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Author Topic: JRiver and a pair of Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo speakers. Where do I fail?  (Read 3515 times)

The Great

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Hi. I have bought B&W Formation Duo speakers and have connected them wirelessly to my home network. But the speakers do not show up on my MC 23 no matter what I do. I can stream via JRemote and airplay from my iPhone ("this device") to the speakers. I can connect JRemote to the "Player" but this does not allow me to direct the sound to the Formation Duos. Why can JRiver not find my wireless B&W speakers? Help me please and excuse my English. I'm Danish.
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stefano_mbp

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There are no specifications about their DLNA compatibility .... are you sure they are?
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Wheaten

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 B&W Formation Duo, does not support DNLA. It will stream through AirPlay, Bluetooth, LAN, Wifi.
The only way I can think of is to have them added to the system that runs JRiver, for example via BT.
Then set it as default audio device and have JRiver play through the default audio devices.
(at least when the B&W handles the stereo processing, as I don't think the OS will make separate connections per speaker and address them both as L and R speaker) Or is this handled by the APP of these speakers? 

If your audio runs through a DAC, you might consider using something like the Marmitek BoomBoom 100 in TX mode.


 
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The Great

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This is not good news. But thank you very much for your infomartion. Do you think - or is it possible at all - that B&W can make them DNLA-compatible through a firmware update?
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The Great

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Oh and btw. JRiver can not connect to them via bluetooth.
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Wheaten

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Quote
This is not good news. But thank you very much for your infomartion. Do you think - or is it possible at all - that B&W can make them DNLA-compatible through a firmware update?

It is possible, but drop a mail to B&W. It's not only a SW update for the speakers but also a web interface or update in the app, to control it. Or have a phone connected to the speakers and stream from gizmo or jremote to the speakers.

Quote
Oh and btw. JRiver can not connect to them via bluetooth.
Correct, That's why I suggested some alternatives to make it possible. But you need to provide more details on your complete audio setup.
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The Great

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My stationary computer runs JRiver MC 23 in the corresponding room. I open the JRemote on my iPhone in the living room where the speakers are and stream via airplay to the Duos. I am sorry about my remark on BT, since I just found out that the stationary computer does not have bluetooth. Will the sound not be degraded if I buy the BT device you suggested?
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The Great

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The reason I want to DNLA is that amongst other things make it possible to use Play Doctor.
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Wheaten

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Airplay stream audio lossless, BT is lossy. So you "might" hear differences.
https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/usa/en/blog/difference-between-airplay-bluetooth.

As far as I am aware JRiver doesn't support airplay, So you might get stuck with the apps on your phone
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Isabela

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This is not good news. But thank you very much for your infomartion. Do you think - or is it possible at all - that B&W can make them DNLA-compatible through a firmware update?

Yes it's possible to update to DNLA compatible, The Pearl from Cabasse wasn't DNLA compatible after an update now it is.
3 years later B&W did not update Formation to make it DNLA compatible, so it is now clear they don't want to do that, this is beyond understanding
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dtc

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I have been using a little streamer from Wiim. JRiver sees it as a DLNA device and it supports Airplay 2 for output. I am not an Airplay guy, but this might be a solution. The Wiim mini is only $89 on Amazon and returnable if there are any issues. The app will also see your MC library through DLNA so you can use that also. As a bonus it supports most of the common streaming services.  You might take a look at the Mini as a solution.
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markf2748

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I have been using a little streamer from Wiim. JRiver sees it as a DLNA device and it supports Airplay 2 for output.
I thought Wiim devices were AirPlay receivers, not transmitters.  How would a Wiim mini connect to the OP's speakers?  I am guessing it cannot.

From what I can tell the only speaker input, other than AirPlay and Bluetooth over Wi-Fi, is an Ethernet cable.  I don't see any B&W info specifically on what format the Ethernet input accepts, but presumably it is also AirPlay.
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dtc

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I thought Wiim devices were Airplay receivers, not transmitters.  How would a Wiim mini connect to the OP's speakers?  I am guessing it cannot.

I checked and you are correct. Wiim is receiver only for Airplay. My mistake. As I said, I am not an Airplay guy. Thanks for the correction.
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markf2748

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Hi. I have bought B&W Formation Duo speakers and have connected them wirelessly to my home network. But the speakers do not show up on my MC 23 no matter what I do.
Is the OP running MC 23 on a Windows PC or MAC in addition to an iPhone?

Here's an old post suggesting MC on a MAC can play to AirPlay renderers:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=88739.0

Googling around for current software that allows Windows PCs to target AirPlay renderers turns up AirParot 3 from Squirrels.  I have no idea if it works with MC.

Note:  The OP is dated April 9, 2021 and by now this thread has more than 1,575 views!  Apparently the thread was re-awakened recently by Isabela.  The cited version MC 23 is rather old (currently MC is at 32.0.52 beta).  It's not stated if the OP ever resolved the issue or not.  But as Isabela points out, even today the specs of the B&W Formation Duo product line (and all their new wireless speakers) only support BlueTooth and AirPlay.

6/6/2024 Edit:  Add AirParot 3 reference.
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