An obsession - getting Beogram remote commands via Beosound 4!

CharlieWednesday

Gold

670 posts

Posted August 15, 2024 at 18:40 GMT

I admit, I am obsessed with finding a solution to this and I've brought it up in other posts, but I'm starting a new thread to really explore the possibilities. When I had my Beocenter 8500 and Beogram 8500 in my office, one of the greatest pleasures was being able to remote control a turntable - only B&O. For convenience and space however I now have a Beosound 4 in my office - the Beocenter is now in another room; still in use but not so much. I would love to find a way of controlling my Beogram 3000 or 8500 with my Beo4 or Beolink 1000 remotes, while playing through my Beosound 4. If I had the electronics skill I could probably build something with a Raspberry Pi and a soldering iron, but I don't have that skill! I have various cables, converters and so on in my collection now, not all of it being used, and am wondering if there is any way to make this happen? This is what I have:

Beolink Passive 1657
Beolink Active 1636
Beolink Converter 1611
Beolink Converter 1614
MCL2A
MCL2AV (the one with TV rather than Aux)
Beolink PC2

I'm thinking there must be a way to make it happen via the MCL2AV's 7 pin input sockets, or the mystery PC socket on the Beolink Active, or the Audio Aux Link socket on the 1611 or 1614? I know it might take some creative wiring too (I'd have to integrate a phono stage somehow, for starters), but I'd be up for that - as I say, this is an obsession!

Location: Liverpool

My B&O Icons:

Old enough to have gazed at classic B&O HiFi in Plumbs shop windows in the 80s...

MA

Madskp

Gold

1759 posts

Posted August 15, 2024 at 19:38 GMT

#711037

Just to start somewhere: The control of datalink compatible Beogram, Beogram CD and Becord is done via the datalink80 protokol. This is in most cases only available vis the dedicated Phono, CD, tape and Tape2 sockets on various Beocenters, Beomasters and the MCL2AV. One outlier is the BS Ouverture where the AUX socket can function both as a Tape2 and Phono socket. Control vise a CD socket can control both a Brogram CD and a Beogram Record player. The same goes for a phono socket, but this will not work sound wise with a CD player if a RIAA is installed in the Beocenter/Beomaster. The datalink sockets on the 1611/1614 converters and the Aux sockets on various Beocenter/Beomasters and the MCL2AV use the datalink86 protokol which is also used for MCL and Powerlink, but isnit compatible with the datalink80 devices. My best suggestion would therefore be to connect the Beogram to the CD socket of the MCL2AV, connect a datalink cable from the Aux socket of the MCL2AV to the 1611 converter and let that work as a main room. Then set the BS4 up as a link room (option 5 or 6) and control the Beogram with Link + CD commands. This of course has the downside that the sources of the BS4 can not be shared to link rooms. The MCL2AV in this setup can be substituted with a Beomaster 3500/4500/5500/6500/7000 wich probably should give you control with PHONO commands (I will have to double check that works) Hope this is of some help for further progress

Location: Denmark

CharlieWednesday

Gold

670 posts

Posted August 15, 2024 at 20:35 GMT

#711038

Thanks Madskp - I had a feeling you'd be the first to reply! My MCL2AV is the version with the TV socket, not the Aux socket, but maybe it would still work? I had never considered using a Beomaster though, so am interested in that suggestion. How would that work? Would Beomaster 5000 be suitable? Beomaster 5000 seems a good option as I believe that one has a built-in phono stage? Beomaster 5000 will often come up for under £100 on eBay too. Let me see if I understand:

Beogram 3000 connects to phono input of a Beomaster (5000, ideally)
Beocenter 5000 set up as a link room
Beocenter 5000 connects to 1611 via Aux Link (would the 1614 not work instead, since the BS4 can work as the audio master?)
1611 connected to BS4 via Masterlink

Would that allow me to operate the Beogram via Link>Phono (or Link>N.Radio)? I do currently have link room speakers connected to my BS4 though - a BL3500, and the Beolink Passive, with a pair of CX50s. Both of these are set to opt4. Would the above mean that my link room speakers could no longer work that way?

Location: Liverpool

My B&O Icons:

Old enough to have gazed at classic B&O HiFi in Plumbs shop windows in the 80s...

CharlieWednesday

Gold

670 posts

Posted August 15, 2024 at 21:27 GMT

#711039

I forgot to add, I do also have a BV8 TV included in the Masterlink network in my office, I don't know if that adds any extra complication.

Location: Liverpool

My B&O Icons:

Old enough to have gazed at classic B&O HiFi in Plumbs shop windows in the 80s...

MA

Madskp

Gold

1759 posts

Posted August 16, 2024 at 08:01 GMT

#711045

Location: Denmark

Guy

GoldModerator

4508 posts

Posted August 16, 2024 at 08:49 GMT ? Edited August 16, 2024 at 09:21 GMT

#711046

, but then suggested taking output from the (volume controlled) MCL2AV Powerlink sockets. My older post does however remind me that it's only the datalink signal that is required from MCL2AV to Beogram. The Beogram's audio output (pins 3 and 5) could be connected direct to the BS4, via a phono stage. A suitably wired adaptor should work.
Location: Warwickshire, UK
My B&O Icons:

BeoCenter-9500.png
Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovision-10.png
Beotime.png
Beosound.png
Beosound-Explore.png
Beosound-Essence.png
Beoplay-P2.png
Beoplay-M3.png
Beoplay-H4.png
Beoplay-H3.png
Beoplay-Form-2i.png
Beoplay-Earset.png
Beoplay-A2.png

CharlieWednesday

Gold

670 posts

Posted August 16, 2024 at 10:10 GMT ? Edited August 16, 2024 at 10:14 GMT

#711047

Ah this has become very interesting. Note that my MCL2AV does not have an Aux socket, it has a TV socket instead. So anyway - I experimented. I plugged my Beogram 8500 into the CD input of the MCL2AV. I cannot remember which mode the MCL2AV is set to, but it does respond to CD commands on my Beo4 - CD causes it to play, the back and forward buttons work, the Stop button works as the Lift command (it doesn't stop, just pauses, but that's close enough). Note the MCL2AV does have an IR eye connected (the old rectangular type). So, I then tried the same but connecting the Beogram to the TV or Tape sockets on the MCL2AV. As I expected that didn't work - pressing TV or A.Mem on the Beo4 had no effect when the Beogram was plugged into those sockets. I have a 5 PIN DIN to RCA adapter cable already (with 4 RCA plugs, intended for tape connection) so I plugged that into the Tape socket on the MCL2AV, then plugged the other end into a phono stage, which is in turn connected to the BS4's Aux input. I tried all 4 RCA plugs but got nothing but either silence, or hum. Now I know this is a convoluted way of testing it as I am connecting a phono stage after the MCL2AV, but I thought I would have got something, even if very quiet?
Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

BeoCenter-9500.png
Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovox.png
Beovision-11.png
Beotime.png
Beosound.png
Beosound-Moment.png
Beosound-9000.png
Beosound-5.png
Beosound-4.png
Beoremote-One.png
Beoplay-Portal.png
Beoplay-EX.png
Beoplay-Earset.png
Beoplay-A2.png
Beogram-400x.png
Old enough to have gazed at classic B&O HiFi in Plumbs shop windows in the 80s...
MA

Madskp

Gold

1759 posts

Posted August 16, 2024 at 10:12 GMT

#711048

here, but then suggested taking output from the (volume controlled) MCL2AV Powerlink sockets. My older post does however remind me that it’s only the datalink signal that is required from MCL2AV to Beogram. The Beogram’s audio output (pins 3 and 5) could be connected direct to the BS4, via a phono stage. A suitably wired adaptor should work.
I had not thought about using the MCL2AV as only a control device and rerouting the sound directly to the BS4. This would of course require a IR eye connected to the MCL2AV. However the PHONO command can not be used as the MCL2AV will send that to the MCL screw terminal connection. But CD could be used. I do not remember if the MCL2AV can be set in option 4 so it only responds to Link + commands. I can try to make a test of this scenario with my BC2
Location: Denmark

CharlieWednesday

Gold

670 posts

Posted August 16, 2024 at 10:17 GMT ? Edited August 16, 2024 at 10:20 GMT

#711049

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

BeoCenter-9500.png
Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovox.png
Beovision-11.png
Beotime.png
Beosound.png
Beosound-Moment.png
Beosound-9000.png
Beosound-5.png
Beosound-4.png
Beoremote-One.png
Beoplay-Portal.png
Beoplay-EX.png
Beoplay-Earset.png
Beoplay-A2.png
Beogram-400x.png
Old enough to have gazed at classic B&O HiFi in Plumbs shop windows in the 80s...
MA

Madskp

Gold

1759 posts

Posted August 16, 2024 at 18:43 GMT ? Edited August 16, 2024 at 18:43 GMT

#711063

Login to view image If I have time for it I can try to make a test with both the older and the newer MCL2AV in the weekend to see if option 4 works on any of them.
Location: Denmark

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