Beo-PC

Re: BeoPort / BeoLink PC2 Questions

Enigma — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 06:37:26 GMT

Thanks guys - confirmed my suspicions that it's not what I need for my setup, sounds like navigating through hundreds of albums would be a nightmare in a link room. I'll probably just extend the Duet installation.

On the issue of software do i take it that any B&O unit marked as N.Music compatible would work with BeoPort?

Cheers!

Re: BeoPort / BeoLink PC2 Questions

PhilLondon — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:50:08 GMT

I did not read the whole post, but be aware that Beoport is not compatible with Beocenter 9500. It is compatible with some Beosound 3000, depending of the software.

Re: BeoPort / BeoLink PC2 Questions

Stan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:19:46 GMT

A couple short and long answer to your long question:

1) The audio is delivered by the sound card so the quality is very relevant.

2) You basically skip song forward and back by pressing the up/down arrows. The double arrow (left/right) are used to navigate thru folders. Pressing the colored keys determines whether your songs are grouped by album, artist, playlist or genre (i.e. suppose "red" = "genre", press "red" puts navigation into "genre" mode. It stays in this mode until you press a different color key. Now, double arrows will skip forward/back in the list of genres that BeoPlayer knows about, and up/down arrow will forward/backward in the song list.). It's very useful when a song comes up you don't like (skip ahead). It is a pain if you're looking for a specific song.

You must use BeoPlayer (on a PC) to navigate via Beo4 (mac users can use itunes, and even better, the apple remote app that runs on iPhone or iPod Touch to navigate to a song when they get frustrated with the limitations of the Beo4). If you're not going to navigate via Beo4, then you should just connect via AUX port and forget the BeoPort.

Don't know about vista.

Stan

BeoPort / BeoLink PC2 Questions

Enigma — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:11:40 GMT

Hi guys, apologies in advance for this long posting but it's a bit of a puzzler I hope someone can help me with.

I have a Windows 2008 server (essentially Vista x64) in the house that runs 24x7 - it runs various bits and pieces required for my job, as well as a media server for the home. I have various devices that hook into this, such as a Logitech Duet, Linksys media streamer, Divco TVix, a Vista Media Centre in the living room etc. All works fine.

My B&O kit is a mix of old & new - standalone BeoCenter 9500/Beloab 1 & 2 in the dining room, standalone Beomaster 7000 & BL8000/BL2 in the living room, and a Beosound 3000/BeoLab 5000 panels in a bedroom supplying audio to link rooms via Masterlink (pair of BL3500's and a pair of BL8000 hooked into a BeoLink active).

Currently the B&O kit only has access to the music library on the Windows server via a Logitech Duet connected to Aux on the Beocenter 9500 and via a Windows Media Centre PC in the living room. Works very nicely, but these are single room solutions - what I really want is all rooms in the house to have access to the same music library.

On the surface the BeoPort looks like the answer - but the more I read, both on these forums and on B&O's website, this looks like a good idea badly executed...does some of what I want but there's also horror stories of system crashes and poor driver support etc...

I'd really appreciate it if people who have experience with BeoPort could take the time to help me out with some questions I've been unable to get answers to so far:

· Is the latest BeoPort 5 software compatible with Vista 64-bit? Seems anything 4.x was not, but I downloaded 5.0 last night and installed fine on Vista x64 as far as the 'plug in the USB device' part, which of course I can't do yet... If not I could run a virtual machine on the server running XP but this is really clunky and I'd expect a company like B&O to have sorted this by now.

· The USB seems only to operate the control functions; the audio is delivered via the sound card in the PC? Therefore the quality of the PC's sound output is very relevant here?

· How do you control album & track playback in a link room? The server is normally runs without a monitor or keyboard attached, and remotely controlled when required from my main desktop PC or laptop. This isn't a problem with the other multimedia kit, e.g. the Logitech Duet remote has a display that allows you to navigate the media library and select what you want, and the video streamers do their own thing anyway with the menu on the TV - how does this work with BeoPort and say a Beo4 remote in a room with a BeoLab 3500 link speaker? How can you select what you want to play? I have a suspicion I may have to start playing the music on the Windows server via B&O's media player, and then access it from the link room? Showstopper for me if it is this limited but I can't see how else it could work?

I suppose my other option would be to buy a Beolink MCL/ML converter for the 9500 and hook that into the Masterlink, and buy extra Duet controllers for other rooms in the house. That's' a more expensive option and I'd rather have everything working off a single remote if possible.

Again, sorry for the long posting...any advice appreciated.