Brennan B2 2TB Black Hifi - Hard disk CD ripper & recorder, storage and player with Bluetooth, Youtube, Internet Radio, Stereo Power amplifier, NAS, Wav, Lossless (FLAC) and MP3.

Apart from the initial irritation at not having speaker speaker plugs included for a product costing 589£, the B2 was easy to set up and performs as advertised. The sound quality (wired Bose speakers in my case) is very good - no distortion at high volume and crystal clear. I like the web interface which allows you to access the device from phone, tablet or pc/mac. There is an app available.I have loaded > 200 CD's and I am quite impressed that, with rare exception (mostly compilations) it has found all the album titles, art and song lists. In the case of compilations, I could edit the album title and song list on the web interface easily.The small size is a plus. I could not find instructions for the included remote control anywhere - it seems to include functions which are not obvious - but given the web interface and phone app - it is probably surplus to requirement.The Bluetooth interface works well.I did have an issue with the WiFi dongle, which was generating sound interference, but a quick e-mail to Brennan and within a few days a had a replacement which sorted the problem.

This was a birthday present and, after ordering additional speaker plugs and cables, finally opened and followed the very basic instructions. I’m certainly not an idiot when it comes to things technical, so I didn’t expect a problem with such a sophisticated piece of kit but no matter what I tried, the unit would not connect to my WiFi network, even when placed adjacent to the router. My WiFi network has never failed to support my many connected devices so this should have been easy. What terrible quality control.UPDATE. So after getting over the disappointment of a faulty unit, and an email exchange with Brennan, the original unit has been returned to Amazon and a new one arrived today. No issues whatsoever! Connected immediately to my WiFi and it seems to be performing brilliantly. This is what I expected, and I think it will be a perfect solution for a requirement to digitise and store my CD collection. So far, so good. Could well be upgraded to five stars.Update 2. What can I say other than brilliant. So the first unit I received was faulty, but the second is all I expected and more. I’ve already ripped over 450 cds and I am so impressed. I’ve bought Sonos speakers to take full advantage of the versatility of the B2 and, through my Wi-Fi I have the multi- room experience I was looking for. As advised I’ve bought an external CD reader/writer (ASUS SDRW 08D2S U from Argos @ £23] to extend the lifespan of the internal drive and shorten the time to rip each CD). Haven’t yet tested the Bluetooth capability to it’s full extent, but I am assuming that will not be an issue. Altogether, after the initial disappointment, absolutely delighted.

Sound quality from CDs, Internet radio, Bluetooth sources such as phone or from CDs I've put on to the hard drive all very good.Remote control is too small - it's hard to see what is on the buttons.The data base didn't find an entry for about 15% of my CDs and putting that information on manually was a total chore. I couldn't help but wonder if I am missing something in the instructions because I haven't found a way of getting the information on for every track on every album without doing each one manually- it took a long time.Radio - I've found the stations I listen to but haven't ventured beyond that so far - I will at some point.I really like the machine despite the difficulties I've had - just wish those issues weren't such a pain.It's a very compact box and fits easily on a shelf. I also bought the compact Brennan speakers and I'm happy with them.It doesn't need an amp as there is one built in but ot can be connected to an external amp if desired I believe.I'd recommend it if you want to get rid of CDs but also if you just want to have your collection available in a different toom without taking up space.

We have a fair sized collection of CDs, which we seldom listen to! - despite having a CD player on our hifi system. But the arrival of the Brennan B2 means that it is easy to choose and listen to any of them, once we have copied ('ripped') each one into the Brennan. This takes 3 or 4 minutes per CD .. not too long. The B2 is not cheap, but it solves the problem, and uses FLAC (free lossless audio codec) compression, so you know it is playing exactly what was on the CD. It's easy to operate. The remote provided is very small. However I have found it is easier to use the B2's ability to connect to the house WiFi and then control it via the Brennan app downloaded onto my mobile phone. Very quick, and easy.A great product, if pricey. No problems after 3 weeks use. Hope it stays that way!

Great idea but didn’t work for me poor sound quality and remote operated Telly not the Brennan. Tried to change track and it switched the Telly on. I guess if you can locate them some distance apart that may work better. But the built on DAC lacs.

I planned to add a whole batch of MP3s plus rip my collection of CDs to the B2. CDs copied fairly quickly but many of them copied to the wrong album folder, missed tracks etc. Half of one LP was added to another LP. The search function for CDs was very random. The search engines for artwork were very limited, appreciate some of my stuff is obscure but even artwork for some popular CDs couldn't be found. Cataloguing is very basic, track name, artist, LP, no ability to add genre. No facility for labelling Various Artist individual tracks, just include artist in title of track. The web apps are very basic, the updated version is colour but difficult to navigate. Android apps are also very basic. For a product of this price I would expect something much more polished. I spent many hours loading the B2 but became very disillusioned at having to correct the ripped CD titles etc so have decided this is not for me. Shame because I think it could be very good.Easy to setup for wifi. Good quality compact build.Am returning today.