BeoSound 2 (2002-2011)

BeoSound 2 was Bang & Olufsen’s first MP3 and WMA player and one which was designed from the outset to be ‘intuitive’. Just pop it into your pocket, fumble around with it with one hand and press a button to get it working. Hopefully you’d hit the right one and get the BeoSound 2 to do what you wanted it to do. Sadly, that was not always the case. Just look at the display, one might respond helpfully. Frustratingly, the machine was not fitted with one. A case of style over user-friendliness, one might say?

The BeoSound, to make up for these shortcomings, did look remarkably good, resplendent in its shiny ‘touchable’ metal and black rubber clothes. But tactile shiny metal and rubber do not an MP3 make.

Thankfully though, in order to do the player justice, the sound which it provided made up for its lack of user-friendliness although there was no way there was no way of personalising the sound bass or treble.

BeoSound 2 looked especially good (and rather like a flying saucer ready for take-off ) when sitting upon its charger, a USB device that was plugged into your computer in order to transfer files. Bang & Olufsen suggested that customers use BeoPlayer to do this although the user-unfriendliness of this particular piece of software (complete with swirling displays in black and grey which matched perfectly the company’s Web site) was very awkward and frustrating to cope with. In reality it was just as easy to buy a separate card reader and drag and dop files to the player’s SD card that way. It certainly solved a lot of frustrations and cut down on fraying tempers. However, any piece of software becomes, with use, more intuitive. And BeoPlayer was no different in this respect. Sadly, BeoPlayer was still required when carrying out software updates over the Internet.

An 128MB card was supplied at time of purchase (the BeoSound 2 supports cards up to 2GB nowadays, as 128MB is anything but large enough) and it was suggested that users wear a pair of A8 Earphones for an “impressive listening experience”.

With the introduction of BeoSound 3 and BeoSound 4, users can now swap over their SD cards to use on any one - or more - of their machines.

Internal batteries lasted for up to ten hours, quite a low number of user hours by anyone’s standards nowadays.

At the time of its introduction it was - and still is - a very basic machine and one which sits in a market which has been overrun by other (better) manufacturers’ products.

BeoSound 2 was discontinued by 2011. It was not replaced by any other product.

BeoSound 2 (2002-2011) technical specifications

Weight 90g
Cabinet finish Polished stainless steel

Flash Memory card Exchangeable MMC/SD, 128-Mbyte - gives 2-4 hours play time depending on type of coding
Music files MP3, WMA

Battery Rechargeable Lithium ion, approx. 8 hours before recharging
On/off Acoustic indication
SW Firmware updates via BeoPlayer
Docking Station: external mains adaptor SMPS - 100-240 V AC
Supported file formats: MP3, WMA

Connections:
USB for computer connection via docking station
Earphones' mini jack
Mains adaptor: charging battery via docking station

System requirements
One free USB port
10 MB of available disc space
Windows 98,Me,2000 or XP

How much playable music?
When used with a 128MB SD card BeoSound 2 allows you to download and store up to five compact discs for later playback. The SD card may be used as many times as you wish. The built-in battery gives you around 8 - 10 hours of uninterrupted use. Re-charging the battery is simply a matter of clicking BeoSound 2 onto its docking station.

Connecting up
The specially designed docking station provides the connection to your computer and also acts as a convenient power charger for BeoSound 2.

Put it in your pocket
BeoSound 2 has a form and a size that allows it to sit as easily in your pocket as it does in your hand. The keypad can be locked when you are on the move, and with no internal moving parts, you never have to worry about knocks and vibrations interrupting the music.

Made to last
BeoSound 2 is made to be carried around and built to last. Formed in stainless steel and hard rubber, it will withstand all the knocks that may come its way. Future software updates may be downloaded from the BeoPlayer Web site.

Software compatible
BeoSound 2 is created to be used together with BeoPlayer and Beolink® PC2, but will also function with Windows Media Player.