Hi All,
I have now had my BeoSound 5 now for nearly a month. In that time I think I have come to know the machine fairly well.
The Good,
First, it is a very easy machine to use. In fact (with the caveat of the letter below – more on that later) it is an absolute joy to use. Searching through 600 – 700 albums or 12,000 songs is a doddle, visually easy on the eye when searching for albums, covers, tracks etc… and precise once you get used to the wheel.
One has to take on-board that acquiring a BS5 requires an investment of time to get the most of it. Having thousands of faceless tracks with poor quality tags or album art is expecting too much of the poor thing to put right. Use a WMP or a decent Tag editor and get those files organised. It is worth it.
Musically, the BS5 has grown on me. Initially, I was concerned that with the music was “too” smooth. However, I have aurally lost my original reference point but there appears to be nothing tonally or in presentation which seems disturbing. I rather like it.
As mentioned in other threads, the N.Radio is fabulous. I can now listen to numerous UK radio stations in what appears to be with stunning clarity – even though the bit rate was found to be extremely low. With BeoPort, I always had difficult locking down N.Radio, getting the channels to play, not break the data stream (even though I increased the buffer time) and it always sounded like a nanny-goat pi55ing in a tin can. Not so with the BS5. BBC World Service, BBC Radio 5 and more sound like they are almost in true FM.
MOT’s. It is fabulous (when you have a large library). Once your music has been loaded into the BM5, then the PC starts to analyse each track. It took approx 24hrs before anything would MOTs on my machine with 600 albums. When it did, I’m guessing only a quarter on my library could be play in MOTs “mode”. When it is does, it’s obviously limited to the choice of albums and the spectrum of your music. It took a further over-night session (36hrs in total) for everything to become available to MOT’s.
I personally found it to be a musical joy and it certainly does match similar music in terms of rhythm, tone etc…etc.. It often gives to the expectation that sometime’s you think Naarrrr! No Way!!, but after a while, when the main core of the music is in progress it indeed reveals itself to still be similar similar to the seed-track. Although I can’t state it as fact, it also shows signs of adding variance into the list now and again. Clever. Just as advertised.
If you’re into jazz, then all I can say it works very, very well indeed but in a way which is not specifically genre related. I just wish you could turn it off sometimes when you just want to listen to a track or one track after another in a particular nested group (say genre).
The Bad,
Nothing is really bad in terms of the operation of the BS5 IMHO. It’s different. First, there is how the BS5 works. Given it’s B&O and given there need to be different, it somehow goes “off-mission” as outlined in my recent letter to BeoCare (unacknowledged so far by B&O and hence zero reluctance on my part to abstain from publishing this letter here on this forum). There are a number of issues which I think are no so much disappointing but just not in line with traditional B&O operation and expectation. The machine is sold as an alternative to a CD player, yet has so many basic features either at a level difficult to control, have regressed from BeoPlayer functionality or is just plain absent:-
A Letter to Bang & Olufsen:-
Bang & Olufsen a/s
Att.: BeoCare
Peter Bangs Vej 15
7600 Struer,
Denmark
26th February 2009
Dear BeoCare,
Re: BeoSound 5 User Experience.
Having been an owner of the new BeoSound 5 music system since early February 2009 and having taken some considerable time to explore the product, I would like to take this opportunity share with B&O some of my personal experiences that I have found to detract from what should be a great User experience to one which is just ordinary.
I would like to believe that these issues would be in common with many other owners who have either bought the BeoSound 5 to replace their CD collection (like myself), or those which do not wish to have an iPod/MP3 player for their main home-entertainment system:-
1. I suspect that the main market group for the BeoSound 5 will tend to be those of an older age group not immediately conversant with the “in’s and out’s” of MP3 players but fully conversant with the functionalities of CD players. I believe that it would be advantageous for some of the functions of the BeoSound 5 to be aligned with that of a typical Bang & Olufsen CD playback product as vaunted in your literature and instruction manuals. Examples of such are given below:-
a. Although MOT’s is a great and useful feature, it would be advantageous for the User to be able to select a mode which does automatically engage MOT’s after every User defined track. The ability to be able to play, for example “track 4” from an album and all tracks thereafter in sequential order would be useful - especially for classical music where albums often have two or three different compositions/recitals on one album. With the BeoSound 5, unless “track 1” is specifically selected, MOT’s appears to automatically engage after playing the chosen track and selects music not necessarily from the same album and ultimately ruins the intent of the User.
b. The usefulness of both the Beo4 and the Beo5 remote is low for the BeoSound 5. It appears that the User cannot select a specific track number from a chosen album by remote control unless it is stored in a Favourites category. Rather, it appears that the BeoSound 5, unless operated by direct User interaction at the BeoSound 5 interface, requires the STEP_UP/DOWN command to step through to the desired track. It would be advantageous for the User, once he/she has selected the album of choice from the BeoSound 5 interface, could then at will choose any other desired track(s) from the virtual CD from the comfort of their armchair using the Beo4/5 numeric keypad.
c. It would be nice to see track numbers of the album currently being played integrated in to the TV display – like CD tracks when both a compatible B&O TV and the BeoSound 5 are linked together. Current status on a BeoVision 7-40 is to display “N.Music” only.
d. Although the BeoSound 5 has provision for 4 playlists (colour groups) and MOT’s, it can be considered somewhat lacking given the greater capability found in BeoPlayer. I would have thought that many customers may wish to select from a larger number of pre-programmed repertoires from their existing BeoPlayer Playlists rather than being limited to 4 only. Again, too greater a dependence on MOT’s.
e. There is a pressing need for “Genre” in the Selection bar of the BeoSound 5 in N.Music mode. The wheel selection is very inefficient when moving through over +600 albums and 12,000 track titles. A Genre-based selection mode (“Artist” selection mode acts similarly and is already included as a search criterion) will enable a significant speed-up and simplification of looking for any desired albums. Album and Title selection modes enable a more detailed approach when required.
2. N.Radio in the BeoSound 5 does not appear synchronise its radio channel lists with that of those found in BeoPlayer 5.00. The extensive pre-installed lists of over 8,000 radio stations available in N.Radio is simply too large a choice for the typical User. Cross-referencing Genre to Language to Country etc.. is impossible in the BeoSound 5. This issue I believe could be minimised by enabling the deletion (or “hiding” channels) of all non-desirable channels by the User via BeoPlayer 5.00/BeoSound 5 synchronisation. This would greatly improve selection efficiency and product simplicity.
3. It appears the User cannot choose a dual functionality of BeoSound 5 (N.Music mode) with that of the BeoMaster 5 in PC mode. When connected to a compatible B&O TV, the User should be able to select tracks from menus directly from the TV in PC mode like BeoPlayer or BeoMedia 1 with the BeoSound 5 disengaged (as if not connected to the BeoMaster 5). This does not appear to happen.
4. Although it is not the purpose of this letter to critique product technical specifications, I feel three issues are noteworthy for B&O to consider:-
a. There appears to be no inclusion of a theft-deterrent PIN security code which is common on a good number of other higher value Bang & Olufsen products. The BeoMaster 5 has provision for a client password which acts as far as I can ascertain, as a low-level firewall. However, the client password can be overridden very easily and thus not effective as a theft deterrence.
b. The User manuals supplied with the BeoSound/BeoMaster 5 are somewhat lacking in detail especially in context of synchronising files and set-up. Although it is common for the Dealers to set-up a brand new piece of equipment, customers will from time to time be required to move from house to house, change equipment configurations or ISP Internet providers etc... Therefore a detailed reference manual to configure the BeoSound/BeoMaster 5 would be appreciated.
As you can see from above, I have provided B&O with an extensive list of User interface issues which I believe if addressed or incorporated in to the product, would actually enable the User to engage in a simpler and more intuitive product experience. Given the BeoSound 5’s ability to be updated remotely, I would hope that B&O could evaluate these issues and implement them sometime soon – even though it has been thoroughly tested and evaluated prior to launch in its present configuration.
I feel that the product ultimately departs significantly from the usability of preceding Bang & Olufsen products and somewhat engages technology for technologies sake and ultimately at the expense of User choice.
For reference, I have shared these thoughts with my dealer who has been very helpful and as helpful as one could expect, given the significant language differences between us. I would also state that I believe that the product I have purchased works perfectly as intended by B&O but that the User interface simply requires more development and customer feedback to raise the experience. This letter refers to issues outside the dealer/customer relationship and is specific in its nature as a constructive critic on the User operability of the product.
I would appreciate BeoCare’s feedback from this letter and whether all or any of the issues discussed herein will be addressed sometime in the future. In the meantime, should you wish for any elaboration of my observations, I will be only too pleased to discuss.
Yours Sincerely
…..And The Ugly.
Peter summed it up recently. B&O have learnt nothing from the roll-out of the Beo5. How true that is for the BM/BS5? Nothing learnt at all I say. Now let’s get things straight. The BS5 works and works well. Do not think it is a piece of software junk in two black boxes. It’s not. The operating software for playing music and radio is in my opinion first-class and one has no perception that the BM5 is indeed a Windows based PC. It is also not about the operability when playing music. It is good but I think it can be improved to be more like a CD player than an MP3 player.
Where B&O really let the game down again is in the installation. The Setup!
First, there’s having to connect BeoPlayer, usernames, user passwords for this, that and everything. Then there’s the BeoMaster usernames, file-share address and its client passwords. There’s a different interface for doing this via BS5 or by BM5 via PC mode. Then there is the reliability in which it connects. It does do it but it needs several attempts and one gets the feeling that when you do change client passwords that you will either get locked out because you either changed the password and it did not remember or that you did and can’t remember what was what. Simplification needed here big time. So is the need for a theft-deterrent PIN code.
Next is the loading of the data. This takes an inordinately long time – even when loading direct from Windows to Windows across a LAN. I don’t know why but it does. Synchronising is possible by a simple click of the B&O logo in your sys-tray. Grey/black for no connection, black for connection and red for synchronising. Again, getting this to work is a pain and you are never certain of where you are. It is better just to scan your BM5 hard-drive with BeoPlayer and manually copy a small number of files to ensure completion. It’s a lot faster.
Finally, there are the manuals. Basically they are a down-right disgrace. Someone in B&O should be shot for allowing release of these to public. The operating “quick-manuals” are bad but at least you have something. The installation and reference manuals however are totally non-existent. Now I like a challenge and in the urgency to get my BS5, I took it off the dealer and opted for self-installation. I have a reasonable technical mind and it was great to crack it. Normally, B&O would state the Dealer should take care of this (sounds like the Beo5 doesn’t it?).
However, what took the biscuit (from a B&O perspective) is that I have subsequently fielded numerous calls over the last week from my Dealer who was not able to install their shop BS5 properly. Now don’t get me wrong again. Helping my Dealer (who’s first language is not English and who will likely given the market they are operating in, not be expected to sell too many BS5’s) was not a problem and in fact builds a good relationship between us. However, it does once more demonstrate that B&O have got a) a product which is difficult to install into a classic B&O A/V set-up, b) a product which is going to be very difficult to install in a non-B&O, non-classic setup and c) shows the level of training they are giving to their installation staff is simply inadequate. Technicians do not appear to be equipped to deal with all the permutations a customer may have.
I wonder what would have happened if I could not have installed my BS5 and had to rely on my Dealers technician? Still stuck in the box while the Technician takes a two week course in Denmark 8,000 miles away?
In essence, they have got to recognise that they have to write a standard operating procedure for these type (software driven) products. It starts by writing self-explanatory software within the installation process guiding the User through the process and driving you to all that you desire. B&O have to get out of “this is optimal one-way, our way only” mode – cos it’s not. They are seriously going to f**k-*p another product whereby if they don’t, those who are in the know and tech-savvy will have a great system but those who don’t (or don’t care to) wont.
Reputations are formed that way and they have still not got over the last problems of the 80’s and 90’s. They can’t afford to get another one in the digital era.
In Summary.
A very nice machine. A very nice machine indeed. I’m impressed even though it has some issues and that it was well worth me changing my BC2 for it. It is surprisingly simple and elegant, easy for anyone 9 to 90 to follow. In-fact, a month on now with the BS5 and I’m thinking how did I manage before?
It just needs some more refining and someone in Struer to sit down with a word-processor and write the installation/reference manual (hell, this post is probably longer than any reference manual required for the job).
I hope B&O will look at this and other posts and improve the product over the Net. They have a winner if they can provide the support and not hide behind the shadow of the poor unfortunate Dealer who will inevitably be at the sharp-end.
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