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I would be curious where you are reading those reviews.

That is the kind of question the Forum that I mention (www.thebrennanforum.com/) would have been very helpful. I don't own a Helix but some on the forum do and they could have helped you.

​@@raydionoh great but that's time consuming and no 800 number for customer service questions. Again loading a app for a device should not be a difficult thing to do.

What functions are you concerned about?

Sorry to hear that. The product is built on a Raspberry Pi and other devices. There is only one custom board and that is the amplifier. You can do it cheaper but it would be DIY. I would be interested in understanding what was broken about it.

I would be curious how it is not working well. What are the particular issues? The most I have ever had to do with mine was to replace the microSD card and that was because I was fooling around with the operating system.

Look at the URL. You have chosen and stored as default a different web interface. There are four of them. Original Mobile New New Mobile Find the cog/gear on the screen and click on it. Find the line that includes the four modes. Click on Original and you will see the three columns again. It is mentioned at about the 7 minute mark.

@@raydion Thank you for your help.

I am a Brennan CUSTOMER, not a salesperson. The video is about using the WebUI, not selling it. We like positive and articulate salespersons too, not just a UK thing. The video is an educational video for someone that does not understand it intuitively that already owns the device. We get a lot of questions on the Brennan Forum so this is a helpful way to answer the questions. At least I hope it is.

You're welcome. Hope you found it useful. See you on the Forum.

It can be simply hooked up to a real stereo. As many modern stereos have different type of connections available (SPDIF Optical or coax, analog and in some cases USB) it is not clear cut what to use. For best results the SPDIF optical or coax are the best choices. Optical is the most common and a Cubilux USB to optical converter, a Behringer UCA222 or a Sailyin S10+ all work just fine. The Behringer and Sailyin both also have analog outputs. All three range from USA$10 to USA$30 from Amazon. Brennan now is producing a B3+ it includes an optical and analog output built in.

I have to ask, who has turned off comments? Your comment is right here. I am not the Brennan company but if you visit the Forum you will see multiple examples where opening the unit does not void the warranty. In fact there are directions on the Forum to do exactly what you ask. If you have questions for the company, send them email or ask in the Forum under the topic Presales. The email address is thebrennanb2@gmail.com. The Forum website is www.thebrennanforum.com/

@@raydion The creator of the radio. not your video channels. lol sorry for confusion

I'll try to do better. Using my phone and iPad to create the video.

Couldn't hear a word. Wasted videos

So my previous answer should cover any issue you have with Bluetooth. Most any BT transmitter that accepts an optical input or looks like a DAC (UAC1) will work on the B3. It is more limited on the B2 when using a DAC, optical works fine as it is built in. WiFi speakers use proprietary protocols. Only Sonos has an API that vendors can use. Other companies require you buy their equipment to support their ecosystem. I do not see Brennan paying for any fees to use other ecosystems. They don't have the sales volume for that. The B2 supports DLNA over Wifi so some speaker could use that. But the control is in the speaker, not the B2/B3. To support BT5.2, a new operating system would need to be developed and installed. This creates a lot of support issues. There support team is to small to do that.

Sorry to hear that. Brennan offers a full refund 30 days I think. You can email them at thebrennanb2@gmail.com with a brief message explaining the problem and they will get back to you. I am not a Brennan employee. If you want to work on getting your B2 working again, let me know and we can try some things out. Your call.

looool

The parts for a small company were simply not available anymore. The supply chain prevented Brennan from manufacturing the B2 which had those outputs. The choice was continual redesign (and support of software and hardware) or let the customer decide what level (cost) of DAC was good enough for them. Some amplifiers will take the USB input directly and use the DAC inside the amplifier.

@@raydion Thats interesting as the B3 does provide an analog amplifer section. My assumption is the analog input to this amplifier section would likely be 'line level'. I wonder what component(s) prevented that from being routed to a couple of single ended RCA jacks at the back?

@@gregvisioninfosoft I do not know the level of detail to do that. It may go from the DAC directly to amplifiers never meeting the specification of a 'line out' interface. Splitting out such a signal would require its own stage to meet specifications for impedance and cable length requirements. I think Brennan went for a minimum number of hats so the supply risk could be reduced. The B2 and the B3 use the same internal DAC - Burr-Brown from TI USB Audio CODEC On the B2 the line out is from a minimalistic DAC. Higher end users almost always discuss using the SPDIF outputs and their own DAC. I have a Behringer UCA222 that provides the same DAC as the internal B3. It provides SPDIF, analog line out and headphone outputs at an equivalent level as the B2. Runs less than USA$30. I have created a duplicate essentially of the B2. I can use the SPDIF, analog and headphone outputs at the same time. I can only use one of them at the same time on the B2. Your statement about not having those outputs does disappoint many B2 owners, they think the B3 is an upgrade. It is not. It does however have a new Linux version which could offer potential. Software upgrades for Brennan products are free! So I agree with your comment to some extent, just knowing the history as discussed in the Brennan forum, I understand the business decision they made.

@@raydion POssibly once purchased, one can do an after purchase modification. But its alot to pay for without looking at the circuit board to see just how accessible those pins, or what package form the chip is they used. it may not be accessible easily.

@@raydion by the way, thanks for your very useful insights here. whats your background? do you build your own electronic music equipment or circuits? sounds like you are close to this.

To the best of my knowledge the B3 also uses V4 of Bluetooth. What you can do is to use one of the Bluetooth TV transmitters. These typically support two BT devices with current standards for CODEC and minimal delay. They may also transmit more power.

but would that work with bluetooth speakers? That is the one of the WEAKEST things about the brennan, no updated bluetooth, can't connect wirelessly to wireless enable speakers, no portal to sign on to when using ethernet for network/domain compatibility.

@@bulcub Actually I would have to ask if you have updated your B2's software recently. In March the Bluetooth software across both the B2 and the B3 was updated to make it more compatible with devices. It is still not a hundred percent but most of it is based on the Linux operating system drivers. In order to update that a new kernel would have to be developed and tested.

@@raydion yep will not work with 5 series bluetooth. can only detect 1 speaker that is closer to the signal. not the other speaker.

@@bulcub What I have found is that if you get a USB based Bluetooth transmitter it will work with the latest standards and you can get one from Amazon that can actually hook up to two devices. These are used to connect two headphones to a TV. It will look like a DAC to the B3 or B2 but will transmit BT.

Recently Brennan announced the B3+. It will have optical and analog outputs on separate jacks so both can be used at one time.

Music can easily be transferred between the two devices because I know you have at least one backup, hopefully two stored in different places. You can do a restore from the backup directly to the B3. The additional features include the enhanced display and a much faster CD drive for ripping CDs. The B3 more easily connects to a USB based DAC. Though it was learned about a year ago that the B2 actually can do it with certain DACs. If you use the line out or the SPDIF outputs, you will need to purchase a USB device to get those outputs. The B3 was engineered because the parts to build the B2 are no longer available. That is why you see the B3 much more dependent on USB devices. Check out the forum for more as this is a perpetual question for prospective buyers. Be sure to upgrade your system software on line as new features have been added to the B2 especially if you live in the UK.

@@raydion Thanks, thorough explanation.

I agree the looks of the B3 is nice with the larger screen but I prefer the B2. Less dongles and smaller footprint on the desk.

I should have added this to my original comment. It is actually pretty easy to replace your drive with a 2TB model. Just be careful not to buy a fake, lots of them on Amazon. Spinning disks work fine, SSD is still a bit pricey. You just need patience and some dexterity.

If the folks on the Forum saw this offer, I think they would jump on it. The B3 is a jukebox. After you do the one time function of ripping your CDs, it will store and play them. No more jewel cases, no more switching CDs and you can store them anywhere. The reason I say that is that owning the CD is your license to listen to the music. Without that CD you could be accused of stealing/pirating the music. The unit support playing by artist, album or single track. You can create playlists as well. You can stream radio stations and listen to podcasts. The remote control is your desktop, phone or tablet. It supports Sonos speakers. It is capable of recording some streams as digital files as well. You are probably comparing different models. The L699 unit is probably the two terabyte storage model. The one you are being offered could be as small as 240Gigibyte. It provides access to your CD for years after you rip them. It is a lot more than just a CD ripper. Another feature of a Brennan is that they update the software and add new features. Something that a lot of CD jukeboxes don't do. You can learn a lot more on the Brennan forums www.thebrennanforum.com/

@@raydion hey, thanks for taking the time to respond. I went ahead with it, it’s the 2tb version, it’s repo but came with all the bits. Im gonna play around with it and join the forum. If it’s not for me I’ll see if anyone on the forum wants it before sticking it on eBay. Sounds like a great device, but not sure if I would use it given I have Sonos and the app streams off Spotify etc. makes sense if you have a large cd collection from 90’s and early 00’s. Your video was super helpful for set up.

Hope you enjoy it!

Glad I could help. If you have more questions the Forum is a great place to ask. I or someone else will be happy to add information. www.thebrennanforum.com/ Was there anything in the video that was confusing or needs more explanation?

Please use the forum (www.thebrennanforum.com/) for future questions. Yes you can connect your amplifier to the B3. You will need to purchase a DAC to connect to the USB port. A very economical one is the Behringer UCA222 which has both analog and optical outputs. Ask in the Forum for more detail.

@Louis76 I love it. It has worked great for me. I can’t compare it to others because I don’t own those. It is less expensive. I get software upgrades that I don’t think the others do. It is high on my scale for doing what I want, 8 or 9 out of ten

David, The best way to get answers and support is to use the Brennan Forum at www.thebrennanforum.com/. Yes you can dim the display by chosing the front panel display Settings & Tools >> Maintenance >> Set Brightness. It will not go completely off.

Please use the Forum in the future www.thebrennanforum.com/ The Brennan products work fine with Sonos speakers. It does not matter how you obtain the digital files, they will work if the are WAV, FLAC or MP3. The B3 will not work with other wireless speakers, only the Sonos Ecosystem. It does not do Bluetooth out at this time. It also does not support DLNA at this time. You can leave it on all the time. There is no power saving option however, it does not 'sleep'.

An update to my answer. The Sonos system apparently will only work for files up to 48KHz. I suspect the bit size is 24 but I am not sure. Uploading songs at a higher resolution will not work with Sonos or the B3. The B3 is CD quality at 16bit/44.1KHz. Bluetooth has been added to the B3 for output. Limits on what works, basically it must have its own volume control as the B3 will output the digital stream as is. The B3 does not send volume commands, it just plays it at max.