Five years ago today we launched #Beocreate 4-Channel Amplifier, together with #bangolufsen and #hifiberry. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for this little device.

Even though it’s been quieter since I started at B&O, the whole project still brings me joy every day and I definitely have plans for it.

So, distinguishing between “paused” and “stopped” allows me to keep the Toslink transmitter (and thus the connected Beolab 18) powered on during pauses. They would then turn off after their internal standby delay or when the last active source on #Beocreate goes into “stopped” state (and I cut the Toslink transmitter), whichever is sooner.

TBH, I don’t expect many people other than myself to use this thing as a streamer for their #BangOlufsen speakers, but hey, if you want to do it, it works.

“Why do you need a ‘paused’ state instead of just ‘playing’ and ‘not playing’?” you may ask. Well, this wasn’t really a problem with the #Beocreate 4-Channel Amplifier stand-alone because its amplifiers wake up from sleep instantly, but when using external speakers such as Beolab 18 via the Toslink connection, the speakers would always switch off immediately when music pauses because I also cut the Toslink signal, and then they take a couple of seconds to wake up when resuming.

So, distinguishing between “paused” and “stopped” allows me to keep the Toslink transmitter (and thus the connected Beolab 18) powered on during pauses. They would then turn off after their internal standby delay or when the last active source on #Beocreate goes into “stopped” state (and I cut the Toslink transmitter), whichever is sooner.

TBH, I don’t expect many people other than myself to use this thing as a streamer for their #BangOlufsen speakers, but hey, if you want to do it, it works.

“Why do you need a ‘paused’ state instead of just ‘playing’ and ‘not playing’?” you may ask. Well, this wasn’t really a problem with the #Beocreate 4-Channel Amplifier stand-alone because its amplifiers wake up from sleep instantly, but when using external speakers such as Beolab 18 via the Toslink connection, the speakers would always switch off immediately when music pauses because I also cut the Toslink signal, and then they take a couple of seconds to wake up when resuming.

Turns out I did take building a sound system in Node.js as a challenge... four years later #Beocreate is still rocking that Node-based front-end, and it's better than ever.