No muting of external source

I'm not sure who you talked to, but the functionality you are asking for is already there.  The music from the AUX In source mutes when you receive a phone call.  No firmware updates have been released.

same issue

Chris, see the conversation below;

Hello John,

 

At this time there aren’t any field upgrades available.

 

1.

The dock will only mute music when connected to the phone through Bluetooth.  It only recognizes incoming calls when connected through Bluetooth, not when paired.

 

2.

Yes, we’ve had to point the volume control out on several occasions as it’s not always obvious. However, this information is in the manual.  As a side note, you can mute the dock by pressing the middle of the Audyssey log.

 

3.

I have not heard of the password issue before, and from self-experience I have always been asked for a password before pairing to a new device. However, I will raise this concern to product management.

 

We are very confident that our dock is superior in its class, and back it up with a one-year warranty.  We also offer free unlimited technical support to our customers with any issues or concerns.

 

Please feel free to contact me with any other questions or concerns.

 

Thank you,

Cindy

 

From: John Amaral [mailto:macmidi@aol.com]

Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2011 1:24 PM

To: Cindy Trudeau

Cc: John Amaral

Subject: Re: Audyssey South of Market Audio Dock

 

Cindy,

 

I did go back to Apple and was able to pair, after finding a salesperson who was sharp enough to figure out the bluetooth button on the back.

 

Is this unit software upgradeable in the field? There are bugs in the current software; have they been addressed?:

 

1

As you know, the product will pair with two bluetooth devices, such as a desktop machine and iphone.

 

I paired with a local machine and my iphone. An incoming call muted the iphone's streaming music but did not mute music streaming from the local machine, thus making it impossible to use the Audyssey unit as a hands-free speaker phone.

 

While I would not intend to play music from both sources simultaneously, it's obvious that one desired mode of operation is to listen to music from one's desktop library interrupted by incoming calls hands-free, which apparently will not work.

 

2

None of the salespeople I have worked with know that the volume control is in the logo. Part of the problem here is that the initialized condition of the volume is "off" when it *should* be low. Having it "off" seems to lead to lots of troubleshooting time wastes.

 

3

When pairing, the product did not consistently ask for a password.

 

Thank you for your attention.

 

Sincerely,

 

Professor John Amaral

 

 

On Mar 17, 2011, at 12:46 PM, Cindy Trudeau wrote:

Hello John,

 

It looked like you started to order online but never saved it, and that is where your email came from.  Unfortunately, at this time we are not running any discounts, but I will personally let you know if/when we do.

 

Thank you for the information about the Boston Apple store.  I will contact them to make sure they pulled a new functional unit from the back for their display.

 

Thank you,

Cindy

 

Chris,

I believe the issue concerns a SECOND PAIRED Bluetooth stream. This functionality is provided. I have verified that it didn''t mute for me in the Apple store.

thanks

John Amaral

Hi John, there are no known bugs in the current software.

The information from Cindy about #1 was not accurate.  The initial condition of the volume control is not "off".  It is set to a nominal value in the middle.  When pairing the product always asks for a password.  Perhaps something was wrong with the display unit.

I don't quite understand the question about a second paired bluetooth stream.  The device can be paired with up to 5 bluetooth sources, but it is *connected* to only one at a time.  

Chris, what I verified for myself is that the docked iphone's music and the bluetooth paired music played at the same time. You can hear both.

When a call came in the iphone, the iphone's music was muted but not that from the paired laptop.

Perhaps you can verify whether I am correct or not.

best,

John Amaral

Hi John, OK now I understand.  All audio inputs are open all the time.  So, yes, it's possible to play music from the docked phone (over 30pin) and overlap music from the computer over bluetooth.  Actually several music and DJ users like this feature because they connect an instrument on one input and play along with the song from the other input.

Now, when the phone is docked there is no bluetooth connection to the dock.  There can only be one device connected at any given time.  In this scenario it is the computer streaming via bluetooth.  When a call comes in, the music playing from the phone will mute.  This is in the Apple iOs on the phone! They do it so you can answer the call.  Of course, the dock doesn't know that you are receiving a call because the phone is not connected via Bluetooth.  So, it happily plays the streaming music from your computer.

I hope this helps explain what you experienced.  There is, unfortunately, no way to tell the dock that a call is coming in when the phone is not connected via Bluetooth to the dock.  That information is not sent by Apple over the 30-pin connector.

Chris, thank you for your answer. I'm surprised that the issue hasn't been raised because it sounds like a common condition.

Your explanation leaves one scenario out: phone is not docked but is paired via bluetooth. When a phone call comes in to it, will it mute music playing from the laptop via bluetooth?

Hi John, the scenario you describe is not possible.  Bluetooth only allows one source at a time to be connected and streaming to a device.

Thanks, Chris

Chris, I went back to the Apple store and clarified my thinking and also

what was bothering me. You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, of course, that only

one Bluetooth stream is allowed at a time. I presented the scenario

incorrectly, but when I went to use it again at Apple, the problem was

crystal clear:

My iPhone is docked and charging, waiting for calls in which I will use

the SOMA as a hands-off speaker. I can't keep my music database on the

iphone, so I have it playing over Bluetooth from my laptop. This seems

perfectly reasonable and a design intention of SOMA. It's mentioned in

the manual.

A call comes into the iPhone. It does NOT MUTE the music playing out of

SOMA from the laptop. Apple does provide an OS-level interrupt when a

call comes in. We know this because there are third-party apps which

mute when a call comes in and of course they do it for their own

software. Some of these apps also bring the music back up after the

call.

In your initial answer to me, you said: "I'm not sure who you talked to,

but the functionality you are asking for is already there.  The music

from the AUX In source mutes when you receive a phone call." This

implies that SOMA knows about the call and could therefore mute the

Bluetooth stream as well.

thanks,

John Amaral

Hi John,

The dock can only know you are receiving a phone call if your phone is connected over Bluetooth.  The incoming call sends a control signal over Bluetooth and the processor mutes the Aux input.  However, when your phone is just docked on the 30-pin (and not connected to Bluetooth) then that control signal can not go to the internal processor... It comes down to the same issue: Bluetooth only supports one source device at a time.

Chris,

OK, there must be some reason why the information is not at the 30 pin connector. Thanks.

John