USB Port Discrepancies

[happymedium27]

Hello,

I am very keen to purchase a B2, but I’m confused by the discrepancies between what is advertised on the Brennan website and what is being sold in the Brennan Amazon store. On the Brennan website, the B2 is shown to have three USB inputs: USB A, USB B and USB C.

On the Brennan Amazon store it only has two USB ports: USB A and USB C(?)

The other discrepancy is the Power On/Off switch. The B2 that is in the how-to videos on the Brennan website doesn’t appear to have a power switch — and, in fact, is shown being “turned off at the mains.” The B2 in the Amazon store does appear to have an on/off switch (which of course makes sense, since there is typically no way to turn power off at the outlet in the US, like there is in the UK.

So my question is… what will actually arrive if I purchase the Brennan B2 2TB unit from Amazon?? When I asked this question on Amazon, here’s the response I got back:

"Hi, I ordered my unit last year and mine is like yours, no USB B. The only thing I think a B would be useful for is if you wanted to save your music to a flash drive and didn't want to turn it around and remove a dongle in order to save files elsewhere. Hope this helps."

Of course KRD’s answer isn’t entirely true. According to the video on the Brennan website, USB A is for the WiFi dongle, USB C is for the bluetooth dongle and USB C would be where you’d plug in an external drive. This is the configuration that I would absolutely want for $679.00! Can any one provide me with the assurance that if I order a B2 from Amazon, that this is the one I will receive?? If not, where can I order a B2 and know with absolute certainty that I am getting the latest advertised model/configuration of the unit?

[Peter Lowham]

Hi happym...

Since early 2017, all of the B2 models have only the USB A and USB C ports.  The USB B port was removed at this time.  As to the use of the ports, you can use either of the A or C ports for the WiFi or Bluetooth dongles or for USB HDDs or memory sticks.  You can also plug in a multiport USB adapter into either of these ports so that you can have more than two USB devices simultaneously, but this is subject to a maximum total current load imit of about 1000mA unless you use an externally powered USB adapter.

The 'On-Off' power switch was introduced in the early 2017 models, so all new B2 models since then will have this switch.

So, to conclude, if you buy a new B2 today, this will have the USB A and USB C ports only, and will have the rear fitted 'On-Off' power switch per your first image in your post.  The second B2 image is of a pre-2017 B2 model.

Regards,

Peter.

[happymedium27]

Peter,

Cheers! Thanks very much for your concise and and timely response. Just one last follow up question before I go snag the last unit in stock on Amazon... In the quick set-up video on the Brennan website, it shows the bluetooth dongle going in USB A, and the WiFi dongle going in USB C. That leaves USB C open for an external hard drive or memory stick. If I understand you correctly, (and I apologize for going over this again) the only way to have all three of those things plugged in with the current model is to add a USB hub? Otherwise, every time you want to backup to an external USB drive, one of the two dongles needs to be unplugged. Correct? If that's the case, if you don't mind me saying, it seem like it made more sense to have three USB ports as it's unlikely anyone would ever need to have more than three things plugged into the B2 other than the two dongles and an external drive. Was there a particular reason for dropping the third port?

And one last question, if you don't mind… Does Brennan have any plans to ever change the front screen to include album art too?

Again, thanks very much for your patience and expertise!

John

[PMB]

Hi John,

In the early days Brennan produced a 64GB version (entry level version) of the B2 that didn't have an internal HDD - it used the SD Card to store the operating software and the music. On this version 3 x USB ports were available. This model was discontinued.

On other versions of the B2 (including everything we currently ship) USB B is used by the internal HDD/SSD so is not available for connecting external devices. Later production dropped off the USB B port - to avoid any confusion.

Backing up should only be a periodic task so removing either the WiFi or Bluetooth dongle shouldn't be too much trouble.

No plans to change the display to show Album Artworks - these can be displayed on the web UI running on your laptop, tablet or phone.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Fred Waltman]

I bought my B2 a few weeks ago thru Amazon and it does in fact look like the first picture -- two USB and an on/off switch. Not using bluetooth at this time so the 2nd port is for the usb stick I use for defers or the 2tb USB drive for backups.  I occasionally mount the backup drive on my Mac and do a sync to keep a copy of the backup there.

So far very happy. I have about 750 albums so far.

I'd roughly guess 1/3 ripped on the B2, another 1/3 ripped on my Mac with dbPowerAmp (mostly classical) and another 1/3 already ripped on my Mac (have to do ALAC to FLAC conversion) or downloaded MP3/AAC tracks)

I do the classical on my Mac because I have a particular way I want the files names (long story).

Fred

(not that Fred, the other Fred)

[PMB]

Hi the other Fred,

As far as I know the B2 will play ALAC files - give one album a try to confirm before transferring too many.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Fred Waltman]

It does! 

I thought I read somewhere that it didn't but now I realize that what I probably read was it doesn't *rip* to ALAC. I just assumed that meant it didn't play them.

What is that old saying about "assume" :)

[Fred Waltman]

I'm not crazy -- from the website:

DOES B2 PLAY ALAC

Sorry just WAV,FLAC,MP3 and AAC right now. Suggest you convert to FLAC on your PC.

I just tried another ALAC and it doesn't play. I must have copied an AAC before (both use an M4A container so sometimes it is hard to tell)

[PMB]

Hi the other Fred,

I have some sample ALAC tracks on my B2 that play OK BUT I have just checked the extension and they are shown as .m4a on my computer (the B2 displays them as AAC). So not so sure now.

Anyone else playing ALAC files on their B2?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Fred Waltman]

Paul,

OK, I have solved part of the mystery.

If I upload an ALAC track directly as it was ripped with dbPowerAmp the B2 plays it.

I have used ffmpeg to concatenate a number of ALAC tracks into a larger ALAC file (with chapter marks for the original tracks). Those the B2 does not like. (it shows the title for a few seconds, then plays a random track)

Every app that I have on my Mac that can open ALAC handles these stitched files without complaint: Players like Music, VLC, Vox, QuickTime Player and editing apps like Fission and Audacity all work.

I do another pass with ffmpeg to convert that larger ALAC file to a FLAC and the B2 likes those just fine.

This is no big deal to me, more for curiosities sake.

[Daniel Taylor]

You can stitch together multiple tracks into one track file using Audacity, and do it in just the one step.  Audacity is a free download and has many other capabilities.

[Fred Waltman]

Thanks Daniel. I did look at Audacity but I went with ffmpeg because I can automate things more easily.