General Forum

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

Aegres — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:25:14 GMT

Hi,

we are installing a pair of Beolab5's at a customer's house but are not using a beosystem. The problem we have is that the Beolab5's are the front L and R speaker in a surround setup on a different processor and the other speakers are built into the ceilings.

We have a couple of options (we have set them up as option 1 by the way):

1.) We could just program the crestron to issue an on command and then do a 10 second burst of volume up to syncronise the volume levels (by having them both flat out).

2.) If someone here were to provide us some information about the sync link cable we could directly write to that to control the volume.

Option 1 is a bit hissy, not too bad, but not ideal. Because the volume has to be set every time they are powered on, it would nearly be impossible to set the an accurate calibrated level by IR as it is relative - so the only absolute setpoint is max (and min as well, but that is useless to us...)

Option 2 is far preferred as the sync cable is obviously working in absolute gain level (as opposed to relative). We really need some info on how this cable works. E.g.: Analog Voltage or Digital Serial.

If you know anything we would be extremely appreciative. Specifics would be even more helpful. For example, if it is digital, baudrate 9600N1 etc

Many Thanks,
James.

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

koning — Tue, 01 May 2007 15:21:56 GMT

@soundproof cd players with a digital out,is there also a way to tweak the sound

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

soundproof — Tue, 01 May 2007 14:54:31 GMT

koning:
@soundproof what's the reason for tweaking the signal?

Depending upon the kind of music (or movie) you might want to enhance or reduce bass, midrange, top. I like to have the opportunity to make these adjustments, though I usually find myself smack in the center with settings.

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

koning — Tue, 01 May 2007 14:08:19 GMT

@soundproof what's the reason for tweaking the signal?

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

stax — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:21:06 GMT

einare:
Just a quick note for those who have the same problem: I got a technician to take a look and update both speakers to the latest software version, but it does not work. The problem seems to be that the older one of the speakers is "Mac 1" and the other one is "Mac 2", two different generations and the Mac 1 cannot be upgraded to sv 2.5, just to 1.62. Therefore it seems impossible to let them communicate via the sync port.
Thanks for your assistance!

Same problem here. My lab5s are from 2004 and connected to an Apple PowerMac G5. If I connect the B&O sync cable, one of the speakers looses audio.

Disconnect the cable and I loose syncing but everything else is fine.

stax

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

soundproof — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:14:31 GMT

koning:
@Soundproof have you connected them to another brand (non B&O)

Yes. I have connected BL5s to a 30GB iPod; to the Airport Express; and to a variety of stand-alone CD-players with digital out.
Favourite Disc player: http://www.linn.co.uk/music_systems_unidisk_sc#

The Airport Express connection was interesting. I had the music in uncompressed AIFF files on a harddisk, and sent it to the Airport Express via wireless. The Express has optical digital out (Toslink). I converted that to S/PDIF and piped it to the BL5s. That meant I had an unbroken digital delivery from source to speakers. And I could tweak the signal before transmission from my computer using the Equalizer built into iTunes.

Could of course also use the computer as a CD player with this setup - it pulled the music right off the CD, in digital format, and sent it on as such to the Airport Express without using the computer's DAC.

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

koning — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:02:33 GMT

@Soundproof have you connected them to another brand (non B&O)

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

soundproof — Tue, 01 May 2007 12:44:22 GMT

einare:
Just a quick note for those who have the same problem: I got a technician to take a look and update both speakers to the latest software version, but it does not work. The problem seems to be that the older one of the speakers is "Mac 1" and the other one is "Mac 2", two different generations and the Mac 1 cannot be upgraded to sv 2.5, just to 1.62. Therefore it seems impossible to let them communicate via the sync port.
Thanks for your assistance!

I'm not sure whether my experience applies, but I once had the same problem - until I realized that the minijack cable I was using wasn't equipped with a stereo minijack. Got a stereo one, and set the speakers to OPTION 1 and they were synchronized (though I think it will work with OPTION 4 too).

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

koning — Tue, 01 May 2007 12:32:57 GMT

sw 2.62 is exact the same as sw as 1.62a

sw 2.62 is for the models with pincode sw 1.62a is without pincode

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

Peter — Tue, 01 May 2007 00:45:27 GMT

Sorry to hear that.You are left with the option of setting both to max and using the non B&O remote. Or buying a B&O system. We may well add this to the FAQ section for future reference. Thank you for letting us know.

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

einare — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:15:37 GMT

Just a quick note for those who have the same problem: I got a technician to take a look and update both speakers to the latest software version, but it does not work. The problem seems to be that the older one of the speakers is "Mac 1" and the other one is "Mac 2", two different generations and the Mac 1 cannot be upgraded to sv 2.5, just to 1.62. Therefore it seems impossible to let them communicate via the sync port.

Thanks for your assistance!

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

koning — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:13:48 GMT

they can program new software in to the lab5 through a notebook. latest software for your speakers is 1.62a

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

Peter — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:47:42 GMT

If yours has the synch socket, I would imagine that it is possible though it may well be that you need a hardware change - a new chip possibly. Most software changes can be done via the B&O service tool but this is a dealer only device. For a definitive answer, email B&O at Struer with your serial number and they should give you an answer. A good dealer should find this out for you.

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

einare — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 20:59:06 GMT

Thanks Peter! Looks like my problem is the software version, the older one is just below the s/n you mention and has sw 1.5. I connect them to non B&O equipment to an unamplified output, so I cannot adjust the volume from the non B&O system. Do you know if the service providers can upgrade the software in the older speaker to sw 2.5? Or is there a software available online that I can download to the speaker?

Thanks again for your help.

Re: Beolab 5 sync problem

Peter — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:33:35 GMT

Volume synchronisation was introduced in April 2004. It only of use in non B&O set ups as the B&O ones control volume via Powerlink. If you have a non B&O set up and wish to use this facility, your Beolab 5s need S/W 2.5 or higher. This was introduced at S/N 17772145. The cable is a stereo mini jack cable and shouldn't be anything special. No doubt B&O will sell you one though! If your Beolab5s are older than this, they suggest setting the levels to maximum on each speaker and using the volume control from the non B&O system.