BRENNAN B2 (01) PDF Document

The BRENNAN B2 can be set up and controlled via the front panel controls. The functions are as follows:

Turn the main control knob to adjust volume, view CD titles (press to confirm and start ripping), navigate menus (turn to navigate and press to select), or scroll characters (press to select).

BACK button: Go back to the previous menu item, delete characters, or cancel an action.

NEXT button: Play the next track, confirm Wi-Fi password, or view search results.

PLAY/STOP button: Pause music, play the selected album/track or the CD, or hold to save settings.

EJECT button: Eject CD or cancel CD ripping.

If you get lost or are unsure, you can always press ‘BACK’ to go back one step, cancel the current operation, or keep pressing to get back to the home screen. Pressing and holding the PLAY/STOP button stops everything (playback, ripping, backup, etc.) and acts as a reset button.

The user interface is menu-driven and accessed by pushing the main control knob and turning it to see the options. Alternatively, you can use the remote control by pressing OK and using the up and down buttons. Generally, up, down, and OK on the remote are equivalent to turning and pushing the control knob.

SELECT: Press the control knob (OK button on Remote Control).

SCROLL: Rotate the control knob (UP/DOWN buttons on Remote Control).

NEXT: Confirm action/view results.

BACK: Go back one step/cancel action/delete last character.

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). Use 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.

Search is the principal way of finding artists, albums, and tracks.

From the front panel, use the control knob to SCROLL and SELECT letters for the search. Or on the remote control, use the texting convention – press the ‘2’ button once for ‘a’ (‘A’ takes five presses), twice for ‘b’, etc. The cursor blinks fast as you enter characters then slows down to let you know when you can use that same button again.

The display shows the number of matches found, updated as more letters are entered. Press NEXT and SCROLL to see the matches or BACK to enter more letters.

Matches are identified as Artist, Album, or Track. For displayed results, pressing SELECT (or OK on the remote) takes you to the corresponding menu. Alternatively, simply press PLAY to play the album or the first track listed.

When a CD is inserted, the BRENNAN B2 checks against a database for possibly matches and displays the results. Sometimes there are more than one match, so SCROLL to view and SELECT to choose and start ripping (or press PLAY to play the CD). The Artist, Album, and Track information from the database is copied with the CD.

If the BRENNAN B2 cannot find a match for the CD, it will suggest a name such as ‘Album 247’. Make a note of this number so you can find and rename it later, then select SELECT to rip the CD.

To rename a ripped CD later, use the search function to find the album (e.g., ‘247’). Select SELECT to open the Album Menu, scroll to Rename Album, and press SELECT. Use BACK repeatedly to delete the old name, scroll and select letters for the new name, and press NEXT to complete.

From the Main Menu, SCROLL to Settings and press SELECT. At Setup WIFI, press SELECT. The display shows ‘Scanning’ as the BRENNAN B2 checks for available networks.

Once displayed, SCROLL to view your network and press SELECT. Enter your password (if required) and press NEXT to connect. For open networks, leave the password blank and just press NEXT to connect.

The Playlist Menu allows you to access playlist functions from the front panel or remote control. You can play or add tracks/albums to playlists directly from the remote control using the colour (number) buttons.

Menu Options:

Playlist OFF: Exits the Playlist when the current track finishes; the BRENNAN 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 a USB storage device in USB C.

Load Playlist: Load a Playlist from the playlists folder on a USB storage device in USB C.

Export Playlist: Copy the Playlist and contents (tracks) to a USB storage device in USB C.

Compression is used to get more music onto the HDD. By default, the BRENNAN B2 compresses using FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), which provides the same audio playback quality as the original CD.

If you want maximum storage and don’t mind a small loss in audio quality, you can compress using MP3. If you want to maintain maximum audio quality, you can turn compression off, but this reduces music storage capacity.

Music is compressed after the BRENNAN B2 has been sitting idle for a few minutes. During compression, the display shows the number of tracks to be compressed and the percentage progress.

The BRENNAN B2 can play music from online radio stations. It has ten stations already programmed in. SCROLL to see these and SELECT to play.

You can use ‘Find Station’ to find a specific station (similar to the Search function). Stations can be saved as presets to the 0-9 buttons on the remote control. Press and hold a button until the display shows ‘Station Added’.

If you cannot find a specific UK radio station, try ‘Radio update’ in Settings.

The BRENNAN B2 can record audio on ‘Aux In’ to a file on the HDD.

1. Select ‘Play Aux’. The BRENNAN B2 will automatically switch to low-speed USB mode and reboot. Wait until ‘Aux/Line In’ is displayed.

2. Use the ‘Rec’ button on the Remote Control to start and stop recordings.

3. Music is recorded to files track01, track02, etc., in an album called ‘Recordings’. New recordings will create a fresh Recordings album starting at track01.

4. When recording, you can stop recording one track and start the next by pressing Rec twice quickly.

5. To exit Aux/Line mode, press HDD on the Remote Control > ‘Are you sure’ > OK. Wait for the BRENNAN B2 to reboot.

To use Bluetooth, you need the optional Bluetooth dongle.

1. Ensure the BRENNAN B2 is turned on and displaying “Bluetooth Ready”.

2. Go to Settings > Bluetooth on your phone/tablet.

3. Turn on Bluetooth (toggle off and on again if needed) and search for available devices.

4. ‘Brennan B2’ should appear in the list.

5. Tap the entry to pair and connect (you may need to do this twice initially).

6. The BRENNAN B2 display will change to indicate Bluetooth has been selected as the source.

7. Play music on your phone/tablet, and it will output through the BRENNAN B2 speakers.

If you encounter difficulties, use the “forget” option for the pairing on your phone/tablet and try again, or toggle Bluetooth off and on.

The USB Functions menu contains functions relating to transfer to and from USB storage devices. These options only appear if a USB storage device is plugged into USB A or USB C port.

Note on Importing Music: The import function copies music files (wav, flac, mp3, m4a). The files should be organized in folders like this: ../Artist Name/Album Name/Track Name.mp3.

The BRENNAN B2 has three USB ports, but USB B is only usable on models without an internal hard disk. If your unit has a hard disk, do not use USB B.

It is recommended to use USB A for the Wi-Fi dongle and USB C for backup disks or the Bluetooth dongle. USB C is placed away from sensitive audio signals to prevent interference.

You can hot-plug USB mass storage devices (disk drives and memory sticks) while the unit is on. However, devices like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi dongles must only be plugged or unplugged while the unit is turned off.

When the BRENNAN B2 hasn’t been used for five minutes, it goes into standby mode. Before doing so, it checks the hard disk for any uncompressed WAV files and compresses them to FLAC or MP3 (depending on settings). This process is done in standby because it is slow.

You can wake the unit from standby or interrupt compression by pressing any button or key. To stop compression and turn off the B2, press and hold the PLAY/STOP button.

Note that Standby is not a very low power mode, so you should turn off the B2 at the mains to conserve energy unless you are using it.

The BRENNAN B2 has a web user interface that allows you to control the device from a web browser. To access it, type the IP address of the B2 into the URL bar of your browser (e.g., 192.168.0.4). The IP address is displayed on the B2’s scrolling status line when you press STOP.

Alternatively, you can scan the QR Code found in the Settings menu (requires an app on your device) to see your B2.

On the Web UI, you can search for music, control playback, manage playlists, and edit album/artist names. Drag and drop functionality is available for adding music to playlists or presets.

The BRENNAN B2 keeps a database of where everything is on the disk. If this database gets out of sync with what is on the disk (e.g., due to a software bug or power loss at the wrong moment), the B2 could get confused.

Use the “Scan Disk” function in the Settings menu to rebuild the database. This function will fix errors, though it may take a while depending on how many tracks are on the HDD.