• B2 Q & A

• The Basics

• How To's

• Troubleshooting

• Latest Software

• Menu Overview

• Audio Connections

• NAS and Sonos

• Ripping & Compression

• Can B2 do this?

• Web Interface

• Playlists

• Internet Radio

• Bluetooth

• Organising Your Music

• Music Transfer & Backup

• Line In & Recording

• Miscellaneous

• Techy Stuff - Pi & Linux

• JB7 Help

The Controls and Connections

A guide to the controls and connections on the B2 and Remote Controller.
 

Front Panel:

1 - OLED display

The title line of the display shows Album, Artist, Track, Station names and Menu headings

The scrolling INFO line displays information including Source, Playlist name, Bluetooth status, IP address, Ripping & Compression progress, Menu Title and help prompts

2 - Control Knob

Rotate the Control to -

   - Adjust the volume
   - Browse menu options
   - Browse characters for searches or passwords
   - Browse CD titles

Press and release the Control to -

   - Access the main menu
   - Select a menu option
   - Select a character
   - Select a CD title and start ripping

3 - EJECT button

   - Eject a CD
   - Cancel ripping

4 - BACK button

   - Play previous track on HDD or CD
   - Play the previous radio preset
   - Go to previous menu and/or exit the main menu
   - Delete a character when entering text

5 - NEXT button

   - Play next track on HDD or CD
   - Play the next radio preset
   - Confirm Password
   - View Search results

6 - PLAY/STOP button

   - Pause and Play music, for all sources
   - Play selected Album or Track
   - Hold to save settings

7 - IR Window

Remote control receiver and indicators for power (red) and remote control activity (green)
 

 8 - CD slot

   

Rear Panel:

9 - 24V DC

Plug the Brennan DC power adapter here
 

10 - USB A

Plug the WiFi dongle here
 

11 - Right & Left

Connect your speakers here using cables fitted with 4mm (Banana) plugs (available from the Shop)
 

13 - USB C

Plug the optional Bluetooth dongle (available from the Shop) here
 

Can also be used to connect a USB HDD or memory stick for backups or importing music, a USB Hub and/or a keyboard

14 - Line Out + SPDIF

This is a combined output connector for analogue audio (3.5mm stereo jack) and digital audio (mini TOSLink - available from the Shop)
 

The 3.5mm jack can be used to connect the B2 to an external amplifier (your existing sound system) or used for headphones

The mini TOSLink can be connected to an external DAC or an amplifier or speaker system with an optical input

15 - Aux In

Line level analogue audio input (3.5mm stereo jack)
 

16 - Ethernet Cable access

Access slots for fitting an Ethernet cable for direct broadband connection
 

17 - HDMI

HDMI digital audio output - can be connected to a TV, Soundbar or AV amplifier to access digital audio from the B2
 

The Remote Controller

1 - Rec

   - Start/Stop recording to HDD

You have to select Aux mode before this will work

2 - Prev

   - Play previous track - depends on Random on-off
   - Play previous radio station
   - Move cursor to the left during text entry

3 - Play/Stop

   - Start or Stop music for any source

4 - Next

   - Play next track - depends on Random on-off
   - Play next radio station
   - Move cursor to the right during text entry

5 - Info

Display information including -

   - Total Tracks, Albums & Artists
   - Number of WAV, FLAC, MP3 and AAC tracks
   - HDD capacity and usage

Press a second time to see -

   - Software version
   - MAC address

6 - Find

   - Search for Artists, Albums or Tracks on the HDD

7 - Rand. 

   - Toggle Random mode on or off

The first press shows the current setting, the second press changes the setting

8 - Vol (+) & Vol (-) 

   - Adjust the play volume

9 - Number keys 0 - 9 

   - Select and play a Playlist (red, orange, etc)

First press displays Playlist name and number of tracks, second press plays the Playlist. With a Playlist playing, pressing and holding the key adds the currently playing track to the Playlist

   - Enter characters for searches and passwords
   - Store Radio preset (press and hold)
   - Recall Radio preset (press and release)
   - Select a CD track - press '1' and then '2' for 12

10 - Up, Down & OK

   - Press OK to access the main menu
   - Up & Down (arrows) to browse the menus
   - OK to select a menu option or a character

11 - DEL

   - Delete the character to the left of the cursor, in text entry mode

12 - BACK

   - Go to previous menu
   - Exit main menu

13 - CD

   - Play the CD

14 - HDD

   - Select the internal HDD as the music source

If a Playlist is playing, pressing 'HDD' will cancel the Playlist

15 - Menu

   - Access the main menu

16 - Radio

   - Play the last listened to radio station

17 - Bluetooth

   - Play the BT connected device

18 - Aux

   - Select Aux In mode - the B2 will now restart

19 - X

   - Key reserved for future use

20 - Y

   - Key reserved for future use

 

 

A Quick Guide to the basic B2 functions:

The guide uses the following way to describe a series of actions when using the front panel controls -

Main menu > Settings > Select > Setup WiFi > Select > 'Scanning'...

Which is a shorter way of saying -

Press the Control to access the Main menu > Rotate the Control until you see Settings > Press the Control to select > Rotate the Control until you see Setup WiFi > Press the Control to select > the display shows 'Scanning'...

When using the Remote Controller -

Up, Down and OK are the equivalent of rotating and pressing the Control on the front panel

Prev to play previous track

Find to start Search

Del to delete characters

Back to go to previous menu or exit menu

Rand. to toggle Random mode on and off

Software version

New features and software updates are frequently being added, so please keep checking the website for the latest version -
 

Go to Questions > Latest Software  (Link)

 

Software update

Connect to the internet using WiFi

Main Menu > Settings > Select > Setup WIFI > Select > 'Scanning' > Select a network > Enter the password > NEXT > 'Connecting 1' > 'Sucess!'

Play a CD

Insert CD - wait for CDDB lookup > choose a Title (there are often more than one) > Press PLAY (if you press the Control Knob at this point it will rip the CD)

Rip a CD

Compression

CD Title not listed on CDDB

Rip the CD with the Album number the B2 has assigned it e.g. 'Album 248' and rename it later

The tracks for 'Album 248' will be numbered as Track 1, Track 2, Track 3, etc. These can be renamed later

Rename an Album

Main Menu > Browse Albums > Select > scroll to 'Album 248' > Select > Rename Album > Select > press BACK to delete characters > Enter new name  > press and hold NEXT > 'Done'

Find an Artist, Album or Track

Main Menu > Search > Select > Input search clues (text) > Press NEXT to view the result/s > Select an Artist, Album or Track > Pick Album/Track > Press PLAY to play or press Control Knob to see Menu options

Backup your Music

Restore your Music