HDMI Connection

[Philip Birtwistle]

Novice alert!!  I usually connect to my amp via HDMI, but when I have done this with my new Brennan, nothing happens.  What am I doing wrong?

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Philip,

Have you gone into 'Settings' and ticked the box 'Audio on HDMI'?  This might be the issue.

Regards,

Peter.

[Philip Birtwistle]

I've gone into Settings, but don't see anything related to the above.  May give an optical cable a try.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Philip,

Are you using a browser to access the settings? When I use 'http://192.168.1.20' to access my B2 from my PC, I get three display areas presented.  The left hand display shows a little cog wheelat the top right hand corner.   When I click on that, I get a screen 'Settings & Status'.

Near the bottom of this screen I have an option 'Audio on HDMI (TV)' with a tick box beside it. 

Alternatively, you can find this option from the B2 front panel by going to  'Settings -- Maintenance --  Advanced -- TVUI'

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Peter.

[Philip Birtwistle]

Okay.  Beginning to regret buying this when my daughter is out of the country.  When I logged into the wifi as per the instructions in the accompanying leaflet, I did not get the IP address on screen.  I have also connected it to my Fire, but apart from saying it is connected to my B2 it doesn't do anything.  Do I need an app or something?

[Edwyn Corteen]

definitely no app on a PC. Have you connected to your house Wifi? If so on the B2 you will see your WiFi address scrolling on the screen, simply enter this number in a web browser, you say you do not see an IP address on screen? what shows on the screen of your B2?

[Philip Birtwistle]

Progress!!  Music playing via HDMI.  Ruth would be proud of me.  My TV screen shows a list of computerish looking writing down its left-hand side.  Is this what I get or is there a way of displaying the Brennan screen from it?

[Daniel Taylor]

Go to the Advanced menu ( Settings > Maintenance > Advanced) and toggle the TV UI setting.  This will remove the debug information you've been seeing on your TV and replace it with album art and a few lines of user friendly info.  However, you will not be able to control the B2 from the TV.  Best to do that with the WebUI on your computer, phone, or tablet.

[L Ahlberg]

Thank you Daniel,

this is almost what I've been looking for since I bought my B2 and never known it was possible.

and maybe it wasn't all the time.

Now the B2 is playing through the TV loudspeakers and I got something to look at while listening.

How do I keep the picture but at the same time listen to the B2 the normal way, connected to my

amp. and my HiFi loudspeakers?

Lennart

 

[L Ahlberg]

Sorry Daniel,

I guess I just have to toggle "Audio on HDMI (TV)" on the web UI.

Another thing I wonder is how come only some of the CD artwork

shows on the TV when all of them shows when looking at the PC?

Lennart

[Daniel Taylor]

L Ahlberg,

Glad you discovered the "Audio on HDMI (TV)" toggle.

Regarding artwork display:

On the Brennan website, the TV UI is said to be experimental.  Apparently, the experiment is on hold.

[John Bisset]

Absolutely no logic as to whether the artwork displays on tv - I've tried different sizes, naming conventions, replacing the art completely. Nothing works; if the B2 wants to display it it will, if not, not. A minor annoyance compared with the massive benefits but still....................

[Philip Birtwistle]

When my computer goes into standby the Audio on HDMI (TV) stops working, the TV screen goes back to the computer gubbins and I have to reset it.  How can I stop this?

[Daniel Taylor]

That's a new one to me.  I would think the connections in this case would be to use the WebUI on your computer to control the B2, and have the HDMI output from the B2 connected to the TV, just for display of info.  If you have some other configuration, please let us know.

The only thing that occurs to me in this case is to close your browser (where the WebUI was running) before the computer goes into standby.

[Keith Conrad]

L Ahlberg,

I dont know if you received an answer to your post, I wlll try to help you out.  I had a number of posts recently about hdmi dropping audio from the B2 to two separate amps, and had seemed that no matter

what sequence of turning on/off the tv/amp the audio would certainly drop out.  I have since gone back to the optical connection and that has not dropped audio once.  If you choose the hdmi option.............

1)hdmi out from the B2 to hdmi in on your amp.  Not knowing your amp model, make sure you have it set to recieive the hdmi signal.

2) Toggle on the 'hdmi audio out to tv' on the B2.  If you have your tv connected to the amp with any type of video pass through, your should still see 'whats playing'. If, by chance, you dont hear sound at first,

try to re-toggle the 'audio to tv' off, then on again.  

Happy listening, if you have any other questions about the hdmi or optical connections, put up a post.

Cheeers,

Keith Conrad

USA

[L Ahlberg]

Thank you for your friendly post Keith

Normally, like know listening to Alison Krauss, the B2 is connected optically to a Cambridge Dac Magic Plus

which is connected to an somewhat older Teac reciever. It drives the la investment, a pair Triangle Color

speakers which, in my eyes, looks so good so I don't know whether to have my eyes open or shut when

listening to good music.

The HDMI connection was a test since I so much would like the B2 to able to connect to a bigger display of

some kind and then from the sofa, using the remote, be able to adjust without necessarily having WiFi. 

[John Bisset]

I have been experimenting with the reasons for non-appearance of some album artwork via HDMI on the tv and my conclusions are these : folders generated by Windows 10 and transferred to the B2 via NAS are not the same as those created by the B2. The differences are subtle; the audio files/ text headers are unaffected, the music plays and the titles/tracks appear on the tv. However the artwork will not show even when loaded from Musicbrainz or via the B2 file upload. 
(The reason I was using the NAS in the first place was that I was fed up of having "Incomplete" cd's using the B2 which is very intolerant of cd surface imperfections as opposed to Freac which isn't; to say nothing of being much quicker)

Fortunately I have found a method that works! After ripping the cd to a windows folder with the album name I use the B2 bulk upload function to upload the folder, rename the artist on the B2 from "Unknown" and , lo and behold, the artwork appears on the tv.

Now all I have to do is reload all the cd's I ripped in the first place using this method - simples!
PS I'd love to know what the difference in the folders is; any thoughts?

[Daniel Taylor]

My best guess is file resolution.  The ones that don't show up may be either too low a resolution (unlikely, IMO) or too large a res (file is too big).  Could you tell us more about the specs of some files that appear and those that don't?

[John Bisset]

Sorry to say that was my very first thought but I've been using files that are 500 x 500 pixels 96 dpi and  bit depth of 24 and the only variable I can find is how I created the folder. Using NAS they won't display, using Brennan GUI they will. Something to do with an operating system incompatibility?

[Daniel Taylor]

My first feeling is that 500 x 500 is larger than is needed.  I wonder if when loaded through the WebUI the software resizes the picture.  And of course, when you copy via NAS, the size stays unchanged.

Another thought:  What are you naming the file when you copy it via NAS?  It is a JPG file, right?

[Daniel Taylor]

I just realized that we have succesfully hijacked this thread, which was originally about the HDMI connection.  My apologies.