Bang & Olufsen, otherwise known as B&O announced its newest music system, dubbed the BeoSound 5 Encore, a network media center of sort that lets you listen from a choice of 13,000...

Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 5 Encore 544x368px
(image: B&O) Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 5 Encore | €285.00 | www.bang-olufsen.com

Bang & Olufsen, otherwise known as B&O announced its newest music system, dubbed the BeoSound 5 Encore, a network media center of sort that lets you listen from a choice of 13,000 Internet radio stations or spin your favorite tunes from a plethora of sources ranging from USB flash drive, NAS server, a computer or from your smartphone. unlike its older brother, the BeoSound 5, it does away with built-in hard drive and instead, relies on the aforementioned medium for your music sources.
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like the BeoSound 5, it sports a 10.4-inch LCD and a beautifully crafted aluminum scroll wheel controller (“magical wheel” as B&O calls it) that lets you easy browse through your collection. the latter being a surprise choice since just about every aspect about this world is going touchscreen. with it connected to the Internet wired or wirelessly, it can access your home music server or even a connected USB hard drive. another features that carried over from its older sibling is the intelligent playlist technology that works much like the iTunes Genius, less the irritating recommendation of music to you.

the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 5 Encore is slated to be available this August and priced at a more affordable $3,350. check out a product intro video and a lengthy official press release after the break.

[toggle title_open=”Hide Press Release” title_closed=”Show Press Release” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default”] BeoSound 5 gets a little brother

Struer, July 2011 – With the launch of the new BeoSound 5 Encore, which builds on the proud design heritage of the successful BeoSound 5, Bang & Olufsen presents a window to the world of music which offers great overview, an engaging user experience, and access to more than 13,000 internet radio stations, as well as the entire digital music collection.

Ever dreamed of not having to worry about how to enjoy your favourite digital music on something other than inadequate PC loudspeakers? BeoSound 5 Encore is Bang & Olufsen’s plug-n-play answer to a growing demand in the era of digital music: to have all the music available at all times without losing the overview. Acting as an all-consuming sound hub, BeoSound 5 Encore gives easy access to your digital music – no matter how it is stored – with content conveniently arranged by album, artist, track or your favourites, and with everything instantly available, so you can quickly find that particular song that has come to your mind.

A rainbow of sources and genres

BeoSound 5 Encore offers easy access to more than 13,000 internet radio stations from all over the world, and with every thinkable genre and language represented, you will always be able to find something suitable, regardless of your crave. The quality of the stations is monitored and constantly updated automatically by Bang & Olufsen.

In addition to internet radio, BeoSound 5 Encore can browse and play music from a plethora of sources; a connected hard disc, a NAS server, a computer, a USB stick or a handheld device. And with support of music in lossless quality, it is possible to enjoy the full qualities of your favourite tracks.

So for those wanting to clean up the mess of a physical, CD-based music collection, BeoSound 5 Encore is an excellent and simple solution; just connect a pair of speakers, and you are ready to go. It works as your primary music system connected to the internet – either wired or wirelessly – with access to internet radio and music on a server or USB connected hard disc, but it also acts as an access point for your secondary music devices.

You can connect up to eight BeoSound 5 Encores to the same server, with the added benefit of being able to play different music content in different rooms at the same time. So no more quarrels with the family about what to listen to, and where; everyone can simultaneously enjoy their favourite tunes in the comfort of their own room, be it internet radio or digital music files, and the music is still stored in one place.

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Re-inventing the wheel

BeoSound 5 Encore conveniently presents a rich choice of content in a well-organized way, appealing to those who desire simplicity and easy access. Visually it proudly displays its design heritage from BeoSound 5 with a unique mixture of mechanical tactile elements and a strong graphical expression.

With BeoSound 5 Encore, you will not be struggling with dirty fingerprints on the 10.4” full graphical display. Instead, you have a magical wheel that easily whizzes through even the greatest of music collections at the spin of a finger.

With a number of different options for wall, table or floor placement, BeoSound 5 Encore will easily fit in to any home decor, be it in the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, or in multiple locations all over the house, acting as a window that allows you to access the music of your choice anywhere. Connection-wise BeoSound 5 Encore has been designed with permanent sockets hidden for concealed and elegant cabling, whereas sockets for temporary devices such as USB sticks, portable players or headphones are easily accessible below the display.

Automatic playlist with a high IQ

Being the intelligent playlist of the future, MOTS automatically generates a playlist when you access the content of a USB or WLAN/LAN connected device, leaving you with more time to rediscover the music collection, instead of manually having to select a number of tracks every time. Simply chose a track that reflects your mood and the MOTS feature will automatically search your entire music collection for similar tracks. It is a fast and convenient way to set the musical scene for let us say a dinner party or a laid-back evening on the couch, and if you fall in love with the playlist offered by MOTS, you just have to save the track you started with, and you can listen to the playlist whenever you please.

The patented MOTS algorithm, which was first introduced with BeoSound 5, is able to analyse the entire music collection, and continue to play music that is similar – but not identical – based on the selection of one track.

Spotlight on big brother too

BeoSound 5 – the highly acclaimed big brother of BeoSound 5 Encore – is also enjoying the spotlight right now due to a recent extensive software update of the product, which offers customers a range of new exciting possibilities.

“The new and extensive update of the BeoSound 5 software is not only fantastic news for customers on the lookout for a new high-end audio master to complete their audio/video setup,” says Bang & Olufsen Product Manager, Rie Kold Pripsø. “The software update also provides new convenient features to existing Bang & Olufsen customers, who already have a BeoSound 5 as part of their Bang & Olufsen setup and have therefore recently received the software update automatically.”

Control from the palm of your hand

An exciting and highly convenient feature introduced with the new software, is the possibility for smartphone users to push content wirelessly onto their BeoSound 5. This not only allows the customer to browse music content directly on the elegant and intuitive user interface of BeoSound 5, it also improves the sound experience significantly, as the music can be enjoyed through the connected Bang & Olufsen loudspeakers.

Customers who own an Apple device such as an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch can also benefit from the new BeoSound 5 software update – and even more if they have a BeoSound 8 speaker dock.

“If you’re in the kitchen for example, you can tap into content from BeoSound 5 simply by using your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and browse in your music collection. Once you have found the track you want to listen to, you can either make it play from the connected Bang & Olufsen speakers in the room you’re in – or place the Apple device in your BeoSound 8 speaker dock,” explains Rie Kold Pripsø.

An audio solution for every need

With the launch of the new member of the BeoSound 5 family – the BeoSound 5 Encore – and the extensive update of the existing BeoSound 5 audio master, Bang & Olufsen is now able to offer customers two different state-of-the-art digital audio solutions which – with their individual advantages – are designed to exceed the expectations of any discerning customer eager to take the next step into the world of digital music. [/toggle]