Brennan B2 User Manual

B2 Operating Guide

25th November 2016

This online document will be updated as new features are added to the B2. If there is anything that is wrong or needs clarification please let me know using the feedback form on brennan.co.uk.

The guide expands on the B2 quick start guide and some information may be repeated here.

Please see the Brennan B2 website (www.brennan.co.uk) for the latest information, software updates and Q & A’s.

Martin Brennan

Front panel controls

In general the B2 can be set up and controlled via the front panel controls and/or the remote controller. The web interface (see Web UI section) is still being developed but currently is a great way to view all of your music, search for Artists/Albums/Tracks, generate/edit/play playlists and search/play Internet Radio (see the section on Web UI).

The UI (user interface) is menu driven and is accessed by pushing the main control knob and turning it to see the options. Or on the remote control – press OK and press the up and down buttons. Generally up, down and OK on the remote control are equivalent to turning and pushing the control knob.

If you get lost or are unsure you can always press ‘BACK’ to go back one step, cancel the current operation and/or keep pressing to get back to the home screen. And if you press and hold the PLAY/STOP button that stops everything ­ playback, ripping, backup, etc, etc ­ so you can think of it as a useful kind of panic or reset button.

A typical menu page looks like this –

The display shows the menu (or submenu) title, the current menu item and some help text describing what buttons you can press and what they do.

When playing a track off the HDD a typical playing screen will look like this –

The Artist and/or Track text scrolls to accommodate long names and the information line scrolls to show Artist, Album, Play order, Playlist and Track number/Format/Elapse Time.

The Search screen –

The display shows the letters you have entered, a flashing cursor, the number of matches (these are updated as more letters are entered), menu title and some help text.

The Rename screen –

The display shows the current name, a flashing cursor and scrolling help text.

Menu Structure

To navigate the menus from the front panel or the remote control (R/C) –

SELECT	press the control knob (OK button on R/C)
SCROLL	rotate the control knob (UP/DOWN buttons on R/C)
NEXT	confirm action/view results
BACK	go back one step/cancel action/delete last character
>	next step/action

Main Menu

Browse Artists	Browse all Artists on HDD > SCROLL to view > SELECT to open Artist Menu
Browse Albums	Browse all Albums on HDD > SCROLL to view > SELECT to open Album Menu
Search	Search for Artist, Albums and Tracks by entering letters/numbers/symbols
Current Track	Options for the currently playing track – Add to Playlist, Delete, Goto Artist, etc
CD Functions	Options for the CD ­ Play, Rip, etc.
Settings	Access to the set­up menus
Playlist Menu	Add to Playlist, Delete Playlist, Clear Playlist, etc.
Internet Radio	Play Internet Radio
Find Station	Find an Internet Station (UK based stations only)
Play Aux	Select the Line input as the play source – see Play Aux section
Play Bluetooth	Start Bluetooth mode – can also be initiated by the connect device
USB Functions	List of functions such as Backup, Load a database from USB, etc.

And sub­menus ­

Artist menu

Pick Album	Select an Album associated with the Artist > SCROLL to view > SELECT for Album
	Menu or press PLAY to start
Delete Artist	Deletes all Albums by this Artist
Rename Artist	Useful if an Artist is listed two different ways e.g. The Beatles and Beatles > BACK
	to delete existing name > SCROLL characters and SELECT > NEXT to complete

Album menu

Pick Track	SCROLL to view tracks > SELECT for Track Menu or press PLAY to start
Play Album	SELECT to play the Album from the start
Add to Playlist	Adds the Album to a Playlist > SCROLL to view Playlists > press to SELECT
Delete Album	Delete the selected Album > SELECT to confirm
Rename Album	Change Album name > repeatedly press BACK to delete existing name (press and
	hold BACK to cancel) > SCROLL characters and SELECT > NEXT to complete
Rename Artist	Change Artist name
Go to Artist	Finds all music associated with this Artist > SELECT to open Artist Menu

Current Track menu

Got to Album	Finds the Album for the current track and opens Album Menu
Go to Artist	Finds the Artist for the current track and opens the Artist Menu
Play Track	Play a selected track > SCROLL to view > press PLAY to start
Add to Playlist	Add the current track to a Playlist > SCROLL to view Playlists > SELECT to add
Delete Track	Delete the current track > SELECT to confirm
Rename Track	Change the track name

CD Functions

Rip CD	Copies the entire CD to the b2’s hard disk drive (HDD) > SELECT to start
Play CD	Play the CD > PLAY to start ­ Track info will be displayed ­ Random mode available
Pick Track	Play track off the CD > SCROLL to view tracks > SELECT to play
Pick Name	Select Album and Track info from the database > SCROLL to view > SELECT to rip
	or PLAY to play the CD with Track info displayed
Offline Lookup	Lookup Album and Track info from the B2’s internal database

Settings menu

Setup Wi­Fi	Scans for available networks > SCROLL to view > SELECT > Enter password (if
	required) > NEXT to connect
QR Code	Display QR to read on your phone/tablet (requires an app on your device)
Compression	Options are FLAC, MP3 or None > SCROLL to view > SELECT
Random Play	Set Random (Shuffle) mode > SCROLL to change > SELECT
Segue	ON ­ volume fades between track changes. OFF ­ have a gap between tracks
Classical Mode	ON ­ B2 stops playing at end of Album. OFF ­ continues playing next album/track
Bluetooth I/O	IN ­ play from a connected BT device, OUT – play B2 music to BT speakers
Scan Bluetooth	Scan for available BT speakers to pair with. BT speakers must be in pairing mode
Jack Sensing	Option to turn off the internal amplifier when a jack is plugged into Line Out
Sorting	Turn Alphabetical sorting of Artists and Albums ON or OFF
Brightness	Adjust display brightness
Delete Music	Deletes all music on the HDD. TAKE CARE this is irreversible!
Scan Disk	Refresh the music index. This can take some time

Web Upgrade	Get the latest software for your B2. Requires an internet connection
Radio Update	Check for new UK based Internet Radio stations
Maintenance	Starts the Maintenance Menu
Retry Wi­Fi	Restarts Wi­Fi > starts scanning for available networks
Switch Wi­Fi	Option to switch to another network ­ displays a list of known networks
Hidden Wi­Fi	Set up a hidden Service Set Identifier (SSID)
Set Time zone	Adjust the time relative to GMT by whole hour increments
Get Recording	Move contents of SD Card (internal SD slot) to HDD. TAKE CARE this will overwrite
	the HDD

Playlist Menu

Playlist OFF	Exits the Playlist when the current track finishes ­ the B2 reverts to All Music
Play Playlist	Select a Playlist to play
Clear Playlist	Clears all tracks from the selected playlist
Save Playlist	Save all Playlists to a folder on USB storage device in USB C
Load Playlist	Load a Playlist from playlists folder on USB storage device in USB C
Export Playlist	Copy the Playlist and contents (tracks) to a USB storage device in USB C

USB Functions

Backup to C	Back up all music to a USB storage device in USB C (or USB A)
Load database	Load the ‘mydb’ file from USB C to update the on­board CD database
Playlist from C	Load a Playlist from USB storage device on USB C > SCROLL to playlist > NEXT
Playlist to C	Copy a Playlist to USB storage device on USB C > SCROLL to playlist > NEXT
Import from C	Import music, which is not a Brennan backup, from USB storage device on USB C
Restore USB C	Restore a Brennan backup from USB storage device on USB C

Description of Menu functions

Browse Artists ­ scroll through all artists on the hard disk – this is OK when you have only a few dozen albums ­ use Search when you have lots.

Browse Albums ­ scroll through all albums on the hard disk ­ OK when you have only a few dozen albums ­ use Search when you have lots.