[charmerci]

Seems like a remarkable small device.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2K22ftIFoM

[rif]

I'm looking for impressions, etc... too

[aldcoll]

http://www.thebrennan.com

It's a Raspberry PI in a box.  You have to add dongles for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Probably a office or cabin , garage unit as there dosent appear to be a direct out put for optional DAD.

Not what I would call a music server.  15 watts a channel built in.

Maybe when a B3 or B4 comes out?

Alan

[rif]

Yes, its a pi in a box, but with some niceties that may justify the price tag:  nice metal case, robust software, professional support path, can perform multiple duties (cd player, ripper, music library, backup, ??)

If it works as advertised,  then it's interesting.  If not, or if the business is non-responsive to customers, them it's a pass.

[Bob in St. Louis]

This just came across Youtube as an ad.
Thought I'd check with my favorite audiophiles, and this seems to be the only thread on it.

Here's the ad I saw.:
https://youtu.be/R2K22ftIFoM

[aldcoll]

Bob I think your link posted is for your gaming posts for Nintendo's.

I would have accepted a Wild Game i.e Rabbit or pheasant or wild boar.

Alan

[rif]

As far as I can tell, the device has a big shortcoming - I don't think you can access the stored music on other devices (except through bluetooth).  So if you want to access the stored songs elsewhere, say your tablet or laptop, you need a duplicate copy.  Maybe they'll add this feature in the future release.

It does have optical spdif output for an external dac.

[Albyd]

Are there any reviews on the actual SOUND QUALITY of the Brennan B2? 

There's loads of stuff on its computer features, but little about how it actually drives speakers.
The designer, Martin Brennan, is very interactive about its features and construction, but of its actual hi-fi performance he says only that it uses the TPA3110 power amplifier, which appears to be an amp on a chip, and refers you to the manufacturer.

There are a couple of unboxings on YouTube, but again they talk only of the features, not of its performance as an amplifier.
I can't be the only person who wants to hear how it performs as a hi-fi separate.

Thanks.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Bob I think your link posted is for your gaming posts for Nintendo's.

Edited. Not sure how I managed that? 

[LesterSleepsIn]

Darn, darn, darn. I was hoping some ACer already had one. I've been looking at the Brennan for some time, hoping for a good unbiased review. (Brennan has been advertising in the back of BBC Music magazine for several years with big glossy ads.) I'd really like to get one. I like the really quick, really easy cd ripping to flac functionality. I like the storage capacity and the reportedly easy access to your music library. I worried about the sound quality. I'm still cautious. I haven't yet found a user group discussing its merits and its faults.

But Amazon has few few interesting comments, as below. Some love it, some say it's buggy. (Each reviewer's comments separated by .........)

No power button? It stays on all the time?
.........................
The following are all Amazon reviewers' comments:

All in all, I like it, but I cannot say I love it. I would say that if you are looking at this product, do your research and if it fits your needs, it's wonderful. For me it replaced three 300 CD players, which is a LOT of acreage in my studio. It does what I ask of it and it filled my need. I would not suggest it for someone with no technical ability, it takes a little bit although not like you have to program Pi to get the most use out of it. NOT the product for my aging Father perhaps, but as long as you don't get overly frustrated with little technical quirks you'll be OK.

First, the good stuff.
1. The Industrial Design is excellent. This is a solid, sturdy, and quite lovely little box. Strong, sleek, elegant, it just feels like quality. I hope it lasts a long time, it sure feels like it was designed and built with that in mind.
2. Sound quality is very good. I am a recording engineer and listen in a very good listening environment with excellent speakers. I was a tad worried about the FLAC compression, but I find that it is as good as the CDs themselves (which is decent, but not great). All in all, I am satisfied with the DA converter and the compression itself.
3. Features are quite amazing. There is a lot this little device can do and has even gotten me into listening to Internet Radio, something I never even considered before. There is a lot it can do that I do not use yet, but that's OK. For example, I have not used the amp output to drive speakers (mine are all powered) nor have I used Bluetooth at all.
4. It can be updated regularly. I'm not sure how often they update the firmware, software, and web interface, but it CAN be updated easily which is great to keep things working in the long-term.
5. Customer service is quite good. I had several questions and they responded quickly, courteously, and with information that solved the issues at hand. This was via e-mail, not phone, and with the time difference between the UK and US in mind.

Medium stuff
1. Value is medium; this is pretty expensive box for playing music you already own or Internet Radio. Some have mentioned purchasing a cheap laptop and using iTunes or some such software instead, which is a solid argument if you want another computer around, and you are OK with messing around with it to get it solid. This is not a 'do-everything' box, it does what it does. Just keep that in mind.
2. Although the front panel controls are quite simple and logically laid out for the most important uses, for any real use you have to use the web interface.
3. It just takes a while to get your head around the layout and use of the product. It works pretty well as long as you play by its rules!
4. You will need to buy a few other bits. Definitely a backup drive, and probably an external CD drive if you are ripping a bunch of CDs (like you probably are as soon as you get it). Oh, and an extension cable for the external burner (buggy). Audio cables like a "Y" for the output. Nothing expensive, but you'll need a few things. Assuming you have speakers and such already of course.

Unlovely bits
1. This box is a little buggy which at first can be both frustrating and a bit intimidating. Be prepared to power cycle it quite often. And you may have to ask a few questions to find your way around, even after a thorough read of the manual. (Again, the customer service was very good in my experience.)
2. Be prepared to scratch your head at the tiny, hardly useable remote control (the buttons are identical in size and not laid out in any particularly logical order).
3. The web interface is rather crude, although far better than using the remote control. It just doesn't work as elegantly as we have come to expect of web interfaces. For example, the columns can't be resized, the drag and drop is iffy, the ability to download the art for an album seldom works, or hangs up, or then slows the rip time, etc. Watch the IP address as well, your router may want to switch the B2's address for you and suddenly your web interface no longer works. Easy, once you fix it the first time, but confusing at first. And refresh the page often, just to make sure it's in synch with the B2. The bugs are certainly not all worked out here (e.g. I had a couple of playlists go missing recently, and the aforementioned Art button). Hopefully these issues will continue to be ironed out as both the unit and the interface are updated and upgraded.
4. I found the web interface almost useless for ripping when controlled by my iPad. It works OK to play music from the iPad but not for anything that takes any amount of control, dragging and dropping, typing, etc.
5. No streaming services like Pandora, Spotify, et al. Play the music you already have or Internet Radio, and that's it.
....................................... .........
The B2 is a small (6" X 6 X 2 1/4), elegantly styled, substantially built box that's Steve Jobsian in its simplicity (hence you barely get what might be described as a "manual"). It contains a hard drive, a small pi based computer, a user screen interface and an audio interface. The idea is you load all your CD's into this device and can then replay them quickly and easily thru the audio interface.

It's an excellent product and does exactly what it says it does. I had about 700 CD's I never listened to because it was too much trouble to locate what I wanted, fuss with the player then put the CD back. I now have them all loaded onto the hard drive of the B2 - mine is 500Gb (intermediate size, they go up to 2Tb) and I've taken up about 1/3rd of the drive's capacity. The CD's are immediately available artist by artist, album by album track by track and it has a random play feature. The output signal is both extremely good and powerful enough to drive my floor standing speakers. I use a bluetooth connection from the audio out to my bluetooth headphones which worked immediately and easily (I'm using a TaoTronics BT transmitter). It comes with an HDMI connector (little use for it today but this is a developing product - see below), 3 USB's one of which I'm using for the wifi dongle (comes with the B2), audio/digital outputs, line input should you want to use it as a stand alone amp and an SD card slot (plus card). Wifi is built in and the s'ware controlling the B2 was immediately available on my computer next door. Hundreds (I believe) of internet radio stations are available. I haven't explored this very much, tho'. Also you can load your own data bases of music via the SD card slot. I haven't used this either but I was pleased to see that the B2 isn't solely CD (years since I bought one) oriented.

Operation is simplicity itself. You load a CD and hit the one big button on the front of the B2 and it starts to rip the CD to the hard drive. It takes about a minute per CD and you can play anything you like while its ripping, which is nice.

The B2 s'ware is under continuing development. The online interface is a (good) work in process. The HDMI facility may be useful at some point, at the moment it's mainly used for diagnostics. Also, sometimes (not often) the indexing function goes haywire and the item being played is not the item displayed on the box and sometimes it is difficult to locate an item from the built in screen while it's easily available when using the online app.

Customer support is first rate. It's largely email based but they reply in less than 24 hrs and they're always helpful.

Suggestions I would make for future developments would be an integrated pre-amp so the user can control sound placement and tonal quality. Also (this'll never happen - too mechanical) a hopper device that you can stack with 50 or 100 CD's at a time and which feeds them into the B2 as opposed to sitting there feeding 700 CD's one at a time into the machine.
.....................

A laptop will do a lot of the same functions, but this has none of the hassles of a computer like boot-up,updates and software from conflicting developers. All your CDs and HD downloads, or existing files on computer, can be transferred easily and accessed for playback
...................
The only thing I found a bit strange is that there doesn't seem to be a power button. I guess you just leave it on all the time (which isn't really a problem), but the instructions said if I had trouble connecting to my home wifi to turn it off and on again, and I could figure out how to do that except by unplugging it.
....................
I love love love the UPLOAD feature so that you can upload FLACs or any other Hi Res audio right from your Mac or PC and boom its there on the Brennan


Sent from my iPad

[LesterSleepsIn]

Nothing to add to the above, I'm just continuing this thread in the hopes that some ACer has actually heard this ... anybody?

Cheers,
Lester

[rif]

Can someone else contact them to see if i can play music that is stored on the b2 through my tablet (or phone) via wifi?  Will my b2 music show up as any other drive or does it stream?

I can't seem to get a clear consistent answer from them

[rif]

Can someone else contact them to see if i can play music that is stored on the b2 through my tablet (or phone) via wifi?  Will my b2 music show up as any other drive or does it stream?

I can't seem to get a clear consistent answer from them

Is anyone else trying? Just curious to gauge interest.  Holidays are coming and this would make a nice present for me.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Is anyone else trying? Just curious to gauge interest.  Holidays are coming and this would make a nice present for me.

I got the hint, but sorry my friend... I don't know you well enough for an expenditure of this magnitude. Maybe a greeting card would suffice until we get to know each other better?

[rif]

I got the hint, but sorry my friend... I don't know you well enough for an expenditure of this magnitude. Maybe a greeting card would suffice until we get to know each other better?

Sorry, wasn't implying you or anyone should purchase it to try it out,  I was asking if anyone had contacted them to clarify a few points.  I tried and got some cryptic, indecisive comments.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Sorry, wasn't implying you or .........

I didn't take it that way. Was just having a little fun.

[rif]

I didn't take it that way. Was just having a little fun.

No worries

[charmerci]

You could buy it, try it - and simply return it if it's not good for your needs.

[rif]

You could buy it, try it - and simply return it if it's not good for your needs.

I'm not really comfortable with that.

[LesterSleepsIn]

You could buy it, try it - and then sell it to me at a ridiculous discount - if it's not good for your needs.

That’s me all over. Mr. Helpful.