Brennan B2?

Anybody have one? How do you like it? I'm looking for something to primarily easily rip CDs into FLAC files. It's cool that I can play CDs with it too. How's the sound quality there as a CD player? I'm mostly a Mac guy but the ones I have don't have a CD drive. I do have some PCs in the house with CD drives but I'm looking for an easier, efficient way to start ripping CDs as I go. I thought about a Bluesound Vault but it's over twice the price, has no wifi and I already have a Node 2. Anything similar out there or should I just roll up my sleeves and start going old school with one of my PCs and Exact Audio Copy?

Thanks for any input.

 

When I ripped my collection, I just used EAC. Throwing a disc in here and there throughout the day I was surprised at how fast the whole process went (relatively speaking). What worked for me was to have it going while I was doing other things, and not to worry too much about putting another disc in as soon as one finished. I made it sort of a background task and that was pretty painless.

 

Thanks for the reply,

I think that's the plan I was originally leaning to but thought about using it as a CD player/ripper as I acquire any new stuff in my used record/cd store travels. I could have something there quick and easy to listen with and rip if I want.

 

If you use a Brennan it isn't going to play well with the Node2. If you rip your cds with a pc the Node can see it on the network and play those files using the BluOs

 

If you're serious about ripping, do not buy that overpriced junk. Instead, get a new CD/DVD rom drive and download dBPoweramp Reference. If you need an enclosure for the full size drive because you don't have a PC Tower, you can get one for around $40-$50.

For actual storage of FLAC files, there are number of ways you can go.

FWIW, I switched to dBPoweramp after using EAC for over a decade. EAC is great but dB works just as well and is better for error checking on some CDs.

Do it once and do it right. I don't know how big your CD collection is, but it's pretty easy to burn out a drive when ripping thousands of discs. I've done it a couple times now which is why I moved to full-size enclosure with a full size drive. This way, if I burn out the drive, I'll only be out around $20 and can easily pop a new one in.

 

Thanks but after I rip them I have a HD connected to my Node 2 that I've been using until I set up a NAS. I'll move the files to that HD. I'm not looking for the Brennan to work with the Node, just for it to rip CDs and act as an occasional CD playback device.

 

Thanks, I'll consider the dBPoweramp over the EAC. That's a good idea to just get an external CD drive setup that I could connect to my Macs. If not I can still use the CD in my PCs. I'm just on my Macs more so it would be more convenient to use them instead.

 

Greetings

anyone with some hands on familiarity with one of these units ?

please post your thoughts - I am considering one of their refurb units...

thx

Ron

 

B2 Home Page

 

I do not know how stability of the company.
If they have still software developers hired.
Look at how often the FW comes to the unit. And likewise the phone app.
It is frustrating to use something that has a flaw and you know it will never be fixed and nobody cares.
But I do not know anything about this company.. just my 2 cents.

 

Brennan have been around for years and their products have usually had mixed responses.

Other manufacturers have since followed with rip-to-disc products - Sony & Nova Fidelity to name but two. I have a Cocktail Audio X10 which is an early incarnation of what has become the Nova Fidelity X14. Personally, I like the X10 but to get the best out of it needs hands on tweaking that isn't quite the "rip & go" the blurb suggests.

As with any product with a hard drive, there can be failures so an extended warranty may be worthwhile if available.

Happy hunting!

Edit: Add Naim & Bluesound to the list of manufacturers offering rippers.

 

thx for your replies....

 

After much discussion I finally broke down and bought the 500GB refurb model they show on their webpage.

Any other new converts out there ?

 

I bought one two years ago, took it out of the box but never got around to hooking it up.

That's it on the top, right.



It had some not standard connector's on it and I never got around to ordering the cables I needed.

It is currently sitting in a warehouse.

I bought it because I liked the idea of a stand alone device to rip CD's to digital and to have online storage to stream, without having to go to a more complex network storage device.

 

I could have yours at a good price, then ??

 

It is currently sitting in a warehouse, somewhere...

 

I am sure it is very sad also......

 

I have one arriving, I will let you know.

 

There are few bummers with the Brennan. The digital outs are either hdmi or an optical SPDIF that runs to a toslink which only they sell. The price for the wire is ten pounds but to ship it to the US is 70 pounds. What a bunch of scamsters unless there is another option. I was hoping to hook this up to a dac headphone and amplifiers, but at this stage its not going to happen,

 

There are few bummers with the Brennan. The digital outs are either hdmi or an optical SPDIF that runs to a toslink which only they sell. The price for the wire is ten pounds but to ship it to the US is 70 pounds. What a bunch of scamsters unless there is another option. I was hoping to hook this up to a dac headphone and amplifiers, but at this stage its not going to happen,

 

Which is why I had my unit sitting around for years unused.

I really hate unstandard connectors.

Even if you do have one and it happens to break, you are SOL!

 

Ok, I figured it out and my toslink works. I don't need a special cable

 

Ok I figured it out and I don't need a special cable my toslink works fine. It sound very good through my DAC.

 

Exactly, you don't need any special cable! Just a mini toslink to toslink cable. You can buy the mini toslink adaptor pieces (to hook on to any standard toslink cable) at any decent electronica store. It's the same cable (or adapter piece) you need to hook up a chromecast audio to a dac. It costs next to nothing! Nothing 'unstandard' about this connection.

 

The sound amplifying speakers was uninspiring. Nothing offensive just bland and soft and no dynamics. A $50 CD player/receiver combo from Craigslist will sound better. The form factor is nice though.