There is a crude tone control (taken from early B2s) added to the settings panel in the original web UI. If you return bass and treble to the middle the tone control will be switched off. The screen is bigger on the x-14 and seemingly more user friendly than the Brennan, but probably comparable. I like the CD art icons displayed on the x-14 during play, as well as for cataloguing and searching, which is more like a jukebox style, rather than just lists. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage - that basically means that the music on the Brennan B2 hard disk can be seen by other devices on the same network.

This function starts compression of all uncompressed (WAV) files to MP3. Use MP3 if you are short of space or quality is not so important. The queue mechanism leverages the playlist functionality so you will see it creates a temporary playlist called Queue. This is the most requested function on the forum so let me know what you think and let me know of any side effects.Bluetooth In - play music from your mobile phone or tablet through B3 - nothing to do on B3 just connect on your phone/tablet and play. External laptop computer style 24V power supply / AC adaptor - included - works from 110V to 240V. Size 3cm x 6cm x 13cm. 3m overall lead length. Two USB 2.0 type A ports for peripherals - WiFi dongle, Bluetooth dongle, USB Hub, USB DAC, USB storage device.

There isn't any documentation for Bluetooth Out yet but you should be able to work it out. You can drive it from the front panel or the original web UI (Cog then Bluetooth). B3 can also play through wireless Sonos speakers in different rooms - up to 32 speakers simultaneously. In fact the music is stored as WAV files at this stage and if you are not short of disk space you need not compress them. BBC is introducing a new internet radio system called HLS and the old streams will terminate in 2023. Radiofeeds has augmented its list of 1000+ stations to support these new HLS stations. After the software upgrade you should use Settings->Radio Update to get the new list. You can then find the new stations using Find Stations. You will then see the music folder on the brennan - you can treat it like any other folder on the PC.

Setting Up Wifi

B2 and B2B have both been updated to include the new Radiofeeds list and the change to the web UI presets panel. After upgrading the software you should load the new Radiofeeds list using Settings > Radio Update This function starts compression of all uncompressed (WAV) files to FLAC. FLAC is lossless so it saves space without any loss if quality.

It is possible to load B3 with a copy of the CD database. This is called an offline database - as opposed to online for the internet database.You don’t need the web UI for basic playing - but you will need it for several functions like finding radio stations, setting presets, creating Playlists, ripping CDs - you can think of the web UI as a super remote control. The Web UI has a number of panels that are pretty much available in all the views - although there are some differences in implementation. Now Playing Rebuilds an index of the music on the hard disk. Useful if B2 was turned off while busy. Turn off and on then do this first if you have any problems.

So when I set out to design a replacement for B2 I said OK no compromises - use a fast desktop CD and beautiful IPS TFT colour display. The Sonos will then spend quite a few minutes a ridiculously long time indexing the Brennan B2 - don’t worry it doesn’t do it every time. Make a cup of coffee. If you have a lot of music make a meal. You can tell its doing something if you listen to the B2 you can hear the hard disk head moving. Get into the menu by pushing the volume knob. Turn to select an item. Push again to choose that item.

CDs also do not contain any cover or album art. But the Musicbrainz database has links to where B3 can find suitable images. B2 gets a few minor tweaks to the Queue function. B3 gets the Queue function and now has Bluetooth Out. I could not really find a way to fit a colour display. I needed a letter box shaped display but colour displays usually have a squarish TV shape. Internet Radio - 40,000+ stations from around the world. Organised geographically or search by name with the Web UI - ten presets