Dear experts :-)

I used to love my B&O, but as I would go from my Beovision 7000 to a plasma tv the options were very limited at that time, so therefore I "drifted" away from B&O. Never the less I been reading a lot about the integration between macs and B&O, so now I would like to dust off my equipment and get the rest of my B&O running again (kind of missed it :-)).

My setup is:

Office:

An intel iMac

BS3000 (the first version, so probably needs some SW upgrade) with 2 BL4000 speakers

Living room:

Mac mini, intel core 2 duo connected to a non B&O receiver (actually the sound goes from the Macmini Sound out to the receiver and the DVI goes to the HDMI input on the AV receiver). The receiver is then connected to the non B&O tv (Pioneer) via HDMI.

Bedroom

BV4002

Kitchen

BL 3500 (old version - probably needs some SW upgrade as well?)

Childs room

BV 7000

The mac mini today works (quite well) as a mediacenter with most of the media stored on a NAS. I use Plex and EyeTV on the macmini.

My hopes/wishes are:

- to be able to control Plex/Eyetv with the Beo4 remote or mac/harmony 885 remote and to play the different media via my setup in the living room (i.e. non B&O euipment)

- to be able to listen to netradio and my music (and perhaps tv source sound) in the kitchen controlled with a Beo4

- that my daughter can listen to music from the NAS on her Beovision 7000 - controlled with a Beo4  (the Beo4 is also old, so that probably also needs an SW upgrade :-))

- listen to the different sources (netradio, music etc.) on the stereo in the office controlled with the Beo4

- listen to and/or watch the different sources (netradio, music, movies from tha NAS etc.) on the tv in the bedroom controlled with the Beo4

Phweew! A lot of wishes I know, but it seems within reach, by the great work done by the SW developers. :-)

By the way - all my equiment use to be linked in a ML setup (I have a converter for the Beovision 7000 tv).

My questions:

Can it be done?

and if so, what do I need to buy to get it up and running?

One thing I wonder about if its possible to get the sound from the Macmini to my non-B&O receiver and to work in a ML setup?

I have not bought a Beoport (or an IR-eye if that is needed) yet.

Hope u can help me.

Thanks in advance

Regards

Lynge

You'll probably be able to do most of this with a Beoport and software I am currently developing:

http://web.me.com/philrobin/LinkPlayer

p.

Hi Phil

Sounds great! Believe me, I've been reading all I can find about your software - it's really fantastic that you are doing this!

Okay, I think I'll try it out very soon, so I better get a Beoport.

Could you or anyone else please clarify for me...how do I handle the sound connection from the Macmini to the Beoport and my AV receiver? I ask because as far as I can see, there is only one sound input on the Beoport (and only one sound output from the Macmini).

I would like to be able to get sound from the Macmini in - say the office on the BS3000 - but still be able to get the sound through my AV receiver in the living room, when for example watching a movie with Digital Surround Sound without having to switch cable or connection...

EDIT: Sorry! Just realized that the Beoport has audio in AND out. But is it only analog sound?

/JJ

You need to split the sound output of the mac mini, half goes to the Scart, half goes to the Beoport.

Why do you think you'll use sound input on the Mac mini?

Only problem making the split is if you use digital out from the Mini today (it has a combined Optical digital sound and analog 3,5 mini jack connector)

@Phil: I won't be using sound in, in the Mac mini - blame it on my dubious english

I am using digital out from the 3,5 mini jack (optical in the other end).

I would like to keep the digital out from the macmini...any suggestions?

TIA

JJ

I am not quite sure if this will work but maybe you can get a USB sound card for the mini and use that for the analog sound and then still be using the optical out. For one the soundcard has to be apple compatible. 

Sound from one software can only direct to one sound card... but maybe you could experience with sound card aggregation in the Audio Midi setup utility. Or find a hardware solution.

Hmm, I'll have a look around to see if there could be a hardware solution for this (other than buying a complete "B&O livingroom set" ).

Thanks for the replies!

On other threads a number of members have "spoken" positively about the Cambridge DACMagic as a better converter of digital to analogue than the Mac's own sound card.

Looking at the product it has:

-- digital in

-- digital out

-- analogue out

http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=320

Perhaps you could use this to split the Mac output, send pure digital to the non-B&O receiver, and send superior analogue to the BeoPort ?

I am *not* an expert in these things, so please check and ask questions before going down this path ...

Hi "elephant"

Thanks a lot for the post. It sure looks like something I should take a closer look at. Various posts in different forums surely speeks highly of it. I will try to get a confirmation that it can produce analog as well as digital output at the same time from a digital input.

Again - thx a lot!

Best regards

Jan

Hi Jan,

I have a DACMagic from Cambridge Audio which sits between my MACMini and the BeoPort and I have to say the results are very good indeed. The sound is brighter, has more depth and much better image separation. I use the BeoPort to distribute sound around my house via a MasterLink cable to all my B&O devices.

I've been using it for 6 months now and still enjoy the improvement in quality of sound.

Best £115 I ever spent

Best regards,

Rob

Hi Rob

Thank you very much for posting your experience with the DacMagic. I've been looking into it and it does seem to be a possible solution. The only thing I can't figure out is whether it is possible to have analog AND digital sound out at the same time.

I've looked in several forums and in the DACMagic manual but I'm still a bit confused

In the manuel it says that it can't transport 5.1 digital sound - do you have any experience with that? 

Is your setup B&O only? The challenge for me is the non-B&O equipment in our living room. I would still like to have Digital 5.1 sound from the Mac Mini (via the DACMagic) into my audioreceiver without having to switch cables etc.

£115?!? Hmm guess I should consider moving out of Denmark - here it is 2.000 Danish Crowns

Best regards

Jan

What about a Philips HD 1500? Actually it`s a "Surround-Headphone amp" that accepts digital in PCM stereo, DD 5.1 and DTS. It converts to analog stereo and the digital input signal will be passed through - simultaneously, without switching anything. I used it when I had a mac mini connected to my BV7-40 MKIII and it worked great. I got the Philips HD 1500 second hand for about 70 Euros.

Maybe that helps.

Stefan

Hi Stefan

Thx!

Well, they sure look interesting. Have you tried them with a Beoport?

Best regards Jan

No, I didn`t try the headphone amp with Beoport, but should work. Just connect the output - output level is adjustable - with the Beoport input.

Stefan