Bowers & Wilkins Formation Audio - Music Streamer Manual

Formation Audio is a network connected, stereo control preamplifier that enables conventional audio sources to be played both locally and over a Formation network, and audio streams to be played via wired active speakers or through a conventional hi-fi system. Formation Audio is primarily intended to be controlled using the Bowers & Wilkins Home app. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Some commonly used control functions are also available via buttons on the Formation Audio front panel. It is only possible to install and configure Formation Audio using the Bowers & Wilkins Home app.

Formation Audio will enable you to:

• Listen to audio from streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and Roon via conventional audio devices such as amplifiers or active speaker systems.
• Listen to network stored audio files.
• Listen to audio over Bluetooth from appropriately enabled Bluetooth source devices.
• Listen to audio from locally connected devices such as turntables (via a phono preamp) and CD players.
• Listen to audio, such as Internet Radio, from Airplay or Bluetooth compatible services and apps.
• Listen to audio playing anywhere in your home on any Formation device connected to your home network.

The Bowers & Wilkins Home app is required to connect your Formation Audio to your home network and also to establish connection with other Formation products in your home. The Bowers & Wilkins Home app also provides some control and configuration functions during use. Before you begin your Formation Audio installation please download and install the Bowers & Wilkins Home app on your iOS or Android device. The Bowers & Wilkins Home app requires iOS V11.4 or later, or Android V8.1 or later. Bluetooth, and WiFi services must be enabled on your iOS or Android device. You will also need to know your WiFi network password.

Note: Location Services must be enabled on Android devices during the Formation setup process. This is because Formation products use a low power form of Bluetooth (BT-LE) for service communication which on Android devices is only switched on when Location Services are enabled. Bowers & Wilkins do not use any location services data for marketing purposes.

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Formation Audio Carton Contents

Formation Audio
Mains power cable set appropriate for your territory
Document pack

Installing Your Formation Audio

Location

Your Formation Audio requires only a mains power supply to operate and can be located almost anywhere you find convenient. However, if your Formation Audio is to be connected to an existing audio system, or is to use a wired connection to a network router, it will need to be located within reach of the necessary cables.

Note: Formation Audio employs a Bluetooth connection to the device running the Bowers & Wilkins Home app during the setup process. Bluetooth signals have a relatively short range and can be interrupted by room boundaries, so we recommend that your Formation Audio and Bowers & Wilkins Home app device remain in close proximity during the setup process.

Connections

Diagram 1
Formation Audio rear panel

In addition to its mains power socket , Formation Audio carries the connection sockets on its rear panel listed below. The rear panel is shown in Diagram 1. Always use high quality connection cables with your Formation Audio.

Inputs

1 x stereo pair of RCA phono sockets - Connect an analogue audio source such as a CD player or turntable (via a phono preamplifier).

1 x optical digital (TOSLINK) socket - Connect an optical digital audio source such as a CD player.

Outputs

1 x stereo pair of RCA phono sockets - Connect to audio amplifier or active speaker line inputs.

1 x S/PDIF RCA phono socket - Connect to a digital to analogue converter, to an audio amplifier digital input, or to an active speaker digital input.

Network

1 x Ethernet socket - Connect to your network router if a wired network connection is to be used in preference to a wireless (WiFi) connection.

Note: The USB socket located on the Formation Audio rear panel is intended for service and diagnostic use only. It cannot be used for any other purpose.

Switch On and Off

With all connections made, and the Bowers & Wilkins Home app installed on your mobile device, your Formation Audio is ready to be set up and used. Your Formation Audio has no mains power switch and, following a short start-up routine, will be operational as soon as it is connected to mains power. It will play an audio prompt when its startup routine is complete.

When a Formation Audio, that has not been previously used, is first switched on it will automatically enter setup mode to enable its connection to your home network and to any other available Formation devices. Setup mode is indicated by a slow amber pulse illumination of the Form touch button . The Formation Audio will also appear in the Bowers & Wilkins Home app as available for set up, either on the initial app page, or after selecting 'Add Formation product' from the app Settings page.

Your Formation Audio manages its operational state and power consumption entirely automatically and will switch to a power saving mode after twenty minutes of inactivity. There is no need ever to switch off your Formation Audio, however should you wish to do so, simply disconnected it from mains power. Your Formation Audio will retain its settings without mains power.

You can restart a Formation Audio by a short press and release of the reset button located on its rear panel . Pressing the button will switch the Formation Audio off and on again. All settings will be retained when your Formation Audio restarts. You can also restart your Formation Audio via the Bowers & Wilkins Home app Settings page.

If you wish to reset your Formation Audio to its default settings, press and hold the reset button for five seconds. On restart, your Formation Audio will enter setup mode. All settings will be deleted when your Formation Audio resets. You can also reset your Formation Audio via the Bowers & Wilkins Home app Settings menu.

Network Setup

• With your Formation Audio in setup mode, with its Form button illumination pulsing slowly amber, launch the Bowers & Wilkins Home app on your iOS or Android device. The app will guide you with prompts though the setup process.
  Note: Formation Audio employs a Bluetooth connection to the device running the Bowers & Wilkins Home app during the setup process. Bluetooth signals have a relatively short range and can be interrupted by room boundaries, so we recommend that your Formation Audio and Bowers & Wilkins Home app device remain in close proximity during the setup process.
• The Bowers & Wilkins Home app will first search for Formation products in setup mode and display a screen inviting the selection of one. Tap to select your Formation Audio. If you have already set up a Formation product and are adding an additional one, select 'Add Formation product' from the app Settings menu.
• The Bowers & Wilkins Home app will next invite you to name the "space" in which your Formation Audio is to be used. A list of default space names is provided but you can also create your own. When you have selected, or created, a space name, the app will ask you to touch the Form button on the front of your Formation Audio to confirm the selection.
• If a wireless network connection for your Formation Audio is to be used, the next setup stage will connect your Formation Audio to your home WiFi network. The app will ask you to confirm the correct WiFi network and ask you to input its password. Alternatively, if your Formation Audio is connected to your network router using an Ethernet cable, this stage of the setup process will be bypassed.
  Note: If you already have other Formation products connected to your WiFi network, Formation Audio setup will not require you to input the WiFi password.
• If you have conventional audio sources connected to your Formation Audio, the Bowers & Wilkins Home app will now give you the opportunity to name them. A list of default names is provided but you can also create your own.
• With WiFi network configuration, and space selection complete, your Formation Audio is ready for use. Your Formation Audio will play an audio prompt to confirm successful setup.

Bluetooth Setup

You can connect your Formation Audio to a Bluetooth enabled audio source device, such as a smartphone, to play audio over Bluetooth. Your Formation Audio must first be "paired" with the Bluetooth audio source device.

Once you have completed the Formation Audio network setup, open the Bowers & Wilkins Home app Settings page, and select the Formation Space that you wish to pair a Bluetooth device with. Next select '+ Pair a new device' from the Bluetooth menu and follow the app instructions to complete pairing. Your Formation Audio will play an audio prompt when pairing is complete and its Space will become available to the paired Bluetooth device for audio playback.

Note: Up to eight Bluetooth devices can be simultaneously paired with each Formation space, however devices will not connect and play to paired spaces automatically.

Using Your Formation Audio

The Basics

You can use your Formation Audio to play audio from conventional sources, from streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal, from the Roon music library service and from internet radio via an appropriate iRadio app. If you have further Formation devices connected to your network, Formation Duo speakers for example, conventional audio sources connected to your Formation Audio will also be available through the speakers.

Spaces

Spaces are a core concept of the Formation product family. A Formation "space" is a room or a specific area in your home in which you listen to music. Each space can include different combinations of Formation products. The possible configurations are displayed in Diagram 2.

Diagram 2
Space configurations

Playing Audio

The Bowers & Wilkins Home app enables you to select and play any available audio source or stream. However, in much the same way that conventional audio source playback requires initiation through a play command, Formation streams must be first initiated through their own gateway app: the Spotify app for example, or a music library app such as Roon. Each gateway or library app will list your Formation Audio space as an available playback device using Airplay, Bluetooth or in the case of Spotify, Spotify Connect.

Once audio streams are playing on the Formation network they can be selected via the Bowers & Wilkins Home app or via the Formation Audio front panel Form touch button . Touching the Form button will cycle though the available streams and sources.

Formation Audio Front Panel Controls and Illumination

Your Formation Audio has touch buttons on its front panel that provide play/pause control, volume adjustment and source/stream selection.

• Touching the Play/Pause will alternately stop and restart audio playback.
  Note: Play/pause will only operate if the stream source has play and pause functions that can be accessed through Bluetooth or network connections.
• Touching volume up or down will adjust the local volume of any network stream or local source. Pressing and holding the and buttons will continuously increase or decrease volume.
• Touching the Form button will cycle through and play the active streams and sources available to the Formation Audio.

Form Button illumination

The Formation Audio Form button illumination changes to indicate a variety of operational states. The illuminations are displayed in Diagram 3.

Diagram 3
Form button illuminations

The Bowers & Wilkins Home App

With your Formation Audio configured and connected to your network, the Bowers & Wilkins Home app will open to its Home screen where the Formation Audio space and any other available Formation spaces will be listed.

Tap on a Formation space to select from any available streams or inputs. If there are no streams available, open a streaming app, Spotify for example, and select an item to play, then select the Formation Space from the list of available playback devices. Now, when you return to the Bowers & Wilkins Home app, the Spotify stream will be listed on the Formation Audio space page.

The Bowers & Wilkins Home app Home page has a Settings icon in the top right corner. Tap the icon to open the app Settings menu. The Settings menu provides options to configure and reset your Formation devices and re-name your Formation spaces. App and Formation device firmware updates are also initiated from the Settings menu.

Finding Your Way Around the Bowers & Wilkins Home App

The Bowers & Wilkins Home app will search for available Formation spaces when opened then display its Home page with the spaces listed.

Beneath each space the app will display its current activity. Tapping on an active space will open a "now playing" screen that enables volume and play/pause control.

The 'now playing' screen also provides an 'Available Spaces' option that enables the stream playing in the selected space to be transferred to another space or played in multiple spaces. The 'Available Spaces' screen also provides the opportunity to control volume, both globally across all spaces, or in individual spaces.

The Bowers & Wilkins Home app Settings page is opened by tapping on the settings icon. The initial Settings menu lists each space and the number of Formation devices present in each one.

Tapping on a space listed in the Settings menu provides access to its Space and Formation device settings. Tap the Space name to access the space settings and tap the device name to access the device settings. The device settings available will depend on the device in question.

Note: If the Settings icon on the Bowers & Wilkins Home app displays an amber dot this indicates that a Formation firmware update is available. The firmware update process is initiated from the Settings menu. You should always aim to keep the Bowers & Wilkins Home app and your Formation devices up to date with the latest version and firmware. Not only will this help ensure the most reliable performance, it will ensure that you benefit from new Formation features.

Formation Music Streams and Sources

Using Spotify

Use your phone, tablet or computer as a remote control for Spotify. Go to spotify.com/connect to learn how.

The Spotify Software is subject to third party licenses found here: https://www.spotify.com/connect/thirdparty-licenses.

Using Airplay

Airplay enables audio apps on Apple mobile, laptop or desktop devices to stream material over a network to Airplay compatible devices such as Formation Audio. Airplay enabled apps will display the Airplay icon.

To use Airplay, open the audio app you wish to use and select the music you wish to play. Tap on the Airplay icon to display a list of available devices followed by the Formation Space you wish to use.

Note: It is possible to stream audio via Airplay on multiple devices simultaneously, however the playback quality and synchronisation may then depend on the capabilities of your home network. If you wish to play material simultaneously in more than one Formation space, synchronization can be greatly improved by selecting multiple spaces through the Bowers & Wilkins Home app.

Using Roon

Roon is a feature rich music library and playback app that compiles all the music files available to your network and makes them easily available to play across all your Formation Spaces and any other Roon enabled audio devices. Roon is available for mobile, laptop or desktop devices.

When you open Roon it will display your complete audio library together with its metadata and artwork along with all the Formation Spaces and any other available network audio devices. Simply select the music you wish to play and Formation space in which you want to hear it.

Note: It is possible to stream audio from Roon on multiple devices simultaneously, however the playback quality and synchronisation may then depend on the capabilities of your home network. If you wish to play material simultaneously in more than one Formation space, synchronization can be greatly improved by selecting multiple spaces through the Bowers & Wilkins Home app.

Using Bluetooth

Bluetooth enables audio apps on mobile, laptop or desktop devices to stream material over a wireless connection to compatible hardware such as the Formation Audio.

To use Bluetooth, ensure that the required Formation Space is selected in your device Bluetooth settings menu, open the audio app you wish to use and select the music you wish to play. Tap on the playback devices icon to display a list of those available followed by Formation Space you wish to use.

Cleaning

Should your Formation Audio need cleaning you can wipe its top surface with a clean, lint-free cloth and brush its grille with a soft brush. If you wish to use any cleaning fluid, apply it onto the cleaning cloth and not directly onto the Formation Audio. Test a small area first, as some cleaning products may damage some of the surfaces. Avoid products that are abrasive, or contain acid, alkali or antibacterial agents.

Support

Should you require further help or advice regarding your Formation Audio please visit the Formation support site here www.bowerswilkins.com/support.

Environmental Information

This product complies with international directives, including but not limited to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in electrical and electronic equipment, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and the disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Consult your local waste disposal authority for guidance on how properly to recycle or dispose of this product.