Review on 🎵 Streamlined Brennan B2 2TB Metallic HiFi: Hard Disk CD Ripper, Storage, and Player with Sonos, Bluetooth, Spotify, YouTube, Internet Radio, Stereo Power Amplifier, NAS, Wav, Lossless (FLAC), and MP3 by Roger King

Great idea and cool little block - in theory but not in practice! There is no alternative but to return my device two days after receipt. PROS: The device is tiny and "cute" - very simple: an old-fashioned CD slot, a screen that letters scroll across (if you're lucky), a little knob that rotates or pushes, depending on the function you're using has perform. when trying to access 4 tiny buttons: back; Next; Extract; and play/stop. CONS: Everything else unfortunately. A lot of reviewers refer to the low tech power cord/wall wart design as adding noise to the right channel, but I've never gone as far as this thing expired. On the back are: an on/off switch (apparently a recent addition - it seems earlier models were in perpetual standby mode); an HDMI port (they say you can use this to listen to playback on your TV - who listens to FLAC files on their TV?); unnamed hole (presumably for future improvements); two ethernet cable entries (one in the form of a shield and the other just an extended slot - there have never been ethernet cable plugs that fit into these openings); Micro USB slot; input 24 VDC; USB-A slot (this is where you should plug in the non-working WiFi dongle that comes with the kit but doesn't work properly); 4 red and black speaker jacks L/R (Brennan offers very cheap speakers, who receive negative feedback); a USB-C slot (for the Bluetooth dongle that's included, although I almost missed it in the package); line-out hole + SPDIF; and AUX in the hole. The entire unit is about the size of a very large Sony Walkman. A few more words about the SPDIF hole, which glows bright red and indicates a Toslink connection. This connection is clearly intended for most (non-TV) playback. And yet, for such an important connection, it's oddly built (to me) to accept EITHER a headphone/line out OR a Toslink cable - each must terminate with a mini-jack on that end. Having never done a replay I have no idea if this mixed Toslink connection is any good - if the device worked, I would connect it to my Marantz DAC right here. Initially the setup went pretty well following the quick start guide, although the time zone setting got messed up every time I turned the device off and reverted to UK time. Theoretically, if a CD is inserted, you have the option of playing it or copying it to a 2 TB hard drive. The ripping itself was never a problem, although there wasn't a good way to replay the ripped CD file, so I couldn't tell if the ripping feature really worked or how well it worked. If you connect the device to Wi-Fi and enter the ID, you can open a screen on your PC (or Mac I think) that gives you some information about the current CD and previous CDs ripped, which might be useful (if it worked). Otherwise). I tried several rips and the device correctly identified the CD by comparing it to the online CD library entries. However, he usually did not find any works of art. Then I made a big mistake - I updated the software. After performing the recommended step in the recommended manner, the squad just went insane and never recovered. I couldn't access the settings at all anymore, and with the device reporting that it wasn't connected to WiFi, all I could do was stare at being powerless to do anything about it. There are no settings. When the unit (which gets very hot) started to warm up after a few more copies of the CDs, strange half-letters began to mysteriously scroll across the screen. As the quick start guide states, the cure for many software errors is to simply turn the device off and on again. Sometimes it worked - for a few minutes. Then back to the strange symptoms. Even removing the power cable and reconnecting it didn't help for a long time. I finally gave up trying to rip the CD again this morning after leaving it off all night. No access to settings. There was no indication on the PC screen that a CD or anything else was inserted into the unit's slot. No idea what CD I copied let alone a successful search for the cover. After several failed attempts, Unfortunately, I gave up trying to save the thing from the software update frenzy and sent the device back. You may have better luck. Brennan appears to have a large number of "refurbished" devices available at a discount on his website, so it's possible these are from other buyers who made the fatal mistake of updating the software. A real shame and I hate wasting time copying (I think) a dozen or two CDs. Pooh. Unfortunately, after several failed attempts to save the thing from the software update frenzy, I gave up and sent the device back. Maybe you have better luck. Brennan appears to have a large number of "refurbished" devices available at a discount on their website, so it's possible that these came from other buyers who made the fatal mistake of updating the software. A real shame and I hate wasting time wasting on useless copying (I think) of a dozen or two CDs. Pooh. Unfortunately, after several failed attempts to save the thing from the software update frenzy, I gave up and sent the device back. Maybe you have better luck. Brennan appears to have a large number of "refurbished" devices available at a discount on his website, so it's possible these are from other buyers who made the fatal mistake of updating the software. A real shame and I hate wasting time copying (I think) a dozen or two CDs. Pooh. and I hate wasting time it took to uselessly copy (I think) a few dozen CDs. Pooh. and I hate wasting the time it took to uselessly copy (I think) a few dozen CDs. Pooh.