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ARCHIVED FORUM -- April 2007 to March 2012
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This is the first Archived Forum which was active between 17th April 2007 and 1st March February 2012

 

Latest post 09-02-2011 4:26 PM by Beobuddy. 15 replies.
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  • 08-27-2011 1:50 PM

    Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Hi.

    I have the following setup:

    IMac 27" from 2010.

    Beoport connected to ML net

    BV8-40 with Apple Tv2

    BV8-32 with Apple Tv1

    BS3200 next to the 8-40

    BL2000

    I use Beoport for distribution of N.Music throughout my house. The sound is OK but sounds thin. By chance I tired to stream music from my iMac to the Apple Tvs using AirTunes. The sound then comes via HDMI (8-40) or Scart Audio (BV8-32) to the TV sets. The sound is much much more powerful and rich. Going back to N.Music ( with my constellation I can switch during the same song) the sound is thin again...

    How can this be? Should not ML distribution be of at least same Quality? It cannot be the apple DAC, as ATV2 has no and 8-40 uses it's own.

    Any ideas are very welcome!

    Thanks,

    Heribert

    BeoVision 8-40 / BeoVision 8-32 / Beovision 6-26 / BeoSound 3200 / BeoSound 1 / BeoLab 3 /  Beolab 6000 / Beolab 2000 / Beoport / Beomedia 1 / 3* Beo4 /BeoCom 5 with VOIP

  • 08-27-2011 2:10 PM In reply to

    • Style
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    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Did you calibrate the volume?

  • 08-27-2011 2:13 PM In reply to

    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Yes I did. Volume was same level.

    BeoVision 8-40 / BeoVision 8-32 / Beovision 6-26 / BeoSound 3200 / BeoSound 1 / BeoLab 3 /  Beolab 6000 / Beolab 2000 / Beoport / Beomedia 1 / 3* Beo4 /BeoCom 5 with VOIP

  • 08-27-2011 2:39 PM In reply to

    • symmes
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    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Wireless radio from airtunes vs headphone jack from the mac.  Disappointed, but not surprised.

  • 08-27-2011 2:44 PM In reply to

    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    I would agree if not the internal DAC of ATV1 is also much better than Beoport. Equalizer was off in all cases.

    BeoVision 8-40 / BeoVision 8-32 / Beovision 6-26 / BeoSound 3200 / BeoSound 1 / BeoLab 3 /  Beolab 6000 / Beolab 2000 / Beoport / Beomedia 1 / 3* Beo4 /BeoCom 5 with VOIP

  • 08-27-2011 2:54 PM In reply to

    • Vienna
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    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Heribert:

    How can this be? Should not ML distribution be of at least same Quality?
    It cannot be the apple DAC, as ATV2 has no and 8-40 uses it's own.


    IT IS THE DAC of your IMac 27" you are using to transmit music via an
    analogue line-out of your apple to analogue the-line in of your BeoPort (2x3,5mm stereo jack) .

    The USB cable between BeoPort and computer is only used to remote control your MAC
    by your ML-components. 

  • 08-27-2011 3:02 PM In reply to

    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Understand. But what about the ATV1 which is connected to 8-32 via analog connection? Is the DAC in ATV1 so much better? Cannot believe this.

    BeoVision 8-40 / BeoVision 8-32 / Beovision 6-26 / BeoSound 3200 / BeoSound 1 / BeoLab 3 /  Beolab 6000 / Beolab 2000 / Beoport / Beomedia 1 / 3* Beo4 /BeoCom 5 with VOIP

  • 08-27-2011 3:02 PM In reply to

    • symmes
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    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Heribert:
    I would agree if not the internal DAC of ATV1 is also much better than Beoport. Equalizer was off in all cases.

    I know nothing about the quality of anyone's internal DAC, but I DO know that the speaker-level output of a mac (and most other computers and mp3 players) is not so great.  Depending on what outputs you have available on the mac, you might convert one of them to a 3.5 stereo output and input that to the BeoPort.  It should be fantastic on lossless material.  Too bad, but BeoPort had a lot of good points and (obviously) not enough "management" backing to take full advantage of them.       

  • 08-27-2011 3:25 PM In reply to

    • Vienna
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    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Heribert:
    Is the DAC in ATV1 so much better? Cannot believe this.

     

    Maybe ...

    All I can tell is - a WMA lossless send from my vintage IBM-PC via BeoPort > ML-system >
    BV7 and then beeing distributed via PowerLink to a pair of BLb5s (= all analogue chain)
    sounds just a LITTLE BIT less "detailed", less "open", less "dynamic" than the ORIGINAL CD
    coming from a BSd 9000 DIRECTLY via SPDIF (= fully digital chain) to the BLb5s.

    PS: Using the VERY SAME A8 earphones, a 192 file ripped from a CD on my BeoSound 2
    sounds much better than the same 320 file on my iPhone ...

    PPS: the iPhone is a GREAT CELLPHONE

    PPPS: und ganz besonders mag ich Äpfel wenn sie "grün, saftig und steirisch sind" Laughing   

  • 08-27-2011 6:11 PM In reply to

    • Karla
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    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    We have a similar set up with the ATV2 connected to the Avant, and then the Avant connected via ML to the rest of the house. The sound is fantastic and with wireless connection, we can play from any of the computers or the iPad2.  We are just getting ready to add an Airport Express to the BS9000  via A. Aux. All of this is much easier to use than the Beoport, which has been a bit cranky without really great sound, plus we can now use our iPad2 with the B&O setup.

     

    I should mention that we had VERY good luck with ATV2 and the Avant by using a convertor. The signal for audio and video is wonderful.

  • 08-28-2011 9:50 AM In reply to

    • Style
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    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    I still think it is the volume that is not calibrated. Did you measure it?

    A volume difference of 0,5 dB is enough to twist an AB comparison.
  • 08-28-2011 3:03 PM In reply to

    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    As already mentioned.

    The beoport doesn't have a internal DAC. Therefore the quality depends on the attached source, the soundcard of the pc.

    It can be improved to install a better soundcard in the pc or to invest in an external DAC (like the DACmagic).

    Another point is that the quality of the output on a pc/mac depends on the attached device. The internal impedance of a headphone differs from a input from the beoport. That can make the difference in sound.

    So a special soundcard with special line -out, will give a better result than a iPhone/Pad or other source wich is designed for headphones.

    Of course, the shorter the route, the better the quality might be.

    I assume that the used switching technology on the beoport board should be on the same level as used on the av-boards in all the Beovisions.  

  • 08-28-2011 3:57 PM In reply to

    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Airtunes is not really comparable to Beoport since its actually a streaming solution that uses the Remote Audio Output Protocol and is infinately more sophisticated, carrying more data and content types - including 1080P video streaming. 

    Sound quality will always be potentially greater via Airtunes as its carrying digital data. The ideal solution is to have Wifi and the protocol directly embedded.  Lets hope B&O's new found interest in working with Apple also picks this one up for future products. Whilst the Airport Express isn't high-end... the newer 802.11n with the Marvel chipset actually has a Cirrus Logic 4344 24-bit/192-kHz DAC embedded from what I've read - similar to that found in the Roku box etc. In other words this is extremely good, but not £££ audiophile. 

     

     

  • 09-01-2011 11:55 AM In reply to

    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Hi,

    I bought a music fidelity V-Dac and connected it to the iMac via USB and then from there to the Beoport.

    The sound from the BL6000 directly connected to the power link socket of Beoport is significantly better now. More Bass, more "POWER".

    The sound from the ML connected Beovision 8-32 did not improve. No hearable update from Beoport. What is the problem with my setup? Why is the sound from Beoport-ML-Beovision much thinner/poorer than directly at Beoport?

    Heribert

    BeoVision 8-40 / BeoVision 8-32 / Beovision 6-26 / BeoSound 3200 / BeoSound 1 / BeoLab 3 /  Beolab 6000 / Beolab 2000 / Beoport / Beomedia 1 / 3* Beo4 /BeoCom 5 with VOIP

  • 09-01-2011 12:55 PM In reply to

    • Vienna
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    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    ? maybe a faulty J-Box/ML-Plug, ML-Cable ?
    ML is an analogue balanced/symetrical signal - if one of the 2 leads is missing/faulty the result will be poor sound.   

  • 09-02-2011 4:26 PM In reply to

    Re: Beoport vs AirTunes - strange finding

    Heribert:
    What is the problem with my setup? Why is the sound from Beoport-ML-Beovision much thinner/poorer than directly at Beoport?

     

    The powerlink output can be adjusted in Bass, treble and/or Loudness in the setup menu from the Beoport.

    These settings doesn't affect the audio through the ML "output" from the beoport. That might be the difference you hear.

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