We're leaving the B2 behind

[Kevin Murnane]

I'll always thank the B2 for two things. First, it got me started on the task of ripping (flac) our collection of somewhere between 5K and 10K CDs; second, and more important, it showed me how wonderful it is to have your entire CD collection easily available from a single interface. The B2's operational design is excellent and the system does what it's designed to do. However, the RPi that runs the B2 is so limited that actual operation is fragile. If you are careful to work within the B2's limits, it's all good; if you make a simple mistake, it can be costly in terms of lost labor and time spent identifying and fixing the consequences. With roughly 2500 CDs ripped, tiptoeing around the RPi's limitations has become too tedious to continue.

We're moving to Roon but the B2 showed us the way. It does everything we got from the B2 and soooo much more (Roon doesn't rip but based on excellent advice from this forum we quickly moved the ripping operation from the B2 to dBpoweramp and a CD drive). To the point of why we're saying goodbye to the B2, Roon runs on much more powerful processors and is operationally robust. After 10 days of extensive use we've had zero operational problems.

This forum is outstanding. So many members are helpful, knowledgeable, patient and friendly. Running the B2 without the Forum can be challenging. With it, help is always available and problems are almost always solved. Thanks to all of you who helped me with the B2 when I needed it. The presence and enjoyment of music in our home has increased thanks to your efforts and we greatly appreciate it.

--Kevin

[PMB]

Hi Kevin,

Thank you for the feedback and positive comments about the Forum.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Kevin,

I've had a look at the Roon system and it looks quite good, but it is also expensive.  I also looked at the Roon Community forum which is very similar to this one.  The interesting thing is that the Roon users are logging problems that look remarkably familiar such as corrupted databases, inabiliity to add new tracks, network issues, failed backups, failed software updates and lots more. 

What I'm saying is don't set your expectations so high that you become disappointed when you find that the move still gives some problems.

Here is an example from the Roon Community forum that took 6 days of to and fro postings.

"I have moved all my audio file from my old NAS DS218J to new NAS DS920+ yesterday, then I try to reset the storage location on ROON, it was working fine at the beginning but after few hours, it is still running and the screen stopped at " Adding music to Library : Of 461 tracks. 461 added, 0 Identified" for another 5 hours, ( screen as below)

Multiple  posts .........then

FINALLY! the problem is solved!
These are what I have done :
1)I try Michael’s suggestion to test all the files in my audio folder, found almost 100 of bad files, then I deleted them and scan the folder again on ROON, but the problem still the same, I guess the files that cause the issue couldn’t be detected by Audio Tester.

2)Then I try Dave method, to separate all the files into 2 folders and let ROON watches them , one of the folder completed the scanning and the other didn’t.

3)Separate the files in the problem folder into two folders, see which one has problem,

1. repeated the same process and narrow down until I found the single album that cause the whole trouble.
   DELETED it, and everything just work fine !!"

So the problem was resolved but the user had a keep splitting his main database folder in half, then testing each half.  He has 5000 albums so he split 5000 into 2 x 2500; then split the 'bad 2500' into 2 x 1250 and finding the bad one; then splitting the 'bad 1250' into 2 x 625 and finding the 'bad 625' until he found one bad album which he deleted, and then all was fixed.

But it does demonstrate that Roon (along with any such systems) is not trouble free, so be careful out there!

Regards,

Peter.

[lesliebr...@gmail.com]

Must admit I had no idea what a Roon or Roon Audio was. I had to look it up. Looks like a great system, but comes at a price way above my pay grade. The search and use of meta-data abilities look fantastic. If music is your life and you have 5-10K CDs, and also want to use streaming services, and can afford it, way to go. You can understand some of the costs when you consider the amount of research that has gone into this system and its data collection abilities. Being able to connect with other companies supplying that data don't come cheap. I especially like the ability to able to get so much info from the metadata and the ability to connect it to the TV and see that info. I like that Kevin still has good things to say about the B2 even though he is moving on to a new system. Until I win the lottery I will be happy with my wee B2. 4+  years old now with no major problems. Not really interested in streaming music and tend to listen in one room,  so a lot of the facilities of the Roon system would be redundant to me. Having said that if money was no object I'd sign up right away lol. If the facilities are there you can always choose what you want to use and not use. I'm away to listen to my B2 (which I'm more than happy with) and dream.

On Wednesday, 13 October 2021 at 09:26:36 UTC+1 PMB wrote:

[lesliebr...@gmail.com]

Hi Peter, you've made me feel better now lol. The info from the metadata is what interested me most, and the ability to use it on a smart TV via a browser. Just have to stick to Youtube and Google to gathering info on similar artists and influences.

[JFBUK]

Hi Leslie,

it is possible to run the B2 Web UI on a smart TV. I've tried it with my Samsung TV and its native browser .

Its a bit tedious controlling via the TV remote though and you do need to have  your speakers and B2 in the same room as the TV unless you are using Sonos or are within bluetooth range of your B2.

John

[lesliebr...@gmail.com]

Hi John, just tried the browser on my LG TV.  Finds the B2 address, loads the info Windows etc. but doesn't populate them with any of the artist, album, or track info. Any ideas?

Leslie

[Davywhizz]

That's a really considered post Kevin. I did a lot of research before I got my B2 and was in two minds about the purchase. I saw a lot of issues coming up here and in reviews, but also a company with an obvious commitment to continuous improvement and customer service and some very knowledgeable owners here who are happy to help. I don't usually last long on any sort of specialist webchat; I get too irritated by too many of the contributions. The Brennan forum, as I've said before, is pretty much an ego-free zone, almost always polite and civilised and very precious because of that.

I knew there were cheaper ways to rip my CDs to storage and play them back, but I wanted something that looked and worked like part of a hifi system. The B2 is ideal. I connect it via optical cable to a Bluesound streamer, to get the benefit of its DAC, then the combined output goes both to a hifi amp and speakers and to a dedicated headphone amp. The B2 app and UI are well designed and easy to use, I think the YouTube search function is inspired, the internet radio is so user-friendly and the addition of new features over time (Spotify Connect, Sonos connectivity...) has been a great, free bonus. 

I've had very little trouble with my B2, though I know some owners have been less lucky. I'm glad I learned to change and reflash an SD card and that I connected via ethernet about a year in. I think I could change the internal hard disk or replace the display if I ever need to. It seems to be quite an easy device to work on, even without a high level of skill, and that sits well with my strong belief in the "right to repair" movement, as a response to the amount of  built-in obsolescence we usually see in our technology. I'm normally the sort of consumer who expects things to "just work" but there's something endearing about the B2's occasional quirks (with my apologies to anyone currently wanting to throw theirs through a window).

On Wednesday, 13 October 2021 at 14:05:53 UTC+1 JFBUK wrote:

[Jeff. M.]

Nice post Davey! I'm just ripping a few CDs on my PC and transferring them as we speak, so easy. Windows media player gets all the art for me too!

[JFBUK]

Hi Leslie,

I think it might be a browser compatibility issue with the html code of the B2 web UI.

I don't know how old your LG TV is but I recently tried to get the Web UI running on an old iPad 1 I still have, and got a similar result, the webpage frames were displayed but no content.

The version of the Apple Safari browser on my old iPad must be at least 5 years out of date.

I have had the Web UI running successfully in the browser on an Amazon Fire TV box as well.

John

On Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 2:34:29 PM UTC+1 Davywhizz wrote:

[lesliebr...@gmail.com]

John, does the Amazon Fire TV box come with a browser loaded or do you have to download it?

 Leslie

[JFBUK]

Hi Leslie,

I think it shipped with the browser (Silk) installed. 

I bought it in 2016 but to its credit the apps are still regularly updated and working OK.

They no longer sell a box like mine but the newer Fire Stick versions work the same.

John

[lesliebr...@gmail.com]

 John, I have a Fire Stick. Loaded Silk. Put in the B2 address. UI loaded with windows populated. Can select and play stuff from anywhere on the TV screen, but won't let me scroll past 15 artists. 

Lesie

[JFBUK]

Hi Leslie,

yes just tried it again and scrolling functionality seems to be impaired in Silk at least.

I originally tried it as a way of displaying album art on a separate screen whilst still controlling the B2 from my tablet or phone.

It works Ok like that but as you have discovered its not as functional when you need to do more.

John

[lesliebr...@gmail.com]

Shame, as it looked the part. May see if using a different browser on the Fire Stick may work.