Realistic expectations, compromises and reliability

[Kevin Baughen]

Hello all. I'm looking for some words of wisdom as to whether to buy a B2 at all.... On paper it looks like an amazing bit of kit but I am more than put off by the amount of operational compromises (like it only seems to rip a limited number of CDs before overheating or freezing, into WAV files and then you have to leave it switched on overnight for them to compress to FLAC....) and the number of technical glitches outlined by owners on this forum.

I know it's not a fortune to buy compared to some of it's competitors but I still think that if I give someone more than £550 for an audio unit, it's not unreasonable to expect that it works properly and that I don't need to have a degree in physics to operate the thing.  I'm also questioning the need to leave the unit powered on all the time when for environmental reasons, we're doing our utmost to not consume more resources than necessary.

Thanks very much in advance for your thoughts.

KB

[PMB]

Hi KB,

The Forum tends to be the place to report problems or ask advice so may give the wrong impression.

Storing CDs is a two stage process on the B2, ripping then compression but you only need to rip your CDs once. Also having compression as a separate process allows you to decide whether to use FLAC (the default setting), MP3 or none at all.

I power my B2 on and off each time I use it - usually daily as part of my support role - and have done so for over 5 years, with no issues.

As far as reliability, the B2 uses mostly off-the-shelf components (Raspberry Pi, CD Drive, Hard Drive or SSD and power supply) so we are reliant to some extent on our supplier's quality.

We do offer a 30 day no quibble money back guarantee, 1 years warranty where repairs are done FOC and any postage costs are refunded and all repairs are covered by a 1 years warranty.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Daniel Taylor]

Hi KB,

Please keep in mind that the number of people reporting problems here in the forum is a small percentage of all who have bought Brennan units.  We only occasionally hear from the few who take time to report a positive testimonial (I saw one posted in the past few days).

More and more these days, audio components are moving toward computer control.  And in the case of the B2, it is more of a computer than an audio component of old.  Truly, it is a computer, and it helps to think of it that way.  Moving files around, renaming files, folders named for Artist and Album names, backing up the music on a USB disk - these are all computer functions.  Many people, although not degreed professionals, are already comfortable with that kind of thing.  But if a person has very low computer literacy (like my wife ;o) then I would hesitate to recommend the B2 for them.  However, all the required knowledge is learnable - it all depends on a person's willingness to learn new things.  And we have many kind people here in the forum who are ready to help in whatever ways are needed.

[JFBUK]

Hi,

You are right to carry out due diligence before making a purchase so I will try  to address some of your comments to reassure you.

 it only seems to rip a limited number of CDs before overheating or freezing

Based on my observations of the posts on this forum this happens to very few users and so there are hundreds/thousands of users who never experience these problems.

As Daniel commented  , under the covers the B2 is a computer and computers are known to freeze on occasions. On the majority of occasions a power recycle and reboot cures the problem.

There have been a couple of posts about the B2 running hot but I've never seen one that says overheating to a dangerous level . The posts where someone has actually measured the temperature of a running B2 actually support that their B2 is running within acceptable temperature parameters.

into WAV files and then you have to leave it switched on overnight for them to compress to FLAC....) 

Most ,if not all,  CD rippers have a multi stage process to deliver a compressed MP3 or FLAC file. Where the B2 is different and innovative , is that it allows you to separate and control the compress stage.

It allows you use idle time (not necessarily overnight) on the B2 to compress the WAV files automatically. You can manually tell to the B2 to compress files using the "Compress Now" function from the menu.

Once a CD has been ripped to WAV files those files are playable by the B2

and the number of technical glitches

I know some on this forum keep stats on issues reported and they have previously commented that the level of reported problems is no worse than those reported on similar technology support forums.

The majority of reported problems relate to home network issues and not to the B2 itself and even if they are directly related to the B2, Brennan are quick to provide help and support, in or out of warranty.

Hope this helps

John

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

Hi,

I can confirm that MOST of the problems reported on this Forum are either caused by sudden house power outages or network issues.

The Brennan units connect to your house router either by wire (Ethernet cable) or wirelessly (WiFi). Unlike your PC/Mac/Tablet or smart Phone, the Brennan Unit is providing services within your House's network,  not just using it to connecting out to the internet.

This means that your House WiFi must be able to deliver the connection speed and quality that the Brennan Unit needs to work properly. This is the responsibility of your House's Router NOT the Brennan. 

Fred

[harlond57]

I have a degree in English, not physics, and I have found the B2 to be excellent and easy to work with and on.  I've ripped 771 albums.  I would say I've had problems getting the CD to rip on maybe 10 of them.  Most of those problems were cured by cleaning the disc--so not a B2 problem at at.  Once the problem was I needed to clean the B2 CD lens--so a B2 problem, but not a problem unique to the B2.  The vast majority of my CD ripping issues involve the B2 not recognizing the disc.  The CD rips, but then I have to type in the artist and album info and track info.  I would say that has been true maybe on 30-40 albums.  A minor inconvenience.  But I also have an external CD drive to my Mac.  Lately I have been ripping CDs on that using dbPowerAmp cd ripper, a downloaded app.  That app has failed to recognize only one CD, that one a locally produced CD sold by the artist.  Using dbPowerAmp cd ripper eliminates most problems in ripping I find, though I would say the few problems I've had seem within the normal range for CDs, especially the old CDs I already owned and the used ones I'm buying now.

Also, while I leave mine on all the time, I understand you don't want to.  If you rip on dbPowerAmp, you can rip straight to Flac format and then upload wirelessly to the B2.  That way you don't need the B2 to compress files and there is no need to leave it on when you're not using it.

I also had to replace the SD card when I wanted to move from b2 software, the older, less Sonos-friendly version, to b2b software, the current version.  Even I, an English major was able to accomplish this easily.   You won't have to since the one you would buy if you bought would have b2b from the outset.

A significant percentage of the issues reported here turn out to be issues connecting the B2 to your home network.  Network issues arise even when the B2 is not involved.  (Actually I've never had network issues with the B2.). The solution usually is to get a better wifi antenna (because the B2 is too far from the router or for some other reason the connection is weak) or to use a wired cable connection to the router.  My brother has a B2 also, and he had recurrent issues until he upgraded his wifi antenna dongle.  Since then he's had basically no issues except ripping issues that I believe just go hand in glove with the physical medium of CDs.

I suppose a fair criticism of the B2 is that the wifi dongle supplied is inadequate for a percentage of users and that the B2 isn't equipped from the start with a plug-n-play network connection cable.  But it's not a huge percentage of users, and if they gave everybody a better dongle and cable, and added a network port, the price would be higher.  And most people don't want or need these things.

I won't deny that you might--might--have to work through some minor issues getting started.  But you might not, many don't.  And if you do have issues, this forum is exceptionally helpful and experienced.  It's highly unlikely you'll encounter an issue that hasn't previously been addressed.  And if the issue can't be addressed, Brennan customer service is very responsive.  It'd be one thing if you were going to be on your own after buying.  But between this forum and Brennan customer service, you won't be.

I am a very satisfied B2 owner.  The device has completely changed--by which I mean vastly improved--my relationship to music.  I'm listening to more music, more new music, and a greater variety of music than I had in the 30 years prior.  Which brings me to a risk that is quite real--I've bought dozens and dozens of CDs since I started using my Brennan.  I think I can safely say you'll go into an accumulation mode once you've started.  You don't have to fulfill that desire by buying CDs, but I have not been satisfied by downloading options, so I end up buying CDs.  Happened to my brother, too.  Good thing we can trade.

[Daniel Taylor]

Regarding the little WiFi dongle:  I understand that Brennan is now shipping a better WiFi dongle with an external antenna.  This is the type that we used to recommend as an upgrade for those who were having WiFi issues.  My unit came with the smaller type, but it works just fine.

[Ray Dion]

I have been an owner for about 5 months. I have had no issues with the unit. I use this forum to better understand how the system works and what other features it has that I find useful. Sorry this is so long but I want to explain why I chose the B2 and my experience with it. Questions are welcome!

My decision to purchase the unit was based on the fact that I have some 900 CDs. I have two Sony 400 CD disk players and a stereo amplifier. Talk about compromises in operation, you have to manually key in every CD title and artist. Then you have to manually use the front system controls to create a maximum of 8 play lists. Changing music for the holidays is a chore that has to be repeated to remove it. I needed something better. These limits have actually stopped me from buying more CDs. Now that I have retired, I would have time to improve and hopefully find more music. Oh and the jukeboxes needed maintenance (belts and stuff). If you want to find parts for 30+ year old equipment :-). it was not very hard but it was expensive.

I looked for the basics, 900+ CDs, playlists, quality the same as a CD because I have ripped many already but to lower quality MP3 for my iPad that I play music to a Bluetooth speaker.

I looked at the features on the B2 and said I could see good uses for a box that creates MP3 from the collection and transfer them to playable devices. Creating a backup of the quality details (FLAC) to reduce the chances of me having to repeat the exercise. I still have the CDs but at least when I downsize I have the option of getting rid of them. Technically not legal because you need the media to show you have the rights to use the music, call me too honest. I won't sell the recordings. For my own situation the small amplifier in the unit is great because my stereo (above) also broke. Until I move, I won't be replacing it.

The B2 fit the bill in a good way and the price while thought provoking was acceptable. I have come to enjoy it.

Looking at your original post I would say you do not have to convert the files to FLAC, you can just leave them as WAV. The 'cost' to you will be space for fewer total CDs. If you only have a 1000 then it will fit comfortably on the 2TB unit. The advantage of FLAC is there is no loss of data (lossless compression). This is a one time exercise. It is slow but the power consumed it a lot less than a desktop computer. I suspect the energy cost is similar. Once that is done, turn it off is no issue. Creating MP3s is a different function and issue. 

I did ripping of over 400 CDs in my first three or four days with the unit. It was never overheated. Knowing that I was going to do that and reading this forum in advance (good for you doing it too!!!) I purchased an external CD drive. This was measurably quicker and it reduced the wear and tear on the installed CD drive. My thought is that I want it working for a long time so I don't want to abuse it in the first few months. I have ripped an additional 500 CDs sometimes in bursts, sometimes just a few. Again no issues. Oh at first I did not understand that the files were not FLAC. When I figured that out it took a few days of just leaving it alone to have it catch up to FLAC files only. I will be using my computer to create MP3s.

My suggesting and this is true when you buy anything from a audio component, a car or a home, is to write down a list of what is important and desirable to you. Separate the list into must haves, really want, and nice to haves.  Shop with that list in mind. If you find features on one model that you did not consider, list it and give it a I like it or I don't care. Make your purchase based on that list. I described my list above and the B2 is a winner for me.

Ray

[Kevin Baughen]

This is hugely helpful everyone, thank you.

I think we are going to take the plunge and change my expectations around modern audio equipment... as someone said above "it's more of a computer than audio equipment of old".  That said, whilst we're relatively technology literate, we will still expect a £500 gadget to work ;-) I hope you continue to enjoy your music for years to come.

Kevin

[Davywhizz]

Another way to look at it, Kevin, is that if you were unlucky enough to experience any sort of problem, the B2 is eminently repairable at reasonable cost, not necessarily by doing it yourself. It sits nicely within the "right to repair" movement and your own environmental concerns. I wouldn't have a clue how to fix most of my other hifi devices once they are out of warranty. 

This forum is a huge help, of course, as is the Brennan company's clear commitment to continuous improvement and customer support. I've had the benefit of several free, significant upgrades to my B2 in just over two years. Some other companies seem to prefer built-in obsolescence, in the hope that you'll buy a newer model.

[Daniel Taylor]

Well said, Davy.  Those are some great attributes of the Brennan products.

[Karen Wallin]

Expectations…as long as you don't treat it as a replacement to your former music system/cd player etc then its fine….its essentially a hard drive to store music and thats fine but sorry to say we have experienced a few of the glitches mentioned …and this weekend it was the switching between the brennan speakers and sonos….which drove us to despair.  It ended up playing 2 different things -  the radio on the sonos and the cd playing on the brennan……there is no option to play random you have to set up all the playlists…the app is ok-ish but again the brennan is very slow at responding to requests received via the app and gets confused or doesnt respond.

Overall my husband who bought it is quite disappointed and I've stopped ripping cd’s right now after completing about 300 as it takes a lot if time and I had a feeling that it might all go waste as he looked like he might just throw it out the window! 

Sorry to sound negative but this is just our experience so far…

[JFBUK]

Hi Karen,

its always frustrating when something does not work as expected. We have all been there!

You mentioned a couple of things in particular.

 It ended up playing 2 different things -  the radio on the sonos and the cd playing on the brennan

I'd never thought about this before. The B2 communicates with your Sonos system by creating entries on your Sonos play queues.

If you initiate playing a radio station from the B2 then I assume it does the same if you tell the B2 to playback the radio on your Sonos system.

When you then decide to play a CD on the B2 it will write another entry(ies) to the playback queue but I'm not sure how the Sonos can detect that the first entry of the radio playback is complete. One of the Sonos gurus on here may be able to elucidate.

I think you may need to stop/clear down the Sonos queue using the Sonos app to get the Sonos and B2 speakers playing the same thing.

there is no option to play random you have to set up all the playlists

Do you mean across your whole connection or simply with a playlist. Either way both of these are possible

John

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

Hi Karen,

I think you need to understand how the Brennan / Sonos link works. The B2 is NOT sending stuff directly to the Sonos speakers. It communicates with Sonos System, the Sonos system controls the Speakers just as the Sonos App does. You can therefore see what the B2 is doing from the Sonos App.

When the B2 plays radio to its attached speakers IT does this. When the B2 plays radio to a Sonos speaker, it sends the detail of what radio to the Sonos system and the Sonos does it. If you turn off the B2 the Sonos will continue to play the radio.

Similarly with music the B2 loads the music files into the Sonos system and the Sonos system gets on with it. The Sonos system queue remains loaded with the B2's music. The two systems are independent but they communicate.

You cannot therefore have the same music playing SYNCHRONISED across B2 attached speakers and Sonos Speakers. You can have music playing from the B2 to its own speakers and different music playing from the B2 to every Sonos speaker known to your Sonos system. 

You can also get the Sonos system to play from the B2, the SAME music to all the Sonos speakers.

Obviously given how the system works it is difficult to get the B2 to play random to Sonos,  but you can get the Sonos App to apply the random to what it has got from the B2.

Fred

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

Hi Karen,

Reading through your post again, you say the B2 is slow to respond. I suspect that your Router B2 WiFi connection strength/ quality may be less than optimal. The B2 needs a solid connection to perform, this is an issue relating to your house Router and the WiFi it provides, not the B2.

Fred.

[Rik]

I agree with Fred. I think you may not be fully understanding how the B2 and Sonos work together. I too wondered if your network connection needed attention.  You should be able to work through both issues successfully. There’s been some correspondence on random play recently which might help.

[Kevin Baughen]

..... thanks Karen. This was exactly the kind of thing that prompted me to post at the outset.  I know everyone is happy to share their experiences (which is great) but there is a lot of "you don't understand how it works" commentary here.  And we're now wavering again in that I simply expect anything I pay this much money for to be intuitive and to work as expected. I buy a car, I turn the key and as long as there is fuel in it, I drive off. It just seems to me that the B2 is still being developed but by Brennan's paying customers instead of in a test lab?  As 'clever' as it is, if it's too flaky, it's not for us.  I honestly don't care how it works, I just expect it to work.  I'm in it for the music, not the gizmos :-).

Have a good one everybody and thanks again.

Kevin

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

Hi Kevin,

Well to take your car analogy, don't you think that before you get in and drive, you need to know hoe the controls work? need to take responsibility to ensure sure that it has fuel and has been serviced?  and finally you need to know the rules of the road.

Fred

[Kevin Baughen]

Hi Fred and of course, you're right :-) I suppose it's about expectations and frames of reference and in my simple world, playing music is a joy and right now is very simple.  I can plug in, turn on, press play and love the experience.  That's not going to change and so we might have to compromise and simply find some other way of keeping our CD collection.

Kevin

[Rik]

Je ba, i honestly think the B2 is pretty intuitive.  The Sonos connection is a complicating factor for Karen but it’s not the B2s fault. I have a pair of Sonos speakers and had no trouble setting up and playing. Same with the B2 when I first had it. It works simply for me.
It’s one of the best things I’ve ever bought.  PC, iPad, BrennanB2.

[JFBUK]

Hi Kevin,

when you say

 I can plug in, turn on, press play and love the experience. 

That's exactly what a B2 or any other similar music streamer can provide but you have to be prepared to invest some time (and patience) to get there.

You need to sit and work out exactly what you want in terms of functionality, research the market, and make your choice (or not).

You will not get the ease of playback of your whole music collection ,to not one but potentially many locations in your home, switch easily between sources (hard drive, radio, cd), and 

create playlists etc. , without investing in new technology.

Many of us on here are defensive about criticism of the Brennan products because we like them despite their quirks :) and understandably are keen to correct misconceptions but our objective is mainly to help.

There is a plethora of products out there so multiple ways to get to where you want to be.

John

[Rearwing]

I do like these threads, I find them informative and interesting. My take is that if you are having doubts about whether it will meet your needs/level of interest in tech/compatibility, then it won’t and it’s best to walk away and find a different solution.

I have both the B2 and the BB1 and for my needs they do everything I ask of them. But, I only ask things that are well within their operating wheelhouse and I a have high speed connection that doesn’t rely on boosters/mesh systems. I do not use them as my stand alone hifi, I use the B2 in my study and my BB1 as my portable system (with a Fiio DAC and headphones). 

In my listening room I have a modest Chord based system that reads hi-res files from a RAID system through a dedicated Mac Mini/iPad using JRiver; totally over the top and reasonably expensive, but not for everyone.

We all have choices to make and budgets that we can afford, so buy what suits you for what you need and don’t worry about being different! My son has an Allo Boss 2 connected to a Bose Wave in his dorm room and he streams all of his music using Apple Music, and I have to admit it sounds good enough for the use he puts it to.

Is the B2 the best thing in the world, no, buts it’s very good as a jukebox/player in the sense that I can work in my study with a random selection of my music playing by just pressing the “next” button - there is nothing else as well in my experience at that price point. I don’t compress, I keep everything in WAV because that’s what I prefer and I only load those artists/albums that I want to hear and I have no problem with different volumes that’s how mastering/recording works and that’s how I think it should be received.

Peace and love

[Ray Dion]

First, the B2 does what is advertised right out of the box. As with any technology there is a learning curve. Remember when VHS was new? Or maybe cassette tapes? 8 Tracks? Reel to Reel? That one I never experienced. But all of these required some kind of learning. Cassettes became the first real experience for me to transfer from one media to another. It was either the phonograph or the radio. I am 60 now and in the US so you may have to adapt what I learned to the British/Wales/Scottish way of thinking :-) I loved living in North Yorkshire and some of the things in the forum have me smiling.

This is a technology that has been building for 10 years or more. CDs started becoming obsolete when MP3 and internet started selling music files. We have a large investment in the shiny little disks and many of us don't want to lose that. The box allows this to be pretty straight forward but a lot of work. Ripping CDs is time consuming and uses a lot of space. It was more time consuming moving records to cassettes because you had to do it in real time, a loud noise meant you started over. Oh to be a teenager again... Labelling the things was a lot easier though.

I fully understand the comment 'I just want it to work'. The B2 does work straight out of the box outside of a few technical issues mostly related to WiFi. Those issues are shared between the B2 and your router. Mine work straight out of the box. Many do and those people never show up on this forum. You can easily fit that group but some like myself and you have decided to invest learning time to not only enjoy the listening but to also use the collection more fully. 

The learning time offers the opportunity to do more work to make the later experiences more enjoyable and usable by others in the family. Some of these things are the same as if you bought all of your music as files, you still must organize them. The discussions here are from people that have learned much along these lines as well as how the B2 interacts with SONOS and other technology. They provide a conduit where experience helps you get to a solution you like quicker.

The answers here are from people who have experienced many of the issues and formed their own opinions of how to utilize this piece of technology. Those opinions are very much technical and performance based. It is just like a technical manual. It goes into a depth that may or may not interest the user. It is the difference between an operators manual and a maintenance manual. 

There are other ways to solve the desire to listen to music you own on CDs. I can think of five. I am trying to be neutral on the options.

1. Purchase all of the music over again as files from you preferred provider(s). Should be somewhat easier as they all would come tagged and probably with tools to inventory/play them. Watch out how to get them to play on speakers and restore should you have a computer fault. I suspect ordering them is hugely time consuming.
2. Rip all of your CDs on the computer. Very time consuming and you have to figure out your own way to organize and back them up. There are some good rippers out there that will tag much of the music, you still need to fix those that don't. Backup is more critical than purchasing music. You have to figure out the storage/backup plan.
3. Use the B2, It provides the tools to organize and it mostly works. Tagging might be a bit off. For those breaks, you will need to resort to ripping on the computer or finding tags on the computer to fix up the breaks. Backup is straight forward with a USB storage device. Several ways to play the music to speakers.
4. Find another device which I suspect will have similar expectations as the B2. Plus or minus on cost, performance and technical approaches. I don't see how the time investment/process could be any different from the B2.
5. Purchase and maintain large jukeboxes that can hold and play your CDs. I think you will find these out of production so used would have to be found. Belts and CD players could be maintenance issues. You could go with single players but then you must store all the CDs. Random is really tough that way :-)

All of these require your time, perhaps the least time consuming is finding the jukeboxes. All cost money. I'll go back to my first post. Look at what you want in the end. Is the investment to get there too much? Modify the approach till you reach the balance that works for you.

Oh, I thought of a sixth approach. Chose your solution from above, pay a kid to do all the work.

While I write this 3 new messages have been posted, hope it still makes sense.

[Edwyn Corteen]

I have had my B2 since March 2016, during that time it has been totally reliable and has had more upgrades than any HiFi device I have ever owned, these updates have totally transformed what it can do, none of the updates have cost anything.

When you get the B2 only rip 20-30 CDs and then leave it to convert these to FLAC, other than that enjoy it!

[Kevin Baughen]

How flipping cool is this forum :-)  I can't think of any other online space I use where people are as giving of and articulate with their experiences, all the while allowing for disagreement and different opinions but always done with courtesy.  If you guys are representative of the Brennan customer base per se, they are a very lucky company.

Thanks for all the input, I'm going to stop following this thread and go away and start following some of the great advice that has been shared.

Kevin

[Graham Smout]

"I buy a car, I turn the key and as long as there is fuel in it, I drive off. It just seems to me that the B2 is still being developed but by Brennan's paying customers instead of in a test lab?  As 'clever' as it is, if it's too flaky, it's not for us.  I honestly don't care how it works, I just expect it to work.  I'm in it for the music, not the gizmos :-). "

Fair enough, but if only I just expect it to work   were true!

 I was forced to hire  a new car a few weeks ago: A Toyota CHV:  it had no key, and when I pressed "start" nothing happened! It took me half an hour to figure out how to drive it . Three weeks later there were still loads things I could not work out how to operate. I took me a week to find out how to move the drivers seat back.  We live in a technological world now and I would say almost anything requires more than a basic grasp of the equipment to be use properly.

We have a new TV: can my wife change channel with the remote? No she can not. I have do it if she wants to watch something on a different channel.

 

Finally, I few weeks ago I visited a high end Hi Fi shop and the assistant volunteered to let me listen to a valve HiFi system costing over £10,000 for the Amp,  Pre Amp,   turntable and  speakers. Embarrassingly he couldn't get a squeak out of it. All he could say was, "Well it was working this morning! I must have pressed something somewhere." Anyway he swapped the set up for a different unit costing much less and all was well. He just knew how to use the alternative setup .

I am sorry to disagree, but the Brenan B2 is in the same category as any new piece of technology with which you are not familiar:  you have to learn how to use it.

My B2 also took me a week or two to fathom out, and I had a crash of the B2B software , but i wasn't using it properly or considerately , I rushed into it thinking it would be easy and it would just work: it didn't, not because there's anything wrong with the design, but because these days virtually  nothing is like that .

Regards

Graham

[Daniel Taylor]

Don't forget to change the oil.  And when you're done, backup your music collection.

[Mark Fishman]

It's still difficult to buy a car via mail (or internet) order, at least here in the States, so usually there's a helpful or annoying salesperson who can tell you how to start the vehicle so you can drive it away.

And, being a not-very-good engineer (for reasons that will be obvious to most engineers after this next comma), I always read the manual first if there is one...

Yeah, I'm weird.

On Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 9:00:28 AM UTC-4 gps...@gmail.com wrote:

[Peter Orr]

Having used the B2 for several years I am very happy with the product and the solutions it delivers. It is a product that is continually evolving and improving. You're correct, it's quite a lot to pay up front for the hardware, but the functionality is constantly being enhanced with new features and there is no ongoing support charge for these firmware upgrades, unlike many software based platforms - including cars!  BMW charged me a lot to upgrade their map software, for example.

Software engineers are expensive to employ, and I am happy with the Brennan business model which provides this service for free!

Peter