I didn't do an exhaustive search of the site, but I could not find answers to these questions I have about the BS5:

Does the BS5 compensate for differences in the perceived volume of recorded music?  Newer CDs seem to be recorded much louder than older ones.  Does one constantly have to turn the volume up and down to compensate (as I do today with my BeoPort) or have the wizards in Struer found a solution to this?

Can the BS5 act as an audio master similar to the BeoPort.  Say I have the BS5 in the lounge and a BS9000 in the den connected via ML.  Can I listen to CDs in the den (via BS9000) and digital content in the lounge (via BS5) at the same time?  Or must the BS5 be slaved to the BS9000 (and, hence, only play through the BS5 speakers what the BS9000 tells it to)?

Can a ML network support both a BeoPort and a BS5?   Say I have the BeoPort in my office (with the BS5 and BS9000 from above), could I listen to CDs played on the BS9000 via the BeoPort, but somehow, tell the BeoPort to ignore N.Music and N.Radio commands... effectively have it work like a BeoLink Active (that must be connected to a computer)?  Probably not, I would guess... 

Thanks,

Stan

Stan, 

1. The BeoSound 5 does not itself (to my knowledge) compensate for the volume, but rather mirrors the settings of the host program (i.e. iTunes or BeoPlayer). iTunes, for example, has the ability to moderate the volumes to a universal range across a collection. This has worked marvelously and I haven't found myself turning the volume up or down once to compensate.

2. The BeoSound 5 can act as an audio master. It can function side by side with a 9000 as there are no shared sources (now the omission of a disc drive makes sense!). They can be in the same or separate rooms and play one another's sources through one another's speakers.

3. No. Unlike with two audio systems that can be set to master or client, the BeoPort is a slave only and so would "fight" with the BeoMaster 5 when engaging N.MUSIC. It is best to get an active kit for this task and use the PC input for local music through the computer.  

RE the volume adjustment, this causes problems if listening to an album with continuous tracks, as not all tracks will be the same volume originally. If the BeoSound 5 adjusted the volume to always be the same, the end result would be unwanted jumps in volume between the tracks (classical music would suffer the most).

TripEnglish:

2. The BeoSound 5 can act as an audio master. It can function side by side with a 9000 as there are no shared sources (now the omission of a disc drive makes sense!). They can be in the same or separate rooms and play one another's sources through one another's speakers.

I am surprised about the answer re. point nr. 2. I have BS 5 and BS 3200. Only one can act as audiomaster. How come it works with BS 9000? May be you can clarify.

TripEnglish:

... iTunes, for example, has the ability to moderate the volumes to a universal range across a collection. This has worked marvelously and I haven't found myself turning the volume up or down once to compensate. ...

I thought this was a feature of iTunes.  How does the BM5 know what iTunes has determined with respect to sound normalization?

Stan

Alex:

RE the volume adjustment, this causes problems if listening to an album with continuous tracks, as not all tracks will be the same volume originally. If the BeoSound 5 adjusted the volume to always be the same, the end result would be unwanted jumps in volume between the tracks (classical music would suffer the most).

I understand this can be a difficult problem when one must preserve the original dynamics across a wide variety of music... exactly why the wizards from Struer should solve it. 

Stan