differently. For something like an opera which spans more than one CD it is easy to merge the CDs so that the opera is held in a singe location.  Where a CD contains two or more pieces of music you could split them into separate folders and even move them to different artists (or composers). I will however require some effort on your part in organising the library. It really helps if you have a computer which can connect to the B2 when doing this.

There are some CDs I have downloaded and "printed"(mostly from Pristine Audio and other MP3 sources) - will these be compatible with the B2?  I'm assuming that the B2 will store in whatever format you choose, or will it be an automatic choice from within the B2?  By default the B2 will store in FLAC format, if however you already have the files in MP3 format you can just copy them to the B2 using the NAS functionality. No need to rescan the CDs again. 

I notice this morning that an over-heating issue has been reported - how much space should you leave around the B2 to prevent over-heating?  What are its exact dimensions? I have never had a problem with over heating. 15.3cm wide, by 17cm deep, by 5cm high

[Daniel Taylor]

The Brennan website has a wealth of information, on both the B2 and the new BB1.  Brennan website - The Basics