The Brennan JB7

Try the Naim HDX at £4,500. Nope, I can't afford one either.

I bought a JB7 320Gb in December. Initial thoughts: very nicely made, love the small, compact size, good sound quality (most compressed, some not - I can just hear the difference, especially classical piano music) through a pair of 33 year-old LEAK speakers and Bose headphones. Cheap and fiddly remote control, totally at odds with the elegant and well-executed design of the JB7unit - text too small, poor buttons.

Database is very hit-and-miss, it has music listed which I thought was quite obscure, and plenty of omissions of what is pretty well-known. Essentially I am referring to jazz, world and classical music, can't speak for a lot of pop and rock titles. The Gracenote database used by iTunes, while also lacking in some areas, seems to be better. Also the way some CDs are labelled after the ingesting process is a bit random. Often you'll get the performer first and not the album title without waiting for the scrolling display to reveal all  - very annoying when looking for classical pieces for example. I'm not entirely convinced by the slow and laborious scrolling needed to find titles.

Loading MP3 files from an iTunes library is easy enough using the front USB port, though apparently some iTunes files need converting. I had no problems. Any memory stick devices need to be FAT32 formatted or the JB7 can't read them.

So as far as it being an all-round "CD & clutter reducing" tool is concerned, the jury is out. Nice as far as it goes, good sound, small and elegant, but possibly not quite as clever as it could be. On balance, my iPod Classic 160Gb hooked up to our Denon system would probably do the job just as well.

However, all this has been rendered meaningless since the left speaker connection packed up just before New Year. I did all the usual checks with other speakers. The headphone socket was fine. I suspect an assembly and/or component fault. I contacted their technical support by 'phone, was sent a software patch to load into the JB7, this has made no difference. I'm now waiting for them to collect the machine. I'll keep you posted as to how good they are in dealing with problems and faulty items. They have some favourable testimonials on their website, here's hoping they can live up to the praise.

RichO

I still don't know how to add. I search the page carefully but I can't find the ling "You are not watching this post, click to start watching"

Can you talk more about it? Thanks

R.

I've just joined the thread having read some really interesting stuff. I'm a mid-range audiophile I guess, like other contributors. I've got/had hi-fi bits from Goodmans, Marantz, Denon, Amstrad, JPW, but lost my decent deck a few months ago. I've bought a cheapie deck, just to be getting on with, and decided to invest in the Brennan instead, and go down the digital route.

It's not perfect - what is - but it does seem to do exactly what it says on the tin. I'm getting on, too - 57 - and can't be ars*d to learn lots of new techie stuff - and don't want the hassle or eyesore of bits of computer kit and wires cluttering up my living room, nor having to go to a PC screen, or tiny ipod, to fire up my music. But equally, I was getting fed up finding and sorting out CDs, vinyl, tapes - and trying to remember which music on what.

Most CDs are recognised and load up fine (in 3 minutes if that), and while the classical database/index is a bit of a bind, how could classical titles be anything other than long-winded? And it is dead easy to find things - it's like an "Edit-find" search facility in a Word or Excel file - type in a few letters, and it gives you the various options. The relatively few seconds it takes to scroll and choose between them is loads quicker than scrabbling around your shelves and boxes, etc - only to remember that you've lent that CD out, after all; and of course the reverse - you can also add all your mates/relatives music on to it, too - for free (allegedly).

As regards loading vinyl, this is always going to be longer than CDs - it has to be done in real time, unavoidably, and no database will recognise the recording for you automatically, so you'll have to label manually. But it seems fairly straightforward to do - although the aux-in connections do seem a bit sensitive to "tripping out". After trial and error, I've used the phono plugs line-out, with a jack plug combination lead, not the headphone out - and from the deck itself, NOT the amp outlet.

On sound quality - I've never heard MP3 files before, so compared only with my system quality, the normal 198 bit rate compression seems to me completely unnoticeable, other than on some quiet acoustic guitar, or string quartet pieces; but just different, not poor; every combination of system I've ever had sounds different.

The biggest bugbear is the Brennan is a great-looking piece of kit, and has a lovely clear screen telling you what's going on - just right for us "oldies" - but then has a miniscule remote - far smaller than a TV or hi-fi remote! (So you have to have your glasses to hand at a dinner party and even turn the lights up, if you want to find a set piece of music!) Bizarre juxtaposition of ergonomic/rubbish design. Other than that, so far I have no complaints, and its convenience/useability/quality/value for money is all that it's said to be, I reckon. Which is what I think the original contributors were asking about.

I'm looking forward to transferring treasured vinyl via a Linn Sondek; so these exchanges are very helpful.

I'm new to the JB7, however, and I'm in the middle of loading CDs. The options seem more suited to non-classical, since (unless I'm mistaken) they seem to be largely track-based. I'm thinking in particular of the setting up of playlists - where I had thought it would be done on an *album* basis. I'd be grateful if + experienced users could confirm that there is no way to do this ? And, if that is indeed the case, could someone explain - before I embark - how transferred tracks are then reassembled into albums ? [My fear is that a List will end up 'piped', track by track, from Albinoni through to Vivaldi!]

I'm fascinated how many people delight in detailing what the Brennan jb7 CAN'T do!  It's like setting out to buy a car when your main requirement is that you want it to fly!  I bought one in December 2009 with the intention of digitising a massive collection of vinyl and tapes, alongside some 120 cds. The cds were a doddle - the jb7 did exactly what I expected it to without any hassle at all.  On the odd occasion that one wasn't recognised by the database I simply plugged in a keyboard via the usb connector and typed in the artist/title/tracklisting.  No problem there, either.

The tapes and vinyl were much more labour intensive, however, and I do believe that some of Brennans marketing focus on this aspect glosses over  the difficulties that users will encounter.  The user manual is virtually useless in telling how to do it, and Brennan's website little better!

The transfer can only be conducted in real time - a C90 cassette will require 90 minutes ........ at least!

Unless you are happy to lose the search and find facilities for the tracks and artists etc., you will have to record each track seperately.  That means stopping the recording at the end of track one and then starting again for track 2 etc.  Your presence will be required therefore throughout the recording time, and the stopping and starting will add about 20 minutes to the 90....!

Then the album will have to be renamed, and each track will need to be retitled.  Even using a keyboard this will take another 30 minutes in a straightforward case.  For something like a compilation album when each track is also by a different artist, then add another 20 minutes, perhaps. Don't even think of doing it with the remote control via textspeak!

I estimated that each C90 tape took me  about 2.5 hours to complete, while an vinyl album took around 90 minutes.  My collection took me a year to complete, working in bursts. I am convinced that this is a cd storage system with the capacity to record tape and vinyl added as an afterthought, even though that was my main reason for buying it

Then it was wonderful! I could find any track or artist using the search facility which is simplicity itself to use, despite what earlier post say.  I can browse through the album collection, or simply play things at random.  I can compile up to seven playlists. If I don't want to listen to what is selected I simply press 'next' and away we go again. It will play on and on for hours at the press of a single button.   

The sound quality is good using Brennan's speakers and their recommended external hard drive did all the backing up effectively, although it did take many, many hours. 

One major listening problem has emerged.  It appears that the volume of sound varies enormously between recordings, even modern ones on different cds or from mp3 downloads. So some tracks are almost inaudible and need the volume turned up, while the next track at that volume is overwhelming and requires a panicky reduction!  Not a problem when listening to a complete album perhaps, when one adjustment suffices, but using 'random play' certainly keeps me on my toes and my finger busy on the remote!

However, the ease of use means that I've listened to far more of my music than ever before.  I've discovered and enjoyed stuff which has been long forgotten and unheard. Now it is all digitised I can save to other devices easily for use in the car, my mp3 player or simply to take with me on a memory stick when I travel.  

Two days ago an electrician threw the main power switch to the house and then switched it back on without warning us! (He has now been sacked) Even though the Brennan was not in use and simply in stand by mode, its 3 amp fuse in the mains plug blew, and further investigation discovered that the internal fuse in the transformer had also blown. Even though it is now out of guarantee, Brennan with a just a little prodding, decided to supply me with a new transformer free of charge, which I await.  Only when it arrives will I discover if any further damage has been inflicted.  Thank heaven I backed everything up!  Now I'm pondering what is the difference between switching the electrical supply off and on at the mains board, or doing so at the socket?  Since the Brennan has no on/off switch, just how else do I switch it on and off without blowing the fuses? This is a problem I've passed to Brennan and I await their answer!  Seems to me I've discovered another design fault.

From my own experience and from other posts here, I believe that much more development work was required before rushing it to the market place. Using it and sometimes seeking help and advice from Brennan has made me feel somewhat like a pioneer testing the thing out. Nevertheless, after the labour of loading everything up, using it was so enjoyable that I'm currently missing its company, and looking forward to it being restored to full working order......... if that isn't too optimistic!

Watch this space