Symptom: If you put hörbert on very hard, it switches on or off.

Cause: The solid brass rotary knob is so heavy that it switches hörbert on and off.

Remedy: this can easily be fixed with a free firmware update. The firmware is the programme that runs on hörbert’s processor and determines its functions. This will fix such problems with the rotary head. How to perform a firmware update and where to download it can be found here: https://en.hoerbert.com/firmware-en/

The standard model from hörbert 2011 – without an additional module such as a sleep timer or Bluetooth module – was the top performer in the Stiftung Warentest test in November 2019.
In their test, it achieved 56 hours of playtime, in our tests at the factory, approx. 50 hours.
If the sleep timer module (automatic switch-off) is installed, the playing time is reduced by a few hours.
With the Bluetooth module installed, the playing time is reduced by up to 1/3 of the playing time of the standard model, i.e. about 35 hours.

So far, we have tested the new hörbert 2021 in our factory at medium volume in an endurance test with high-quality AA batteries.
In standard mode – i.e. when playing from its SD card – hörbert plays for between 48 and 50 hours.

The other tests in mixed mode with Bluetooth streaming and Internet radio and also with rechargeable batteries are still running.

This concerns hörbert without a mechanical toggle switch.

What you notice:
hörbert only plays for about 2-3 seconds, beeps twice and then goes off. You can switch it on again by pressing the rotary knob. After that, it goes off again after 2-3 seconds.

What happens:
hörbert signals that it cannot find the memory card or cannot read it.

What could be the reason:
First check if there is a memory card in hörbert and if there are no foreign objects in the memory card slot.
Try another memory card that contains hörbert content.

If that does not help:
We have an update for your hörbert that will solve this problem if the above steps do not solve it. A new firmware is available for this purpose.

How to update the firmware is described here: https://www.hoerbert.com/firmware

Now the problem is solved. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact our service team via our contact form.

The detailed instructions for the new hörbert and the hörbert software are available here: https://www.hoerbert.com/manuals/hoerbert/

Sleep Timer, Bluetooth, WiFi and the microphone function are not active ex works.

1.) Activate the hörbert functions in SET mode:
If you want to switch on the Internet radio, Bluetooth or micro recordings – if the microphone was ordered as an option – it works like this:

– Unscrew the back of the hörbert
– switch on hörbert – it will start playing from its memory card.
– Press the SET button inside – hörbert becomes mute. The LED on the SET button lights up green continuously. The front buttons are now in SET mode.
– The template on the picture in the appendix now shows which button must be pressed to activate e.g. the sleep timer, Bluetooth, WiFi, micro.
– A single beep always means: on – the function is activated.
– A signal tone twice always means: off – the function is deactivated.
– After setting the desired functions, press the SET key inside again to save.
– hörbert starts playing again and the settings you have just made are active.

2.) Special feature Internet radio:

2.1) Before the Internet radio can work, you have to process the memory card on your home computer with the hörbert software. Please install and start the hörbert software 3.x.x and read the card.
Under the menu item Extras you will find the item “Configure WiFi connections“.
Here you must enter the exact name of your home WLAN and the password.
Attention: It must be a 2.4 GHz W-Lan, please check at the router if necessary, if no connection is established.
Select one of the coloured buttons on which the Internet radio is to run later.
On this key, insert an Internet radio URL via the plus symbol behind “URL” at the top of the content window – preferably in the first position. Example: http://laut.fm/kinderradio
MP3 links to indiviudal podcast usually work too.

To save, click on the green button with the white tick in the top right-hand corner and then eject the card using the “Eject” button before disconnecting it from the computer.

2.2) Now insert the card into hörbert and read the WiFi data.

This is how it works:
1. Switch on hörbert. It will then play from the memory card as normal. 2.
Press the SET button. hörbert becomes mute and the coloured buttons on the front are in programming mode. 3.
Press the orange button (WiFi) for approx. 10 seconds or until a short signal tone sounds to confirm. The WLAN data is then read in and deleted from the card in accordance with data protection regulations. 4.
Important: Press the SET button again to save.

hörbert will then start playing normally again.
Have you set the URL to the beginning of a certain playlist?
If you then press this button with the URL, hörbert should emit several short ascending search tones and find and play the WLAN and the Internet radio station.

3.) Recording functions of Bluetooth streams, WiFi and voice recordings via microphone

Using the hörbert software, you can also define in advance the coloured button(s) on which recordings may be saved.
The following instructions can also be carried out at point 2.) above, if you are working with the hörbert software anyway and the memory card is inserted in the computer.

Open the content window of the coloured button where you want to allow voice recordings, recordings from the Internet radio or Bluetooth recordings.
Then tick the desired box at the bottom of the window, e.g. “Allow microphone recordings here”.
Then click on the green tick in the top right-hand corner to save the setting. The content window of the button closes again.

In this way, you can now also define for other buttons whether Bluetooth streams or Internet radio recordings and voice recordings are allowed there.
Bluetooth recordings are only allowed on one button, so there is no square to tick, but a circle to select.
At least one file must already be stored in the playlist so that the button can be activated and a recording can be started. With the next firmware update, which will be released around the beginning of February 2022, it will no longer be necessary to have at least one file on the playlist for a recording to be possible there.

Always finish working on the memory card by ejecting it via the eject button before disconnecting it from the computer.
Insert the memory card back into hörbert.

4.) Recordings always work like this:
For speach and WiFi recordings you have to select the coloured button first, that has been defined for speach/WiFi recordings. For Bluetooth-recordings you just have to bring hoerbert into its bluetooth-speaker mode by double clicking the on/off button, to pair hoerbert with you mobile phone, e.g. and to start a playlist.

To start the recording do the following:
– Press the black button and keep it pressed.
– Then briefly press the grey button at the same time.
– The recording starts and you can release both buttons.
– To end the recording, press the black key again.

Voice recordings via the microphone land directly at the point in the playlist where you were before you started the recording. The recording is also played back directly by hörbert after 3-5 seconds. So you can hear yourself right after the recording.

Bluetooth and Internet radio recordings always end up at the end of the playlist defined for them.

Our service team will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

SET-MODUS-SCHABLONE (enclosed in your hörbert package)

The answer is “Yes”:
The settings from the new hörbert can be made via the SET mode.

Inside the unit there is a SET button. When you press it, you can use the coloured buttons on the front and the SET template provided to set the following functions as desired:

• Sleep timer on/off, playing time in hours and minutes
• Bluetooth on/off, pairing mode on/off, delete all pairings
• WiFi on/off
• Microphone on/off
• piano/forte
• Reset to factory settings.

  If you press the power button after making a change, all the changes you have just made are discarded.
  If you press the SET button inside again after making a change, all the changes you have just made will be saved.

IMPORTANT:
WiFi, Bluetooth and microphone are initially deactivated in the factory setting. Only by setting them via the SET mode and after previously configuring the playlists in which recordings are allowed, can the functions be activated by an adult. The prior selection of the playlists that are allowed to save recordings is done via the hörbert software directly on the memory card.

You want all this for your own hörbert too? No problem! From spring 2022 onwards, we will offer conversion by electronic exchange for every hörbert since 2011.

However, hörbert 2011 must then be sent to us for the conversion. It will be possible to retrofit the housing as well as the new electronics and optionally the microphone. We cannot give an exact price for the conversion at the moment.

The exact costs have yet to be determined. As soon as we know more, we will post it on our website in the FAQ and also via social media.

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Due to the tight market situation for electronic components, we will not be able to offer the new electronics kit with the new circuit board until spring 2022 – but, as we all know, anticipation is the best joy.

For the time being, the electronics kit is still available with the proven electronics of the 2011 hörbert.

Subscribe to our newsletter to make sure you don’t miss the start of sales of the new electronics kit in spring 2022!

Visual differences:
The new hörbert comes with a slightly different appearance and a brand new electronic interior.

The toggle switch for switching on/off no longer exists. Instead, the volume control can be pressed for electronic on/off.

If you order a microphone as an option, you get an earpiece with a small opening at the bottom right of the front, behind which the microphone is hidden.

hörbert now has even less plastic. The coloured buttons on the front now also consist of wood!

New features:

• recording function:
  All sources hörbert knows, it can also record on the memory card: Microphone (if built in), Bluetooth streaming and Internet radio.
• Microfone (can be ordered as a chargeable option) :
  Record speech and music in CD quality with the microphone and play it back directly from the memory card. The microphone is available as an accessory and is installed by us directly at the time of purchase.
• WiFi for Internet radio:
  Connect hörbert to your W-Lan to play Internet radio stations with hörbert’s buttons. With the recording function, radio broadcasts can then be recorded and played back later from the memory card.
• Pause function:
  hörbert continues playing exactly where you switched it off. There is no need to fast-forward to the right place.
• Even less plastics
  The colourful keys are now wooden turned parts. hörbert thus contains less than 5% plastic. Only the circuit board and the components on it. That can’t be improved any more.
• Even more space for replaying
  The storage space on the SD card now goes further, because hörbert can play native mp3 and m4a files. That’s why more hours fit on the same card. Each of your memory cards will then hold up to 5 times the amount of content compared to the previous format.
• Bluetooth Audio for headphones and Streaming
  You can use hörbert with Bluetooth headphones or as a Bluetooth speaker. Simultaneous listening with up to two wireless headphones is possible. With a mobile phone or tablet, you can listen to content from streaming services on hörbert, e.g. from Spotify or audible.
  This is already possible with your “hörbert 2011” if you have a built-in Bluetooth module.
  What is new is that you can also record everything that hörbert plays as a Bluetooth speaker so that you can play it back again and again from the memory card.
  What’s new is that you no longer have to pay anything extra for the Bluetooth functions. Bluetooth audio is now included in the price. Of course, the Bluetooth function can also be switched off completely, so that nothing transmits if you don’t want it to.

Proven and still available:

• Sleep Timer included
  Set how long hörbert can play before it switches itself off.
• Selectable additional volume limit included
  piano/forte

hörbert comes to you ready to play. Depending on the selection, a pre-recorded memory card is included, as are batteries. So you can start right away when you unpack hörbert.

There is a switch next to those marks. Switching it to ‘piano’ will limit hörbert’s maximum playback volume. The reason behind limiting the maximum volume is to protect ears of very young children, because they may often not be able to handle the volume knob correctly.

Each of the nine coloured buttons represents a list of songs or audio book chapters. By pressing the same button several times, you jump through that list track by track.

The metallic grey button is used for audible fast forward, the black button jumps back to the beginning of the current title. Pressing the black metallic button again will jump back one more title.

hörbert is made of natural materials, that’s why we can’t predict colors and texture of the wood, for example. Each hörbert is unique! Small discolorations or knot-holes leave their traces and are normal.

No. hörbert plays data from a memory card in SD-card format. You need an SD card reader/writer attached to your computer in order to transfer contents to the memory card. Probably you can even use your digital camera as a card reader if it accepts SD-cards and can at the same time be attached to your computer via USB cable.

The wood, operating elements and electronics have been specifically selected and produced in a way to protect him and your children, when it gets a bit wild in the playroom. hörbert will go through interesting times and may even get some marks and scratches that can easily be corrected with a bit of sand paper. If hörbert should have an unfortunate fall and something gets broken, spare parts are available – because throwing hörbert away is out of the question. Of course, you can also send hörbert in for repair at any time, we will be happy to advise you.

hörbert is available in our online shop at https://www.hoerbert.com, as well as in selected customer shops, that you can also find on our homepage. No matter where you buy your hörbert, you can have it individually engraved. Just ask at your customer shop, we’ll engrave your hörbert for you while we produce it.

hörbert was designed to be operated by children themselves without the help of anybody. Only transferring content to hörbert and replacing batteries are tasks that are left to grown-ups. As hörbert already comes with lots of songs and audio books, you won’t have to sacrifice your first day with hörbert at your computer instead of giving it to your children.

We don’t recommend a minimum age for using hörbert. You may want to play lullabies to a baby, your two-year-old kid may be able to handle hörbert completely on his or her own, you never know. Maybe grandma or grandpa like to use hörbert as a pretty and simple music box, that’s also a task hörbert can handle.

Children use the colored buttons to select what to listen to next. Behind each of the nine colored buttons there can be several songs or chapters of a story. Skipping them works by pressing the same button several times. There’s one more button for an audible fast forward scan and one more to jump right back to the beginning of the currently playing title. You can even jump further to the previous titles by pressing that ‘back’ button quickly in repeat. Finally, there is a rotary volume knob and a robust on/off switch.