More pre-purchase questions

[Stuart Fraser]

I'm currently backing up the content of my JB7 onto an external disc, in preparation for buying a B2 next week. I asked a number of questions earlier in the week, and received a number of helpful replies.

 

I've spent  some time this week reading the forums to try to see what to expect when the B2 arrives. Obviously, I'll get a bit of a false impression from there, as it will be predominantly people who have encountered problems who will post. Anyway, reading the forum hasn't put me off. My personal preference (hope) had been that I could just take the unit out of the box, plug it in, and get started, but it seems a little more complicated. I think I'm comfortable with upgrading firmware, but I'm still not keen on taking the unit apart to perform maintenance on, or replace the SD card.

 

Anyway, I now have a further few questions, which may seem pretty basic to you, but answers would really help me get some things straight in my head. Please be patient with me.

 

1. As with most things like this, it seems to be important to maintain a backup. That is pretty impractical with the JB7 due to the ridiculous length of time it takes to transfer data from the unit to an external hard disk. How long should it take to download, say 750Gb of data from a B2 to a hard disk. (The Brennan website suggests "many" hours, but does not explain what is meant by "many")

2. Does the incremental backup method include amendments made to existing files (spelling corrections, etc.) , or does it only process new data and deletions?

3. I see a lot of people connecting external CD drives to their B2s, as they obviously rip much faster, and apparently it reduces wear and tear on the B2. Once the external disc drive is connected to the B2, is the procedure the same to import the CD's content onto the B2, as loading the CDs through the front slot on the unit?

4. Have external CD drives progressed much in the last decade? I have a pretty basic one which is around ten years old. Should that be good enough, or is there a particular current model I should go for? (I see some people recommending an LG model, but it seems to have been discontinued.)

5. The B2 apparently has four compression settings, including 128k and 256k MP3s. All my tracks on my JB7 were ripped using the JB7s high quality setting of 320k. Will this affect the B2's ability to play these tracks, or will it not affect playing?

6. It seems that album and track titles can be amended using the web UI. Is this correct? If I correct typos/spelling errors on the web UI, will these be reflected in the B2's display? Or is there some other process which also needs to be completed.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Stuart,

Generally speaking, you won't have to open up the B2.  One of the keys to keeping the B2 happy is to always power the unit down correctly; this is by pressing and holding the 'Play/Stop' button until you see 'Saving' message on the screen and then switching off the mains power.  This ensures that all the B2 HDD operations are completed.  I have two B2s, one is now almost 5 years old, the other one is about 1 year old and I have never had a problem.  

We  recommend that ripping CDs is done in batches of 20 - 30 at a time and let the B2 compress each of the batches overnight and through the day to completion before doing the next batch.  This allows the B2 to keep its work backlog down to a safe level.

Another forum recommendation is to run one activity at a time, so while ripping CDs, don't play music on it or use the radio.

I think that taking these precautions is one of the reasons that I don't have any problems with my B2s.

In answer to your queries:

1.  Backups ('Exports') are vital in my view.  The 'Export' (Backup in JB7 terminology) is incremental.  The B2 will 'Export' at about 30GB per hour, so a full 750GB of data would require roughly 25 hours.  My collection is about 240GB currently and a full 'Export' runs in about 8 hours.

2.  Yes, the incremental backup will include amendments to existing files, but you need to be aware that you will have both the original and the updated versions of the folders and files. New folders and files will be added to the backup, but deletions will remain on the backup HDD.  Probably the best strategy will be to run a full clean 'Export' every so often as this will get rid of the deletions.

3.  Yes, the B2 recognises the external CD drive and uses it in exactly the same way as it does for the internal CD unit.

4.  I would think that your existing external CD should be OK on the B2.  

5.  The B2 will play the 320K tracks without any issues.

6.  Yes, the WebUI can be used to amend artist, album and track names. These changes will show up on the B2's display.  An alternative feature on the B2 is to use 'NAS' (supplied ready to use on the B2) which enables the B2 internal HDD to be accessed from your PC/Mac/Chromebook.  The B2 'music' folder appears as a normal folder set in Windows Explorer/ Mac Finder etc. and you can rename, drag and drop your music collection's folders around from your desktop.  This is really convenient!

Regards,

Peter.

[PMB]

Hi Stuart,

In addition to Peter's excellent reply, concerning Backups. To clarify -

The JB7 uses 'Backup' whereas the B2 uses 'Export' (actually called 'Export to C' - where C denotes the USB port - you can also use USB A for Backup or Export). The B2 has the 'Backup' and 'Restore' (you will need to use 'Restore' to import your JB7 backup) commands - these can be found in the USB menu >> JB7 Functions - so you can continue to use the JB7 backup you have made and add to it from the B2.

Make sure the B2 has compressed all Tracks before backing up - check the Stats display - press INFO on the remote - for any WAV files (these are uncompressed), otherwise you may end up with uncompressed (WAV) and compressed Tracks on the backup.

If you want to continue using MP3 compression for any new CDs you add to the B2, make sure you change the default settings of FLAC to MP3 - Settings >> Compression >> 256k MP3 - before you rip any CDs.

Paul

Brennan Support.